Glass

    Many years ago, b.c.(before children), I enjoyed gum printing. Now
    I have some time again and I am assembling the equipment to begin again.

    I followed the discussion on light sources with interest. I also
    followed the links provided and tracked down some really powerful
    industrial strength UV light sources. I recall that my mother used
    to say you can't get a sun tan in the house. I think what she meant
    was get out side in the fresh air, but I also think that most glass
    blocks at least some UV radiation. My questions are:

       1. Do printing frames or sheets of glass used to hold everything
          together for the exposure effect the UV light that's doing all
          the work for us?
       2. Is there some obvious fix to this simple problem that I am
          missing?
       3. Or does it really matter? After all cameras with ordinary
          lenses take pictures with UV sensitive film.

    And while I am asking, with all these fancy UV light sources now
    available and with a suitable cooling system, is it not time to
    develop a really bright UV enlarger so as to remove the need for
    inter positives and big negatives?

    Barry Singer
Received on Tue Jan 20 09:31:25 2004