Re: Gum on masa, again

[Keith Gerling <keith.gerling@gmail.com>]

I find masa extremely difficult to handle when wet.  I usually "scoop"
it out of the water - developing it face up - with a sheet of aluminum
or plexiglass, hang it up clinging to the support, and then peel the
print off of the support after it has dried a little.  Certainly it is
understandable that you would get creases.

On Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 10:35 PM, Katharine Thayer <kthayer@pacifier.com> wrote:
> Well, folks, I've been tearing my hair out trying to print on this paper,
> and it's not working well for me at all.  I've re-read the latest discussion
> on the subject, and I don't see anywhere anyone mentioning the problem that
> is making the paper impossible for me.  I've adjusted my coating mix to its
> requirements so it coats okay,  though the paper tends to go wavy as it
> absorbs the coating, and it prints fine, but the thing that ruins prints for
> me is that when the paper gets wet through, it becomes very fragile; any
> disturbance of the paper (gently picking up an edge to look at how it's
> developing, etc) opens a crease, almost a tear,  that tends to run
> diagonally across the print but can go in any direction, and there can be
> more than one of them.  Does this happen to no one but me?  Do you use a
> screen or something to support the paper in the water, the way one would
> with a delicate Japanese paper?
>
> Someone suggested that being such a cheap paper, maybe there are large
> inconsistencies between batches so that none of us are actually using the
> same paper, which would explain why people have such different experiences
> with it.  Keith recently suggested that "there are a few interesting little
> surprises that await those who are willing to  experiment" with this paper;
> is this one of them?  If so, I'm not delighted.
> Katharine
>