A few thoughts:
Amount of solution: I use 4ml of final mix per 100 square inches on
coated paper. So, if you are coating a 10x12 inch area for an 8x10 neg,
that is 120 square inches or about 5ml of solution. Quite a difference
from David Roe (who uses 10ml). That seems to be the way of gum!
Brushes: The brush that "I" use to put the coat down is not that
important. What is important is a dry and soft and clean hake to do the
final evening out. This is a "touch" thing. You are barely making
contact with the chemicals and yet "feeling" when it solidifies (and
then stopping). I tend to use a hake brush for both steps, but for me
the first brush type isn't that important.
Bubbles: If you are really getting three dimensional bubbles (as
opposed to uncoated spots or flakes of coating washing off in
development) try adding some cheap vodka to your mix. Really, I'm not
kidding! I use 1:10 (1ml vodka for every 10ml of mix). It reduces
bubbles and makes the whole coating more even and simple to apply. Some
gum printers will say you need to use Everclear, a very high proof
alcohol that is illegal in many states (including mine). Others,
including Katherine I believe, didn't find it helped at all. That seems
to be the way of gum!
Hope that helps.
--------------
Tom Ferguson
http://www.ferguson-photo-design.com
Received on Mon Aug 29 08:52:35 2005
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