If Buffermount is no longer available, then what???

[jovo]

I just finished (well, I still have 3 sheets) a 100 sheet pack of 11x14 Seal/Beinfang Buffermount Dry Mount tissue. Thinking that ordering a new pack today from B&H would have gotten a resupply before the weekend, I tried to order one. No luck...it's not even in the catalog. So I went to Freestyle (order would take longer to get here), and though it's still listed, it's not in stock, and no restocking time is cited. So...what to do??? Everything else I saw from Seal/Beinfang was ColorMount for RC paper. Will ColorMount work for FB paper just as well? Is another brand equal to Buffermount? HELP!!!

[ROL]

Be thankful you no longer have it as a choice. As I've warned before, BufferMount is a severely compromised product, and is better gone from the marketplace.

ColorMount works fine on fiber. There use to be a variation called ArchivalMount, but I don't know whether it is also available.

You just need to come to terms with what exactly "archival" (assuming that was the reason you used BufferMount) means to you and your prints.

[jovo]

Thank you, ROL. I took to BufferMount at the recommendation of Bill Schwab who touted it as the best available at the time. I learned to use it with great success, so my intention now is to find something that works as well. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Michael R 1974]

I remember asking this a while back and I think Ralph Lambrecht said to use Color Mount. I have the same problem as you. Just finishing a box of Buffermount. I thought it was pretty much the only archival drymount tissue left, but I find it quite finicky to use, and never really have confidence unless I leave the print in the press until the press cools - obviously not the way to be doing this if you've got more than one print to mount per day :)

I didn't realize Colormount wasn't archival though. Now I'm confused. I think I'll ask John Sexton what he uses. I can't remember for sure.

[ROL]

Sorry, I didn't provide my usual reference links, but here is a recent posting (http://www.apug.org/forums/forum46/41824-dry-mounting-rc-prints-2.html) of mine on APUG regarding BufferMount, also searchable on LFPF and my own site (http://www.rangeoflightphotography.com/pages/Fine%20Art%20Print%20Presentation).

I really don't want this to degenerate into another thread on what is archival and what isn't. Seal ColorMount is actually referenced by Adams in The Print. I believe he used it in later years for permanent mounts and was unconcerned with the "unarchival" prospect of unremovable prints from their mounts. ColorMount is not, however, buffered, as BufferMount and ArchivalMount are. So you end up mounting a archivally treated fiber GSP onto quality (we hope) buffered rag board, with non buffered tissue. Depending on the particular fiber print and its size, I use mostly MT-5 (no longer available) and occasionally, ColorMount.

Are all buffered materials important to you? Is removability of the print important to you? Are you presenting prints for galleries or museums?

If your goal is smoothly mounted fiber print presentation, dry mounting is still the most viable option, warts and all. If your goal is archival "correctness", presentation be damned, then hinge mount prints to buffered rag board and overmat them to separate them from eventual glazing (no more tissue worries :laugh:).

There are few "correct" answers. You pays your money, and you takes your choice.

[Michael R 1974]

Agreed I'm only mounting these for my own portfolio so they definitely don't need to be removable.

[Rafal Lukawiecki]

I didn't realize Colormount wasn't archival though. Now I'm confused. I think I'll ask John Sexton what he uses. I can't remember for sure.

I believe I saw John, and Anne, use Colormount, when I attended their workshop in November, with no complaints or negative comments, about it.

There are several types of tissue still made by/for HotPress, in UK. One of their products, called Artsafe 200, is used by some museums over here (http://www.hotpress.co.uk/PDFs/Artsafe%20200%20Hotpress%20Press%20Release%2014061 0%20web.pdf). I have never used that tissue, as I have been pretty happy with their Unimount, which, I believe, is as non-archival as Colormount would be. Or as archival, if you prefer.

I don't know of any studies that comprehensively look at the performance of the entire sandwich of mat boards and tissues, rather than of focus on just one aspect of a component. Anyone?

[billschwab]

I took to BufferMount at the recommendation of Bill Schwab who touted it as the best available at the time. I learned to use it with great success, so my intention now is to find something that works as well.Still the best in my opinion, John.

Get it here among other places... http://www.gwjcompany.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2439

[DREW WILEY]

All I use is Colormount. It's more reliable than Buffermount, and the buffering per se is totally redundant.

[Rafal Lukawiecki]

Very happy with Colormount here, too.

[agGNOME]

I replaced Buffermount with NTMT when I could no longer source it easily. NTMT is made by D&K Coatings who bought out Seal/Beinfang. I can't remember if I could tell a difference when I first switched over , but I think they are practically the same. In fact, I may like it even better. It is certainly offered at a much better price. I buy it from this place: http://artgrafix.com/store/page151.html

[trsvax]

I switched to this

http://www.amazon.com/3M-568-Positionable-Mounting-Adhesive/dp/B00023JK88/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362927011&sr=8-1&keywords=3m+adhesive+roll

and gave away my dry mount press. It has a completely different set of tradeoffs. It's pretty easy and requires no heat. I found it more reliable than a dry mount because it's not easily going to let go which of course means you are not going to easily separate the print from the board later. If never found any definite info on how archival it is but I've been using it for about 5 years. It will work up to about a 20x24, beyond that and the paper may wrinkle as the humidity changes.