Paraffine and gasoline should never be applied to a tin while the tin is still wet. The tin should be rubbed dry and be free from paste for the best results.
Of late years there have come into use, for squeegeeing purposes, heavy sheets of celluloid, which have their advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that you have practically no trouble from prints sticking, you can put twice as many prints on, as the sheets can be used on both sides, and they are easier to wash. But the disadvantages are that they are so easily scratched and are so unwieldy in handling and difficult to set up that, taking it all in all, tins still have the preference.
Some of the old time shops use plate-glass polished. While plate-glass gives a very high gloss and absolute contact, it is more easily broken and unless prints are hardened to the limit and the glass well polished, the prints are always sure to stick.
A few points about the care of tins. When tins are first bought, to last a long time, the corners should be slightly rounded with a pair of tinner's shears and then filed off smooth. The backs of the tins should be finished with asphaltum varnish, which makes them water-proof on the back and does away with one difficulty—rusting of the backs of the tins, and during all operations of washing, squeegeeing, etc., should be stacked face to face.
The tins should never be allowed to stand with water drops on them, and if not used immediately after washing, should be thoroughly dried. It will be found that much of the sticking of prints to the tins is caused by these dried tear drops.
If one would undertake to figure up the waste in paper, muslin and time. caused by careless handling of ferrotype tins during a year's time, the amount would stagger him, and I think, give him cause for serious thought on. the matter.
The application of muslin and hinges to prints is another item that bothers some photographers. In studios where employees' time is a matter of con sideration, this operation is generally done in a machine-like way, but the principle is the same in smaller places. The procedure is about as follows : The prints are separated in the water in lots for quick handling and are put in place on the tins (the tins first being rinsed), together with the hinges, which have been well soaked in water beforehand. The tins are then passed
along for squeegeeing—a wringer will be found a big time saver—although many prefer the velvet rubber squeegee. A little idea here to prevent tearing of the hinge is to cover the entire tin with a piece of oil cloth and squeegee through the oil cloth. The tins are then stacked up on edge to let the surplus water drain off, although running them through blotters keeps the tins in better condition.
The prints are then pasted—not just here and there in spots, but evenly all over. A good thin paste is better than a watery paste. We have all had troubles with paste, that is, when we wanted it, it never was made, or else it was sour, watery or something wrong or it ran out toward the end of a large job, so that it has resolved itself down with the majority of us, to using a prepared paste powder, and eliminating considerable trouble.
After the pasting operation, the muslin is laid on and brought out smooth in all directions by the hands. But one should be careful to see that the muslin is in contact all over, and the muslin should, by all means, be kept clean. The grade of muslin to use is usually governed by the class of work. There is no advantage, however, in using an extra good grade, nor is it economy to use a real cheap kind. There are many backing cloths on the market now, made especially for this work, but they are generally of a drab or light tan in color, which is the only draw-back I can see.
Hinges can be bought from any printer or paper supply store cut to size, although some people still use backing paper for hinges. The grade of paper should be of a heavy bond or ledger paper and printers usually ha.ve large quantities of left over ends which can be purchased for a trifle.
The proper method of drying prints with muslin on them is to lay them absolutely flat, for the best results, although most commercial shops now dry them on edge, time being the governing factor. There is no real safe method I know for rapidly drying prints with muslin backing.