Re: A PVA for printing "gum" : a practical approach

Chris

As far as I know powdered gum isn't available in the UK. Making up a gum
solution here needs several days of dissolving lumps in muslin. That goes
some way to explaining the joy of gloy and the non-availability of simple
viscosity adjustments when using gum arabic!

David
----- Original Message -----
From: "Christina Z. Anderson" <zphoto@montana.net>
To: "Alt, List" <alt-photo-process-L@usask.ca>
Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 2:49 PM
Subject: Re: A PVA for printing "gum" : a practical approach

> Terry said:
>
> >>I started with a heavier gum and found that the printers' 14 gum was too
> >>thin
> for me. I tried a gallon of the printers' 14 but passed it on to someone
> else
> even before I discovered Gloy all those years ago. I prefer the 17 but
> that does not make the 14 wrong.
>
> >>The result is that when I mix up PVA and glycerine for my gum prints I
aim
> >>to
> achieve the same consistency as that of Gloy or the gum I preferred, but
> that
> is my choice.
>
>
> Hmmm....Terry, I must be missing something so I'll appear really stupid
and
> ask it anyway: is there anything wrong with plopping in some gum arabic
> powder into the "too thin" gallon of gum arabic to make it thicker? And
then
> when that gallon is used up, just start mixing your own from scratch
anyway?
> I'm never one to waste a gallon of that stuff...
>
> I always do that because I agree that most commercial gums are a bit thin.
> I usually mix a batch of gum arabic at 1+1 or 1+2 and use a dash of the
> thicker stuff in the mix if I'm using up a bottle of commercial.
>
> All the hoopla about gum being hard to mix up, or needing a certain baume,
> in my practice, is a waste of time, literally. I whip it up in a blender
> and use it immediately, kitchen measurements. I figured if all the oldies
> did the 2 in 5 or 2 in 4 there must have been something to it.
>
> But, whatever floats your boat-er-baume meter.
>
> But there's nothing better than having 15 students in a semester prove
your
> method right, and if there's anything missing from your method, they'll
sure
> find it :)
>
> Speaking of which, 15 students have successfully hardened with
> glutaraldehyde, successfully made tricolor gums with very saturated
colors,
> with nary a stain.
>
> Their biggest problem, IMHO, is learning how to "Zen" it....not to rush,
not
> to opt automatically for the hair dryer, the spray bottle, the
brush...next
> time I will NOT teach the shortcuts right away. I had a number of them
hair
> drying the layers immediately before and after development so they could
do
> a tricolor gum print in a couple hours! I mean, that's fine and dandy in
> their own home, but in a squunched alt process lab with 15 students vying
> for space, hair dryers going all the time...where's the pleasure? Oh how I
> digress, obviously this is fresh in my mind...
> Chris
>
>
>
Received on Thu Mar 30 08:19:35 2006