Premier Dryer Score!-Pakosol

jamusu · Feb 5, 2008

I recently won a Premier Professional Print dryer off of ebay for $23. It is an older model, I believe from the 70's or 80's because the plastic is that sage green color from those decades. It was rarely used.

I dried both fiber and glossy prints in it last night and to my delight it works fantastically well! The fiber prints were glossier than the RC prints, which is what I like, but I want to take it a step further and ferrotype/glaze.

I have read that Pakosol should be used to flatten the prints and help in the ferrotyping. My question is, will my prints be considered as being archivally processed if I use it. I have read varying opinions on this matter and would like to know before I purchase some from Pakor.com.

Thank you,
Jamusu.

jamusu · Feb 5, 2008

Anyone???

Kevin Caulfield · Feb 5, 2008

It may take a while for somebody who knows about this to reply. I'm not sure where in the world you are, but at the moment, it is daytime here in Australia, so most people online are probably in this part of the world. I would help if I could but know nothing about Pakosol, sorry.

jamusu · Feb 6, 2008

Okay.

Neal · Feb 7, 2008

Dear Jamusu,

Go to www.pakor.com and search on Pakosol.

Neal Wydra

Jim Noel · Feb 7, 2008

Jamusu,

Wash the ferrotype surface with dish-washing soap using nothing more coarse than your hand to gently rub the surface. Rinse it very well. Sometimes a light coating of glycerin is necessary to get a really spot-free glossy print. The glycerin will take the place of Pakosol.

jamusu · Feb 7, 2008

Jim.

If I use the glycerin, will my prints be considered archival? Also, do all brands of glycerin work, or do I need to purchase certain brand?

Jamusu.

sun of sand · Feb 13, 2008

I read somewhere while looking up pakosol that it -probably- wasn't archival but no definitive answer that I remember
I'm sure there are ferrotyped photos still hanging somewhere so -I- wouldn't get caught up in the archival talk. More archival than I am

Mix your own using glycerin and photo-flo

I tried ferrotyping on plates and had little success but didn't try that hard and didn't use pakosol or other
I just threw onto hot plate wet with some Photo-flo and got "oyster shell" from it drying outside in
Did the same but then immediately into hot oven so the top dried along with bottom and much more evenly outside in ..only a few missed areas where I probably didn't get good contact to begin with.
A nice look.

I may be able to get some gallons of it for next to nothing -1970's vintage. I thought about it just for the glass containers but passed not knowing what the stuff was. Also had some stuff called Pakostat? which I figured was in the same family.

Any info on pakostat?

Charles Webb · Feb 14, 2008

Hello,
The dryer you have purchased is a fine one, check to be sure the canvas is not contaminated with fixer or hypo clearing agent. It can be washed in a regular washing machine, spin dry then put back on dryer and run it until it is dried. Pakosol is a wonderful flatining agent, I have used it for more than fifty years with absolutely no ill effect. I have many prints from those early days that appear to be unchanged since they were made. I used to do a lot of work for the USFS and they required archival prints. Mine were all made using Pakosol. I know of no professional using it that doesn't like it.

Charlie...........................................

jamusu · Feb 15, 2008

Charlie...

The canvas is kind of dirty. I guess I will wash it before I dry prints that I really like. I still can't believe the price I got it for!

Thanx,
Jamusu.

ic-racer · Feb 19, 2008

I would be more concerned with the canvas than the Pakosol. I saved my dryer from years ago and I use it to dry the test prints. I would not let an archival print near it. The concerns I had were (a) difficulty in removing the canvas to wash it (b) how to wash the canvas to remove all hypo (c) testing to be shure it is clean. Like I say, I won't use mine for a good print, but I am somewhat influenced by 1980s archival philosophy.

If you really want to use it, maybe make new canvas, and consider replacing it at regular intervals. Possibly using a limited-use piced of blotter paper between the paper and the canvas. If it is archival or not will probably just depend on how well you protect the canvas from hypo contamination.

Premier Dryer Score!-Pakosol

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