I use an old Pako drum drier to dry my FB prints. Before the archival flags go up, let me say that it's a single user drier, and I regularly wash the apron--no evidence of problems in my 30-year old prints dried this way. Anyway, the drive roller has begun to slip past the apron, so the apron and drum stop rotating. I can't eliminate this by tightening the apron, and I think the problem is that the surface of the rubber drive roller has hardened and become slippery. Does anyone know of a way to restore the rubber roller? I doubt that a replacement part is an option--these are long out of production.--Tim Nelson

-- Tim Nelson (timothy.nelson@yale.edu), April 20, 2001

Answers

You need to talk to a printer. I believe there's an abrasive rouge type compound that's used to condition the surface of the rollers used in printing presses when they get glazed.

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), April 20, 2001.

Hardened rubber can be softened and given a better surface friction by soaking it in methylated spiits. This only gives the rubber back some of its elasticity temporarily, but the surface 'stickiness' is greatly improved.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), April 23, 2001.

That should obviously have read 'methylated spirits'. Spiits might work as well, though, I don't know.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), April 23, 2001.