U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: Selenium-toning Van Dyke Brown prints

Re: Selenium-toning Van Dyke Brown prints



From: Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>
Subject: Re: Selenium-toning Van Dyke Brown prints
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 02:37:44 -0400 (EDT)

> Any formulary (like Photographic Facts & Formulas, or probably Steve
> Anchell's Cookbook, will have the hypo alum & carbamide, which are
> classics.)

Hypo alum toner loses density even with silver gelatin prints and it's
probably not a good choice for VDB. It's also a sulfur toner, not
selenium.

Thiocarbamide is a misnomer, or at least old name that is not used in
chemisty today. Thiourea is common name.

> Selenium powder is poison, but IMO they make too big a deal about this. 
> Don't breathe it, is all -- oh, and don't drink out of the glass (pyrex 
> coffee maker) you've boiled it in.

More important than "don't breathe it" is that you should know what to
do when you spill it, for example.

> And about bubbles:  One drop of Kremer 78600 Defoamer in a liter or so of 
> 3% warm gelatin removes the bubble problem entirely with no down side. 
> That's ONE DROP !

In my experience with this defoamer is that it increases coating
defects on the layer that's coated on top of it.