Re: Polymer Plate 80% screen Weirdness

On Mon, 16 Feb 2004, Jon Lybrook wrote:
> Don't I need pure talc, or will perfumed baby powder be okay? I'm a
> little concerned about what affect fragrance and other additives might
> have on the plate and/or film.... Hell, I'm a little concerned what
> affect talc will have inside my frame vacuum!

For the record, I don't think baby powder or any body powder for that
matter, has talc in it any more -- probably some kind of starch -- since
it was determined that talc causes something from breathing it, like
cancer or other lung rot.

When I had Newton rings in a vacuum frame I used cornstarch from the
kitchen. Put a little in one of those yellow squeeze bottle mustard
dispensers, shook it up, aimed up and went poof -- at quite a distance
from the glass. It made a coating so thin you couldn't actually see it,
but stopped the Newton rings.

However, about that mat with the little whatever they are -- nipples? --
on the rubber base. I discovered that in many cases for reasons I could
never figure out (static?, magnetism? pressure? whatever,) they were
leaving a recognizable pattern on negatives -- that is, my NuArc was
putting that pattern on negatives that had been made in a different vacuum
frame. I bought a sheet of heavy black vinyl, mat surface, with fabric
backing, enough for both vacuum frames and plenty left over that I've used
for all sorts of things since then, cost about $8.

After I cut it to size, all I had to do was cut a hole over the inlet for
the vacuum. It also worked MUCH better than that peggy thing -- easy to
wipe clean, and no problem with texture. Why they give you that other is
probably not known even to the maker. At the time, NuArc sold something
similar to my vinyl for about $40. I got mine at the rubber store on
Canal Street.

Judy
Received on Tue Feb 17 08:35:57 2004