Re: Overexposeure was Re:Pinhole gums
Chris, just saw your post. I'm using glutaraldehyde which hasn't given me a problem since I switched (from using glyoxal). To be honest, this was the sort of reaction I used to get from using glyoxal, though that was a while ago, so I may have been making all sorts of separate mistakes then, too. Thanks for the help! Diana Diana, Your problems are odd. If you were using formalin, then I would have said that you didn't give the paper time to "cure". Is the paper, when it is developing in the water, slimy? If not, then this idea is thrown out. This lack of development you are experiencing is what I found happened when I did not harden the gelatin in a suggestion a list member gave, but the paper was slimy in the water so I could tell right away there were going to be problems. In lesser humidity I find gum is slower, not faster, so the fact you are getting no development which signifies either non-image or image hardening (can't tell which) to me seems to be something other than humidity. In colder weather I would recommend sizing your paper inside in a hot gelatin tray and then doing the separate glut bath outside. That is what I do in the winter. And of course, your idea of cold and mine are probably different :) I long for the warmth of the South sometimes...especially when I am sizing paper and I could hang it outside, tray size outside, let it drip outside, and it cooled slowly. I had a DISASTER this last time sizing in the fall here (so don't think you're alone) 16x20 sheets outside in a tray of gelatin. The gelatin cooled and gooed before it would sink in. Never again. I can't believe I even thought it would work. I am still using that paper though, and it is the basis of a lot of my Family of Origin work so it still works and if anything, it is too slippery of a layer to hang on to, so your problem has me baffled. Anything different with your acidity of your mixture, your dichromate strength? Chris
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