Dealing with print with wave

  • Thread starter Thread starter pete plastic
  • Start date Start date
Create a Post
P

pete plastic

Guest
The Pacific Northwest humidity will be the death of me. A customer brings in a (framed and matted) signed limited edition print from a gallery. It has some visible waves from the obvious expansion of the paper. The customer wants it flattened. Upon opening it, it's not tight against the frame edge (about an inch less than the size of the frame both ways). It's tacked on the corners with framer's tape (not hinged, just a square directly on the corner :mad:). The customer is amenable to mounting (like dry or wet), but I am loathe to do that, because of the obvious damage potential, even with Restore (which is moot for us since we don't have a heat press).

Considering the customer's desire to have this flattened, I imagine there would be less harm in laying a piece of plexi directly on top, then having the mat/glass on top of that, but what are the potential issues with doing that? Given a choice, would you recommend that over mounting?
 
Mounting might be preferable for results oriented treatment. Even with Direct Contact Overlay (DCO) there is no guarantee the piece will lie flat. Paper, once cockled, wants to stay that way. I guess it depends on the value of the art, and what the customer is willing to pay or sacrifice to achieve the goal of flatness. You may want to consider having a paper conservator straighten the piece, then reframe making sure the fitting is a bit loose to allow for expansion. Also look at some of the suggestions for hinging on Frametek's web site. Here's one explaining how the paper got into the condition it is in http://frametek.com/HTML/Articles/Buckling.html .
 
Cook off two sheets of 8 ply rag. Set the dwell for at least 10-15 minutes.... 175-200

Take those very dry sheets............ and after the press cools off..... put the print
between the dry sheets and vacuum only for 20-30 and then leave under weight over night.

Japanese hinges..... 8-ply rag mat and backing board... my wave in summer... but
will hang out flat in the winter dry.
 
Baer Charlton said:
Cook off two sheets of 8 ply rag. Set the dwell for at least 10-15 minutes.... 175-200

Take those very dry sheets............ and after the press cools off..... put the print
between the dry sheets and vacuum only for 20-30 and then leave under weight over night.
Click to expand...

Hey Baer, I would do exactly that to flatten it but the shop I'm in at now has no heat press. :(
 
I use distilled water sprayed in a fine mist to the back of the image to just introduce the slightest bit of moisture. You can also apply it to a rag board and wipe it off and apply the back of the image to the board.

I then place it between two rag boards in a cold vacuum press for a few minutes and check it. If it's not perfectly flat, I will moisten it a little more and repeat until it comes out perfectly flat.

I then weigh it down overnight.
 
Create a Post
Back
Top