Yesterday I had some difficulty with RC paper bulging upward in the easel. Not that much of a problem in itself, but during some of the exposures the morphology of the bulge would change, thus marring the print.

I thought some two-sided repositionable tape would be the fix. Looks like 3M lists about six different types. Can anyone suggest a repositonable tape that they have tried on a print easel.

I do recall a DIY article on a borderless easel, somewhere on the web, where they suggested this repositionable tape, rather than vacuum, but can't relocate the article.

Never tried it but formula #136 in "The Darkroom Cookbook" might be of some use to you. A sticky easel.

I haven't tried it in the darkroom, but your choice could be quickly reduced by a visit to one of the office supply retailers (Staples?) where there are probably only one or two selections. I bought some of the repositionable tape there a few years ago to put up title cards at an art show. I actually found it didn't hold well enough in my particular application -- partly due to wall surface texture. At any rate, you could give it a try for probably $3 or so.

DaveT

I've used Scotch 667 on my easel before, for some larger paper that had quite a bit of curl (I don't remember which paper it was). The only problem with it is, the first few times you put a piece of paper down and then try to take it out, the tape often wants to come with the paper instead of staying on the (metal) easel. If you can get it to stay on the easel, then after a few sheets the top side will lose some of its' stick, and it will release from the paper fine. Then you're in the sweet spot for maybe a dozen sheets or so. After that, of course, it loses its' stick to the point where it's not doing any good, and you have to replace it.

Thanks for the input.

I wound up going to Staples and getting some little Scotch, repositionable holders. They are little squares of gel. Kind of like little clear, square 'gummy bears'

The problem was that under each square, the paper was immobile, but around each little square, there was still a large area of billowing paper. I think I would have to cover the whole 16x20 area to make it really immobile.

So, I observed some paper in the daylight and I did notice the paper shift just a little right after I closed the frame, but after that the bulge seemed to remain stationary. Next thing to try will be just a short waiting period after I close the frame. I'll see how that works tonight.

Another thing that worked last night was to just bring the blades in closer (wider borders) This worked, but since it prevented me from having the narrow 1/4" borders, now I want them :)

BTW I have never had this problem before, but I am using a new easel. A 16x10 Bessler. It does not hold the paper as flat as my 11x14 Saunders.

Never tried it but formula #136 in "The Darkroom Cookbook"
might be of some use to you. A sticky easel.

The OP may interested in adhesive transfer sheets.
Search Google for those and the tape.

A sticky easel. That method has had some good reviews.
Might you let us know the recipe? I'd almost forgotten
that sticky easel and intend to include the ingredients
on an order for the formulary. Dan

I got an adhesive bulletin board product (possibly made by 3M?) at an office supply place. It is a sheet about the weight of card stock more or less 14"x18" with one adhesive side. The adhesive tack is similar to the tack of Post-It Notes and lasts a very long time. An 8"x10" piece of this material fastened to the center of an easel would do the trick. Thin, plastic-backed carpet tape would be a good way to fasten it. Good luck, njb

The OP may interested in adhesive transfer sheets.
Search Google for those and the tape.

A sticky easel. That method has had some good reviews.
Might you let us know the recipe? I'd almost forgotten
that sticky easel and intend to include the ingredients
on an order for the formulary. Dan

I believe the copyright of "The Darkroom Cookbook" prevents me from publicly posting large excerpts. However a quick Google and I found that somebody else had already posted the instructions

http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00NrbY

So there you go. :)

The OP may interested in adhesive transfer sheets.
Search Google for those and the tape.

A sticky easel. That method has had some good reviews.
Might you let us know the recipe? I'd almost forgotten
that sticky easel and intend to include the ingredients
on an order for the formulary. Dan

I found the formula searching for, sticky easel . Dan

maybe it's time for a homemade vacuum easel?

There is a 3m repositionable adhesive SPRAY that i've used with good results, just a very light spray to the back of the print. Upside is that you can remove the adhesive from your easel (nice if it's a pricey 4-bladed one)
Downside is that I don't know if it's archival (probably not). Though you could spray the easel itself.. I use this stuff on a flat board as a borderless easel.

The sticky easel recipe, i've never tried but no doubt it would work. Though again, I don't think I would want to pour it onto a nice easel. Maybe a tiny tiny bit in the middle?

As far as a homemade vacuum easel, I made one out of a cheap particleboard door. Cut the door in half, used some duct tape to seal the open end.
Found a drill with a small bit, drilled a bunch of holes on one side, duct taped the vacuum hose in..
It worked surprisingly well and pulled a great vacuum. I used thumb tacks to position the print though there must be a better method (tape, magnets, strip of plastic or wood, etc)
*shrug* lots of ways to do things. Plus my method gives you two easels, or one really big one. :)

As far as a homemade vacuum easel, I made one out of a cheap particleboard door. Cut the door in half, used some duct tape to seal the open end.
Found a drill with a small bit, drilled a bunch of holes on one side, duct taped the vacuum hose in..
It worked surprisingly well and pulled a great vacuum. I used thumb tacks to position the print though there must be a better method (tape, magnets, strip of plastic or wood, etc)
*shrug* lots of ways to do things. Plus my method gives you two easels, or one really big one. :)

What kind of vacuum pump did you use?

Any old vacuum cleaner can be adapted. I use an old wet-vac for mine.

Readers will probably cringe but you could also make a vacuum easel by drilling holes in the bottom of a nice four-bladed easel and then making a thin bottom chamber housing to which the easel could be sealed. Then attach a tube from a vacuum pump and away you go! njb

Readers will probably cringe but you could also make a vacuum easel by drilling holes in the bottom of a nice four-bladed easel and then making a thin bottom chamber housing to which the easel could be sealed. Then attach a tube from a vacuum pump and away you go! njb

I think that a cheap 2 bladed easel would work well for this too.

Matt

maybe it's time for a homemade vacuum easel?

maybe it's time for fiber paper and the far wider range of choices offered.

John Powers

Just a follow up on the printing paper condition.

During the last 16x20 session I made it a point to not fire my exposure right away after loading the easel with the paper. I let it sit for a moment before the first exposure. This seemed to do the trick.

During the last 16x20 session I made it a point
to not fire my exposure right away after loading
the easel with the paper.

What was the humidity? How about
a humidor? A study of fiber moisture
absorbtion included humidors. May go
Google and re-read. Relax the fibers
without wetting. Dan

I found that inserting the edge of the paper under the strip in the positioning slot caused the paper to bulge, so now I just use the indentation above the strip to position the paper, and carefully take my hands away and lower the blades. I believe easels by Dunco use pins which must be spring loaded so they retract into the base of the easel when the blades are lowered - seems like a better way to keep the paper flat.

Jim

...spring loaded so...Jim

Reminds me of the spring loaded bed on an
easel I used many years ago. Speedy it was.
A twist of the front lever and the bed dropped.
The paper was inserted at the right; Speed Easel
style. Lever up snugged the paper against the
frame. A two blade single size, 8x10. Dan

I found that inserting the edge of the paper under the strip in the positioning slot caused the paper to bulge, so now I just use the indentation above the strip to position the paper, and carefully take my hands away and lower the blades.

I know exactly what you are talking about here, good idea.

What was the humidity? How about
a humidor? A study of fiber moisture
absorbtion included humidors. May go
Google and re-read. Relax the fibers
without wetting. Dan

After watching a piece of paper with the lights on, I think it is from a little vacuum under the paper that holds it flat for a second (after I 'pat it down' with my hand). After pressing the bulge down, it will pop back up in a few seconds. So, I was pressing the paper flat when inserting it. The easel design is not so great, in that the abrupt angle of the paper to get into the positioning groove makes the paper bulge up.