> I'd like to get back into carbon, too. The last time I used it I had
> Hanfstaegle (sp?) tissue and their or someone else's baryta transfer paper.
> I'm contemplating making my own, and while I know it can be done, probably
> with less gnashing of teeth than one hears, I'd like to shorten the
> learning curve as much as possible. (I have Luis's Modern Carbon Printing,
> plus a half-dozen other good sources, so I'm not at ground zero.) So --
> are you making your own, and getting good full-scale prints?
Yes, I'm making my own tissue. I can't say I've turned out anything
spectacular yet, but it is improving. Right now, my biggest problems are
the creation of enlarged negatives, and the correct pigment concentration
needed for the carbon tissue manufacture. I've just started experimenting
with using Lith film for enlarged negatives, and am closing in on the
pigment problem. So far, my images are full-scale, but a bit low in
contrast.
> The more troubling thing for me is the baryta transfer paper. Images on
> raw paper (even good hot-pressed) just don't do much for me. An old (19th
> C) book I hope I can locate again gave a recipe for precipitating barium
> sulfate in a gelatin solution (saying that dispersing powdered barium
> sulfate in solution is difficult and gives poor results because the
> particle size is too large), so I suppose I could try that. Someone
> recently suggested that one of the liquid emulsion makers supplies baryta
> in gelatin suspension for underlayers; if so, that might be useful. Do you
> know of any other possibilities? Have you tried any other "shiny" papers
> -- clay-coat, etc? I know I can get silver paper and fix it out, but (1)
> even with outdated paper this is a bit expensive, and (2) one of the nice
> things about carbon is that neither silver nor thiosulfate ever comes near
> it.
I've been using fixed out photographic paper simply because it is easy and
is what I have on hand. My very first experiment was actually done with a
piece of poster board sized with some spray starch. One of the nice
things about Carbon transfer is that you can put the image on pretty much
any surface you can get the gelatin to stick to. Some of the surfaces
I've been thinking about trying are: glass, aluminum, white enameled
masonite, and floor tile. For now, I think I'll keep refining the
technique for paper.
As far as the suspension of barium sulfate you mention, I personally don't
know anything about it. You might check a good art store. They could
probably suggest some white paints or lacquers that could be used as a
base coat, and possibly do double duty as a sizing agent. I thought I'd
post this to the list so the group can offer you any other suggestions
that they may know about.
> Finally, which is your preferred e-mail address?
wallen@boulder.nist.gov
> BTW -- I hope the square-cornered bellows project is going well.
I've got the 4x5 camera built, but used the truncated corner fold. I
think that this probably folds a bit flatter, and is a bit easier to make.
That project was another aspect of the enlarged negative quest. Works
fine.
- Wayde
(wallen@boulder.nist.gov)