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Author Topic: Mounting on Aluminum advice  (Read 1464 times)

disneytoy

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Mounting on Aluminum advice
« on: January 05, 2017, 03:12:03 pm »

Mounting to Aluminum

Hello!

Take a look at these photos. I would like to start mounting some of my clients work to aluminium with this treatment. I've been googling but havent't found the info I need.

I have a 1 meter wide cold laminator. I print on an Epsdon 9890. I have Drytac Multitac.

1) What type of aluminum do I need to get? Any specific specs, like thickness and how the edges are cut? I'd say 24x24 to 30x40"

2)  I'm guessing in the treatment the image has a lamination over it since there is no glass? Any suggestions on material?

3) I don't have a lot of mounting experience. Would the proper process be laminate the surface of the print. Then apply the adhesive to the aluminum, then mount the laminated photo to the aluminum? What is easiest.

4) Trimming. I'm guessing unlike mounting to sintra or foamcore where I'd mount to a larger board, then trim the finished piece to size. We really can't trim the aluminum. so the image is larger than the alumiunum. The aluminum is the finished size, then you'd trim the image to the metal?

5) I've had issues trimming photo paper like this by hand, without causing the edge to rise up a bit. (image face down). Any suggestions on trimming the paper flush to the aluminum?

6) I have a lot of Epson Premium Glossy 250. Will a laminate work well with this? Or is another paper recommended?

Sorry for all the questions, but I just have to have the steps in my head. Other than the Aluminum, I think I have everything I need to give it a try.

Thanks

Maxi
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Richard.Wills

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Re: Mounting on Aluminum advice
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2017, 01:42:00 pm »

Hi Maxi,

You want drytac's facemount adhesive - more expensive, but dead smooth, and you can see if there are any faults / dust specks prior to adhering the print.

1) What type of aluminum do I need to get? Any specific specs, like thickness and how the edges are cut? I'd say 24x24 to 30x40"

I'd go for 1050 Al, 2mm, filmed both faces. No idea where in your area to get it cut - we went through 4-5 different suppliers before we found a local (30 miles) supplier who could deliver a quality product to us. Clean edges with a fine, fresh deburring blade, then polish smooth with diamond pad. If collecting from the supplier is an option, I'd strongly consider it. We and our clients are far more picky about faults than most of our supplier's clients... Most of the faults we've had with our current supplier have been caused in transit.

2)  I'm guessing in the treatment the image has a lamination over it since there is no glass? Any suggestions on material?

Try the protac lustre, or satin matte

3) I don't have a lot of mounting experience. Would the proper process be laminate the surface of the print. Then apply the adhesive to the aluminum, then mount the laminated photo to the aluminum? What is easiest.

That's the way to do it - in the UK, the face mount is around $15.00/sqM, so laminate first, so that any dust is captured (not present) before you mount. Make sure you trim the adhesive flush with a razor, before mounting (stops the blade form snagging). Thoroughly clean the aluminium with iso propyl alcohol, to remove any grease, before laying down the adhesive.
Start off on smaller pieces, with the machine on a slowish speed, and remember to wipe back of print with a clean tac-cloth before, and as you go.
If you get a few small bubbles in the adhesive, you can pop them with the point of a scalpel, and squeeze down with a thumb nail. Major adhesive application failures can be removed as long as you do it within a few minutes of applying.

4) Trimming. I'm guessing unlike mounting to sintra or foamcore where I'd mount to a larger board, then trim the finished piece to size. We really can't trim the aluminum. so the image is larger than the alumiunum. The aluminum is the finished size, then you'd trim the image to the metal?

2mm bleed all round, then trim face up with a razor, cutting from below, with the work over the edge of the bench. New blade edge on each print edge.

5) I've had issues trimming photo paper like this by hand, without causing the edge to rise up a bit. (image face down). Any suggestions on trimming the paper flush to the aluminum?

6) I have a lot of Epson Premium Glossy 250. Will a laminate work well with this? Or is another paper recommended?

Should work absolutely fine.

Make sure that your laminator is set up absolutely even left to right, and set pressure low - enough to apply the adhesive, but too much pressure will lead to waves, bubbles and copious swearing.

When we get aluminium cut, we get charged from 8x4' sheets, so we tend to order what is needed for client jobs, and then order the remained cut to common sizes (10x8, 12x18 etc). it would be worth getting some pieces 24x6" and 32x6" cut, to use as leader boards for applying the adhesive. Also some 10x5" sections, to use to set the roller pressure. Make sure that you clean the aluminium of any sharp edges, as these will easily damage the silicon rollers.

And practice. And practice more. And shave your arms / head, eyebrows. Be not friendly with your pets, hoover and mop your workplace. Use sections of multitac to wax yourself and clothes before you start, and make sure your workspace is at least 65F, for the adhesive and laminate to work properly. The nice thing about aluminium is that is doesn't hold a static charge, so doesn't attract dust.

It is a fairly straight forward procedure, and just like dentistry, is simple, when you know how. Unlike root canal work, you will be the one to suffer when the procedure goes wrong. But with practice, it becomes routine.
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BradSmith

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Re: Mounting on Aluminum advice
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2017, 01:58:15 pm »

Richard,
Your reply is a perfect example of why this is such a spectacular forum.  Real world information on a very narrow, tiny niche of photography, offered in great detail to help someone you've never met , nor probably never will meet in person.  I can't benefit directly from this, but none the less, thank you for the interesting, informative response.
Brad   
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disneytoy

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Re: Mounting on Aluminum advice
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2017, 06:22:18 pm »

Thank you Richard!

Excellent information. Very helpful. I'm going to start practicing.

Max!
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stockjock

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Re: Mounting on Aluminum advice
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2017, 01:22:33 am »

Hi Richard,

I will second the kudos.  I doubt I will ever go to the trouble and effort of learning how to mount to aluminium but I loved reading your detailed reply to the original poster.  I appreciate your generosity in sharing your expertise.

Paul
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bill t.

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Re: Mounting on Aluminum advice
« Reply #5 on: January 09, 2017, 03:34:54 pm »

Will add that while Epson Luster delivers terrific value, its thin and rigid substrate exaggerates bumps from trapped debris or adhesive defects.  Because the substrate in very rigid and not compressible it is almost impossible to push down such defects (with say a screwdriver tip) because there is simply no place for them to go.  There may be some advantage in using a thicker and softer cotton based media which can more easily bury such defects in its softness, with the help of a Philips screwdriver tip.  Of course perfect technique makes this observation irrelevant, but good luck with perfection.

Richard's suggestion of facemount adhesive is brilliant and I am going to try it on my roll order.  Have had some disappointing QC issues with my last two rolls of 51" x 200" White Multitac, the kind with the white blockout center.  Lots of ripples in the adhesive which are quite evident on RC papers.  I'm on my second roll of Coda CM1 and find it much smoother.  At about $0.35 a square foot CM1 is quite a bargain, compared to something like $1 per square foot for various facemount adhesives.  It's all a matter of trade-offs, the most economical materials are the ones that give you the highest yield per dollar in your particular working environment, and sometimes that favors more expensive materials.

If you order from Coda, I recommend staying with the 200 foot and shorter rolls since they are less likely to break out of their shipping boxes before reaching you.  Drytac has the advantage here with much stronger packaging.

Oh, one of those pictures shows a small panel being coated from a much larger roll of adhesive.  That would be a disaster on my manual laminator, since ripple would develop from the diameter differential between the compressed roller over the panel and the uncompressed roller without support.  That ripple would gradually walk on to the panel, and while it might initially appear smooth it is not impossible that soon after it might start to develop ripple underneath your mounted print.  With good roll tension you might get away with this using a nice machine as pictured, but don't try that on a fully manual laminator where the tension is applied by you alone.  Most suppliers will slit rolls for you, so if you have a lot of same-size panels to do consider buying rolls perhaps 2 inches wider than your panels.

If you have the option, ask your supplier to saw your panels for you instead of shearing them.  The highlights in your pictures suggest those panels were sheared by a less-than-sharp press.  When you are flush mounting it's important to have a non-rolled edge to discourage peel-up.  In any case, it is theoretically useful to apply some clear fingernail polish along the edges of the mounted media to avoid moisture absorption which leads to peel-up.  Takes practice.  You will need to carefully sand your sawed panels, being careful to main maintain a crisp, non-rounded but still deburred 90 degree angle between the front and side.

When dealing with panels be super careful to inspect them for sharp burrs that can cut your rollers!  On my very first panel attempt I trashed a 24" roller that way, the cut quickly opened up into a chasm.  So maybe every new panel mounter should spend some time on a cheap training laminator.  Even the sharp corners of a well-prepared panel can cause minor cuts when feeding into the rollers, so be careful with that, too.  For extra safety the panels can be carried on a sled, and you get some slight extra protection from the print itself when you mount oversized prints to be trimmed later.

 

 

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