Just joining the experiment? Perhaps you might like to start with Part 1 of this 4 part series.

Well, the rain finally stopped, and I applied three coats of the Hahnemuhle Protective Spray. It takes only a few seconds for each application and about 15 minutes to dry between coats. Easy. It is much simpler and easier to control than applying a liquid.

Now comes what is really the only slightly tricky part of this whole process that I have been describing. Attaching the print to the panel. First, let’s talk about what I personally use to mount the print. Some might advocate using something like YES Paste, and that will work, but I think the process is made much easier with what I prefer, which is 3M 568 Repositionable Mounting Adhesive.

3M 568 Repositionable Mounting Adhesive is, in my opinion, a great product that I have already been using for a year or so in my photo-encaustic work. It comes as a long roll from which you cut off the appropriate length (a bit longer than the actual panel). It looks like glossy paper and, in fact, one side is just that…. a shiny paper. But the other side is coated with a very thin layer of adhesive. You lay the adhesive side (there will be no doubt which side that is, as it is tacky to the touch) down on the surface of the panel. There is no centering since the piece you cut off should be larger than the panel and will cover the whole thing. The roll of adhesive I have is 12 inches wide, so I needed to cut two pieces and place them side by side in order to cover the whole panel.

Once you have placed the adhesive paper pieces over the panel (tacky side down), you vigorously rub the non-adhesive surface of the paper with a rubber burnishing tool that comes with the roll. Really spend a few minutes firmly burnishing it, especially at the edges of the panel. You can’t overdo it. That firm burnishing makes the adhesive layer bind to the wood more firmly than to the paper.

Transferring the adhesive to the surface of the wood panel.

After burnishing, you gently lift up the paper, and that thin layer of adhesive transfers from the paper to the entire surface of the panel, all the way out to the edges. You know you are successful because the paper is no longer tacky, and you can see the thin adhesive layer adherent to the surface of the panel.

You can see that the adhesive has been successfully transferred to the surface of the wood panel.

Now comes the only slightly tricky part to this whole process. You want to GENTLY place the print onto the panel, trying to center it. You can check your placement from the front of the panel, to make sure the print is straight, and you can lift the panel up and look at it from below or even flip it over to make sure that the borders that overhang the panel (this is why we made the print slightly larger than the panel itself) are generally equal. Just make sure that you don’t lay it down on a table or other surface with the print side down. Why? Because it is REPOSITIONABLE! That’s the beauty of this adhesive. As long as you don’t apply any pressure to the print surface, the adhesive is strong enough to hold the print on the surface, allowing you to flip the panel over, but weak enough to allow you to flip it right side up again and gently lift the print off the adhesive and reposition it if it is not centered to your liking.

Once it is properly centered (I had to reposition it several times), you cover the print with a sheet of burnishing paper (to protect the surface of the print) that comes with the roll and use the burnishing tool to apply pressure over the entire surface of the print. Make sure to burnish those edges well. This makes the adhesive permanent, and that print is NOT going to come off the panel. Ever.

Burnishing the print to make the placement permanent. The print can be seen under the burnishing sheet meant to protect the surface of the print.

By the way, make sure that when you are placing the print down onto the panel that the correct side is at the top based on how you mounted the hanging hardware (whoops). If you discover you screwed that up after you’ve burnshed (it happens :), you can always unscrew the hardware and carefully remount it correctly later.

That’s the only tricky (but not hard) part. Now, simply put a piece of some type of protective paper down on a surface to protect the print, flip the panel upside down onto the protective paper, and trim away the excess overhanging paper using some type of hobby knife. It helps to have a cutting mat, though it isn’t absolutely necessary.

Trimming away the excess border to make the print flush with the edge of the panel.

Here is my finished piece hanging on a wall. It came out really well. I particularly like how the absence of glass in the presentation allows the viewer to experience the artwork more intimately.

Does it hang flush with the wall based on the way we mounted the hardware? You bet it does!

The panel hangs flush with the wall because of the way we placed the hanging hardware.

I hope you found this brief tutorial useful. If you like the look of the finished piece, why not give it a try yourself? If you do, I would love to hear how it turned out.

Join Me For A Real Time Experiment, The Finale

Get new posts by email: