Polymer photogravure plate service?

[Rolleiflexible]

Their service is pretty pricy If you plan to make this your printing method.

Re lights, I found an inexpensive source for 365nm LED strips, for a quarter of the price Jon Cone charges. They work great — no soldering required.

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Be sure to select the 365nm light option — the form defaults to 395nm lights. Clay Harmon has a helpful list of the parts (transformer, connectors, etc.) you will need to build out a box, with links to Amazon. Follow this link:

UV-LED Parts · Clay Harmon Blog

clayharmonblog.com

This is a list for the parts needed to complete his premade aluminum enclosures. But it’s a useful reference, even if you choose a different way to house the lights.

Using these lights in my array, I can burn plates in about 14 minutes. Not speedy, but reasonably fast.

EDIT: Be aware that Clay’s parts list includes a lot of stuff for building a box with a built-in timer and switch. I simplified my own array by making it an unswitched box that plugs into my GraLab 300 darkroom timer. If you already have a darkroom timer, it makes the UV box easier and cheaper to build.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

There's a new studio in Vermont called Prints on Paper. I don't know if they still offer it, but I bought an exposed sample plate from them for their cost of the material. They also offer workshops. Maybe they'd make plates for you.

Hey, I'd forgotten about this thread...your timing is impeccable.

I just ordered the sample plate from Walker Blackwell's Prints on Paper yesterday!

PHOTOGRAVURE TEST PLATE — PRINTS ON PAPER STUDIO

printsonpaper.studio

This will give me a standard to shoot for with my own plates

 

[Rolleiflexible]

Hey, I'd forgotten about this thread...your timing is impeccable.

I just ordered the sample plate from Walker Blackwell's Prints on Paper yesterday!

PHOTOGRAVURE TEST PLATE — PRINTS ON PAPER STUDIO

printsonpaper.studio

This will give me a standard to shoot for with my own plates

Murray, do they make the test plate from one of your images?

 

[MurrayMinchin]

Murray, do they make the test plate from one of your images?

No, but it's of a subject matter right up my alley...what looks to be dark, textured tree trunks taken with a long exposure during a snowstorm; resulting in a fog effect where trees fade into the distance. Lots of resonant dark and delicate high tones.

I've never held or even seen a plate in real life. I've maybe seen five photogravures in my life. This plate will give me a reference point, both in how a plate should be, but also how different papers/inks and wiping techniques effect the final product.