Re: "New" Paper for Pt/Pd (and other iron processes, too)
It is very economical, just a little over a dollar a sheet if you
purchase it in 100-sheet quantity.
For comparison, I have used a lot of Stonhenge Rising in the past for
kallitype and Pt./Pd. printing, and the price is about the same.
However, the Weston paper gives much better Dmax and clears better.
In fact, Dmax looks at least as good as with COT 320.
The only negative is that the paper does not have great wet strength
so you have to work with it carefully during wet processing. However,
it is not any worse than the Crane paper that many people use for
Pt./Pd. printing.
Sandy
At 8:24 PM -0600 11/28/06, Jeremy Moore wrote:
I haven't seen this mentioned in this discussion, but what's the price
of this paper?
-Jeremy-
On 11/28/06, Sandy King <sanking@clemson.edu> wrote:
I received some 22X34" sheets of the new Weston paper yesterday and
made a few palladium prints today. It appears to be an excellent
paper and lives up to previous billing. The paper gives excellent
reflective density, the coating paper is fairly smooth and does not
need a lot of sensitizer (about 2ml of coating for a 7X17" print was
more than enough), it clears well (in fact, came out of the potassium
oxalate almost completely clear), and has very good detail.
The RH in my printing room was about 55%.
Sandy King
At 9:03 AM -0700 11/27/06, Richard Sullivan wrote:
Kerik,
This is interesting. We have tried this paper several times and found it
wanting. Kevin was doing the testing and I am not sure what he didn't like
about it but I'll ask him later when he comes in. It may be the batch you
are testing is good. He usually runs tests from several different batches.
We have found that paper can vary from batch to batch. We have all seen how
this was the case with Platine. One batch good the next one was crap. When
Dick Arentz was here we cut two pieces of Platine into 4x5's and coated them
as one 8x10. We dried and printed them. One 4x5 piece was from our batch and
one was from some the Arentz brought with him. The difference was like night
and day.
We have driven paper companies nuts with our testing and quality demands.
One can see that what we need in a paper is not what 99.99% of their
customers want. We have had the Cranes rep out to our place a number of
times. They have spent a lot of time working with us on the black spot
problem. One has to give them a lot of credit for flying a rep out to Santa
Fe more than once.
It does look like we should take another look at this paper.
--Dick Sullivan
Bostick & Sullivan
www.bostick-sullivan.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Kerik [mailto:kerik@kerik.com]
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 1:50 PM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: "New" Paper for Pt/Pd (and other iron processes, too)
I have some good paper news, especially for current and former users of
Cranes Platinotype (aka Cranes Crest Natural White Wove, Cranes Business
Card Stock, Artificial Parchment, etc.)
With the recent problems with the "Platinotype Black Plague", many are
looking for other options. There is a "new" 50-year-old paper that found
me
recently. I got a call a few weeks ago from John Zokowski from
Butler-Dearden Paper Co., a Crane's distributor offering samples of
Byron-Weston's Diploma Parchment paper for me to test with
pt/pd printing.
(Byron-Weston is a subsidiary of Cranes.) This paper has been
made for 50+
years and is used for diplomas and other formal documents. This paper is
manufactured a bit on the acidic side, which is a good thing
for pt/pd and
other iron processes. No pretreatment is necessary.
To make a long story short, this is the paper Platinotype
should have been
but never was (at least not for a long time.) It produces a
rich black and
a
nice warm tone with pure palladium. It's a bit on the thin side at 177
>gsm,
so for large prints, in needs to be handled with care. It's also a bit on
the yellow side for my taste, but a whiter version and thicker
version are
in the works. It seems to clear very easily and also seems to be
relatively
black-spot-free. Finally, where it really shines over Platinotype is that
the surface remains nice and smooth after processing. It doesn't take on
the
fuzzy surface of processed Platinotype. And, to top it off, it is very
reasonably priced.
Go here http://www.crane.com/business/weston...palladium.aspx for info.
Contact John Zokowski for pricing and to place an order. Happy printing!
Kerik Kouklis
www.kerik.com
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