Gluing Paper to Aluminium

[David Hatton]

Hi Loris,
Yes I will. I have just this afternoon attached my first
piece of paper to aluminium sheet using pva. I'm going to leave it overnight to set before attacking it with the gum printing process..
I'll post my results..
Best
David

 

[David Hatton]

Some feedback

Hi,
Well my first attempt at gluing paper to aluminium failed dismally. I attached a piece of cot320 using a local PVA adhesive full strength straight from the bottle by rolling the adhesive onto the metal then placing and rolling the paper onto the glued surface. It went on beautifully. Nice and flat, no bubbles, perfect. I applied the first coat of gum and developed it no problem. Second coat I noticed slight lifting around the edges of the paper but nothing significant. As I developed the third coat the paper lifted completely off the paper. I used brush development for that image so the print wasn't in the water for an extended time.
Second attempt I used the same mounting method but left the glue for 24 hours to harden. I developed three coats on this image after this it was finished so I left the print in the water (in my bath) to loosen the PVA. That was three days ago. It's still underwater as I type with absolutely no indication that the thing is ever going to loosen. One slight detour to my workflow was that I exposed the completed image for 5 minutes under the UV lamps. The print darkened slightly but the long soak has restored the colour and none of the pigment has been lost from the print over the last three days.
The tests continue. Maybe a weaker solution of PVA?:confused:

David

 

[Loris Medici]

Thanks for the follow up and good luck. Don't let us in dark if you ever manage to find a solution...

Regards,
Loris.

 

[iansand]

I have made a makeshift dry mounter in the garden, sheet of 3mm steel on a brick support. Placed some 600gms Arches with dry mounting tissue on a sheet of aluminium, another piece of chipboard the same size weighted down with heavy bricks; two gas burners underneath to heat up the steel. Left it to cool and it worked a treat. Used the same process to unstick the paper. As I am making large prints it is much cheaper than a large dry mounter (which I would prefer if I could afford it)

 

[David Hatton]

I tried a similar method using a piece of flat marble heated in the oven but I kept getting bubbles in places and so I gave up. Do you have any problems with bubbling?

I love your work by the way..
Daid

 

[Project Vedos]

Hi all,

I have done some gum printing on paper glued on aluminium... got some pictures here on my blog. Actually they are stills from a video I made... haven't got the video uploaded yet... been too busy lately.

- Jalo

 

[David Hatton]

Excellent! I look forward to the video when it's finished. Are you leaving the image on the aluminium??

Davidh

 

[Project Vedos]

Excellent! I look forward to the video when it's finished. Are you leaving the image on the aluminium??

Davidh

Yes, I'm leaving it on... don't know how to detach it. I have made some prints with 6 layers, and the paper is totally sticking.

- Jalo

 

[iansand]

Thanks for the comment Daid, no bubbles but it is not ideal as It's slow and takes a bit of time. Also it's getting cold here so not much fun. Need to sell a few and buy some proper kit.

 

[PVia]

Jalo, looks great! Thanks for documenting this. I always enjoy your website...

 

[Loris Medici]

Ditto -> thanks much Jalo!

 

[David Hatton]

Well, after 4 days of immersion I decided to go for broke 'cos I needed the aluminium for my next test. I filled the bath with very hot water and immersed the print. After a couple of minutes I managed to lift a corner. As I pulled on the paper it just started to lift off the adhesive! The print is now drying being unharmed. The water was really too hot to put your hand in. I don't knaow whether I would want to do this every time though..