U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: humidity and gum coating

Re: humidity and gum coating



On Sat, 2 Sep 2006, Camden Hardy wrote:

What kind of sizing did you use?  I'm no gum expert, but I would think
that paper sized with a hardener as opposed to gelatin alone wouldn't try
to soak the pigment in.  My experiences with gluteraldahide seemed to
completely isolate the emulsion from the rest of the paper.  Just a
thought...
Camden, it isn't clear whether this question was directed to Tom or to me, but the question isn't entirely clear either.... I do know one woman who doesn't harden her gelatin sizing, but it's fairly standard procedure to do so.

However, IME hardened or not wouldn't have mattered in this case. That is, unhardened gelatin tends to stain slightly, but nothing like the stain I got from coating wet. And I assume the gyloxal isolating effect is comparable to the glut, tho I don't recall any direct comparisons on just that point.

However, a warning: You may be setting yourself up for the same trouble as Paul Anderson: the "seems logical disease." Any variable can change other variables in any medium, making such speculation uncertain at best... but, at least in my experience (and that even of acknowledged experts) there is NO telling in advance in gum, it can change every variable, even the color of your underwear.

Let me suggest, however, that you take a look at www.alternativephotography.com, assuming you can access it. The entire first issue of Post-Factory is there, with details of, among other things, basic gum, including pre-soak and sizing of the paper. It's true, this was written in 1998, and other materials & methods have arrived in the interim, but from what I understand the Knox gelatin/glyoxal route remains the most likely, and least fraught, however great some do find glut. In fact, I recently heard about a very bad experience (both for the printer and the print) with the glut as I never heard about glyoxal... so far.

Judy