I wanted to share some info I have on dispersing solids in a manner that
would be economically feasible for the student/anyone on a budget.
Needed: 1 Unicolor or Ciba roller base w/8x10 processing tube.
1 empty LDPE (plastic) 32oz. bubble bath container (yes, I have
kids and their post consumer waste can come in handy!).
Ceramic Milling Media (from US Stoneware) 1/4in cylinder type.
Isopropyl alcohol.....enough to pre-wet the pigment.
Deionized or Distilled Hydrogen Hydroxide and some wetting agent,
photo-flo should do ok.
Dry Pigment
................. Let The Games Begin ..........................
First of all DOCUMENT what you do....you may be blessed w/success and might
want to be able to duplicate your results another day.
The basic goal is to make your own liquid ink with a known pigment:liquid
ratio making it a simple matter to then formulate the pigment:gelatin ratio
in the tissue.
First, weigh out "some pigment" and note the wt. of the first pile. The pile
should be of a managable ammount to put in a small bowl. Next slowly add some
alcohol letting it soak in before mixing. At this point you are only getting
the pigment evenly wet not soaked. Next add H2O (very small ammounts at a
time) and mix slowly until the pile has a smooth honey like consistency
consistency thick but runs off the back side of a spoon in an unbroken
strand. Add more piles of "known weight pigment" until you have an approx.
volume of 200ml of honey-like pigment pre-mill mix. At this point you should
know how many grams (or whatever) dry pigment this volume represents.
Rinse off enoung ceramic milling media to roughly fill the 32oz./1L bottle
about 1/2 full. Do this in a plastic pasta strainer as you don't want metal
marks on your media (I'm sure it dosn't matter I just like mine white).
Let them drain a bit and DO NOT DRY THEM OFF but put them into the rinsed
bottle. The reason being to reduce to a minimum the ammount of organic fiber
that gets into the mix. Even though it may be ground up when the process is
complete, it may tend to end up on the surface of a coated sheet when and
where you least want it.
Add ALL the pre-mix to the bottle and give about 1/2cc photo-flo.
Secure the cap well and using a small hand towel, wrap the bottle (evenly so
as not to deform its cylinder shape) and fit it with a twisting motion snugly
into the processing tube. Tuck any excess towel in the tube so it can't come
out during the grinding of your ink. Put the tube on the base and turn on the
motor. If all is well it should sound like large drops of rain falling on the
roof. Let the motor run for at least 24 hrs. longer is better and will yield
very fine ink pacticles.
After you are done grinding, secure a beaker or other calibrated container to
measure the final volume in.
Start by removing the cap and adding +/- 100ml H2O to the bottle. put the cap
on and mix well (nikkor tank agitation) and before anything has a chance to
settle, drain it into the beaker. Keep a finger part way over the bottle
opening so no media escapes. Repeat this 3 or 4 more times, this removes most
material.
Get the pasta strainer and a clean bowl and note your desired target volume;
lets say 1L. You may only need 300-400ml more H2O to reach your goal so the
real game here is washing your dishes in a fixed volume of water and removing
all the pigment from bottle and media. Have fun!
Now you know you have an ink (when shaken up to redistribute any settled
pigment) that can be expressed as: Xgrams pigment:1cc/ml of liquid ink if you
base your completed volume on 1L. All thats left now is coat your tissue at
different pigment:gelatin ratios to see what works best for your negs. Enjoy!
Hope I didn't forget anything....
Michael Sandquist
>Date: Fri, 18 Oct 96 04:14:55 +1000
>From: Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>
>Sender: alt-photo-process@cse.unsw.edu.au
>To: Multiple recipients of list <alt-photo-process@cse.unsw.edu.au>
>Subject: dry pigment for carbon tissue
>
>
>Dear carbon friends,
>
>I printed out the latest batch of formulas & hints for pigment for carbon
>tissue and brought to Carmen, and am about to add sumi in green bottle
>to an order from Daniel Smith for her...
>
>But she, reading the formulas, which often take nearly a whole tube of
>paint for one sheet of tissue, and being on a student budget, was
>particularly interested in Terry's suggestion of dry pigment black --
>about 10 grams per 100 cc gelatine.
>
>She can get a pound of black pigment for $5 at the school store. She
>asked me, and I said I'd "ask the list", does the pigment have to be
>worked into the gelatine first in some special way? I recall Sandy King
>saying something about a blender..... is that necessary?
>
>TKIA
>and cheers,
>
>Judy
>