BPX 48 - status, updates, scans

[MToma]

Hello,

My apologies, but my and MIonela's prints have not been sent, firstly due to some issues with access to my darkroom. They have been printed for 10 days now, and I can't get them to flatten, for the life of me. I'm at my 5th (6th?) attempt, and they're still... unpleasantly curly/kinked. First time this ever happened to me with Fomabrom.

So, again, I'm really sorry to the ones that are supposed to receive our prints. Some really nice (hopefully) selenium toned fiber prints are still (again) flattening, after my latest attempt (slightly dampened prints + iron under archival boards, then leave warm under weights).

Will send as soon as they're decently flat and properly spotted.

All the best,
Toma

 

[Don_ih]

my latest attempt (slightly dampened prints + iron under archival boards, then leave warm under weights)

I use a clothes iron on dry prints with a piece of parchment paper on top. Seems to do the trick.

 

[piu58]

Trick: Pull them with the non photo side at a sharpüe edge, may be a table edge. Works fine and fast.

 

[MToma]

Trick: Pull them with the non photo side at a sharpüe edge, may be a table edge. Works fine and fast.

Thanks both for the advice, tried both of these. I've managed to find a heat press, and will try that, as a last resort. If not, I'll have to reprint.

P.S. Only guess why this happened is that they dried quickly (20Rh humidity) and badly the first time, the fibers got "rearranged" badly, and they won't spring back...

 

[BHuij]

Thanks both for the advice, tried both of these. I've managed to find a heat press, and will try that, as a last resort. If not, I'll have to reprint.

P.S. Only guess why this happened is that they dried quickly (20Rh humidity) and badly the first time, the fibers got "rearranged" badly, and they won't spring back...

Can't speak for your specific paper. I use pretty much exclusively fresh Ilford MG FB. But I live in a very dry climate (20rh humidity is probably about average in my house) and use a hot press mount to flatten my fiber prints. For me the trick is low heat, letting them sit in there for around 30 minutes, and then letting the press cool down all the way to room temp with the prints still held flat inside.

Between that and making sure I give my prints a minimum of 24 hours to dry in the air before putting them in the hot press, I usually end up with prints that stay flat after coming out of the press and have minimal or no ripples.

 

[Don_ih]

Overwashing will cause the outside edge of the paper to swell and weaken, making it less dimensionally stable, and prone to waviness. It happens to an extent with normally washed fibre-based paper. Some people get around it by enlarging on oversized paper and trimming it back.