Tiny Bubbles In The ... Gum

I've just done my first gum prints (yes yes I can hear it...the golf clap).
Despite my worst efforts I actually obtained results that were not too bad.
A few things have been bothering me though. I was getting quite a bit of
bubbling in the emulsion as I brushed it on, my coating settled down a bit
but the unevenness was apparent to me afterword. Is there something I can do
or add to my emulsion to counteract this? Is it my brushing technique? My
brush? I tried using both a foam brush and a hog's hair brush, they seem
about equal. Using a coating rod was pointless I noticed. Also, for a
"one-coat" print, generally, how much emulsion should I be using for an 8X10
print? My starting mix was 6 ml or Gum, 6 ml Potassium Dichromate and about
2 grams of pigment. My estimation is that I used about 7 or 8 mls on my
first 8X10 print. Too heavy? How do I determine a saturation point for my
paper (Rives BFK). Do people double coat gum?

~m
Received on Sun Aug 28 18:01:54 2005