U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | RE: PVA for gum printing (Re: Artistico Unsized?)

RE: PVA for gum printing (Re: Artistico Unsized?)



Yes, it has been used a lot especially in industry, so if I ever get to do
testing/research, it won't be the technical in academic sense (like the
study of how this particular polymer polymerize or the study of chemistry of
it) but rather the application of it in printmaking.


Dave

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Katharine Thayer [mailto:kthayer@pacifier.com] 
> Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2007 5:19 PM
> To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
> Subject: PVA for gum printing (Re: Artistico Unsized?)
> 
> For whatever it's worth, PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) has long 
> been used as a substitute for gum; since dichromated PVA 
> apparently behaves chemically like dichromated gum arabic 
> (the crosslinking mechanism is assumed to be the same)  the 
> research on dichromated PVA is what we use to try to 
> understand the chemistry of dichromated gum, since there's 
> virtually no research on the mechanisms of dichromated gum per se.
> 
> There are many variations of PVA and not a consensus on what PVA  
> works best as a substitute for gum in a dichromated colloid 
> process;   
> it comes in an endless variety of types depending on 
> molecular weight (length of chain) and degree of hydrolysis 
> among other characteristics.
> 
> David Hatton, several years ago, provided us a wonderful link 
> to a site that explained how the different PVAs behave, 
> depending on their different characteristics.  I went looking 
> in the archives for the link and actually found it (my 
> success at finding things in the  
> archives hasn't always been so good) but when I clicked on 
> the link,   
> it took me to a page that was all in perhaps Korean, so I 
> guess that link doesn't work any more.
> 
> Mike Ware, several years ago, shared with me some research a 
> student of his did to determine what PVA works best for gum 
> printing; he gave  
> me permission to share that information, with proper citation.   
> Here's an excerpt of the post where I shared that with the 
> list, gleaned from the list archives:
> 
> "He said that they settled on was a "polyvinyl alcohol-acetate; i.e.
> only partially hydrolysed co-polymer, which is much more 
> easily dissolved in water than the pure alcohol. We found an 
> 88% hydrolysed PVA, with an RMM around 25 kD in 20% w/v 
> solution, to offer the best all-around results-- comparable 
> to a 14 Baume Gum."
> 
> "If you make any public use of this information in the 
> future, please acknowledge the original experimenter, by citing:
> 
> Stephen Beckett, M. Phil. Thesis, University of Derby (UK), 
> November 1993. (A private communication from Mike Ware)."
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> __________
> _
> 
> 
> Just out of curiosity I tried printing with PVA some time 
> ago, in the  
> form of "gloy."  Keith Gerling was kind enough to share a thimbleful  
> of his supply of gloy with me, so I was only able to make a 
> couple of  
> small test prints, but in that limited experience, I couldn't tell  
> any great difference from gum.  It looked like gum, felt like gum,  
> coated like gum, printed like gum (same exposure as my usual, same  
> number of steps (8) compared side by side with my gum of choice at  
> the time, using the same pigment mix, etc.
> Katharine
> 
> 
> On Aug 25, 2007, at 6:37 AM, Dave Soemarko wrote:
> 
> > First time I heard of it. I just did some search, and it looks  
> > interesting.
> >
> > Thanks for the info!
> >
> >
> > Dave
> >
> >
> >
> > From: henk thijs [mailto:henk.thijs@hetnet.nl]
> > Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2007 9:10 AM
> > To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
> > Subject: Re: Artistico Unsized?
> >
> >
> > On 25 aug 2007, at 14:39, Dave Soemarko wrote:
> >
> >> << What is of no interest for the paper, but just for info:
> >> he uses no gumarabic -he hates formaldehyde or similar- but uses
> >> Mowiol 88 in stead .... >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Henk,
> >>
> >> What is Mowiol 88?
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi Dave,
> > On the box is written:
> >
> > Polyvinyl alcohol 8-88 ; small clear crystals , if you want to use  
> > it and needs some info about percentages etc. just ask.
> > I ordered it from Kremer Pigmente (on the box the name FLUKA is  
> > obviously the manufacturer).
> > Last time i contacted them, they told me that the 8-88 is not  
> > produced anymore, but the 4-44 would be the same , apart from the  
> > concentration (!)
> > cheers,
> > Henk
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------
> > www.thijs-foto.com
> > ------------------------------------
> >
> 
> 
>