RE: My papyrus adventures

Kate, Here is my technique for coating Bein Fang and other thin paper.

When I coat thin papers for printing, I coat the entire sheet out to the
edges. To do this I use drafting tape along the edges to hold the paper
down, but it is not used in one continuous piece on each edge, but rather it
is a series of lengths that allow for the paper to be relieved and
reattached to the surface being used to coat the paper. As the solution is
applied the paper will grow. I go around the paper and move the tape, with
paper attached outward, gently pulling on the paper. This is done all around
the paper until both an even coating and flattened paper are achieved.
Immediately I remove all the tape and with the little extra in the brush,
apply solution to the areas where the tape was covering it. The paper is
then dried and rehumidified. The humidity that I return to is 60% +/- 3%.
This is for platinum printing.

To expose the paper, I use a sheet of Plexiglas with a rubber pad adhered to
it. The rubber pad is small than the paper but bigger than the image area.
The paper is attached to the plexi with drafting tape carefully pulling on
the edges so that it is laying flat. The neg is placed on top of it and it
is placed in the contact frame.

Eric

Eric Neilsen Photography
4101 Commerce Street
Suite 9
Dallas, TX 75226
http://e.neilsen.home.att.net
http://ericneilsenphotography.com
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kate M [mailto:kateb@paradise.net.nz]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 3:07 PM
> To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
> Subject: RE: My papyrus adventures
>
> Camden said: Issues to overcome. There were some issues that became
> apparent as I was working through this. The first one happened between
> the
> coating and exposure. Moisture makes that papyrus curl/wrinkle like
> there's
> no tomorrow. As a result, when put in the contact printing frame (quite
> tightly, I might add), there were several spots that were not in direct
> contact with the negative, resulting in blurry splotches. I'm thinking I
> will hot press the papyrus after coating next time to solve this; can
> anyone
> see a reason not to do this?
>
> Hi Camden, when coating on surfaces that wrinkle, I have stretched my
> paper
> (damp) onto masonite using paper framer's tape. It does make the whole
> process more unwieldy, but it also keeps the paper flat! The main problem
> with doing this is that you have to then cut the paper off the board as
> the
> tape, once set, is pretty much impossible to remove from the paper. I
> coated
> the masonit in flat emulsion paint to avoid any oil from the board getting
> into the damp paper. As for drying, I'd be tempted to stretch the paper
> again to dry......means a waste of paper at the edges but at least a
> wrinkle-free end product.
>
> I'd be pleased to hear if anyone has any newer tech for stretching paper
> than this.
>
> Cheers
> Kate
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Camden Hardy [mailto:camden@hardyphotography.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, 26 July 2006 4:32 a.m.
> To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
> Subject: My papyrus adventures
>
>
> As many of you probably know (refer to my previous postings on the
> subject),
> I have begun a mission to get a good palladium print on papyrus. This
> post
> is an account of my experiences thus far as well as my initial impressions
> of the material for printing.
>
> The paper itself. I purchased my papyrus paper from
> http://www.dickblick.com/zz112/39/. I was given a choice of "light" or
> "dark" color, at which point I went for "light". The paper is gorgeous
> (refer to the website for a picture). As far as wet-strength goes, it's
> one
> of the strongest materials I've ever worked with. Once wet, it's
> incredibly
> difficult to tear.
>
> Coating. Coating was quite a bit easier than I expected it to be. The
> drop
> count for papyrus worked out to be about 1 drop/2 sq. in...roughly the
> same
> as Arches Platine. I used a magic brush to spread the sensitizer. The
> papyrus didn't absorb the chemistry to fast or too slow, which made it a
> very pleasant experience.
>
> Development. I used a 3% potassium oxalate solution at room temperature
> for
> 3 minutes. The color of the papyrus combined with the warm tones of pot
> ox
> development is stunning (sorry, I haven't had a chance to scan anything
> yet...once I get a good print I'll post a link).
>
>
> The next problem (not so much a problem) is with drying. I finished my
> first print late Friday afternoon, and left it to hang dry over the
> weekend.
> Big mistake. It wrinkled so much when it dried no amount of hot pressing
> could flatten it. For one of my test strip prints earlier that day, I
> only
> let it hang dry for about an hour, then hot-pressed it. That worked out
> really well. So my advice to anyone wanting to try this is don't leave it
> too long to dry.
>
> That's all for now. Friday's work was simply to answer the question "can
> it
> be done". Now that I've got some experience, I'm going make a second
> attempt sometime this week and hopefully I'll have a print to show off to
> everyone. I'll keep you all updated.
>
> If anyone has had experience printing on papyrus, I would love to hear
> about
> it. Based on my previous thread about this, it doesn't sound like anyone
> has, but I'm throwing this out there just in case.
>
> Camden Hardy
>
> camden@hardyphotography.net
> http://www.hardyphotography.net
>
>
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Received on 07/27/06-08:30:46 AM Z