Re: Help with what I believe is a hardening issue

I tried gesso MANY years ago (I think with my first gum attempts). So,
with that warning: It gave a very non-paper surface (too slick for my
visual tastes) and the pigment "flaked" a lot (left blank areas with no
pigment). It worked better diluted with water (can't remember how
diluted, perhaps 1 part gesso to 3 parts water), but was never close to
as good as gelatin. Shame, it is much easier to work with.

Again, this is old info, from a (at the time) novice gum printer.
Memory resurfaces....... (I had another sip of morning coffee??)...
It was my first gum attempts, the gesso came with the Photographers
Formulary "gum kit" I bought from Freestyle on a whim. Those flash
decisions can be dangerous ;-)

On Friday, November 12, 2004, at 07:23 AM, Gordon J. Holtslander wrote:

>
>
> Has anyone tried sizing with acrylic gesso? I've read many references
> about it, but I have never tried it. It does sound appealling - no
> hardening required ...
>
> Gord
>
> On Tue, 9 Nov 2004, ericawd wrote:
>
>> I am mainly a lurker/gum printer who has learned a great deal from
>> the list.
>> I could use some advice.
>>
>> I am having the same problem described below by Judy Seigel. I have
>> come to
>> the conclusion that the problem is the fact that the formaldehyde I
>> am using
>> is approximately 3-5 years old and is no longer hardening. I have
>> tried
>> every avenue I could think of to replace it locally in Memphis,
>> Tennessee to
>> absolutely no avail. I used to buy it at a drug store, but one now
>> needs a
>> prescription in order to purchase it.
>>
>> Purchasing formaldehyde on line takes at least a week. I have a show
>> coming
>> up and need all the time I can to work on prints. The Formulary only
>> sells
>> glyoxal. I am a little desperate. I really can't afford losing a
>> week of
>> working.
>>
>> Some of the questions I have are:
>>
>> I use the shrink the paper, gelatin coating, harden, gelatin, final
>> formaldehyde hardening method. I have several sheets of BFK at the
>> final
>> hardening stage and really don't want to waste the time and
>> materials. The
>> formaldehyde used in the third step was very weak. Can I come behind
>> it
>> with a soaking in glyoxal hardener? Or will I drop dead on the spot?
>>
>> Does anyone know of a source for formaldehyde? I have tried the local
>> college, chemical companies (they carry it only in 55 gallon drums
>> and as I
>> said pharmacies. Is the prescription law a state law or fed law. I
>> called
>> a couple of places in northern Mississippi but couldn't find anyone
>> who
>> carried it in the first place in order to know if I could purchase
>> there.
>> Does anyone know if it is a federal law.
>>
>> I am fairly certain of the problem, since it got really bad when I
>> mixed up
>> "new" solution from the as of now very old formaldehyde. Does anyone
>> know
>> of another problem that could be causing the speckles. Everything
>> else is
>> as it was. (There is no pollen in my darkroom-there are no windows
>> that
>> open in my building, being in Memphis it is air conditioned or heated
>> year
>> round.
>>
>> Sorry for the long post, but as I said I am a little desperate.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tuesday, May 04, 2004 8:53 PM Judy Seigel wrote:
>>
>> I had taught a gum workshop at ICP about 10 years ago, and a month
>> later
>> got a frantic call from one of the students: Her gum prints were
>> coming
>> out all speckled. She couldn't get any image at all, just speckling.
>> So I
>> told her to come over and we spent the afternoon, testing her paints
>> on
>> her paper, her paints on my paper, her gum on her paper, her gum on my
>> paper, etc.... Though it didn't happen that neatly, but was some time
>> before we formulated that method. Ultimately it became clear that ANY
>> paints and any gum speckled on her paper. And not on mine. Finally,
>> she
>> had a thought: She'd gone to her home in Vermont and gelatin sized
>> the
>> paper there. While the paper (Rives BFK, BTW) was out all over the
>> house
>> freshly gelatined to dry, she noticed a strange kind of pollen in the
>> air... settling as a yellow powder over everything.
>>
>> She sized new paper in town and had no further problems.
>>
>>
>>
>> Sorry for the long post, but as I said I am a little desperate.
>>
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> Candace Spearman,
>> Memphis, Tennessee
>>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> Gordon J. Holtslander Dept. of Biology
> holtsg@duke.usask.ca 112 Science Place
> http://duke.usask.ca/~holtsg University of Saskatchewan
> Tel (306) 966-4433 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
> Fax (306) 966-4461 Canada S7N 5E2
> ---------------------------------------------------------
>
>
--------------
Tom Ferguson
http://www.ferguson-photo-design.com
Received on Fri Nov 12 09:37:38 2004