Getting Fiber Based Paper Flat

[nyoung]

Ok,
I haven't done any printing on fiber based paper since high school but I want take it up again out of dissatisfaction with the tonal range of the RC papers.

So, two questions:

How do you get the darn things to dry flat? I have had, in the distant past, many bad experiences with dryers.

Does anyone still use ferrotype plates? If so, how does one use them? I long ago inherited 4 or 5 but I don't quite get how you use them.

[trexx]

To use the ferrotype squeegee the print face down and leave until it pops off. The problem is getting the ferrotype surface clean and polished enough. Then also some papers work better then others ferrotyping.

For just drying I lay the prints face down on a beach towel after being well squeegeed.

TR

[dpurdy]

It is very useful to have a small dry mount press. I dry fiber prints face up on screens and when they are dry I heat them in a dry mount press. Right when I take the print out of the press I work the curl out. It works perfectly. Even the new Lodima paper which has an extreme curl in the box lays very flat after washing and drying and heat pressing.

[nyoung]

So, how do you "work" the curl out? Pressing onto a flat surface? Curling the print backward?

[dpurdy]

Just curl the print backwards a little. Unless the humidity is very low and the paper is very very dry, flattening the print is easy to do. My fiber prints lay flatter than my RC prints.

[Reinhold]

It's been a long time since I used ferrotype plates, but here are some hints:
The paper should be the "F" surface (Ferrotyping), for glossy surfaces.
They've got to be sooper clean... try a no-scratch kitchen cleanser (Bon-Ami works very well)
Waxing the surface helps... try a floor or car wax, well polished.
The print should be given a final rinse in a rich, sudsy Foto-flo bath...
Don't drain the print before laying it on the plate... no "dry" areas on the print... "slop" it onto the plate.
Squeegee the print only after it's in full contact with the plate.
Let the print "pop" off, don't try to coax it off too soon.
If you like mirror smooth prints, it's hard to beat ferrotyping, even tho it's a hassle

If you prefer the air dried surface, most folks dry their prints on screens & flatten 'em later (as Dennis says).
I even have an old mangle (rotary clothes dryer) I got at a garage sale the works pretty good.
A few years ago Salthill (remember them?) sold a good print dryer that I cloned.
It works better than anyting else that I have tried in the last 60 years of makin' fotos...

Take a look...
http://www.classicbwphoto.com/Blog/A...A95E8D0C0.html

Have fun.

Reinhold

[diamondcreek]

I just got my first pack of FB paper. Thanks for the good tips in this thread. I have also had someone suggest putting the print between layers of good quality paper towels and then using a large book or weighted plywood sheets (finished type).

[dpurdy]

Since my drymount press is only 11x14 I have flattened 16x20 prints but laying them face down on a clean sheet of glass and then putting another piece of plate glass on top and weighting that down with books. It will eventually make the prints flat as a pancake but it might take a couple of days.

[JBrunner]

Since this comes up more often than I change my underwear, I have made it sticky. Please post all your questions and remedies for potato chip prints here.

[Domin]

Originally Posted by dpurdy

Just curl the print backwards a little. Unless the humidity is very low and the paper is very very dry, flattening the print is easy to do. My fiber prints lay flatter than my RC prints.

You must live in very different climate or use very different paper.

My first fb print curled so much it looked like a flower. I find it a bit hard to believe that any fb lays flatter than rc and curling it manually has any effect. I tried flattening foma with glass and stacking books; I left it for over a week didn't have but a slight effect. Ilford mg is much better in that respect but far from what you describe.