What's the smoothest rag board for dry mounting?

[max_ebb]

I've been dry mounting on some crescent 100% cotton rag board, and when I look at them with light reflecting from an angle, they're not completely smooth as glass. I can see a slight surface texture from the rag board (I'm also using rag board above the print in the press, without any release paper).

I reduced the pressure significantly on the press, and that helped a lot, but I can still see a slight texture in the surface if I really look for it. I'm I being too picky? I don't think anybody else would notice (especially once it's behind glass). My wife didn't notice until I pointed it out.

Are there smoother rag boards for mounting? How much pressure is actually needed to ensure a good bond? I'm thinking about cutting back on the pressure even more, but I'm using very little pressure now, and I don't want to take the chance of not using enough pressure to get a good bond (I'm using seal color mount tissue).

 

[MMfoto]

There are super smooth boards made for this reason, but the ones I know of are not rag and are not "archival." This is why I'm not a big fan of dry mounting-though it is often hard to avoid.

What are you mounting, btw? The glossier and lighter the paper the more orange peal your going to see. You may have better luck using release paper instead of a rag board between the print and the platen of the press, just don't use release board, it's pulpy core has a lot of texture. I've also had some success using smooth foamboard on top of the print and low pressure with a longer dwell time.

Bottom line though is that dry mounting affects the surface and you can only try to minimize it, but it'll always do so to some degree.

BTW, Colormount is not considered "archival" and kinda negates the point of a rag board. Buffermount is the ONLY tissue I can recommend, aside from Artcare Restore boards.

 

[Sparky]

rag is compressed cotton. So- there's really a limit to what you'll get unless you heat-polish them with extreme pressure - but that'd just look quite ugly, IMO. The texture is what gives the nice 'matte' glow...!

 

[Bob Carnie]

We are using a material called Dibond, Very thin aluminum over a sintra /plexi middle very rigid and smooth. You may want to try this material, very expensive I should warn you.
EMplastics sells this material.

 

[MMfoto]

Bob,

What materials are you using to mount prints to the Dibond?

 

[Bob Carnie]

Drytac has a very aggresive heat adesive that works but we are concerned with the core of the dibond being a plastic based material and with heat we do not want problems down the road. This is a huge potential problem area for us and are proceeding carefully, it does work but need to research more. *heat is primarily for fibre murals* *heat is not good for plastic , sintra styreen and possibly dibond, but the aluminum may be a good separator between the print and the plexi core.
We just purchased a cold laminator and will be using an archival cold adhesive for most applications.
A face mount to plexi with a dibond backer and floater cleats to hang off the wall is a very cool but complex and finiky process. *colour photographs and cibas where the surface is a high gloss*
We really like the dibond as it is easy to cut to size and is very rigid.
As well the aluminum comes in different shades of grey, white and black and makes for a nice center mount and by drilling holes the photographs can be easily center mounted and the dibond provides the visual border.

Bob,

What materials are you using to mount prints to the Dibond?

 

[Colin Graham]

I like Strathmore Museum very much. It has a very light texture that reminds me of a softfocus sort of hum that gives a nice peripheral effect to the print. You probably wont find a completely smooth ragboard.The plain white is just barely on the warm side of neutral, enough to look odd with cold tone prints though.