Galina Wrote (10/27/97):
>Dear Tom !
>Thank you very much indeed for your answer !<VERY BIG SNIP>
>
>You were right about me mailing my msg to you privatly by mistake. I am not
>sure this subject is of any interest for the rest of the list, but if you
>consider it to be so, please send your answer to the list. I consider it
>very clear and very usefull.
>Maybe, there are other people interested in it ?
>Anyway, I will see, if you send it or not and then decide, if I should ask
>the list about "ceramic paper" factory in Japan.
Private E-Mail(10/26/97) reposted with permission:
Hello Galina,
Glad to help, but please realize that I am not a paper "expert". My
interest in hand made paper is at the amateur level, and my experiments
with alt process on it, while successful, were for aesthetic reasons short
lived. If I read your return address correctly (questionable with my
computer knowledge) you are not in the USA. Norway perhaps?? Most of my
sources will be USA based. So many issues in paper making are
interrelated, it is hard for me to give you useful answers without knowing
how much knowledge you or your students have. This letter may thus be too
long and repeat things you already know.
Paper is divided into two large groups (styles): Western and Japanese. In
"Western" the plant fibers are beaten to the point of breaking, were they
can then be pressed together to form a sheet of paper. In "Japanese" the
fibers are only beaten enough to separate them from each other, then soaked
in a slippery liquid (formation aid) then layered into sheets that rely on
the long fibers tangling into each other. I'm also going to limit my reply
to "Western" paper making, as I don't think many people use "Japanese"
style paper in alt-photo (and I know next to nothing about it).
>I have had a few students doing some research about paper
>compositions/preparation for alt. processes.
>
>Could you, please specify "alkylketene dimer"?
SHORT ANSWER:
"Alkylketene dimer" is an internal size for paper available from Twinrocker
(800-757-8946 http://dcwi.com/~twinrock/welcome.html). Often referred to
simply as "dimer".
LONG ANSWER:
Size is what allows paper to gain an degree of "waterproof-ness". Size
partially coats, and fills in the spaces between, the plants fibers that
paper is made of. Size can be "internal" (part of the paper making
process) or "external' (applied to the surface of the paper after it is
made). Paper without any size is called waterleaf or blotter paper.
Paint, ink, or photo emulsion applied to unsized paper would be absorbed
throughout the depth of the paper (much like a sponge).
Historically size was animal fat. This eventually became gelatin (refined
animal fat?) or Alum Rosin (rather bad for archival reasons). Gelatin is
still used in some papers. A few types of watercolor paper use it, and
"Gum Bichromate" alt-process photographers generally apply gelatin to paper
before printing (an example of "external" size in photo paper). Gelatin is
used in most modern commercial black and white photo papers and virtually
all photographic films. While silver and gum processes seem to work well
with gelatin size, platinum processes do not.
Modern sizes are often "alkylketene dimer" types. I don't know how it is
made, but assume that it is organic (spoils without refrigeration). You
add a small amount of the "alkylketene dimer" size in the last few minutes
of fiber beating. It takes a few weeks of air drying or high heat to "set"
this size! Typical suggestions are 40ml of "alkylketene dimer" size per
kilo of dry fiber. I would double that for photo work. You generally do
not want a photo emulsion to absorb (sink) more than a few fiber depths
into your paper. Emulsion that absorbs too far into the paper will
generally give a "flat" (low contrast) image with poor definition (fuzzy
looking) and weak blacks (washed out).
You can see that fiber size (what the paper is made of and how it is
"beaten") would be a factor in the above issues. Good hand made photo
paper needs to have very close fiber to fiber bonds. This will allow the
size to fill the small spaces between the fibers. Most commercial photo
papers are primarily cotton based (as opposed to wood or bananna leaf or
flax or linen or hemp, all of which can be made into paper). Well beaten
cotton will have long thin fibers that bond very strongly. This becomes
one of the hardest issues in hand made paper for photography. Note that I
used the word "beaten", not the word "blended" or "mixed".
Most hand made paper makers use a kitchen blender (mixer) to break up the
fibers in either raw materials or "half stuff" sheets. Blenders (mixers)
primarily cut and tear at the length of the fibers. More advance hand made
paper workers use a "beater" (often called a Hollander). This breaks open
the fiber along the length of the fiber. A fiber that has only been cut or
torn has the possibility of bonding with another fiber only at it's torn
ends. A fiber that has been broken open along it's length can (and will)
bond with another fiber anywhere along it's entire length. This makes for
a much denser (tighter, harder, flatter surfaced, more easily sized) paper.
Another factor influencing the quality of hand made paper for alt-process
work is drying. In order to maximize these tight fiber to fiber bonds, it
is necessary to press the wet paper under heavy pressure to first remove
the water, then to restack the sheets on dry felts and press again for a
full day before air drying.
My best samples of handmade paper and alt-process photography were made
with 70% hollander beaten cotton (half "rag" cotton and half "linter"
cotton) with a smaller amounts of Abaca (20%) and Sisal (10%). The Abaca
and Sisal were blender mixed from "half stuff" as I couldn't get any
hollander beaten. I purchased "sample" size tubs of the cotton from
Twinrocker (800-757-8946 http://dcwi.com/~twinrock/welcome.html). They
only offer this at a "medium" beating. A longer beating time ("medium
fine" or "fine") might have been better. Unfortunately pre beaten fiber is
very heavy (contain a lot of water) and will probably be very expensive if
shipped to Europe. It also spoils quickly with time and temperature.
Twinrocker are very helpful folks, and will probably be happy to refer you
to a European source (if they know of one). I also purchase my
"Alkylketene dimer" from them.
>and what is "a good D-Max" ?
SHORT ANSWER:
A good black
LONG ANSWER:
Typical photo jargon for "MAXimum Density". Why the "D" comes first in the
abbreviation, I have no idea?!?! Any photo process has a range of tones.
These go from "D-Min" (White, your paper tone plus whatever staining is
produced from the emulsion and processing) to "D-Max" (black, the darkest
tone you can get). The issue of D-Max and hand made paper is that due to
the paper's absorbency and uneven surface, you often get a D-Max that is
only a dark gray (not a true black). This produces images that look weak ,
soft, and washed out.
>I am very interested to find out, if there is some commercially produced
>handmade paper, that is good for our purposes. I have heard about several
>places, but do not have their addresses.
Both Twinrocker (address above) and Lee Scott McDonald (617-242-2502
McPaper@aol.com) make a large variety of interesting hand made papers.
There is also a mill in England making a hand made paper exclusively for
alt-processes. It is called "Buxton" (info at
http://www.mikeware.demon.co.uk/) and is available through Silver Print
(0171-620-0844 http://www.silverprint.co.uk/). I have not had experience
with any of these papers.
>There used to be a small production of "ready made" silver-gelatin
>sensitized handmade paper in Denmark, but they had to give up since there
>was no demand.
>
>I have seen a very nice exhibition in Prague last spring showing
>photographic images combined with a deep relief in paper structure. I have
>not registered the names, unfortunatly.
Silver Print (see address above) sells a popular liquid silver gelatin
emulsion that you can apply to paper, wood, ceramic, and many other
surfaces.
>I am also trying to find a factory in Japan, that is producing "ceramic
>paper" for architectural purposes. That is very good for my photoceramics!
>
>Can anyone help ?
Anyone???? Did you intend to send this to the alt-photo-process list? You
sent it as private e-mail only to me, the original poster of the thread
(tomf2468@pipeline.com). I think this is one of the unfortunate problems
with the alt-photo-process list. One needs to be careful to respond to
"alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca", not simply use your mail reader
program's "reply" function. Netiquette says it would be very impolite of
me to post this reply (because it contains your private letter) to the
list. This unfortunately leads to a lot of information passing hands
privately (like this letter), rather than publicly were others might (or
might not??) learn something.
Good luck with your, and your students, research. Let me know if any of
this helps.
tomf2468@pipeline.com (Tom Ferguson)