Print Dryer Vs. Squeegeeing

[DF]

'Using Print Dryer for first time and believe there is a loss of sheen/shine on my rc glossy's as opposed to if I had sqeegeed them dry. Yeh I know - "try a test yourself..."
Opinions?

 

[bdial]

Most print dryers meant for fiber paper will be too hot for RC.

 

[Slixtiesix]

If it´s a heating press you´re talking about, you should not use that for RC prints! Or is this one of these things that use a flow of warm air to dry the prints?

 

[Mick Fagan]

Dirty exit rollers could be an issue, especially if you have foam exit rollers and the foam is coming apart and depositing tiny pieces of foam on a not quite dry print.

I've been running RC paper dryers at home for around 25 years now, the prints from forced drying as opposed to hang drying, with or without the help of a squeegee, are virtually identical, although I would give the edge to any prints that have been through my RC paper dryer.

According to Ilford, forced air drying in their machines will give you the best results. Temperatures up to about 80ºC I seem to remember are alright, that said, with a bit of fiddling of the paper speed through my dryer, and a surface temperature from a direct readout off the paper surface of around 70ºC, I get excellent and print to print evenness and quality. As well as a continuous input/output.

Kodak paper, when I used it, was pretty much the same, as was Agfa RC paper.

Mick.

 

[Jim Jones]

One way is to stretch a clean towel over a flat surface. Place the print face up on the towel and very slowly drag the print across the towel while moving the spread fingers of the other hand across half the print to apply light pressure. Rotate the print and repeat while blotting its other half. Now flip the print face down and repeat. Very slight movement of the print across the towel is required, which minimizes any abrasion of the emulsion. Even with particle laden wash water, abrasion was no problem for thousands of RC prints. The prints are hung from clothespins strung on a wire. Drying takes only a few minutes in a fairly dry room. With practice this is easier to do than to describe.

 

[removed account4]

we had a giant rolling metal drum print dryer when i was in school.
rumor was that kids who didn't know any better stuck rc prints in there and they
would fuse to the drum. there was a temperature control knob and i seem to remember rc prints
going through it, maybe they lowered the temperature for RC maybe it sped up the belt or both?
no idea .. i remember some places there was a nick or something on the drum, and you had to make sure that wasn't were your print was or it would damage the emulsion
from what i remember glossy rc and fb prints came out dry and sort of shiny ( not sure if shiney-er than rack drying face up or face down )
i never used the dryer, i would just squeegee and use racks and still do this, or dangle the prints from a corner after squeegee'd with
a windshield wiper blade on a sheet of plexiglass. rc prints dry fast ( thats why i love rc prints they wash and dry fast )
even though i was offered a giant dryer (the one with canvas and a heat drum ) i never bothered with it.
besides,i don't really like extreme gloss ( find it distracting and hard to see the photograph if any lights are on or it is daylight ).

good luck !

 

[Neil Grant]

No contest - with a paper dryer you're printing dry-to-dry. There's no uncertainty in allowing for 'dry down' and no build up of semi-wet stuff in the darkroom. I was lucky enough to inherit a Durst 12" RCP roller dryer - it makes for a slick workflow. I just hope it keeps on going, because I bet spares are non-existent.

 

[Paul Howell]

I use a blow dryer to dry RC, no issues with gloss.