Digital BW, The Print

Gumkeith,
   I, too, am very interested in your gampi paper.  Please put me on your mailing list.
   In my opinion you should let the purchaser coat their own paper if they wish to do that.  I have printed on uncoated gampi and had a satisfactory experience.  Inkaid is not the only commercially available coating for inkjet printing.  There is also Golden Digital Grounds in Matte and Gloss.  There might be others that I am not aware of also.
  As far as head strikes are concerned I have not had a problem on my Epson 9600.  I commonly print (some hundreds of sheets over the years) on Arches 140# Cold Press uncoated watercolor paper and to my recollection have never had a head strike.

Hope that is of some help,
BertGF  


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "gumkeith" <gumkeith@...> wrote:
>
>   Many thanks to all those who contributed messages dealing with this subject. You have informed a naive papermaker.  I found a clear inkAid product that seems to address the question of a proper coating. Is anybody familiar with this?  Is there a cheaper alternative?  ihttp://www.inkaid1.com/Products/SemiGloss.html At $46.00 for two quarts, I am trying to quess what this will add to the cost of each sheet.  A quart may cover no more than 25 sheets of 16x20.  
>     I live in the mountains of northern Luzon, Philippines each summer http://ling.nthu.edu.tw/faculty/hcliao/pictures/Batad%20rice%20terrace.jpg  Gampi grows wild on marginal land around this village. Local residents harvest the fiber and process it for me.  The Gampi bush is of no use to the Ifugao because the wood is balsa like. It is one of the few natural resources that does not need chemical assistance or cultivation. 
>    We will be making paper again this summer from July to November.  Before departing  I need to resolve as many problems as possible and ship essential supplies well in advance.  Should I order the inkAid product?
>