Re: Sizing paper with gum and dichromate

I'll add my 2cents here and agree with Christina and Kerik that
there's no reason not to add the hardener to the gelatin rather than
having a separate hardening bath. I do this with glyoxal, but
contrary to Chris's comment, I don't rinse, because for me with
Arches bright white, though the glyoxal does tend to turn the paper
ivory over time, it reverts to the original bright white in the
developing bath when gum printing, even months after being sized. So
for me, there's no particular reason to do a separate rinse. Your
mileage may vary, of course.

I do always have some glyoxal'ed gelatin left over, since I mix up
200 ml at a time (this makes 3.5% gelatin with a package of Knox;
it's too complicated IMO to bother dividing a package in half) which
makes more than I need to size as many papers as will fit on the
clothesline that runs the length of my kitchen. I just pour what's
left into a yogurt container or some such; it hardens into a nice
solid block that goes into the garbage, and I guess I don't think
it's a big deal.
Katharine

On Jan 1, 2006, at 12:47 PM, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:

> Hi Loris,
> You don't have to rinse paper with formalin or glut after sizing in
> a separate bath or if you put the hardener in the gelatin before
> brush coating. The only one you would have to rinse is glyoxal
> because of the yellowing issues. But I just see no reason to not
> mix it in the gelatin itself and brush on.
>
> I got this message from Kerik offlist because he kept trying to
> send it to the list and kept getting it bounced back: I'd trust his
> advice more than mine, but, of course, we agree :)
> chris
>
> Judy wrote:
>
>
>> That's one I never tested, and I so
>> dislike the idea of
>> hardener in the gelatin I'm not sure I could be my usual objective
>> self, but it does waste gelatin since only good for a day.
>>
>
> Surprisingly, I beg to differ!!
>
> I can size 10 or so sheets of paper for 14x17 prints with about 100
> ml of
> gelatin.
>
> It's soooo easy, I can't imagine doing the gelatin two-step - Bah!
> Everyone
> should at least try it this way:
>
> - Heat gelatin (I usually use 3% solution of 250 bloom to about 120
> degrees
> F)
> - Measure out 10 ml (assuming 14x17 inch print)
> - add appropriate number of drops of your favorite hardener
> - (optionally you can just add the appropriate amount of hardener
> to your
> entire gelatin solution, then measure it out)
> - Coat paper with glass rod or brush
> - Hang to dry or place on screens
> - AND YOU'RE DONE!!
>
> No gelatin to throw away and very even and effective sizing. All in
> one easy
> step. I almost NEVER have staining issues and get very smooth
> creamy tones
> in my gum layers. I use this approach with Fabriano Artistico Extra
> White,
> Rives BFK and Whatman Printmaking.
>
> Kerik Kouklis
> www.kerik.com
>
>
Received on Sun Jan 1 15:21:36 2006