U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | Re: Fabriano

Re: Fabriano

I have oxalic in the darkroom now so will give that a try first if I get the Fabriano.  The question now is anybody happy using this paper?  I can't buy just one sheet from this distributor, 22x30, so I want to make sure the paper is the same as when Arentz wrote about it in his book in 2005.

David


On Nov 13, 2009, at 5:18 PM, Kerik wrote:

I know Loris' results are different, but oxalic acid has worked extremely well for me and dozens and dozens of students since I began using this approach about eight years ago. My paper is never gritty. For me in here in the US, oxalic acid is cheap, easy to get and IMO much safer to have around than HCl. 
 
Kerik
 

From: David Ashcraft [mailto:david@davidashcraftgallery.com]
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 2:50 PM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Re: Fabriano

Thanks.
Was also hoping that I would get a recommendation for this particular paper.  I found a wholesaler I deal with that was giving me a very deep discount on this particular paper and thought I would capitalize on it.  Just don't want to end up with a paper that has changed and is no longer useful for pt/pd printing.  I did get some of the lame Platine and don't want to go through that again.

David 
On Nov 13, 2009, at 2:27 PM, Loris Medici wrote:

Soak in 2%-5% hydrochloric acid for at least 2-3 minutes (until no
fizzing/bubbles to be precise) and rinse well later. You'll have a
very nice paper for pt/pd and gumovers...

If you find HCl objectionable you may also use dilute (as above)
acetic acid, or (as a last resort) oxalic acid. Most printers
(including masters such as Dick Arentz and Kerik Kouklis) use oxalic
with good results but I don't find it well suited to the job since it
made a gritty paper for me. (I also don't find calcium carbonate and
oxalic acid compatible because the resulting salt is insoluble and
will remain in paper whereas HCl or acetic acid will make soluble
calcium salts which will leave the paper + HCl will dissolve small
bits of iron/metal in paper - if present - which is detrimental to the
process.) Moreover, another cause why I prefer it is the fact that HCl
is very very cheap and readily available (concentrated/pure or already
diluted for cleaning/decalcification/pH control purposes, many off the
shelf products) in my location (Turkey) - may not be so to you.

Hope this helps,
Loris.


2009/11/13 David Ashcraft <david@davidashcraftgallery.com>:
This is a resend, I tried this around the beginning of the week and it
doesn't appear to have gone trough so I'm trying again.  My apology if this
is redundant, I think I used a different from address.

Greetings,
I need to order more paper for my pd/pt printing; using Platine now coating
with the magic brush.  Was wanting to try the Fabriano Artistico HP Extra
White 300lb and was wondering if anybody is using this or should I stay away
from it.  I saw in Dick's book that it should be acidified and if that is
still true, soaking or brushing, what works best this year?  I prefer the
thicker papers so any recommendations in this direction is appreciated.

Thanks,
David