Vacuum Press advice

[craigfda]

Hi, I'm brand new to the framing business so please forgive me if this question exposes my ignorance but.....

...when using a vacuum press for simply flattening out posters or prints to remove creases and folds and not actually bonding them to backing boards, are there any set -in-stone guidelines about how long you should leave pictures inside the press or what temperature to set it at for e.g.? Are there any types of picture that should really be kept out of the press?

Sorry if this is really obvious to any of you but I've bought the press second hand and know have worked out the basics of its usage but it came with no instructions.

Thanks in advance folks!

Craig

[Graysalchemy]

The only set in stone rule IMHO is to do as little as possible at a lower temp ie 60-70 then increase the time or the temp if the first pressing doesn't have the desired result.

[Abacus]

I cant answer your question, but when I bought my Hotpress i found the videos on youtube very helpful, well worth a look.

[Tyto]

Hi Craig
When I first got my hotpress I found an article on this very subject so I copied the text and saved it to my computer just in case I needed to use it.
I think it was written by Steve Goodall and may even have been a reply to a question on this forum. Not sure if I should post it here as I didn't write it and I don't want to upset anyone but I could PM you or if forum members think it's ok to add it here I will do so.

One thing you should be aware of, never put anything in the hotpress which was printed on a thermal printer, you will end up with a sheet of black paper!!

Peter

[craigfda]

Thanks for your help, everyone! It's greatly appreciated.

Peter, if you could pm me that text you mentioned, that would be brilliant, ta

[prospero]

What I like to do is to sandwich the work between two sheets of mountboard. No need for release paper. The theory is that board will have moisture in it and heating it will form a sort of mini-sauna, thus relaxing the paper fibres. Not talking clouds of steam here, just enough extra humidity. Then take the entire sandwich out the press and leave it somewhere flat with weights on top (books?) until cool. The paper inside should stay flat after that.