Dry Mounting Problem

[wcrankshaw]

so i'm new to dry mounting and i've read a lot about doing it at home with an iron, etc. i bought a piece of mat and the tissue which was handed to me by the sales person at my university bookstore. the tissue is weird...two ply. one sheet is like wax paper and the other has spatters of tacky material. i've tried a lot of options but can't figure out any way to make it work. is this the wrong tissue, or am i just doing it wrong? any help would be great. thanks.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Dry mount tissue is heat activated glue.
The tissue, cut to print size, is normally tacked onto the back of the fibre based print and the print tacked in place on the mounting board (by means of a 'tacking iron'). The whole thing is put into a dry mounting press (a press with two big flat surfaces, one of which is heated) with silicon release paper on top of the print. The glue melts, bonding the print to the card.
Without seeing the stuff you have been given I can't tell you if it is the right stuff. The waxy sheet could be the silicon release paper, but again I can't say for sure.
Dry mount tissue has to get rather hot to work so do not try it on RC paper - the paper will melt. Dry mount spray works fine.
The silicon release paper is used to stop the glue sticking to the hot metal surfaces.
It can be done at home with an iron but only with smallish prints. And it is easy to ruin the iron.

This link might help.
http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/help/drymounting/

 

[wcrankshaw]

i'm using FB prints i've made, and they're 5x7 so the iron thing should really be an issue. the paper is just weird. sticky side is facing in with a sheet of non sticky on top. i guess i'll just have to check out the other tissue options.

 

[Paul Ron]

There are a couple types of drymount tissue. One is Fussion 4000, a popular mounting meant for low temp mounts like RC papers. It's a wax sheet that melts at 180°F. Tack it to the back of your pic, then place it in the matt board and go over it with yur iron or put it in a press.

Then there is MT5 Seal mount tissue which is a slippery feeling tissue. The wax is a harder type and melts at at a higher temp, 221°F. Same mounting method, tack it to the back of the print then mount it on the board, in a press or run the iron over it.

If you need some of the Fussion 4000, e-mail me I have a couple boxes I can't use and would be happy to send you free.

[email protected]
Paul, NYC

 

[chris]

It sounds as if you have a cold mounting material.

Cut a piece of the sheet slightly larger than your print and lay this sticky side up on a flat surface.

Place your print on top of the sheet and cover with the wax sheet, wax side down.

Apply pressure to the wax sheet to bond the adhesive on the bottom sheet to the print.

Peel off the backing sheet from the print to leave the print with an adhesive coating.

Place the print on your mounting board and again cover with the wax paper before applying pressure to bond the print to the board.

For the neatest results make your print slightly oversize and after the backing sheet has been pressed on to it trim to size.

Make sure that you position the print correctly before pressing it in place on the mount - it probably will be ruined if you try to remove it and reposition it.

 

[JC1220]

MT5 is no longer made, it was replaced by what Seal calls, Archival Drymount Tissue for FB paper. I prefer the MT5 and find that some local darkroom supply shops still have some stock of it. MT5 needs about 160F, the new stuff works at a lower temp around 130F degrees, temp can vary though between presses. Too much time under heat can ruin your print, never more than 30 seconds.

Never used the 2-ply stuff, but chris's response is how that stuff works.

One suggestions is to leave the tissue oversized, tack it, then use your paper trimmer to get the edges perfect, no chance of being undersized and your edges curling or oversized and seeing a poor mount job. You need a good rotary trimmer like a RotoTrim as well.