From: Sandy King (sanking@CLEMSON.EDU)
Date: 12/03/02-08:21:42 AM Z
Darryl wrote:
>I'm a happy argyrotypists. I use Cranes papers primarily (cheap!),
>with the extra sulphamic acid boost for better contrast from my
>negs. Negs come from a variety of sources... Polaroid 665, Arista
>enlarged negs and Tri-X Pro. I'm beginning to work with Burkholder
>inkjet negs on Pictorio after the first of the year for a
>workshop/class in summer. I air dry or heat with an iron to
>neutralize the brown color a wee bit. Paper makes a huge difference
>according to the tests I did last winter.
>
>-Darryl
I have worked with argyrotype on several occasions but found it to be
much trickier to work than vandyke and traditional kallitype, and I
found it to be extremely paper sensitive. If you are getting good
results it would be nice if you could post a brief outline of your
specific working procedures, and perhaps some comments about what
argyrotype offers that vandyke and kallitype do not.
Sandy King
>
>Michael Healy wrote:
>
>>Waaaaaaa! You people keep talking VDB, but I'm working w/ argyrotype. Do any
>>of these concerns/problems of yours make correllaries, or is this all a
>>bunch of useless melarky to an argyrotypist? Do we
>>argyrotypists have to invent our own wheels and coin our own sets of
>>problems? Ahem. ARE there argyrotypists out there......?
>>
>>Mike Healy
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: "Liam Lawless"
>><mailto:liam.lawless@blueyonder.co.uk><liam.lawless@blueyonder.co.uk>
>>To:
>><mailto:alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca><alt-photo-process-l@skyway.usask.ca>
>>Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 9:05 PM
>>Subject: RE: toning VDB & kalli - 2 questions
>>
>>
>>Richard,
>>
>>Yes, I'd say so, except to note that even a tiny bit of silver in the
>>highlights - too little to register as image density - may cause some
>>discoloration on toning. You therefore want to make your test prints from
>>negs with very dense highlights - a Stouffer would be ideal, or mask part of
>>the image with, e.g., a coin. Polysulphide tones without prior bleaching,
>>doesn't it? If the toner has no effect on the "darks" of the image, then
>>it's a fair bet that hypo has it changed to suphide, but I'd guess that the
>>silver particles in VDB/kalli are so fine that the toner will bleach them to
>>a large extent... perhaps even if they're largely sulphide already. (I used
>>to find that I could bleach sepia toned images on warm tone papers with
>>iodine, whereas it wouldn't touch sepia on bromide papers.)
>>
>>Another point to note is that if your prints are on buffered paper, they
>>will probably have formed a small amount of (insoluble) silver carbonate in
>>contact with the sensitiser (which I think - but am not absolutely
>>positive - contains an excess of silver nitrate). If so, this might confuse
>>the results.
>>
>>Yet another possible complication comes from the chlorides usually present
>>in tap water, responsible for the milkiness seen in the first wash. If the
>>first rinse is under the tap, insoluble silver chloride will form with the
>>unused sensitiser, and chances are that a little will be retained in the
>>paper. Rinse for half a minute in each of two changes of pure water to
>>avoid this. Afterwards, continue washing under the tap if you feel more
>>washing is necessary.
>>
>>But the bottom line is does the image stain in toner when it hasn't been
>>fixed? If it does, the exact reason isn't too important - we know we have
>>to fix. Probably best to do your tests on buffered paper since most papers
>>are buffered now, and we may not always know if what we're using is or not.
>>
>>Do let us know what happens...
>>
>>
>>
>>Liam
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: <mailto:rurmonas@senet.com.au>rurmonas@senet.com.au
>>[<mailto:rurmonas@senet.com.au>mailto:rurmonas@senet.com.au]
>>Sent: 03 December 2002 13:21
>>To:
>><mailto:alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
>>Subject: RE: toning VDB & kalli - 2 questions
>>
>>
>>Quoting Liam Lawless
>><mailto:liam.lawless@blueyonder.co.uk><liam.lawless@blueyonder.co.uk>:
>>
>>
>>
>>>To test whether any sensitive stuff is present, put a spot of
>>>sepia toner solution in a highlight area. Don't think I've ever tried it,
>>>but I'd bet a millionth of a dollar that the fix is needed.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>I can't remember where I had come across the silver sulphide theory, but
>>have not had any luck finding a chemical proof one way or the other. So I
>>guess I had better do some tests.
>>
>>What I propose is to make 3 VDB prints, with exposure as equal as I can.
>>Then:
>>
>>Take one of the prints in an unfixed, but washed condition and put it in a
>>polysulphide toner. This should stain in the highlights / borders if any
>>unwanted silver compounds remain on the paper.
>>
>>Take a second print after fixing + washing and put it in polysulphide toner.
>>This will tone further if there is any unconverted silver around.
>>
>>The third print will be fixed and washed and is the reference print for
>>comparison to 1 or 2.
>>
>>Do these tests seem resonable?
>>
>>Richard
>>---
>>Richard Urmonas
>><mailto:rurmonas@senet.com.au>rurmonas@senet.com.au
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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