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Pako print dryer: any reason to use it?

Marco Buonocore

Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2005
Messages
451
Location
Toronto
Format
Medium Format
I've got a big Pako print dryer that was given as a donation. Looks in perfect shape, but it's just gathering dust in a cupboard. Is there any reason to use it over drying screens? To me it seems a bit clunky.

This is in a communal darkroom, with lots of users. We've got plenty of square feet worth of drying racks, for the record. Space is not an issue.

Basically, I'm looking for a reason to get rid of it!

Thanks,
 
The canvas is prone to contamination, especially in a communal darkroom, where there's a chance that insufficiently washed prints are put in it.
 
Yeah, that's what I figured. My old man had a canvas dryer which I inherited for my first darkroom. I thought it was a dreadful system.

If I was the only one using it, and had limited space, maybe it would be useful. We've got a big membership, with lots of darkroom users. Quite a few novices. It would only take one unwashed print to spoil the bunch and all that.
 
I know a guy in Sydney who got one working and he likes it for flattening fibre prints.
 
Also, the glossy metal plate has to be kept clean and free of scratches, or the scratches and dirt will transfer to the surface of your prints. We had one of those dryers in high school, and one day some dickhead scratched the F-word on the metal drum. If that part of the drum happened to be the part that your print dried against, that word was transferred to the print!
 
I posted a thread here on how to get the canvas off and clean it.

I did that to mine, and then I cut a few extra sheets of canvas, washed and dried them, and I stack them over the prints before closing down the attached canvas. So I can just wash those as needed, and they make the thing a little tighter, having more layers.

Plus, the way the thing works, it's pushing steam through the canvas away from the prints, so I figure with removable canvas I'm good.

I prefer it by a mile to screen drying, since my prints comes out nice and flat, with just a bit of overall curl that goes away under weights - and I can get right to spotting. I'll dump it when I find a deal on a dry mount press.
 
Michael W said:
I know a guy in Sydney who got one working and he likes it for flattening fibre prints.
Click to expand...

This is the greatest value of drum dryers - nothing else produces flatter prints on fibre paper or better glazed prints on glossy fibre as long as the drum is clean and free of scratches. Like others I wouldn't use one in a communal darkroom but if you use fibre paper and wash your prints correctly as well as look after the drum they are a worthwhile device. The canvas apron can be removed and washed on most types but threading it back on can be a trial. OzJohn
 
An alternative for 'glossy' FB prints is the use of chrome plated brass Ferrotype plates. (and I have not seen any 'advertising' for such beasties). When 'working' I had the benefit of a large Pako drum drier but... since retiring I have found the plates to be just as effective albeit a lot slower. I have 10 'for the occasional use' of ferroptyping FB paper (I still refuse to use RC papers for anything other than 'proofing) and as back-up... an unopened package of (I think) 12.plates.

Ken
 

You don't have to dry face down. They make lousy ferrotype plates anyway so if you want to ferrotype it would be better to get dedicated plates. Just dry face up.

I actually had one with painted surfaces, intended for drying face up.
 
Dear Marco,

If none of the members is using it, it's hardly of value. Personally, I love my Arkay drum dryer. I use it to flatten prints more often than ferrotype but when done correctly you can get a surface to rival RC. As for contamination, I've had plenty of prints ruined in a community darkroom drying on screens.

Maybe one of the members will take it off your hands.

Neal Wydra
 
Neal said:
As for contamination, I've had plenty of prints ruined in a community darkroom drying on screens.
Click to expand...

Good point. Drying screens can become contaminated as easily as a dryer. It's hard to trust the cleanliness of anything when you can't be certain of the work habits of others.
 
Screens are easier to clean than a canvas apron though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk and 100% recycled electrons - because I care.
 
Best dryer I ever used was a 3 foot dia drum around 12 " wide. I was apron fed. They were both gas and electric heated.

Second is my blotter stack with corrugated board to circulate fan blown air. Salthill and a Chicago camera company made them. They were grey large format. Both work and all three make dead flat prints .

Tried everything else under the sun and nothing comes close. Those flippy flat jobs are POS. So are small drums. So are screens.

In the 1960`s I taped large prints to a basswood mechanical drawing board, emulsion out. That worked well also
 
Reason to keep a print dryer


Marco,

To specifically answer the question in your topic line [Pako print dryer: any reason to use it?]: If you choose to use it for ferrotype drying of glossy prints and can deal with the heavy maintenance procedures and preparation techniques, you will obtain the absolute deepest blacks possible* from a glossy surfaced, fiber-based paper (*both visually, and as determined by densitometric measurement).

Best,

Christopher
 
Thanks everyone. I had never really considered the ferrotyping before. The drum is immaculate, so that's a plus. I'll give it a try with some proofs and get a feel for the look of it. I've never been too keen on a super gloss (like RC paper), but I guess I'll have to see it first hand. Cheers!
 
Properly ferrotyped glossy FB is, if anything, shinier than RC gloss. But ditto on the deepest blacks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk and 100% recycled electrons - because I care.
 
When my microwave broke about ten years ago I got out my old print dryer for the test strips. Never got another microwave.
 
Roger Cole said:
You don't have to dry face down. They make lousy ferrotype plates anyway so if you want to ferrotype it would be better to get dedicated plates. Just dry face up.

I actually had one with painted surfaces, intended for drying face up.
Click to expand...

The one at our school, which was an Arkay drum-type dryer, left tons of lint and the texture of canvas on prints dried with the image facing the canvas.
 
Hum. I never had a drum dryer but I had the type that's a slightly curved double sided unit with canvas on each side. I did dry prints on it face up and I never had those problems. That's been a long time though.
 
I have basic 2 sided electric dryer that I use for glossy, I wash the apron before each use, getting ready to have another apron made. Best dryer I ever used was a Pako motorized drum that could take 16X20, variable speed for either SW or DW. Other than hi gloss I use drying screen that I wash off after every use. In the desert prints dry very quickly.
 

Marco,

Be warned: when I said heavy maintenance procedures and preparation techniques involved in proper and successful ferrotyping, that implies a bunch of reading-up and research! (mostly from old darkroom techniques books, articles and tips culled from good sources such as APUG) on how to do all that. Don't just "try it" without this preparation, otherwise you might end up with prints sticking to your drum and ruining its surface!

Best,

Christopher
 
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