Mounting prints on plywood... I know, I know

ProfessorC1983

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I have a hare-brained idea to try mounting prints on birch plywood painter's panels like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Cradled-Painting-Encaustic-Burning-Acrylics/dp/B083KNPT5F

Now I understand wood isn't exactly archival, and that's not my goal here. Just looking for a cheap, minimalist/modern way to display a whole bunch of small prints on a large swath of wall in my new house. They don't need to last forever, and I appreciate a nice patina.

So basically I'm asking, what would be the least idiotic way to do this? I imagine it would be best to seal the surface first, perhaps with PVA or acrylic? And then dry-mount with an iron?

I'll be printing on Ilford FB Classic matte and then sepia toning.
 

Vaughn

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Spray adhesive, slap the photo on, trim the overhang off, and you are done. Spray paint the 'frames' black, or gold or whatever first perhaps.

If you do dry mount the prints, the tissue is itself a sealant. The spray probably is, also.

"...isn't exactly archival" is a wonderfully used understatement...
 

wiltw

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Why not use big sheets of foamcore?...
  • less weight to heft around, so easier to place where you want
  • less fumes from the wood to attack organic dyes in color prints,
  • no underlying presence of wood grain that carries into any mounted print
 
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gdavis

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I've used spay adhesive as Vaughn suggests. I was mounting RC prints to the same type of wood panels to do the acrylic resin coating thing. Works fine.
 

tokam

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+1 to the foamcore which also comes in black.

Double sided tape is plenty strong enough for attaching the prints and is a lot less messy than spray adhesives.
 

wiltw

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tokam said:
+1 to the foamcore which also comes in black.

Double sided tape is plenty strong enough for attaching the prints and is a lot less messy than spray adhesives.
Click to expand...
And there is specifically photographic double sided tape, which is archival


Years ago, when I was doing weddings, there was double-stick squares and roll-on dispensers availalble thru certain album manufacturers, for attaching prints to pages in wedding albums
 
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Andrew O'Neill

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We mounted a mural on birch plywood, via diluted white glue. That was back in '08. The last time I saw it, I noticed a wee bit of bronzing on some of them, but that's not down to how it was mounted.
 

Rick A

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Seal the plywood first, shellac should be sufficient. I use double sided photo mounting tape for RC prints.
 
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