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1916 California State Map Mini Episode 4

We finished yesterday with the map drying face down on the melamine board. It dried over night and the next morning was ready to be removed from the board. To remove it from the board we insert long, thin and very sharp spatulas between the hollytex and the board. This particular piece made a nerve wracking crackling sound around the edges.

Pictured: Here is the map, face down, before we have done anything to it. you can see next to it the two spatulas we use to remove things from the board.

Pictured: Here is one of the edges that we worked so hard to save!

Pictured: I am slipping the smaller spatula underneath the hollytex. The goal is to keep it flat and move it forward all at the same time.
 John even got a short video! The two large cracks are Robin stapling canvas to the frames, the smaller crackling noises are from the paper as the hollytex separates from the board.



With most of the pieces that we temporarily mount on hollytex, the spatulas are long enough to reach the half way point, but this piece was so big that we had to lift it up to get to the middle section.

Pictured: John is reaching under with the larger spatula to release the center of the map.
 Once free of the board, Melissa and I carried the map over to the conservation area and trimmed the excess hollytex off the edges to make it easier to handle.

Pictured: We flipped it over to check the front before beginning the next step.

Pictured: Trimming down the edges of the hollytex to just around the border of the map makes things easier during the mounting process and to take the facing off later.
 While Melissa and I trimmed the edges, Robin put glue onto a piece of framed canvas. However, she did not put a paper substrate down. We mounted this directly to the canvas like it had previously been.

Picture: Robin making sure that the glue is evenly spread, while Melissa and I put the map on the glass table.

One more round of washing and rinsing before John spread glue across the back of the map. Remember that at this point it still has the hollytex facing on the front holding all the small pieces together. 

Pictured: Melissa spraying water on the back of the map. We also flipped it over and wet down the front. Wetting everything down helps to bond the paper to the glue and canvas.

Pictured: Tandem squeegeeing. Its a real thing.

Pictured: John spreading the glue across the back of the map.

Pictured: Just a little perspective of how big this thing is. John is almost completely hidden behind it.
 John carried the map, stuck to a piece of Mylar over to the canvas that he had set up on one end to make it easier to get the map onto it, then flipped it back onto the table and used the squeegee to even adhere the map to the canvas. After removing the Mylar, without pulling up any pieces I might add, the only thing left to do was let it cure for a couple of days.

Pictured: With something of this size moving it around on the Mylars is difficult, so standing the canvas frame on end helped John to place it.

Pictured: Once the map was positioned, John put it back on the table and used the squeegee to flatten it out against the canvas.

Pictured: Mylar, unlike hollytex is not gas permeable, so in order for things to dry in a timely fashion the Mylar has to come off.
How are we going to get the hollytex off the front? Come back tomorrow for the last installment!

It should be noted that several crucial steps in our process have been omitted. If you have any questions please feel free to contact us via email at postermount@aol.com or by phone at 818.882.1214. Also check out our websites: http://www.postermountain.com and http://www.lapapergroup.com/. Please feel free to leave comments or questions on the blog!

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