Digital BW, The Print

I find using a soft rubber roller, called a brayer at art stores 
works very well instead of using a squeege.  I put a pool of fluid 
on the glass, lay the film down gradually from one end of the film 
to the other to prevent trapping air.  Then more fluid on top of the 
film, then the plastic overlay laid down same way as the film.  Then 
I roll the "sandwich lightly using the roller checking for air 
bubbles.  Afterward, wiping excess fluid off the "sandwich with lint-
free dry wipes before scanning.  Works like a charm!

Sounds kind of complicated until you do it a few times, then it's a 
breeze, doesn't really add much time to my workflow

Randy

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Ernst Dinkla 
<E.Dinkla@c...> wrote:
> Frank Kolwicz wrote:
> 
> >Ernst,
> >
> >I *was* using a larger transparent plastic cover sheet when I had 
the 
> >problems I described with the Kami fluid and I could sit there 
and watch the 
> >bubbles expand from around the film edges into the image area and 
there was 
> >no way I could get the scan done before they ruined it. This was 
with 220 
> >color negatives.
> >
> >The cover sheet seemed to make the mounting even harder by 
providing that 
> >much more space in the second layer for bubbles to be trapped.
> >
> >How do you work out the bubbles in the first place? I tried 
flooding the 
> >surface with fluid and progressively laying the film in from one 
end (and 
> >likewise with the cover sheet), squeegeeing the layered film and 
cover sheet 
> >with some kind of smooth soft plastic scraper and finally 
flooding the 
> >entire surface of both sheets with a film of fluid. I never got 
rid of the 
> >bubbles, but did get them off the image area temporarily, until 
they crept 
> >back in as the edge bubbles expanded.
> >
> >I now use a ScanMultiPro and have the glass holder for flattening 
curled 
> >film: would you recommend using mounting fluid in that kind of 
holder?
> >
> >Frank
> >
> Frank,
> 
> I can repeat that mounting every day and I get the same results. 
The 
> thinner MF film + an extra sheet of 0.1 mm PET being the best 
example of 
> the long time you can keep the sandwich closed.  Several scans of 
the 
> same film without any air creeping in. I use a small polyethylene 
> squeegee and an extra sheet of PET on top of the sandwich to avoid 
> scratches on the top foil. On the Nikon 8000 wet mount carriers 
that I 
> made I added small steel clamps to hold the foil so no tape has to 
be 
> used. I lift that foil at the other edge, lay the film where it 
should 
> be, drip the fluid with  a pipet in the angle near the clamps, 
lower the 
> PET foil and the squeegee pushes the fluid between the four 
surfaces in 
> a few strokes. If it doesn't work in one attempt the second one 
will do 
> the trick without failing. One has to keep the concept of 
capillary 
> force in mind, that fluid will creep into the narrow spaces, 
there's no 
> need to imitate the way you make normal sandwiches.
> 
> Either your PET film reacts to the fluid, is too thick or the 
overlap of 
> the foil is too small. I'm not familiar enough with the 
ScanMultiPro. 
> The wet mount holders I made for the Nikon are based on the MF 
slide 
> holder and have a glass area of approx. 11 x 23 cm. Sealed with 
> polyurethane resin around the edges.  That 's enough for the MF 
films 
> scanned on that scanner. On the Epson 3200 I use a separate glass 
sheet  
> for mounting 4x5 and the PET foil will overlap with 1.5" -2" 
around the 
> film. I have PET on the roll so there's no need to check whether 
it is 
> half an inch less or more.
> 
> Ernst