Heat transfer press to flatten FB prints

lauffray · Feb 27, 2017

Hi everyone

I'm looking for some advice/experience regarding heat transfer presses to flatten fibre prints.

I have a homemade cold press (basically two boards of plywood and clamps) that is ok but prints curl up again when taken out. I eventually gave up finding a dry mount press, they're either too expensive or won't ship to where I live. I haven't found any heat transfers for sale in town that I can go check out in person, so I'm looking at stuff like this online.

Is there anything to be aware of in particular? From experience would you guys recommend them? Is there an upper bound on temperature/time for paper as not to damage it?

Ian Grant · Feb 27, 2017

That would work, my old Ademco press just has the top heated, you flatten between two sheets of mount board which you heat first to dry out, I do this 3 or 4 times. A minute in the press take out let the steam escape until dry. There's a knack to doing it.

Ian

lauffray · Feb 27, 2017

Ian Grant said:
A minute in the press take out let the steam escape until dry

You put it in wet? I figured I'd let it dry first then press it to finish

Ian Grant · Feb 27, 2017

lauffray said:
You put it in wet? I figured I'd let it dry first then press it to finish

No dry However even "Dry" mounting card and FB prints contain a lot of moisture and this needs drying out or the trapped moisture will stick the emulsion to the card above it. So after drying the mount board I press the print for 30 seconds open the press to release the moisture and re-press for about 1 minute that flattens the prints perfectly. Temperature is about 70-80ºC

Ian

lauffray · Feb 27, 2017

Brilliant, thanks !

tezzasmall · Feb 27, 2017

I too looked at the t-shirt printing presses for a while (which I've seen a huge variation in price for on ebay etc.) until I managed to buy a second hand photographic one recently. I still need to try it but I would be interested in your thoughts and findings if you decide to buy one. I'm sure there would be a lot of interest in buying one if some one else does and says they do the job well in drying and mounting prints.

Other thoughts: 1. Check out various prices; 2. check Q&A's to see if anyone else has asked about its uses (there are 542 unanswered questions on the link that you gave!); and 3. check if they will take returns if not suitable for your purpose.

adelorenzo · Feb 27, 2017

Please keep us posted if you try something and it works. I'm in the same situation.

Doc W · Feb 27, 2017

There is no way to get a fibre print completely flat unless you dry mount it or live where there is 0% humidity. Even if the print is flattened, it will curl at least to some extent as humidity changes. I don't know anything about the press you cited, but it looks like it would do the job. I used a t-shirt press until I got a proper dry mount press and that was only recently. The t-shirt press worked just fine as a substitute dry mount press. I still have it if you are interested. It weighs a TON so there is no way to ship it, but I am in Ottawa, an easy drive. Let me know if you are interested and we can haggle.

Hilo · Feb 28, 2017

I have no experience with the press you are considering, but have used dry mounting presses to flatten prints for about 35 years and I still do. Letting the steam out as Ian suggests is important unless you are sure the prints are as dry as can be. If you think the prints are not 100% dry, I suggest you test with one that is not important. All this has to do with the set temperature (I press a bit warmer than Ian, at 90 C), the tension of your press (should be adjustable) and the time you press. If the print is not totally dry and your press' tension is high, or you press too long - you risk the print to stick to the mounting carton. That permanently damages the print and often the carton too.

There are many different ways to set the press and to go through the whole process, so the following is just mine and there's nothing standard about it: I prefer the tension not to be too high and to be able to leave my prints inside the press for 3 - 4 minutes. It makes it a more quiet process for me, I can answer the phone or do something else for a moment . . . The way to see if a print was pressed okay, is that it should not have any strong curling any more. It will never be flat when you take it out, but that is for later. I place the print face down between acid free blotters, of which I always have a stack of about 30 sheets in 70X100cm. After I have pressed all the prints, I put all the blotters on top of the stack, in my experience it does not need extra weight. I always leave the prints sit overnight and feel this is one of the keys to getting very flat prints. The paper needs to come to rest as it were, from having been wet, from drying and from pressing. Finally, when I take the prints out of the blotters, I trim each side of a print about 5mm. This serves to eliminate a certain tension of the paper. The first weeks I store the prints face to face and back to back inside photo paper boxes of the same size.

Dry mounting prints works to get them flat, but is not for me. I have too many prints and the galleries I work with would not go for it. But also, I like that a analog print is not flat like a piece of metal. It is paper and as such one of the non-precise parameters of our beautiful medium.

lauffray · Feb 28, 2017

Thanks @Hilo !

Doc W said:
I still have it if you are interested. It weighs a TON so there is no way to ship it, but I am in Ottawa, an easy drive. Let me know if you are interested and we can haggle.

Thanks but I don't have a car, I'm not even sure how to get such a thing up to my apartment if I even buy one

Doc W said:
There is no way to get a fibre print completely flat unless you dry mount it or live where there is 0% humidity. Even if the print is flattened, it will curl at least to some extent as humidity changes.

How flat are we talking though? If it's not much flatter than what I can do with my dinky cold press and will curl up again, then is there a point in even getting a press?

Hilo · Mar 1, 2017

Prints pressed in the right way and dealt with in the right way after pressing do not "curl up again". They may show a very faint "wave", but this is nothing to worry about.

Humidity can affect the prints. Also, prints that were dried very warm (above a heater) curl much more than prints that dried in a room with normal temperature or even a little cool. These are more difficult to get flat and to keep flat.

bdial · Mar 1, 2017

I've had pretty good luck using a book binding press, without heat. I put the print(s) between a couple of pieces of mat board, and give them a good squeeze for a few hours. Book presses are fairly common in the antique shops down here, pretty heavy to carry though.

lauffray · Mar 1, 2017

Hilo said:
Prints pressed in the right way and dealt with in the right way after pressing do not "curl up again".

What do you do with them after pressing?

George Nova Scotia · Mar 1, 2017

Lauffray, adelorenzo. What size prints are you dealing with? I might have a small press that should be shippable in the $50 range. I just have to find it to check it's size, 11x14 I think but need to find it first. Something tells me I don't need 3 presses.

adelorenzo · Mar 2, 2017

Hi George,

11x14 is my max print size. If you have something that would work and is shippable I'd be very interested.

Right now I'm dry mounting fiber prints using a clothes iron, which works, but I'd love to get some type of press if I can get one up here reasonably.

Hilo · Mar 2, 2017

lauffray said:
What do you do with them after pressing?

Lauffray, the answer is in my post that comes before the one you quote . . .

George Nova Scotia · Mar 2, 2017

adelorenzo said:
Hi George,

11x14 is my max print size. If you have something that would work and is shippable I'd be very interested.

Right now I'm dry mounting fiber prints using a clothes iron, which works, but I'd love to get some type of press if I can get one up here reasonably.

I started a conversion with some pictures.

Other places to consider, search out framing shops - most seem to have gone to cold processes they may have an old press gathering dust. They also come up on government auction sites every so often.

lauffray · Mar 2, 2017

George Nova Scotia said:
Lauffray, adelorenzo. What size prints are you dealing with? I might have a small press that should be shippable in the $50 range. I just have to find it to check it's size, 11x14 I think but need to find it first.

Most of my prints are 8x10 but I'm starting to print on 11x14 now too. Do you have some pictures of the press perhaps?

George Nova Scotia said:
Other places to consider, search out framing shops - most seem to have gone to cold processes they may have an old press gathering dust.

That's a great idea !

George Nova Scotia · Mar 2, 2017

Lauffray I've added you to the conversation, I must apologize for sort of high jacking your thread, sorry about that. You guys just reminded me that I had that press and since we are all in Canada shipping might be tolerable. I'm sure there must be presses in Montreal gathering dust it's just a matter of finding them (and moving them)

spijker · Mar 2, 2017

George, if Lauffray and adelorenzo are not interested, I would be interested in a "shippable" press that can handle 11x14.
Doc W's press is too heavy and needs a fixed place in the house which is not practical for me.

Menno

George Nova Scotia · Mar 2, 2017

Menno, I'll keep you in mind but don't hold your breath. Don't ignore the 16x20 presses. One person can move them, although I wouldn't try to go far, and they can be stored on their side against the wall or in a closet. They can also make a dozen grilled cheese sandwiches at a time!

spijker · Mar 3, 2017

Thanks, George. Yeah, I'll keep blow drying prints for now. That actually works surprisingly well. Flat prints and no ripple effect. It just takes a bit more time. Wrt the grilled cheese sandwiches, maybe I should check Canadian Tire for a large Sandwich Press.

calebarchie · Mar 3, 2017

Have had a 16x20 one for a few years now, all fine. Picked it up locally for around 100AUD.

Doc W · Mar 5, 2017

lauffray said:
Thanks @Hilo !

Thanks but I don't have a car, I'm not even sure how to get such a thing up to my apartment if I even buy one

How flat are we talking though? If it's not much flatter than what I can do with my dinky cold press and will curl up again, then is there a point in even getting a press?

As Hilo said, prints might get a bit of a bend in them but they won't curl up like a potato chip (as mine often do before pressing). You might be ok with your cold press. I think that the only reason to get a heat press is to dry mount the photograph. Keep your eyes peeled and be patient. As George said, there has to be one somewhere in the Montreal area.

Gerald C Koch · Mar 5, 2017

The problem with prints curling has to do with the amount of moisture in the emulsion as opposed to the paper base. If one side dries out faster than the other then there is some torsion and the print curls. Therefore it's best not to heat the prints. This can actually make the problem worse. It is best that both sides be in equilibrium with the ambient humidity.

Heat transfer press to flatten FB prints

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency