Polymer pizza...yumm. :-P
Keith -- didn't you say using a hairdryer for 5-10 minutes would
suffice? Or what about a professional heat gun like what's used for
doing shrinkwrapping and other crafty things?
I looked into a forced air print drier, which would be more convenient,
but it will be a while before I could justify buying one. $$$!
Jon
SusanV wrote:
> Keith and Jon,
>
> After all this talk about drying time and such, this morning I exposed
> and developed a test strip then skipped the hairdryer stage and went
> straight to the oven set at 100 degrees. I figured a few minutes at
> 100 to dry it, then bump the temp up for a few more minutes as per
> Keith's Toyobo instructions. Well........... after 10 minutes I
> checked it, and it had bubbled and kind of melted in all the darkest
> areas! There are also larger (pencil diameter), flat bubbles in the
> mid to light tones that appear to be the polymer detaching from the
> plate base. The plate didn't get that warm... when I took it out of
> the oven it was just a little warm in my hand, not hot at all. SO....
> it appears that the moisture in the polymer needs to escape more
> slowly than the 100 degree oven allowed. Also I would speculate that
> since those deep bubbles occurred, separating the polymer from the
> base, there was moisture down at that level that became trapped when
> the top layer dried more quickly.
> So as usual, haste makes waste :o) we need to be sure they have
> sufficient drying time before any heat curing, and I'd suggest testing
> the heat thing before trying it on something important. I'm going to
> go re-do this now and I'll report back.
>
> Susan
>
>
>
> On 3/15/07, Jon Lybrook <jon@terabear.com> wrote:
>> This is best piece of info I think I've gotten since starting the use
>> the KM73s. Thank you so much for pointing this out Keith.
>>
>> Do you suppose drying the plate after post-exposure would have the same
>> effect? I'm thinking about plates I've already got but haven't printed
>> yet..
>>
>> I'm probably overdoing the post-exposure. 5-10 minutes was generally
>> recommended for Solarplate -- which is why I was doing that. I was
>> post-exposing for 20 minutes in the hopes of eliminating those
>> scratches. It didn't though. I can't see doing a post-exposure for the
>> the time of my screen/image plus some like you do though Keith. That
>> would only be less than 30 seconds for me! I think once the plate
>> becomes the nice blue-green hue as opposed to the light green it's
>> probably good to go though, don't you?
>>
>> The new Toyobo plate sounds like something I should certainly try as
>> well...especially with the finer dot screen I use.
>>
>> Between the new plates, the new 4800 printer I'm considering, and the
>> subsequent ability to start using rolls of new Pictorico Ultra film
>> there's a ton of changes and improvements in store for my process
>> this year.
>>
>> This list rocks!!! Thank you all for being there.
>>
>> Jon
>>
>> Keith Taylor wrote:
>> >
>> > On Mar 15, 2007, at 11:50 AM, SusanV wrote:
>> >> Keith...
>> >>
>> >> you said, "Toyobo even recommend 5-15 minutes at 122-140 degrees
>> >
>> >
>> > Susan,
>> >
>> > I have a sheet from Toyobo that came packed with the plates ages ago.
>> > I tried to find it on both Anderson and Vreeland and Toyobo's
>> > websites, but the AV link was bad.
>> >
>> > I did notice however that Toyobo have a "new" plate out designated
>> > Printight DF. It's apparently capable of resolving 200lpi
>> > (KM73=150lpi) and detail in the 1-95% range (KM73=3-95%). The Shore D
>> > hardness is 55 whereas the KM73s are 67, which means the DF slightly
>> > softer.
>> >
>> >
>> > On Mar 15, 2007, at 1:24 PM, Jon Lybrook wrote:
>> >> Wow. This is really good info Keith. Maybe this is why I have issue
>> >> with scratches, eh? Didn't you say scratches weren't a huge problem
>> >> for you at one point?
>> >> So you dry before post exposing? When post-exposing for 5-10 minutes
>> >> under my Olec unit, it actually gets quite hot...so maybe that's why
>> >> I haven't had more major issues. Perhaps the post-exposure also
>> >> functions as what you and Susan are calling 'dry time'. What do you
>> >> think? Should I bake my plates in the oven after processing before
>> >> post-exposure?
>> >
>> > Jon,
>> >
>> > I'd certainly dry it longer, even if it's just with a hairdryer and
>> > no, I've never had a problem with scratches. I can (and usually do)
>> > wipe quite hard with tarlatans. I have a 5KW lamp that also gets
>> > quite hot but noticed recently that you post expose way longer than I
>> > do - this is probably why!
>> >
>> > My workflow is to expose the plate, dry with newsprint immediately,
>> > then dry for 2-3mins with a hairdryer. Next, I dry it for a further
>> > 5-10mins in a drying cabinet on high heat. The post-exposure is
>> > normally a little longer than my combined screen+image exposures.
>> >
>> > Of all the problems I've had, scratches have never been one of them.
>> > So I think you'd only benefit from drying a little longer.
>> >
>> > Keith.
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>