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Author Topic: Mounting textured fine art print to foam or gator board  (Read 11449 times)

spacegrey

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Re: Mounting textured fine art print to foam or gator board
« Reply #20 on: February 22, 2014, 08:06:13 pm »

Thank you all for great discussion.
I got lucky and will be able get my hands on vacuum table.
Picking used one tomorrow in NYC metro.
Plan to stop by Adorama or B&H to get dry mount tissues.
With that seeking recommendations on what tissue to get.
I've heard Fusion 4000, any other options? Pros? Cons?

Options I can find:
- Dry Lam Colortac
- Bienfang  Colormount
- Bienfang Fusion 4000
- Adorama (ImageMaker) One Dry Mount Tissue

Thanks
Alex
« Last Edit: February 22, 2014, 10:52:11 pm by spacegrey »
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bill t.

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Re: Mounting textured fine art print to foam or gator board
« Reply #21 on: February 22, 2014, 11:43:31 pm »

Dry mount tissue brands come and go so fast it's hard to keep track.  The only ones from that list I can speak for are Colormount and Fusion 4000.

Colormount is mostly for RC papers, and other media with backings that are difficult because they are smooth or plastic.  Have never used it in a vacuum heat press, but I know that to get a really good mount with RC it needs a very fast temperature rise in an ordinary press, which for my press meant using a very thin cover sheet so the heat could penetrate fast.  I don't know if a vacuum heat press is fast enough.  Maybe the last batch I had was just dried up or something, but I wound up using a no-longer-available off-brand instead, which worked fine on Epson Premium Luster.

Fusion 4000 is unusual because it's nothing more than a sheet of the sticky stuff only.  There's no paper substrate.  It's therefore very limp and hard to handle.  Think "plastic cling wrap" in you kitchen cabinets on a very dry day.  Best technique is to be able just roll it out over the substrate.  OTOH, it can be piled up and arranged any way you like, maybe three pieces thick here, two over there, whatever.  If you're coming up short at a corner, just tear off some more and pile it up.  It will all even out under the heat.  Up to a point.  It's often used for canvas, 2 or 3 thickness pretty much fill in the fabric pores.  Available in many off-brands as well.

Whatever else, be sure to do some testing.  Mount test prints, let them cool, then try to peel them up.  When peel up attempts start to tear off the surface of the mounting board, yer good to go.

Hope you're getting a vacuum pump with that press, sometimes those get separated in storage.  Also, take a close look at the big diaphragm.  If it's a production press it won't be beautiful.  And make sure you've got enough oomph available on the 220 volt outlet.  And don't get into the habit of turning it into a worktable, like most framers do.

And don't forget a good tacking iron.  In a pinch, borrow granny's clothes iron.

edit...Just as a data point, you can also use Miracle Muck as a dry mount tissue.  The chemistry is basically the same as the adhesive on regular dry mount tissue.  Coat the substrate with Muck, let it dry, then run it through the dry mount press with the art.  If you want to mount something with a lot of texture, put down a thick coat of Muck.  Note that Gatorfoam will warp for several hours after coating with Muck, but then flatten out perfectly.  Foam core will also warp, and never flatten out.  Very important to let the Muck dry completely before heat pressing, say 1/2 day at least, you don't want moisture issues messing up the bond.

Muck mounting is also reversible, which is especially easy to do with a vacuum heat press.  Heat up the Muck-mounted art to 170F for a few minutes, then remove the mounted print + substrate from the press and simply peel off the print while it's still nice and toasty.  You gotta be quick, but that's all there is to it.

« Last Edit: February 23, 2014, 02:23:16 am by bill t. »
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