Saving Some Bucks (or Euros or whatever!)

jovo · Jul 10, 2013

There used to be a thread here about workarounds and substitutes for things that stopped being available or were too expensive. Boy did I luck out with one of those coups! If you look online for a drymount tissue tacking iron, you will find that D&K makes one that sells for either $70 or $170 and Bienfang/Seal makes one for $170 as well. BUT, Hobbico, Top Flite (same as Hobbico) and Coverite make utterly identical irons that sell for about $25 including shipping. I just had to replace the Hobbico I'd had for years (I left it on by accident and it burned itself out I guess), with an identical iron.

The other item that works equally well for vastly less money is parchment paper for baking. It replaces 'release' paper that sells for way too much, and I reuse the two sheets I need scores of times before starting with new ones. It works perfectly, and dry mounting is done at a much lower temperature than the 350+ degrees used for baking.

I hate being taken advantage of by the seemingly proprietary nature of photo specific products that gouge the unwary when substitutes work just as well.

Und du? Got any goodies to share?

polyglot · Jul 10, 2013

You got a cheap way of having a drymount press?

agnosticnikon · Jul 10, 2013

I'm reticent to recommend this, but about 23 years ago before I got a mounting press, I used a regular clothes iron. Making sure there was NO water in the iron, and having it set to the non-steam setting, I set the temp with a dial thermometer, and kept the iron slowly moving over the print. I too used parchment paper as a cover. You have to be careful using this method, but it worked. I still have some prints mounted this way and they haven't popped up yet.

Bruce Osgood · Jul 10, 2013

Hay John, good thread.

I got my tacking iron mail ordered from Tower Hobbies, about the same price as you found.

Tom1956 · Jul 10, 2013

And here all this time I've been using an iron to cover my airplanes. Too cheap to buy a cheap tacking iron.

Rick A · Jul 10, 2013

I use a clothes iron and parchment paper to dry mount my prints. I have an older tack iron that cost me $10 used(in LN cond at the time)when I bought it a few years back.

Jon Shiu · Jul 10, 2013

I just use my regular household iron as a tacking iron.

Jon

Bruce Osgood · Jul 10, 2013

jovo said:
The other item that works equally well for vastly less money is parchment paper for baking. It replaces 'release' paper that sells for way too much, and I reuse the two sheets I need scores of times before starting with new ones. It works perfectly, and dry mounting is done at a much lower temperature than the 350+ degrees used for baking.

What time & temperature do you use for the mounting?

Tom1956 · Jul 10, 2013

What does the word Council mean under some of these names? Thx.

jovo · Jul 10, 2013

@ Bruce: I use Bienfang Color Mount Tissue, and set the iron's dial at about 2:00. I have learned not to press too hard as that can leave an impression of the iron on the face of the print. I just tack the tissue as lightly as I can (I do not touch the tissue with the iron directly, but use a bit of the parchment paper between it and the tissue). I also discovered a very wide paint roller with a thick and fuzzy nap that I use immediately after pulling the print from the press. Since using it, I've had no bubbles and no lifting. And that, too, is a helluva lot less expensive than the piece of enameled heavy steel that Light Impressions used to offer to press the print after its time in the press.

@Tom1956: The Council was formed a bunch of years ago to sorta keep tabs on trolls, fights, and other issues that arose from time to time among members. When those issues were identified, the moderators were informed and they would alert the death squads!

David Brown · Jul 10, 2013

jovo said:
The Council was formed a bunch of years ago to sorta keep tabs on trolls, fights, and other issues that arose from time to time among members. When those issues were identified, the moderators were informed and they would alert the death squads!

(PS: Good tip on the parchment paper.)

Kevin Kehler · Jul 10, 2013

Just make sure you are using parchment paper and not wax paper - ask me how I know.

jovo · Jul 10, 2013

Kevin Kehler said:
Just make sure you are using parchment paper and not wax paper - ask me how I know.

Ha!! Ouch!!

Tom1956 · Jul 10, 2013

@Tom1956: The Council was formed a bunch of years ago to sorta keep tabs on trolls, fights, and other issues that arose from time to time among members. When those issues were identified, the moderators were informed and they would alert the death squads! [/QUOTE]

Thanks. Let me know if you need another enforcer. I'm sure we can arrive at a reasonable rate per hit. I've devised all sorts of innovative ways of taking care of spammers and scammers. You track their location and send me my assignment. Satisfaction guaranteed. In fact that's our motto: "You track 'em, and we whack 'em".

jovo · Jul 10, 2013

Tom1956 said:
Thanks. Let me know if you need another enforcer. I'm sure we can arrive at a reasonable rate per hit. I've devised all sorts of innovative ways of taking care of spammers and scammers. You track their location and send me my assignment. Satisfaction guaranteed. In fact that's our motto: "You track 'em, and we whack 'em".

Um....er....thanks Tom! I'm sure we'll be in touch....I'll call you. Remind me not to piss you off!!

Bruce Osgood · Jul 10, 2013

Tom1956,

I'd just like to add to Johns' comments. For our diligence and service we are each rewarded with a reserved parking space at headquarters in New Zealand and eat lunch in the Executive dining room while their.

Ken Nadvornick · Jul 10, 2013

How about the old-timer's stand-by?

Hairspray (very) lightly applied across the cover glass for clamped contact prints. A single can of spray (a lifetime supply) sure beats the cost of large sheets of AN glass. Especially if you accidentally break them. And the coating is easily removed and reapplied too, if needed.

Ken

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jul 11, 2013

I agree with Ken. I installed thousands of slides to the drums of drum scanners and I know much of the art. But vaseline , paraffin , sprays are good methods to apply on clean quartz tubes. Because they are very easy to clean. But when it comes to spraying or oiling expensive gear , may be things changes.

Shalom · Jul 11, 2013

Speaking of parchment paper, it makes a decent emergency ground-glass substitute. It's especially good for checking infinity focus on old rollfilm cameras: cut a strip a couple feet long to the width of the film you're using (in this case it was 3-5/8" for 122), spool it on a pair of spools, and wind it tightly. Then open the shutter and focus right on the paper.

walbergb · Jul 11, 2013

jovo said:
The other item that works equally well for vastly less money is parchment paper for baking. It replaces 'release' paper that sells for way too much, and I reuse the two sheets I need scores of times before starting with new ones. It works perfectly, and dry mounting is done at a much lower temperature than the 350+ degrees used for baking.

Now you tell me I just bought a roll of release paper that will last me a few lifetimes (long live reincarnation)!

Saving Some Bucks (or Euros or whatever!)

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