Re: Possibly the silliest Gum question ever!

I thought Gelignite was an explosive or similar.! Maybe the writer meant
gelatine.

~m

Katharine Thayer wrote:
> 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 19:12:05 2005