Re: Photopolymer Plate Options
Hi Keith, Yes, I made the switch to Krene and retrofitted the glass in my vacuum frame with it. I just taped it down across the bottom of the frame with gaffer's tape. I like it because I can not only see, but also feel any grit that may have gotten trapped either under or on top of the transparencies. Harold Kyle, the owner of Box Car Press initially recommended it and I'm very glad he did! It needs to get replaced periodically, but only when pinholes develop. I agree, vacuum frame doesn't eliminate mottling. But it sure helps with general contact problems. I also use baby powder (though I've recently started trying foot powder (but don't tell Mark Nelson or I'll get a stinky foot joke followed by heheheheh)). I'm trying it because it's supposedly more absorbent (10x more) than baby powder. I only use powder with the Pictorico OHP exposure, however, not the screen, which is made from imagesetter film. Something in the OHP makes it create little air pockets when coming in contact with the KM73 plates after the mylar is removed. I've also thought about removing the mylar ahead of time and letting the plate 'air out', but haven't tried that yet. It would be nice to eliminate the dusting step. Someone else once recommended using a hair drier on both. I tried it for several minutes on both the plate and film, but no difference. Jon taylordow wrote: A friend here in Minneapolis is a letterpress printer who uses the polymer plates for type and needs to resolve the finest lines and serifs. He uses a vacuum frame with Kreen instead of glass. Kreen is a plastic that's available from Boxcar and is really the best way to go for perfect contact. Jon Lybrook I know asked about this before, although I don't know if he made the switch. Jon?
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