Re: Possibly the silliest Gum question ever!

Ah, what we do for love... There are some papers (Arches Platine for
example) that are made specially for some alternative processes that
don't work as well for gum; this may well be one of them. What's
gelignite? One thing I didn't like about the Platine was the sort of
weird sizing it had; the behavior of this Talbot sounds very similar.
Katharine

davidhatton wrote:
>
> Hi Katherine,
>
> Yes I've tried it. It was a battle of wits and the paper won!
>
> Talbot is, I believe, a close relative of Buxton designed by Mike Ware
> and produced by Ruscombe Mill. It is heavier at 240 gsm and heavily
> sized with gelignite. Yes, it blew! At least for me.
>
> Out of the box the paper is beautiful smooth, white and crisp and
> delicate looking. It is a hand-made paper and sells for around 10 bucks
> a pop plus delivery.
>
> If I were an expert gummmy bear I would be able to make beautiful single
> coat gum prints on it but alas and alack, 'tis wasted on me.
>
> Due to the heavy gelatine sizing I tried just hardening that which came
> with the paper using Formaldehyde. It didn't work. Quelle surprise. The
> gelatine was inconsistent, some sheets having 'snail trails' of gum
> across the surface.
>
> Nextly, I hot soaked the paper for about, oh, 30 minutes. It doesn't
> like hot soaks. When I grabbed the paper, the corner came clean off.
>
> Next a long overnight cold soak. This was fine. No problem except that
> the paper had become totally translucent. I could see my fingers through
> the paper but it was still strong enough to hang on the washing line.
> BUT, it didn't dry flat at all. It didn't just curl, it became distorted
> in every direction. When I taped it down to coat it (all four edges) it
> bellied up. This happened even after double sizing and formaldehyde
> hardener.
>
> When coating you need to be faster than a Norwegian Racing Sardine 'cos
> then it buckles as the colour is applied. I ain't that fast..Only after
> about 4 coats of gum and development does it start to settle down.
>
> Another wonderful feature of this paper is that it sinks during
> development. Excellent! I developed face up which worked reasonably well
> but obviously not to be recommended. Some kind of flotation device is
> needed.
>
> This is definitely a paper for the pros., not for people such as I.
>
> I may try it again after about 5 or 10 years of experience but I do
> think you experts should give it a go. especially for that 'Special'
> picture.
>
> Regards,
>
> David H
Received on Sat Oct 29 10:06:43 2005