U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: A few gum things

Re: A few gum things



From: Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>
Subject: Re: A few gum things
Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:38:51 -0400 (EDT)

> On Tue, 8 Apr 2008, Ryuji Suzuki wrote:
> 
> > The beauty of glut hardening is that the paper is ready to use
> > as soon as it dries,
> 
> That's the first suggestion I've heard that other hardeners
> aren't.

That doesn't mean what you didn't hear do not exist.

> In fact I don't know of any hardener in common use not in a
> bottle, tho I assume the alums are powders.

What's the point of writing something like this just after I
posted a few other useful hardeners in common use but not
available commercially? What do you want to argue??

If you can buy bis(vinylsulfonyl)methane or
bis(vinylsulfonylmethyl)ether in a bottle, drum, jug,
whatever, please let me know. These and some derivatives are
probably used in most silver gelatin photographic products,
film and papers, manufactured by Eastman Kodak Company in the
E6 and C-41 era.

Hardeners of vinylsulfone type is very commonly used (not just
by the EKC but also by Polaroid, Fujifilm, Oriental, et al.)
because they don't interfere with color dye coupler system,
yet they harden gelatin very fast. Some of the earlier ones
have problems with solubility in water, and they are dissolved
in a solvent mixture before added to the coating
solution. Some vinylsulfone hardeners have improved solubility
and they can be added to the water-based system more
easily. There is no question that the hardeners of this class
are in widespread use, but none of them is commercially
available. I can synthesize some of them rather easily,
and I'm sure Kodak and Fujifilm have people who make just
that, but I'd rather use something that I can buy in a bottle,
if they perform well enough. (In fact, glut is an excellent
hardener if you don't use a color dye coupler.)

--
Ryuji Suzuki
"People seldom do what they believe in.  They do what is convenient,
then repent." (Bob Dylan, Brownsville Girl, 1986)