[alt-photo] Re: PVA for SIZE & GUM ?

[Paul Viapiano]

Judy,

What question? You mean if PVA Size is discontinued, what will we all do? I 
missed something in your post...

BTW, please send me some gloy for my envelopes. They won't seal properly in 
the desert air.

Best wishes from the left coast,

Paul


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Judy Seigel" <jseigel at panix.com>
To: "The alternative photographic processes mailing list" 
<alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 12:30 PM
Subject: [alt-photo] Re: PVA for SIZE & GUM ?


>
> On Thu, 4 Mar 2010, John Brewer wrote:
>
>> When I first started gum printing in the 1990's I used Gloy gum, (not to 
>> be
>> confused with Gloy paste), for the gum Arabic ingredient. I believe the
>> recipe was 'improved' around 2000 and it wasn't suitable for printing 
>> with.
>> I think someone, (Terry King?), did try to speak to the manufacturers to 
>> er,
>> 'un-improve' it but I doubt if there was any success.
>>
>> J.
>
> For what it's worth I mention that I tried the vaunted "gloy gum" when the 
> list first heard the word on it from Terry King (somewhere around the 
> jurassic age, if memory serves).  Terry's claim was that not only was it a 
> great general size, but (as I recall) that it could take 3-coat separation 
> without resizing. And he sent me a vial of Gloy out of the kindness of his 
> heart.
>
> Alas, on this side of the Atlantic I found it utterly useless, except 
> perhaps for re-sealing envelopes.  It's possible, I realize, the water, 
> the applicator, the whatever whatever whatever was different enough here 
> to cause the discrepancy, but since, at the time, I'd found glyoxal & gum 
> arabic quite serviceable I let the matter rest.
>
> But now, in light of PVA size I have another question:  I usually do 
> comparison tests with the Stouffer 21-step which give me the confidence 
> (foolhardy or not !) to make pronunciamentos, but I have not yet used the 
> PVA sitting on my studio table. (Life has, to date, continued to 
> intervene.)  My question perhaps should wait til then, but this thread 
> brings it up so I ask now...
>
> I expect to run a gum workshop this summer, and tho I usually open a 
> workshop with full-fledged paper sizing (shrink, coat, recoat, harden & 
> like that), and my instinct is to do that anyway as a token of "history," 
> and/or fail-safe in case PVA is a market item that could disappear or be 
> changed by manufacturer(s), or not available in the antarctic, I wonder 
> how folks who use PVA for gum would treat that question?
>
> TIA,
>
> Judy
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