Flat mounting canvas

[Herbc]

I have a request for a print 24x30 in on glossy canvas for it to be flat mounted, not on a canvas frame inside a regular frame, no glass.
Will gatorboard work for this?  I am a tad leery about the canvas separating from the board.  I have  a big drymount press, but haven't ever tried dry mounting canvas, with the attendant difficulties.
All the above said, I am clueless about glues and such. Any ideas most welcome

[Ken Doo]

I think you would be better with wet mount, using an adhesive like Miracle Muck.

ken

[BrianBeauban]

Miracle Muck is one method and here is another:
http://www.drytac.com/mounting-adhesives/dry-mount-tissues/flobondtm.html
Or
http://www.drytac.com/lamin-all-adhesive.html

You need something that will fill in the voids and bond with as much surface area as possible.

[Wayne Fox]

we get a lot of requests for that, and over the years have struggled with a suitable solution. We've settled on MountCor Canvas, which seems to work as advertised.

https://gilmanbrothers.com/boards/mountcor-canvas-2/

[mearussi]

Phototex would be an easy solution, if it would work for you. It is matte, though, so you'd have to apply a glossy overcoat.

[Paul Roark]

I have a rather old canvas mounted on Encore (Elmer's heat sensitive, adhesive foam core).  It shows evidence of separation at an edge where it was not held down by a frame.

I also had some of these in a gallery where they received direct sun through a window.   One showed some separation where the sun was hitting a near black part of the print.  I suspect the heat was causing it to release.  I wonder how the MountCor Canvas would handle the sun heat with such a low temperature for mounting.

Frankly, I'm moving away from canvas except for very large prints (40x60 inch range), and for those, I'm inclined to have the pro service bureau 45 minutes away do the mounting on Gator board.  The old dry mount press works great for paper prints on Encore up to 24x36, whereas canvas at that size not only has the mounting issue but also the texture tends to obscure some of the photo's details.  (On the other hand, if the photo isn't that sharp, the canvas texture is a nice substitute for the very small details.)

The more I've experimented with non-glazed display, the more impressed I am with the longevity and ease of the traditional tape-hung matte print under glass (acrylic), with a nice thick bevel-cut mat holding it sufficiently flat.  I have some panoramas of this style at on 24" roll paper that get morning sun every day and look like new.  For panoramas, avoiding the roll paper and having a manufacturer supply flat sheets in the large sizes is even better -- no curl to fight.

FWIW

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

[Garnick]

Since you now have a number of possibilities to consider, I will not attempt to attach my vote to any one of the above.  I mount all paper products with cold/pressure sensitive adhesives and they work very well, never a problem.  However, not so much with canvas.  It will stick and stay for a few months, but that's about all you can rely on.  Heat activated dry mount adhesives seem to work very well, according to some of my canvas customers who have tried that procedure.  The heat tends to melt the adhesive to some extent, therefore adhering much better to the canvas texture. 

Therefore, although I cannot tell you what you should use, I can definitely tell you what you should not to use, and that would be the cold/pressure sensitive mounting adhesive.

Gary 

[dgberg]

We do these by the hundreds.
Miracle Muck is as easy as it gets and does not delaminate.
All you need is a foam roller, utility knife and a Sabel block roller.
Roll your Muck on the gatorboard, lay your canvas on top with at least an 1/8" to 1/4" print
bleed hanging over all 4 edges.
Roll out any air bubbles with the rubber roller. Flip over and trim all edges with your razor.
It will cup regardless if you use 1/4" or 1/2"
We found the fix for flattening is just lay them on the floor canvas up and as the Muck dries the gator will equalize and flatten.
We just finished several batches totaling 125 24x36" for a local hospital and they came out great.