Home Forums Explore Media Printmaking cleaning copper plate prior applying ground

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  • #995212
    Manny100
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        Hello everyone,
        greetings to he who is here

        I’m new here and have 2 questions

        1. since I cant get pumis powder, would it be sufficient to polish the copper plate with steel wool, maybe sandpaper and a thinner for degreasing?

        2. I’m planning on print on vellum, does anyone know if or how it is required to dampen the vellum before sending it through the press?

        Thank you
        Manny

        #1271284
        contumacious
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            Welcome to the forum.

            You can use non scratching household cleaning powder such as Comet / Ajax / Bon Ami to clean and degrease your plates in a pinch.

            As for polishing it depends on how shiny you want it. The smoother the plate the cleaner the whites will be in the areas that are not etched. On my first ground I go for a very high polish but you don’t have to.

            This page looks to be pretty decent on the how to’s:

            http://angusfisherarts.com/guide-to-etching/

            #1271285
            blackandwhite
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                Series of sandpapers is typically fine, for example, for a very rough plate try wet sanding with grit 1000 and then 1600, 2000 and 3200. My copper plate supplier typically ships pretty shiny plates, so I use only 3200 sandpaper and then degrease with Kikkoman (or any similar) soy sauce.

                Some car paint/lacquer polishing pastes are also suitable for polishing copper plates. Often there are three grades (coarse, medium and fine) available and the fine is way above 3000 grit and is suitable for very fine polishing. I also recommend having a look at jewellery/goldsmith polishing waxes. The finest ones will give you mirror finish, but will require careful degreasing with dishwashing soap and then with soy sauce.

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