RE: brush vs tray size for gum
Carmen, The largest print I've sized is 20x24. But, if I was going to do 22x30, I would make a 22" glass coating rod and apply the sizing with the rod, then use a brush to fix any areas that were either too thin or too thick. This makes the process go very quickly so the gelatin doesn't have the chance to harden. I would also use formaledehyde rather than glyoxal to prevent yellowing. When using a glass rod, first place a towel on the table underneath the paper. This will greatly help keep the rod in good contact with the paper, especially for larger prints. I would guess about 30 ml of 3% gelatin with 18 drops of hardener would do it. Kerik www.kerik.com Original Message: ----------------- From: Carmen Lizardo carmenlizardo@yahoo.com Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 12:51:12 -0700 (PDT) To: kerik@kerik.com, alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca Subject: RE: brush vs tray size for gum Dear Chris and Kerik, I would love to brush size my paper, specially because use a full sheet of 22x30 inches when I print, and you could only imaging how long that takes and how much gelatin I need, but I can't seem to be able to get an even coat, and mixing glyoxal and gelatin together is out because I have to able to rise it off the gelatin to prevent yellow stains. Of course when I used Glut, it was from black magic and that did not work. I also felt it in ky eyes and throat and i not even the sensitive type. I am willing to try again, maybe with a different glut?? Any pointers that you can give me with the brushing?? I was thinking that it had to do with the size of my paper. The gelatin gets hard before I have time to cover the whole 22x30 sheet. Thank you kindly, Carmen --- "kerik@kerik.com" <kerik@kerik.com> wrote: > Chris, > > I agree that tray sizing is a lot of mess and hassle > for no substantial > benefit. Plus, why do the sizing in 2 steps when it > can be done in one? I > use either a glass rod (puddle pusher) and/or a > brush. I add the hardener > (formaldehyde in my case) to the sizing just before > sizing each print. > Three drops of formaldehyde and 5 ml of 3% sizing > easily does an 8x10 to > 11x14 print. In these tiny amounts, exposure to > formaldehyde (or whatever > hardener one uses) is minimal. I get very even > sizing this way. A little > bit of curl to the paper, but nothing that causes > any problems. > > I tried B.M. glut and did not like the results. It > resulted in slower > development and considerably more staining than with > formaldehyde. > > As for sizing with unhardened gelatin, that sounds > like another in a long > line of T King's erroneous hyperboles. > > Speaking of gum, I taught a gumover workshop in > Philladelphia this past > weekend for www.projectbasho.org. On sunday it was > 80 degrees F and 82% > humidity in the darkroom. That's the first time I've > printed gum in > sauna-like conditions and it created some hassles > with very slow > development and the need to intervene with some > brute force measures > (brushes, fingernails, sandpaper). Anybody have > similar problems printing > gum in high humidity? The conditions seemed to > cause problems with the > sizing in particular because development was much > closer to normal when I > did a single coat of gum on unsized paper right out > of the plastic bag. I'm > speculating that the humidity either prevented the > gelatin from hardening > completely or it allowed the gum solution to soak > into the sizing a bit > rather than sitting on top. Despite the problems, I > believe a good time was > had by all. Although I always want things to go > smoothly during the > workshops, it's good for the students to learn how > to deal with problems > when they come up. > > Kerik > www.kerik.com > > > Original Message: > ----------------- > From: Christina Z. Anderson zphoto@montana.net > Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 08:08:22 -0600 > To: alt-photo-process-L@usask.ca > Subject: brush vs tray size for gum > > > Hi All, > This weekend was time for sizing paper, and since I > was doing small sizes > (11x14's) I decided to tray size instead of brush > size to see if it had any > added benefits to brush sizing. > > I was sizing with gelatin glutaraldehyde as usual. > I did use a piece of it > right away, same day, and had no problem with the > sizing not being hardened > and producing "magenta squares" as did Carmen. > However, I was using glut > that I bought from a medical supply house (now > available at the > Photographer's Formulary) and not Black Magic. The > gelatin on my paper was > not slimy in any way so I know it was hardened. I am > still not sure why > Carmen got that problem, and am wondering about the > suitability of Black > Magic, therefore, with its added sulfite. It sounds > like the same result I > had when I tried Terry King's advice to use > unhardened gelatin and got > black > squares. > > With tray sizing and cautions with glut, I gelatin > sized the paper first, > and then the next day I soaked the sized paper > OUTSIDE in a tray of 50ml > glut to a gallon of water. That worked well, but I > would only tray size if > the hardening part could be done outside to minimize > fumes produced by the > surface area of a whole tray of hardener, whatever > type--glut, gly, > formaldehyde. (When I brush size I keep the solution > capped inside a > thermos > and pour out a cup at once.) The gelatin paper went > in "slimy" feeling, and > went out unslimy. > > The paper works fine but I learned a couple things: > paper tray sized with > gelatin will sink to the bottom, not float as does > brush sized paper > (except > Arches) so if I am going to leave the paper soaking > for a while it needs to > be face up. I learned that the hard way. Back to > floaters and sinkers, Mark. > > The paper does curl less than brush sized, but it > doesn't seem worth the > added trouble of trays. This is the only benefit I > can see. Oh, maybe more > evenness of sizing? I don't know this one > yet...will have to print all > papers. > > My husband set up an ingenious "clothesline" for > me--a rung ladder on its > side has plenty of hanger-ready rungs. > > I learned another thing the hard way: I printed 4 > prints on the unsized > but > shrunk paper with a cyanotype layer, put the paper > through the hot gelatin > sizing process and didn't THINK that the > 140-whatever degree gelatin would > shrink the paper even more and make registration a > B---H but you bet it > did--warped and shrunk. Luckily only 4 prints > ruined. DUH. Or, as Clay > says, > DOH. > > The bottom line is that brush sizing is sooo much > easier and works well and > uses way less gelatin--I sized 24 11x14s with a a > liter of 3%, and normally > I can do that many 16x20s with the same. I don't > think even with small > sizes > I would tray size... > > That's all my truly exciting weekend experience! > > Chris > CZAphotography.com > > > > > > > > > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > mail2web - Check your email from the web at > http://mail2web.com/ . > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ . |