Re: Dry Mounting

----- Original Message -----
From: "Liam Lawless" <lawless@bulldoghome.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca>
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 3:43 PM
Subject: Dry Mounting

> Evening all,
>
> I recently bought a dry mount press for flattening prints
> and have been
> doing some thinking about dry mounting. The big issue
> with conservators
> seems to be its irreversibility in the event of the mat
> being damaged, I
> think, but Steve Anchell makes the point that if the
> presentation of a work
> be regarded as part of the work itself then we should be
> taking just as much
> care of the mat as the print (see
> http://www.steveanchell.com/articles/articles-output-preservation-and-presen
> tation.php).
>
> Anchell also talks about new, archival dry mount tissues,
> and gives a link
> to a Michael Smith article,
> http://www.superiorarchivalmats.com/sam/Article.html,
> which illustrates the
> supposed benefits of acid-free mounting tissues. I'm not
> too bothered about
> the views of conservators who, in my experience, are
> opposed to almost
> EVERYTHING, but have read that shellac does yellow and
> cause stains with
> age. My question, therefore, is does modern dry mount
> tissue still use
> shellac adhesive? If so, would buffering prevent its
> decay, or just delay
> it?
>
> Also, what are everyone's view's on dry mounting?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Liam
>

   Dry mounting materials are currently made by
Hunt-Bienfang:
 http://www.hunt-corp.com/main.html
and Light Impressions:
 http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com

Both make materials similar, if not identical, to the old
Seal stuff. Either could tell you whats in the tissue and
its archival properties. I am under the impression that dry
mounting tissue is quite acceptable from the standpoint of
its effect on photographic materials.
   There are some newer mounting dry mounting materials
which are supposed to removable, I think both of the above
offer them.
   As far as dry mounting itself, I think it results in the
best looking mount for display purposes.
   I've written a procedure for dry mounting which I find
works well and is less fussy than some of the posted
methods. Mine is based on a handbook published by Seal some
years ago and no longer available. One of the keys to
successful dry mounting is knowing how to dry and flatten
the prints in the press prior to mounting. The other key to
both mounting and flattening is the use of a flat weight to
place the prints under while cooling.

---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@ix.netcom.com