Mounting Photographs w/Rubber Cement
Lester Heitlinger, R.B.P.
used this method for 35 years and it has always been successful.
Equipment needed:
1 Rubber Cement Dispenser
1 Small can of Rubber Cement Thinner
1 Good sharp knife (I use the type with disposable single edge razor blades)
The above supplies may be purchased in most art supply stores.
Technic:
Choose any type of flat mount that you desire. The technic would
probably work on a curved surface also.
The rubber cement should flow rather freely from the brush when the brush
is lifted from the jar. Coat the back of the print to be mounted with a
thin coat of rubber cement. BE SURE TO COVER THE EDGES. Set the print
aside with the coated surface UP. While the coated print is drying coat
the surface on which the print is to be mounted with a thin coat of
rubber cement. Cover MORE surface that the print will require.
Allow both the print and mounting surface to dry THOROUGHLY. To
facilitate mounting place two sheets of paper (I use tracing paper) on
the surface that is going to receive the print. Overlap the two sheets of
paper near the center of the mounting surface. The overlap should cover
at least one inch. Position the print on top of the protective sheet of
paper. The purpose of the protective paper is to keep the print from
bonding to the mounting surface. Once the two surfaces are in ontact they
will stick together.
When the print is properly positioned you may start to remove the
protective sheets. Gently pull one sheet from between the print and
mount. While doing so secure the print to the mount by pressing with your
free hand while flattening the print. Keep working the paper out from
under the print. It may be easier to remove each piece of paper by
alternating from one to the other. Don't worry! If you make a mistake you
may remove the print from the board without damaging it.
Once the print is properly positioned and mounted you may remove the
excess cement from the extended edges of the mount by simply rubbing
gently on the excess. Don't throw the excess cement away. It will roll up
into a ball. When you have a large enough ball of rubber cement you may
use it as a "pick-up", rubbing the pick-up over the excess cement on
future mountings.
If you should desire to remove a mounted print it can be done by SLOWLY
applying some of the rubber cement thinner to an edge of the print while
gently lifting it from the mounting surface. I use an oil can with a
small spout for this purpose. If you do this you should remove all the
rubber cement from print and mount and repeat the mounting process.
If you have any problems or questions e-mail me direct at:
*****************************************************************************
Lester D. Heitlinger, R.B.P. R.B.P. = Registered Biological Photographer
heit...@soleil.acomp.usf.edu
Lost on the Information Superhighway Specializing in Pix of blood and guts
*****************************************************************************
Nathan Wong
: Here is a technic for mounting photographs with rubber cement. I have
Wow, 35 years and no problems? Hmmm, I would think the fumes from the
rubber cement would damage the print itself, let alone the glue! ;-)
Diana Dubois
FOR SHAME!!!! Not exactly archival. By the way, what makes that any
easier than using corners and window mounting, or using archival
drymounting sheets and a slightly warm iron? Just curious.... dd
Fusion
: Here is a technic for mounting photographs with rubber cement. I have
: used this method for 35 years and it has always been successful.
Lester, U R A Twit, TWIT ACTUALLY.
Sell many prints? Many come back? Sell to Twits? Must have!!!
Successfull how? What a waste
Tell me, make many excuses? Shit falls apart?
If it doesn't, then how do you maintain a Nitrogen Atmosphere ( to
avoid degradation).
Ted Diamond
In article <Pine.SUN.3.91.950331122346.9136B-100000@soleil>, "Lester
Heitlinger, R.B.P." <heit...@acomp.usf.edu> wrote:
> Here is a technic for mounting photographs with rubber cement. I have
> used this method for 35 years and it has always been successful.
>
Sure this will work, but there are easier methods, and this method is far
from archival with fiber based paper.
Ted
--
Ted Diamond
t.di...@oratmail.cfa.ilstu.ed
Grad student- photo
square is good
Lester Heitlinger, R.B.P.
point or two. A rubber cement dispenser is a jar which has a brush
inserted through the top with the brush hairs extending into the rubber
cement. They are fairly air tight but not entirely. Hence the rubber
cement thinner. When the cement in the jar gets too thick one adds rubber
cement thinner to thin it out. Rubber cement thinner is highly volitile
and the can should be kept tightly closed.
Ted Diamond
(Fusion) wrote:
> Lester Heitlinger, R.B.P. (heit...@acomp.usf.edu) wrote:
> : Here is a technic for mounting photographs with rubber cement. I have
> : used this method for 35 years and it has always been successful.
>
> Lester, U R A Twit, TWIT ACTUALLY.
> Sell many prints? Many come back? Sell to Twits? Must have!!!
> Successfull how? What a waste
> Tell me, make many excuses? Shit falls apart?
> If it doesn't, then how do you maintain a Nitrogen Atmosphere ( to
> avoid degradation).
>
> Fus...@pheonix.kent.edu
Lester,
I won't put it quite like fusion, but regarding your not wanting me
(and others) to not tell you rubber cement isn't archival, it's not. It's
caustic to paper. Just to confirm it, I asked the director of the ISU
gallery and also called the great yellow father (Kodak). Thirty five
years isn't very long in the life of a B&W photo. Considering all of the
alternatives to rubber cement, why bother with it. In a situation where
the print doesn't have to last, its an OK method, but not if your selling
it. If I tried to pass off a rubber cemented print to a gallery, they'd
laugh at me.
Ted Diamond
> Lester Heitlinger, R.B.P. (heit...@acomp.usf.edu) wrote:
> : Here is a technic for mounting photographs with rubber cement. I have
> : used this method for 35 years and it has always been successful.
>
> Lester, U R A Twit, TWIT ACTUALLY.
> Sell many prints? Many come back? Sell to Twits? Must have!!!
> Successfull how? What a waste
> Tell me, make many excuses? Shit falls apart?
> If it doesn't, then how do you maintain a Nitrogen Atmosphere ( to
> avoid degradation).
>
> Fus...@pheonix.kent.edu
Lester,
I won't put it quite like fusion, but regarding your not wanting me
(and others) to not tell you rubber cement isn't archival, it's not. It's
caustic to paper. Just to confirm it, I asked the director of the ISU
gallery and also called the great yellow father (Kodak). Thirty five
years isn't very long in the life of a B&W photo. Considering all of the
alternatives to rubber cement, why bother with it. In a situation where
the print doesn't have to last, its an OK method, but not if you're
Lester Heitlinger, R.B.P.
on my walls for a long, long time. They were rubber cement mounted and
show NO signs of deterioration. How many prints have you mounted that you
expect to keep FOREVER? I've been listening and reading about this
archival crap for years. It sounds great to the inexperienced but in
practice it's just so much steer manure. Get real!!!!!
*****************************************************************************
Lester D. Heitlinger, R.B.P. R.B.P. = Registered Biological Photographer
heit...@soleil.acomp.usf.edu
Lost on the Information Superhighway Specializing in Pix of blood and guts
*****************************************************************************
Andrew Stikuts
In a previous article, heit...@acomp.usf.edu ("Lester Heitlinger, R.B.P.") says:
>What is "archival? I have a number of prints of my grandchildren hanging
>on my walls for a long, long time. They were rubber cement mounted and
>show NO signs of deterioration. How many prints have you mounted that you
>expect to keep FOREVER? I've been listening and reading about this
>archival crap for years. It sounds great to the inexperienced but in
>practice it's just so much steer manure. Get real!!!!!
Dear Lester,
While I still have prints I made when I was 12 and 13 years old in
reasonably good and even excellent condition, those which I mounted using
rubber cement on good quality board failed to survive more than 15-20
years. Serious staining was the rule. Sadly, the negatives of those
pictures of my youth have either been lost in numerous family moves, or
are now so tightly curled that unwinding them for printing has its own
risks. We all learn much from our errors. It is too bad that some
errors won't be discovered for years and years --rubber cement being one
of them!
The other thing that is very hard for a younger person to realize is just
how important certain images may become decades later. The pictures I
printed 30 years ago may not be my "finest work" -- but in many ways the
images are among the dearest and closest to my heart.
The irony is that my experience with rubber cement was as responsible for
my interest in archival methods as any theoretical articles I may have
read. Even now, I shoot many of my personal family "snapshots" in black
and white just so that I can be reasonably sure of long term survival of
the images. I cherish the one photograph I have of my
great-grandparents; it may be that my great-grandchildren will feel the
same way about some of what I am recording of our family life.
Even so, may your memories be fine and happy ones!
'bye, Andrew Stikuts in Toronto, Canada ab...@torfree.net
Thomas C. Waters
and enjoys it as much as I did. Today, I am a medical photographerr
and a Fine Artist. I exhibit nationally and internationally. I put
much time and energy into "archival" treatment of my personal images
because it can mean the difference between a sale to a musuem or not.
My work related images are "quick and dirty" document the data prints.
They need last long enough to go out with a manuscript to a professinal
journal.
Sometimes the seriousness of making Fine Art images clouds the basis
for being a photographer... and your post did a marvelous job of
focusing that attention where it belongs.
The care we give to our work is about our passion and your sharing was
wonderful!!!
Good luck with all your work!!!
In article <D7ACw...@torfree.net>
ab...@freenet.toronto.on.ca (Andrew Stikuts) writes:
> In a previous article, heit...@acomp.usf.edu ("Lester Heitlinger, R.B.P.") says:
>
> >What is "archival? I have a number of prints of my grandchildren hanging
> >on my walls for a long, long time. They were rubber cement mounted and
> >show NO signs of deterioration. How many prints have you mounted that you
> >expect to keep FOREVER? I've been listening and reading about this
> >archival crap for years. It sounds great to the inexperienced but in
> >practice it's just so much steer manure. Get real!!!!!
>
> Dear Lester,
> While I still have prints I made when I was 12 and 13 years old in
> reasonably good and even excellent condition, those which I mounted using
> rubber cement on good quality board failed to survive more than 15-20
> years. Serious staining was the rule.......
Thomas C. Waters
twa...@pitt.edu