I've been trying on and off for several years to find a way of holding
paper *rigid* for re-registering subsequent coats in gum printing. Taping
the paper to glass (or aluminum or other rigid support) around the edges
has been suggested, but doesn't work unless the paper is so heavy that you
don't need it anyway (at least in my experience) because when it gets wet
all but the toughest, thickest paper buckles, and the buckles don't as a
rule come out entirely, either before you expose (so you can't re-register
perfectly anyway) or before the next coat. (I've even had trouble ironing
them out of a finished print.)
Among methods tried was a heavy duty photo-type spray adhesive (as I
recall, a 3M product, with a name like "88") on high-impact polystyrene,
which "worked" best of any, tho it still tended to come loose. The idea
was to remove the paper from the support with a solvent when the print was
finished. A paper conservator warned me against this, saying residue of
the cement would remain in paper & be bad.
I also tried shellacking paper to 16-guage aluminum as recommended in an
old book. It only held when I used a couple of VERY heavy coats of
shellac, then didn't release with denatured alcohol tho I got fairly
intoxicated trying. I'm advised that acetone would have done better &
another source says acetone is really not so bad as it smells, but somehow I
resist a whole tray of it, at least until last resort....
I've thought of drymounting paper to the aluminum, then releasing by
re-heating, though haven't tried that yet and don't know if it would
hold. (It's surprising how mother nature [father nature?] CAN make even a
flimsy little piece of paper pucker when s/he wants to.)
In my experience various heavy papers will stay rigid enough so that you
can re-register largish prints quite precisely, but the medium-weight
smoothish paper I like does twist and turn, or at least shimmy. As I have
said under separate cover, I take this to be origin of the custom of
printing gum on a rough texture -- you don't notice a double edge so much.
(Of course the *ideal* is complete print in one coat, a consumation
devoutly wished & sometimes even embraced.)
But maybe there's a magic glue or some other idea out there?
Judy