Re: Gum prints with an enlarger (UV loss)

John Sparks (sparks@col.hp.com)
Mon, 15 Jan 96 10:27:32 -0700

> At one time I thought about using plexiglass for my gum
> bichromate printing frames. The person at the supply house
> confirmed that most plexiglass is formulated to absorb UV.
> However, he also mentioned that there is a UV-T (UV
> transmitting) variety of plexiglass that should work well for
> our purposes. Unfortunately, I would have had to special
> order it, ...and buy a 4 foot by 8 foot sheet. That was way
> more material than I needed, and due to the costs involved, I
> lost interest. Has anyone had any experience with UV-T
> plexiglass?

I have a Gravity Works contact printing frame that comes with UV
transmitting plexiglass. I have used it for making platinum prints and
found no significant difference in printing times between it and glass.
I was using unshielded black light tubes for a light source. There may
be enough UV blocking in the glass of the tube itself that it wouldn't
make any difference. I never tried it with sunlight where their may be
more of a printing speed difference.

One major problem with it is the plexiglass is not rigid enough to provide
good contact between the negative and paper. There were bubbles of
unsharpness in the prints where there wasn't good contact. I wouldn't
recommend it.

John Sparks