The Framers Forum

I've a very long photograpth of a mountain range in to frame at the moment which has spent some time roll up in a relatively small tube. Result is the paper has taken on a wavy appearance when unrolled. I've had it between two pieces of mountboard the top one weighted with limited success, any othe suggestions?

ChrisG

depends on the print etc

but if you put it somewhere warn for a while it might soften

Is it valuable?

Sounds like dry mounting will be the answer

I second that if it is of low value then drymount, however always warn your customer of the perils of dry mounting.

How thick is the paper? I have seen a lot of really thin photo paper recently which is slightly worrying in that the wavy nature may be cockling due to moisture from handling which really needs going in a hot press. If it is thick paper then it will probably go down in a cold press onto sticky board.

Good luck

...loving the last 2 posts...

Sure you are steve I bet there is a little buzzer in your head that goes off every time the word hot press is said any where in the world ::)

I did one of these around 9 months ago. It was a school photo - about 6" x 48". It had been rolled for years - as described above & when the framer had unrolled it - it went into "scallops" - not rhyming slang for anything - but gentle "u" shaped curves - each about 6" long.

So - curve / hard crease & broken emulsion / curve / hard crease & broken emulsion / curve / hard crease & broken emulsion etc....

I know what I did to fix it (and it came out rather well) - but the question is...

Dear poster - do you have drymounting facilities - either hot or cold???

If the answer is no - then it is no use me telling the world what to do - but others on here may know a way of fixing this without a press or rollers - so let's have some info...

BTW - hard lesson learned here - having taken it from the framer (in Swindon) & fixing in my workshop in Manchester - what a pain in the neck getting it back to Swindon by carrier (object now nearly 2' wide by 6' long (for protection))
...DOH

Steve Goodall wrote:I know what I did to fix it (and it came out rather well) - but the question is...

Dear poster - do you have drymounting facilities - either hot or cold???

If the answer is no - then it is no use me telling the world what to do

Yes it is, you're not just addressing the originator of the thread, if you wanted to just do that you could use email or PM - it's a forum, any member can learn from answers posted to questions they did not originate.

SPILL!

I have had some similar things. One skool panorama I framed had been rolled up since the '40s. Boy was it springy. I managed to flatten in into a drawer between two sheets on mountboard. Left it for 3 weeks under weight. When I took it out again, intending to drymount it, It went BOiiiING! and curled up just as tight. I had to try and persuade it into the press as it was. I did it eventually and all was well but it was like trying to get and octopus into a milk bottle. That particular one was in good nick though. No creases or cracks.

I remember another photo. about 20x16 glossy BW that was in a terrible state. It wasn't curly, just lumpy and cracked and creased to b*ggerey. As it wasn't particually old or precious I told the customer I would see what I could do. Frankly, I couldn't have made it much worse. I drymounted it, which got it flat. Still a few cracks apparent though. I used watercolour to carefully touch over the cracked bits that showed though as the white paper. It was relatively easy in BW. Only used black in various dilutions The only problem with doing this on glossies is that the retouched parts may have been the right tone, but you can never match the gloss. Anyhow, nothing to lose I put used some fine textured (linen) heatseal film over the top. When it came out of the press the results were amazing. OK, it wasn't glossy anymore, but it looked perfect. You could not see a single crack or defect. I was quite pleased with that.

I use one of these. Very handy if you have enough use for one.
http://www.forframersonly.com/sellsheets/DeRoller.pdf

Another option would be to scan it in sections, combine the sections with software (I like Autostitch for stitching photos together) then repair the cracks and other defects with Photoshop or some other software. Get the resulting image printed and frame it!

This will totally eliminate the mounting difficulties.

Steve, no I don't have any pressing equipment but would welcome your description on how such a machine would be used in this case especially in relation to hot vs cold. Maybe something I should be thinking of adding to my workshop?

ChrisG

Sorry for the delayed response – I have been a little busy getting everything ready for - FOCUS ON IMAGING – NEC – 06/03/11 to 09/03/11.

Anyway, this 6” x 48” badly rolled & creased panoramic school picture…

My initial plan was to “steam” it flat & then drymount it – using my Hot Glass Vacuum Press. The print was on fibre based paper – which was not surprising considering its age & so would soak up moisture & “relax” into a more workable state quite easily – or so I thought…

After three “steam cycles” in the press it was still fighting like a caged badger (well it was a “black & white” print)…

So – Plan B – after a couple of ciggies & a brew I came up with a solution…

I took a 5mm piece of foamboard (can’t remember the brand) & coated with our double sided mount film – through a Jetmounter. The board was deliberately “oversized” for the picture to allow for edge damage in shipping & plenty of room for a mount to go over the image – the foamboard was around 2ft x 6ft in total.

Then resetting the Jetmounter to about 2mm – I created a false start line in the release liner - about a 12” in from the leading edge of the board – peeled back the liner & tacked the leading edge of the print to the exposed adhesive.

I then ran the foamboard slowly into the rollers – until the edge of the print was nipped in place. I then pulled the print up & around the roller as tightly as I could – so that the curve formed the same shape as the roller itself & held it firmly with the palm of my hand. I then ran the whole print through nice & slowly.

Because the nature of the curve was in the same direction as the curve of the roller the print was not fighting with the machine & the 2mm setting on the Jetmounter served two purposes – it crushed the foamboard & made it a lot stronger – whilst also forcing the creases “down into the board” – rather than them “standing proud” as they would have done on a more rigid substrate.

It came out a treat & as I said earlier – the only problem was then trying to get it back to Swindon – without having to drive it there myself – what a nightmare!!!

Never mind the perils of dry mounting - massively over hiped anyway - far better to warn of the perils of rolling photos up tight! If everybody shipped poster/prints/photographs packed flat, Goody would be out of a job!