[LargeFormat] mounting prints

[Les Newcomer]

Dave,

I worked at the Edison Institue (more commonly known as Greenfield
Village and Henry Ford Museum) in their conservation department for 4
years. 

Now most of my work dealt with wood and metal  (cameras, guns, sewing
machines, Tom Edison's first projector, a locomotive....) But I did get
to hang out in the paper conservatory from time to time.

Here's how I mounted my fiber based b&W prints

The board I used to mount the print on was 2 ply either rag or a
combination with some carbonate in it to render it neutral  (rag was
preferable, but so was eating, and museums didn't pay much)

I would mount the print using a paper tape in a T-hinge.  One strip
glued to the back of the print so it sticks out above the top of the
print. The other tape stuck accross this first. Now the paper
conservator always chastized me for this, she preferred the corners
since nothing was attached to the print itself and remained "virgin".
She only did these hinges for flimsy things like paper documents that
couldn't stand up on their own. She also used rice paper and rice starch
glue to make the document-to-backer bond.  Rice paper is thin and flimsy
and should the piece fall from the wall it would be the rice paper that
would tear rather than a hole out of the document. I never saw the need
for all of this with double weight paper.

The the overmatte. This is usually 4 ply and has a bevel window cut in
it slightly smaller than the print itself. Since I regularly use a
minimum of 1/4" borders, this is what gets covered.

Once inside the aluminum frame (wood isn't archival since it contains
lignin and acids)  the 4 ply mat gives about a 1/8" gap between the
glass and the print. For a different effect a thicker frame can be used
and a strip of 1/8x1/8 plastic strip can be used to further space the
print away from the glass. I only use clear glass, never "glare free" as
this has a pebbled finish that will lower the contrast and diffuse the
image, the farther the image is away from the glass.

The back of the frame (behind the mount board, and what the wall sees,
is acid free board, either corregated, or more matte board. never used
cardboard as it's full of acid, like wood.

I once saw the head conservator work on a large 19th century
lithograph-- similar to a Currier and Ives print. It was in the original
frame, and backed with thin wood boards. As we removed the square nails
and the board a perfect mirror image of the grain and knots of the wood
was revealed in the backing paper under the wood. Over the decades the
acid in the wood migrated to this paper. Where the wood was dense (late
summer rings), the paper was a strong brown, the lighter/less dense
areas were a lighter brown. The knot was amazing. Every nuance was
evident in the paper.

Now all of this rambling dealt with fiber based paper, not plastic. And
Fuji Archive IS plastic. I don't know if paper tape or even linen tape
for that matter will stick OVER TIME to plastic as the glue has no
fibers to bond with. (Unless the paper or linen tape was thoroughly wet,
it would let go of the matte board)

When I had to mount RC paper in college I used paper corners, glued to
the backer board with the same roll of paper tape I used for the
T-hinges. I would cut the tape square and then cut the corners off so it
would fit into a paper corner at 45°  This holds the corner in the right
spot and the tape ends up behind the print so I don't have to hide it
with the over matte.

I bought all of my supplies--the paper tape and the linen tape I used to
hinge the mount board to the matte board as well,the paper cornersand
the board itself at Light Impressions http://www.lightimpressionsdirect.com.


> Dave Southwood wrote:
> 
> thanks for the advice on mounting. the method which involves hanging
> the print(thanks to the 'good doctor' brock) appeals to me the most
> for its minimalism. i believe fuji crystal archive paper is not
> temperamental, its brow doesnt crease easily, so hanging it could be
> the way forward. the matte which has been mentioned, i presume, is a
> porous, breathable lineny material which separates the back of the
> print from a firmer board?? does anyone have ideas on materials with
> industrial applications which might serve the purpose of its
> specifically designed cousin? there still being a dearth of customised
> materials in SA. is this an a accurate description of a cross-section
> of a sensibly framed picture from the aspect of the viewer:
> 
> glass; gap of air; print; thin slivers of archival tape at top of
> print; matte; board   ???
> 
> make any sense?
> 
> does anyone know if my 15cm voigtlander apo lanthar has nuclear
> capabilities?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> dave southwood
> flat 1, coronation mansions
> 42 warren street
> tamboerskloof
> cape town
> 8001
> south africa
> 
> +27 82 8543363 mobile
> +27 21 4247992 home