Richard Sullivan (richsul@earthlink.net)
Sun, 21 Mar 1999 10:32:09 -0700
Adam
At 01:28 AM 3/21/99 -0800, you wrote:
>Tonight, while trying to solve some argyrotype problems, I went into the
>chemistry boxes and emerged with the goods to make the Thiourea-Gold
>toner I've played with in standard Kallitype printing. Out of curiosity,
>I decided to try toning a couple of reject Pt/Pd prints. In the bath, I
>noticed a quick pop in dmax and contrast with a very slight cooling
>effect in tonal color. On drying, these are less aparent, but still, it
>looks like it effected the print to a small degree.
Most likely you are toning it with gold. Two things I've noticed. One, is
that platinum tones much more readily than palladium.
Second, fresh made prints tone better than dry aged ones. This fresh vs
aged prints has been noted in the historical literature. It doesn't make a
lot of sense. It could be some residual or atmospheric oily haze that forms
on the particles. If that were the case, then some solvent might aid in
toning by removing the haze. Who knows? The particles are really eensy
weensy so it could be anything, some weird quantum thing perhaps.
Another observation: using a bright light over the toning tray accelerates
toning. From my observation and from the historical literature.
I cribbed the Dektol HC110 bit from some silver print toning formula. If
you don't clear, you'll end up with a yukky brown print in a few days. I
tried other reducers with no luck until I tried the developer trick.
If you can quickly -- 10 minutes or less - tone a pure pd print, then you
are on to something.
The question of fixing Kallitypes has come up before. I think Jim Marshall
from England says that there isn't any chemical reason to fix. I
recommended toning of the Kalli's so that they can be fixed without
bleach-back. Since all the books say to fix, that's what we do.
--Dick
>I am wondering whether this toner has any application to Pt/Pd printing?
>I don't see any references in any of the few pt/pd books around the
>house. Also, in Kallitype printing, the print goes back into the fixer
>after toning (to clear residual gold I surmise) - but what about Pt/Pd?
>Maybe Sullivan's HC-110 or Dektol clearing bath used in his gold toning
>process? Hypo?
>
>Best,
>-Adam
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