From: Phillip Murphy (pmurf@bellsouth.net)
Date: 03/23/01-07:32:40 AM Z
Hello Manuel,
Another "alternative" worth investigating is to fume your plates with
mercury that is released from an amalgamated plate of mercury and
silver.
Essentially, this is done by creating an amalgamated plate with a
discarded Dag plate that a single drop of mercury has been evenly rubbed
over the surface of the plate until it has created an amalgam layer. An
apparatus is constructed that holds the amalgam plate and your exposed
Daguerreotype plate in very close proximity to one another and is
air-tight. The back of the amalgam plate is heated evenly to the
requisite temperature and timed. The timing is critical. Properly
constructed, a unit like this will release a very minimum amount of
mercury fumes to the local atmosphere. The amalgam plate is good for
approximately five Dags. Time constraints prevent me from elaborating
further on this method; it was developed by Rene Smets in Belgium. All
the best, and to answer your question re: the best method. Each
technique is capable of it's own sublime beauty; try them all; you will
evolve your own working methods.
Manuel wrote:
> Hi all: John R. Hurlock in the article "Warming Up To Cold Mercury"
> (The Daguerreian Annual 1998) wrote:"...Where previously I had been
> developing using mercury, this time I decided to try using the
> Becquerel method of development as described in Gerard Meegan's
> article in the Daguerreian Annual 1991(1). But I found that getting
> the right color during the fuming process was a fustrating experience,
> and the exposure times appeared to be much longer than I had previosly
> experienced with hot-mercury development. Furthermore, I was
> frequently disappointed when a fog veil appeared at the end of the
> development process. after finally achieving a neutral-toned Becquerel
> plate, I found the appearance didn't satify me..." Bob Schramm (
> article "How an Old Alternate- Process Printer from a Small Town in
> West Virginia Learned to Make a Daguerreotype" -Post-Factory # 4-)
> heat liquid mercury to about 175 ºF ,60 ºC, (daguerreotypes must be
> exposed to mercury vapor). Gerard Meegan wrote a Chapter (1,
> Becquerel- Developed Daguerreotypes) in the book " Coming into Focus:
> A Step-by-Step Guide to Alternative Photographic Printing Processes"
> by John Barnier (editor). + Bequerel process develop plates without
> mercury vapor. No danger developer but very slower+ Hot Mercury, good
> developer but very dangerous and expensive (fume hood)+ Cold-Mercury
> development , good, less dangerous and more cheap that Hot Mercury ( a
> polycarbonate vacuum desiccator) and more fast that Becquerel
> process. My question: Is the Cold-Mercury developer the best
> alternative for Daguerreotype?. Do you have any experience about
> it? Thanks. Manuel EstébanezSpain
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