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Fibre Print Drying, An Alternate Approach
Dave Miller
Dave miller
27th November 2008
When we work on fibre paper prints we sometimes have difficulty in obtaining a completely flat print. The drying method described here, which guarantees a flat print, is one that I came across some years ago, and I’m no longer sure where,...
  #10  
By Dave miller on 8th July 2011, 12:50 PM
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That’s interesting Tony, thanks for the feedback, it does sound to me that you are working with the paper far too wet. It is important to mop all surface water off both sides of the print before taping it down. I have to moisten the tape to allow it to stick and have never had to put more than 4 or 5mm of tape on the print. When next you try this get as much water out of the print as you can with tissue before taping it down onto dry glass.
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  #11  
By TobyDeveson on 8th July 2011, 02:18 PM
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I guess there is no harm in hanging the prints up to dry for half an hour or so. The main reason I am doing this is to avoid the dry down though so I wouldnt want that process to start before I tape the paper down.

I shall perservere. I guess the main problem with using cling film is it may not allow the paper to breath evenly as it is inevitably crinkly.
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  #12  
By Dave miller on 8th July 2011, 02:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TobyDeveson View Post
I guess there is no harm in hanging the prints up to dry for half an hour or so. The main reason I am doing this is to avoid the dry down though so I wouldnt want that process to start before I tape the paper down.

I shall perservere. I guess the main problem with using cling film is it may not allow the paper to breath evenly as it is inevitably crinkly.
No need to hang them up, just dab the moisture off each side of the print before taping.
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  #13  
By paddy on 9th July 2011, 06:31 PM
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Hi everyone
This is my first post so go easy on me.
I buy acid free blotting paper from silverprint in london
I squegee the surface water off the fibre print then sandwich the print inbetween the first 2 blotters with a heavy book on top for 20 minutes then the 2nd blotters for 2 hours then the 3rd and final blotters overnight (12 hours)
In the morning or 12 hours later i take the print out and it has dried flat, but on a hot day prints will tend to curl a bit anyway (16x12).
paddy
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  #14  
By Nabhar on 11th April 2012, 09:27 AM
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I tried this last week, exactly as described, and it works an absolute treat. I no longer have to use the hot-press, books with weights, or dry-down timing calculations.
I received many approving comments from my fellow artisans .....so the local glazier might benefit too!

Thanks Dave.
JP
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  #15  
By Paulographic on 11th April 2012, 11:32 AM
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My method of removing surface water from prints, aside from a squegee, is to lay them on a high quality tea towel with another on top then dab with good quality kitchen roll which though unlikely to be acid free is not in contact with the prints for more than seconds. The towels I use are catering glass cloths, the size of six 10x8s, got from a mill shop for 50p each.
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  #16  
By Dave miller on 11th April 2012, 01:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nabhar View Post
I tried this last week, exactly as described, and it works an absolute treat. I no longer have to use the hot-press, books with weights, or dry-down timing calculations.
I received many approving comments from my fellow artisans .....so the local glazier might benefit too!

Thanks Dave.
JP
I'm pleased to read that you found it helpful.
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  #17  
By Mark J on 16th March 2024, 02:11 PM
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I just bought a 1200 x 600 x 8mm piece of shelving glass, and will be trying out this method this evening with 16x12" MG FB 'Classic'.
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  #18  
By Reginald S on 16th March 2024, 10:54 PM
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Here comes another "Alternate Approach For print Drying".
With a selfmade glue of water and rice starch you may glue the wet print (like a wallpaper) out of the clearwash tray directly to a sandwichlike Capaplex plate (thin aluminium plate/foam plate/thin aluminium plate).

Disadvantage:
The edges of the prints won't glue the same way as the rest of the print (the same with wallpaper where you have to press the edges to the wall - which would leave visible signs to the print's edge).
Once dried you have to cut 2cm of each print edge.

Advantages:
No tricks needed, no mounting tissue or cardboard needed.
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  #19  
By Mark J on 17th March 2024, 06:32 PM
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Yes, I remember you posted this before. It seems a shame to give up 2cm around the edges, given the price of fibre paper these days.

Well, I can say that the method is excellent, I just cut the first two trial 16x12 prints off the glass. They are dead flat. It took only 24 hours to dry, and I can see that the dry-down is much less than the c.10% that I had to use in the past. Maybe I can do a test on that next time.
My procedure was to hang each print for about 2x 2mins each way up, on a line, before taking them to the glass plate. Then a brief wipe over with kitchen roll once each print was on the glass, followed by the taping.

The only disadvantage now seems to be how to get the remaining tape off the glass. It is very well attached, and this glass is too big to soak.
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