|
Francis...
You mention 30g per liter of thiosulfate...that's
3%. I was working with even greater dilutions, around 1-2%...as mentioned in
some books.
Also interesting is the Sprint you mention. I
always thought that the clearing bath should be acidic...?
Paul
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 8:53
AM
Subject: Re: VDB
David,
Sprint fixer remover is a hypo wash(ing aid). It
contains sodium sulfite and sodium metabisulfite as well as a chelating agent,
not EDTA but Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic
acid or DPTA. It is weakly alkaline in solution , pH7.9, but hasn't
effected the density of my VDBs. I first got the idea to use this as a washing
aid for van dykes after reading Sarah Van Keuren's Alternative Processes
Manual in the late 1990's. It also has a bit of antifreeze in it as
well.
-francis
On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 10:04 AM, Paul Viapiano <viapiano@pacbell.net>
wrote:
Anne and David...
Wow...no kidding! Every time I do an argyrotype
(Ware's VDB cousin), put it in the clearing tray, it looks good for a few
seconds and then fades quickly...poof! I think even the James book mentions
folks who clear for 20 seconds only.
Anyway I started with argyrotype as a less
expensive way to get introduced to alt process on the road to pt/pd, and all
I can say is that pt/pd is infinitely "easier" to handle...
Between argy's clearing and it's ridiculous
finicky paper choices, I'll take pt/pd any day of the week!
(OK, got that off my chest early in the
morning) ;-)
Paul
-----
Original Message -----
Sent:
Wednesday, March 11, 2009 5:45 AM
Subject:
Re: VDB
David,
Previously I was living in Tennessee with very high humidity.
Now it's winter time in Michigan --- could be part of the problem.
And I have been rinsing under running water.
I've been treating VDB like cyan. VDB is so much more
sensitive.
Thanks for you help! Anne
On Mar 10, 2009, at 9:18 PM, david drake wrote:
Anne, are you clearing in a bath of water or running water?
Generally, a combination of three separate baths of water with a
pinch of citric acid in each, works well. Also, if the paper is not
soaking up the sensitizer it will easily come off in your rinse. Most
find that VDB and other iron based processes require a higher humidity
than normal (60% ) is important for good results. the humidity helps the
paper absorb the sensitizer, otherwise it stays on the surface.
this is a bigger a problem during winter or in dryer
climates.
Francis, what is sprint fixer remover? Is that a hypo wash or
sodium sulphite?
I also do double coating to get good dmax. this can also be
problematic during the clearing stage it takes much longer to
clear.
Toning in platinum, palladium or gold is also recommended for
permanence and very nice blacks.
david
On 10-Mar-09, at 1:13 PM, francis schanberger wrote:
I suspect the water supply pH or minerals may
be involved. I am having slight changes to my VDBs depending on where
I process them. At school they seem to dry down a lot more and give me
a very strong brown background compared to the ones I make at
home.
You may also wish to experiment with shorter fix times or
changing your dilution of thiosulfate. I am using a 30g per liter
solution.
I don't clear with citric acid but with Sprint Fixer
remover.
-francis
On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 12:53 PM, Anne van
Leeuwen & Peter Hoffman <anne_peter@earthlink.net> wrote:
Hello, I've recently been using VDB again but with
different results than I've had in the past.
I made up a fresh batch of the VD and am using fresh
thiosulphate, the results are not a strong brown and
there is weak contrast. When I first rinsed the contrast was
good but that was quickly lost. I did try pot. dichromate but
that didn't do anything visible to the contrast.
Any
suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank
you.
Anne
--
francis schanberger
www.frangst.com
--
francis schanberger
www.frangst.com
|