> Carl discovered what sounds obvious, (but for me the obvious takes a while to
> discover -- I always overcomplicate things!) that if you run your darkroom at
> 60% humidity, Ziatype printing is a no brainer as far as humidity goes. Just
> coat and dry in a room temperature airstream. It's real hard to get the paper
> below 60% RH. I have to stretch it a bit to get to 60% here in Santa Fe, I
> spray water all over the floor to get it started in the a.m. You being in Taos
> will have the same high altitude humidity problem.
>
I think Santa Fe has a higher humidity level by at least 8% above Taos.
I measured our humidity last year during the "dry" winter month of
January, 5%rH. The normal for the summer time is about 30% to 35%.
I run a humidifying box at 58%. I have no problem controlling my
humidity. For a $60 investment and a call to Grainger, I have a unit
that is designed to humidify a room up to 15' x 20'. It has a 2 1/2
gallon water tank and uses a wick and a fan to put the moisture into the
air. It also has three fan setting and a rheostat (sp) to adjust the
rH. My box is 3 1/2' x 3 feet with an extra small coaxial fan to
promote even distribution of the air in the box. I use it at 58% for
all my work; traditional or ammonium based printing (Ware/Malde and
Ziatype). It is essential for working with beinfang 360.
-- Eric J. Neilsen 505-758-8868 http://laplaza.org/~ejnasn