Vacuum Mounting

[felix5616]

I would like to hear from anyone that mounts their prints using a vacuum press. Is there any advantage to a hot press over a cold press? is one more archival/safer than the other?  I am looking to mount both traditional B+W darkroom prints(about10% of my work) and digital prints, matte and glossy finishes and color prints. I have a CODA 24'' cold roller press that works well for long panoramics.

[bill t.]

Plain vacuum mounting is basically a glue or adhesive process.  Vacuum HEAT mounting is usually dry mounting.  In either case you've got a big press that takes up a lot of floor space.  The heat versions use gobs of electricity, and you may need a special electrical service for the big ones like 60" plus.  You also need a vacuum pump, chuga chuga chuga.

The vacuum sucks out any air stuck under the print which is the big plus for these devices.  It also puts huge pressure on the art package for great bonds.  In the case of heated dry mounting the vacuum arguably draws off enough moisture to ensure a good bond without a separate anti-moisture heating pass without the tissue, but there are dissenters about that.  The vacuum also speed dries the glue in the non-heated versions.  There are special glues especially for vacuum mounting.  The whole vacuum-heating-cooling cycle tends to be a little longish compared to traditional dry mounting, but the compensation is that you can do a whole bunch of pieces at once on one of the big presses.

If you are mounting lots of paper, or if you are dry mounting RC, these are nice toys to have.  Biggest problem is that they tend to become work tables between uses and that generates a whole new set of problems.  Second biggest problem is you can not mount in sections, the physical size of the chamber defines the biggest art you can mount.

I have heard that a heat vacuum press can fix bubbles under adhesive mounted prints, but have never tried it.

I had a chance to buy a nice 40 x 60 vacuum heat press for peanuts, decided I couldn't spare the floor space.

[petermarrek]

Shame you missed out on the big press. I have mine hinged to the wall and a small electric winch pulls it up and out of the way when not in use. A bit of work to build but sure is handy to have. For most of my work I use a cold mount press, it's a lot faster although a bit more expensive to use. Peter

[framah]

The main advantage of a heat press over a cold press is that you can do both hot and cold in a heat press but only cold in a cold press. Heat gives you more choices in your mounting process.

The pressure isn't really that huge... bout 10-15 lbs at most but is consistent over the whole piece.  You can also do laminations with a heat press but not with a cold press.

Even if you find an old heat table that is having problems, you can still buy replacement parts for pretty much all of the innards. I easily replaced my timing circuit board when it went bad.

[Craig Murphy]

I love my Vacu-Press.  Can do 40x60.  Got it from a from a frame shop going out of business.  Not worried about floor space.  In any event if you build a good cabinet/table for the unit you can use that space for storage. They do make great worktables when your not using them.  I agree though that its a PITA to clear the decks when you need it.