Boiling gelatin

In the interest of that grand database that we're all building together,
I'm curious about your method; did you boil the gelatin and then cool it
and apply it at a cooler temperature, or did you apply it very hot?

To my mind this speckling problem that I've seen occurring with hot size
is not about whether gelatin has been boiled or not that makes the
difference, but the temperature on application. And again, let me repeat
that for all I know this may not be the same for all papers or for all
hardeners. But what I suspect is that it's not about how hot the gelatin
is, but how hot the water is; in other words I'm thinking the speckling
effect that I've seen with hot (never boiling) gelatin size, on Arches
papers, with no size and with gelatin-gesso size, doesn't have anything
to do with the gelatin per se. The same thing might happen if you just
treated the paper with hot water. What I suspect happens is that the
hot water does something to the factory size on/in the paper; since the
temperature of the water is above the point where gelatin dissolves, it
just may be that the hot water dissolves some of the gelatin size that's
in the paper, and that this is what causes the failure of the size
later.

And if my speculation has any merit, then it would make sense that I
would see the effect in Arches paper, since it is factory-sized with
gelatin, and that Chris wouldn't see the effect in Fabriano Extra-White,
since it is not factory-sized with gelatin but with some other substance
which is most likely not subject to the same disruption. What do you
think? It makes a whole lot of sense to me,

Katharine

Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
>
> One last post for the day (yeah, right).
>
> In the middle of thesis (re)writing the Jewelia hoopla was a happenin'.
>
> Mind you, on MY side of the fence, I was having a surprise (understatement)
> appearance of a daughter of my husband's from 30 some years ago suddenly
> appear in our lives--**quite** the surprise for me, and our kids, the
> latter who were not in the know. I feel part of the "who's your daddy"
> group now. All's well; she looks just like him and is grumpy in the
> mornings just like he is. Will wonders never cease. His 88 year old mother
> told him he's written out of the will and the newfound granddaughter is in
> :).
>
> Now I know that is an overshare, but I'm not one to hold back, as y'all well
> know. And I bring it up because I have been on this list for 6 years now,
> and I do consider each and every one of you "family", even though we have
> our off moments. And there are far more important things in life to bitch
> about than Jewelia (Now, Gordon, "bitch" is tamer a word than "cunt" and
> it's even on TV).
>
> NOW, I thought I'd come out of the closet with something FAR more important
> that I swore I'd never talk about on this list (I lied): I BOILED MY
> GELATIN AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE!!!
>
> Yes, folks, all 30 sheets printed smooth as a baby's butt, with no
> speckling. They better have--they'll all be in my thesis show in a month.
>
> This proves ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about speckling except I, for one, will no
> longer worry about whether or not I accidentally overheat my jello ever
> again while attending to the soap opera called my life.
>
> Now THAT'S something to argue about. Open the floodgates...
> Chris
Received on Fri Mar 11 18:59:13 2005