Digital BW, The Print

Great to hear that you are having success.  All of these methods are  
very technique dependent.  With my carefully set up drawdown station I  
get better than 95% success rate for up to 16x20 prints...but it took  
some work to fine tune the process.  Clean up is no problem...the  
excess drops into a waste tray at the end of the print and I simply  
rinse the rod in the sink and then quickly dry with a lint free towel.

One important thing to mention is that I can do 10 prints of the same  
image that turn out identically with the rod...I'd find it very  
surprising if you could match that with any sprayer.  The Mayer rod is  
made for precision coating...applying exactly the same film thickness  
to each print provided that the viscosity of the solution and the  
surface of the paper is the same.  This is the exact technique that  
many of our inkjet papers are actually coated with.  The key is getting  
your coating station right.  I working on developing a commercial  
station for larger format prints...but it is likely to be expensive  
because of pump equipment and machining...probably interesting for fine  
art printers and prepresses however.

Robert


On Wednesday, July 9, 2003, at 02:02 PM, davajon wrote:

> For about four months I have been trying to coat my photographs with
> Hydrocote.  (http://www.hydrocoat.com) I bought a meyer rod #30 which  
> is
> 22".  On anything up to and including 8x10 the rod works fairly well.   
> One
> be absolutely consistent with the pressure applied on the rod and the  
> speed
> you draw the rod across the picture.  I have found that I had a  
> success rate
> of about 75 per cent.  Not as good as I want.  I also found that using  
> a
> meyer rod is messy!  Each time you use it, you must clean the rod  
> carefully
> and the surface must be cleaned and dried very thoroughly. So, it is a  
> slow
> and involved process.  When it comes to larger than 8x10 prints the  
> success
> rate drops to about 50 per cent or less.  The correct pressure on the  
> rod as
> you draw it down the print has a very low tolerance for error.  The
> slightest speed change or pressure difference allows for the hydrocote  
> to be
> laid down unevenly.  Plus, the clean-up is more extensive and messy,  
> and the
> waste is disconcerting.  You can recapture much of the liquid but  
> that's a
> messy operation too.
>
> Enter the HVLP paint gun.  I thought that might be a good solution as
> someone had mentioned it on the group.  I tried it and my first 13x19  
> came
> out rather well but with deeper coverage than I really wanted.  It  
> made the
> print very glossy.  I experimented with this set-up for a while and  
> decided
> the considerable overspray (filled half the garage) and the difficult
> clean-up, and the uneven result made this workflow too much of a  
> hassle and
> results were not entirely satisfactory.
>
> Determined not to give up, I decided to purchase a Badger Touch-Up gun.
> They run up to about $150 on the internet but I found a place in New  
> Orleans
> called Dixie Art Supplies, Inc.,  (http://www.dixieart.com) that sells  
> them
> for only $74.95.
>
> I have a compressor so I hooked up the Badger and following the simple
> instructions that came with the Badger for setting up the gun, and  
> using
> 30psi pressure, I sprayed 2 8x10's and a 13x19 yesterday.  The  
> material laid
> down very nicely and I was even able to spray the surface twice one  
> after
> the other to make the surface look good.  (Try that with a rod!)  The  
> prints
> dried down beautifully. Today, I repeated spraying several prints of
> different sizes and again was fully satisfied with the results.  I  
> feel I
> have found the solution that works perfectly for me.  The clean-up of  
> the
> Badger is simple and takes very little time.  After finishing the  
> prints I
> simple rinsed out the cup thoroughly and and filling with clean warm  
> water,
> I sprayed a few ounces out and then  put it away.
>
> One caveat:  This worked to my full satisfaction for me but I can't  
> promise
> it will work equally well for you.  There are variable such as  
> temperature
> of the material sprayed, ambient temperature, and spraying technique.   
> The
> instructions said to stay within three or four inches from the object  
> being
> sprayed and that worked fine.  The weather during both times I've  
> sprayed
> was about 80-85.
>
> Finally, one has to be sure to carefully wipe of the print with a soft
> cotton cloth prior to spraying.
>
> I hope this information has been helpful for you.  I would appreciate
> knowing if this has been helpful.  If you have a question please feel  
> free
> to email me off list or whatever.
>
> Happy spraying!
>
> Joe Davajon
>
>
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