Re: Vacuum Cover Sheet for exposing Poly plates?: SOLVED

Keith and Poly Plate People,

Just as some closure to my issue with newton rings in my vacuum frame
and Kreene:

Boxcar Press and the company that provides them with some of their
plates, Anderson and Vreeland, were most helpful and gave me detailed
information on the use of Kreene in conjunction with advice on static
control (Kreene is very static prone). Kreene plastic gets taped over
the entire blanket of the vacuum frame, on top of the film and plate. I
then turned on the pump and smoothed out any wrinkles or bubbles with
the Flexowand (which is like the pad one uses to clean dust from record
albums, only longer). To get better pressure, I then lowered the glass
down over the Kreene, which didn't seem to create any problems.
Exposure time didn't seem to change, but presto, no newton rings
anymore. Shot 3 plates and no newton rings, 3 for 3.

The Harold and the staff at Boxcar Press were 100% helpful and
informative about their process (they shoot and process poly plates
professionally all day long as a service) and they know their stuff!

I'm so amazed that there isn't more documentation on the internet
regarding this approach to polymer plate processing. Apparently it's
what most plate production folks do, and clearly, with good reason. It
works!

Thanks,
Jon

Keith Taylor wrote:
> Jon,
>
> I'm not sure it goes under the glass - my recollection of the setup
> I've seen is that it was used in place of it. Check with Boxcar Press.
>
> On Sep 22, 2005, at 10:48 AM, Jon Lybrook wrote:
>
>> Hey all,
>>
>> I was reading some documentation on exposing polymer plates and saw a
>> reference to something called a 'vacuum cover sheet' that goes under
>> the glass, but on top of the film in a frame vacuum. What I read
>> seemed to imply that it helps with newton rings, which have been
>> haunting me for some time now.
>>
>> What is this 'vacuum cover sheet' and does anyone use it? Where do I
>> get some?
>>
>> Best,
>> Jon Lybrook
>>
>>
>
>
Received on Fri Sep 30 09:43:15 2005