Opinions Wanted Wheat paste hinging

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Scallywag

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I have been trying to float mount a piece from 1970 on paper that appears to be from a loose leaf notebook. Seems no matter what I do, the paper cockles or "blisters" where I put the hinge. I am using 50/50 ethulose/ wheat paste and making the hinges so small its hard to believe you would see any sign of it. I have been practicing on scrap notebook paper 'cause thats the closest thing I could find. Please advise.
 
Do you need to hinge? Can you use microdot, sills, or even corners?

As for the paper cockling, it sound like you are still using too much moisture.
 
Try letting the hinges dry longer.. and using blotter paper between the art/hinges and the weights. That said some paper just never likes to be hinged like that. I have found when that happens I get consistently excellent results with Lineco's Hyaku hinging tape.
 
Hinging with wet paste is an exacting procedure that requires some practice. As others have mentioned, you may need to limit the amount of moisture that absorbs into the paper, by blotting or allowing it to partially dry before installing the hinges.

Others also mentioned non-adhesive attachment alternatives. Good idea, but I would prefer to use full-length edge supports or a platform mount, rather than corner pockets, which would require the paper to stand on its bottom corners.
 
I got to float 32 watercolors on plain old notebook paper by a man named Richard Tuttle. They had to float, so they all got kozo hinges put down with a 50/50 mix of stiff wheat starch paste and Lascaux 498, the adhesive applied in thin lines, which were printed onto the hinge with a side cut of Coroplast. Worked a treat, not a cockle in sight other than those caused by the watercolor.

(They were pass-through hinges, and the T's got pasted down in the usual way.)

I did the same for a drawing done by Aminah Robinson on what we think was dog skin...the whole skin, with 30-odd tiny pass-through hinges to support the very irregular shape.

Almost always when adhesive on hinges is drying, we cover it with a release layer of Hollytex 3257 (available from Talas), then a piece of blotter, then a piece of acrylic sheet or 8-ply board then the weight. Oh, and there's always hollytex and blotter underneath the whole sheet -that's standard practice here, whether the sheet is face up or face down..
 
05 said:
I got to float 32 watercolors on plain old notebook paper by a man named Richard Tuttle. They had to float, so they all got kozo hinges put down with a 50/50 mix of stiff wheat starch paste and Lascaux 498, the adhesive applied in thin lines, which were printed onto the hinge with a side cut of Coroplast. Worked a treat, not a cockle in sight other than those caused by the watercolor.

(They were pass-through hinges, and the T's got pasted down in the usual way.)

I did the same for a drawing done by Aminah Robinson on what we think was dog skin...the whole skin, with 30-odd tiny pass-through hinges to support the very irregular shape.

Almost always when adhesive on hinges is drying, we cover it with a release layer of Hollytex 3257 (available from Talas), then a piece of blotter, then a piece of acrylic sheet or 8-ply board then the weight. Oh, and there's always hollytex and blotter underneath the whole sheet -that's standard practice here, whether the sheet is face up or face down..
Click to expand...

I used blotter and hollytex and weights. Don't know about the Lascaux...is that like PVA or Rhoplex? Is it reversible? As for the application, did you put the paste on the coroplast and then press it on to the hinge?
 
05 said:
...kozo hinges put down with a 50/50 mix of stiff wheat starch paste and Lascaux 498...
Click to expand...
Wheat starch is permanently soluble in water, but Lascaux adhesives are not; after drying they require solvents such as acetone. So, what would you use to reverse that hinging adhesive at some future time?
 
I wonder if Hugh's microdot system of applying the paste with the hook end of Velcro would work for you...

He also suggests using very dry blotters under and over when drying the hinge under weight (with Hollytex interleaves); the blotter squares can be dried by popping them into a toaster oven for 30 seconds or so. After they have cooled you can store them in a zip lock bag and they'll stay at that lower moisture content for a few days.

I don't apply hinges often, but when I do, I use a local framer's tip which is to keep the area of adhesion to a minimum - for light weight papers between 1/16 - 1/8 inch would be fine. When the hinge extends 1/2" or more onto the paper the chances for cockling or puffing up soft sized paper is greatly increased.

Good Luck :)

I'm curious about the Lascaux too - does the wheat starch paste somehow prevent it from penetrating into the paper? Since Lascaux is an emulsion I would have thought that any penetration into the paper would be irreversible. (Wheat starch paste will penetrate too, but is not such a concern as it is benign.)
 
We all know that the cocking is Thank You to the moisture - either the paper with the paste on it has expanded prior to application to the 'unexpanded' or dry artwork - or the artwork is absorbing the moisture far quicker than the hinging material (more likely), and expands&contracts at a different rate to the hinging material.

Putting the work under un-natural weight might fix the situation, for now. However I question that upon the next humid week - the hinge might respond as they wanted to do naturally - and cringing will occur.

I would be trying to find a hinging paper that absorbs moisture, and expands and contracts, at the same rate as your artwork paper - and use that to apply your wheat paste. Has your customer got another page from the notebook that you can use some paper from?) If the Hinging material expands to the same degree as the hinging paper - then when both paper and hinge shrink back, both pieces will dry in synchronisation with each other - ie, flat, forever!
 
The Lascaux adhesives applied thinly (as adhesives should be applied) will come up quickly with a minimum of acetone on a swab. Since the amount of acetone is so small, it isn't going to wash the Lascaux into the paper much, if at all. It is generally the 2nd choice adhesive amongst paper conservators. Mixed 50-50 with paste, the hinges will come off with just water, in the usual manner.

We use blotter just at room RH, but we have pretty strict climate control here. We also leave adhesives to dry for at least 8 hours (which means I save my all my pasting for last ting in the day).
 
Cockling

All hinging involves risk and should only be attempted after extensive, successful practice. Applying the starch to the Washi in micro dots or micro lines (perpendicular to the edge of the sheet) can limit the extent to which the hinge represents a local lamination of the hinged sheet, but most important is the use of desiccated blotter, in hand drying of the hinge, immediately after it is applied. A hinge tissue that is much thinner than the art paper can be pasted to itself, across part of its width to give a strong hinge, off the art and a supple where it is attached to the art. Hinging should always be done with great caution and should use the most chemically simple components. If it is done with starch paste or methyl cellulose, its chemistry will be as similar to the chemistry of the paper as possible.



Hugh
 
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