The Skin-flint's Dry Mount Press

[Scott Edwards]

It feels like its about 25-30 lbs. I put on a pair of insulated leather gloves when handling the hot slab. I know it is a little ungainly, however, the cost savings outweighs the inconvenience.

[kwmullet]

Scott,

Where do I report to get my $20 piece of granite? Is this something Home Despot is likely to have, or did you go to a special-order rock place?

Also -- if memory serves, dry mounting starts out by running the print and the matt through the press first to get rid of any moisture. Doesn't sound like the Granite Press permits that unless you're prepared with two pieces of granite.

-KwM-

[Sean]

I lucked out, I got a mint condition seal press 110 off of ebay. A pharmacy had it for laminating items but never used it. They didn't list it as a drymount press so I think no one saw it. Got it for 120bucks..

[Nige]

good hunting Sean!

[Scott Edwards]

The reason behind getting rid of any residual moisture is to eliminate bubbling. I have not had any issues with this using the granite press. I believe the relatively long cool-down (1/2 hour) time seems to dry out the board sufficiently.
Also, I purchased my slab at a stone and brick supply store that specializes in granite counter tops. You should have a vendor like this near you in any city of sufficient size.

[Kate51]

[QUOTE=Scott Edwards]This starving artist has been dismayed over the prospect of purchasing a dry mount press and has, until just recently, been using cold mount adhesive from 3M. The cold mount has worked on smaller fiber prints, but I am using heavyweight J and C paper now and printing larger. I have been racking my brain for a much cheaper alternative and have come up with one that actually works. I picked up a slab of polished granite ($20 cut to 15" x 19" x 1 1/2" thick) and this just fits in my oven. I heat the granite to 225 degrees then apply it to the print/tissue/backing board sandwich with a piece of cotton chamois between that and the granite. I then place a 45 pound dumbell on top of that and open a window to let the granite cool naturally. Voila! Works like a charm.

Any similar experiences out there?[Yes! I bought a 16X20 baking stone, sanded it smooth on the back, and then heat to 200`, add 10# flour. Excellent results/QUOTE]

[kwmullet]

Yes! I bought a 16X20 baking stone, sanded it smooth on the back, and then heat to 200`, add 10# flour. Excellent results

Was this tongue-in-cheek or have you actually been able to successfully use a baking stone as a dry mount press? My initial google indicated that a baking stone large enough for 11x14 can be had for around $30.

If this was serious, are you mounting fiber or RC?

-KwM-