From: Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Date: 01/28/02-01:52:18 AM Z
On Sun, 27 Jan 2002, Andre Fuhrmann wrote:
> ... As the toning process progresses, the concentration of
> sodium sulfite in the solution increases. I find it hard to believe
> that this is a dirty trick that Kodak and others play to make ALT
> processes harder. Question to our resident chemists: is there a
> practicable way of producing solutions of selenium fit for toning
> such that the solving agent would not also dissolve silver to some
> degree?
Andri, your reasoning is way over my head, but I have one advantage over
you: I've done the T55 & the T56. The selenium isn't used alone, in the
first it's with sodium sulfite, the second with sodium sulfide.
I gather you're saying it *needs* the fixer or else why is it there? I
could speculate on a number of reasons, such as to be ON THE SAFE SIDE..
many old formulas say refix after toning just IN CASE there's some
leftover silver halide, not that that would matter, but it could change in
appearance with time. Meanwhile, I would NEVER NEVER NEVER accuse a
corporation of being sensible.... (Or why would they make electric alarm
clocks without a lit dial?) Their decisions are what the men in suits
consider correct, safe, proper, profitable, etc.
In any event, in the old Brovira I was using, no color change with KRS,
the T55 & T66 made lovely purply brown-blacks... and did not to my notice
do anything bad, like fade, or bleach. Is that what we're talking about?
But that was silver gelatin. I only had a few drops left when I began VDB,
only enough to test a scrap. Looked good, as I recall, but no way
conclusive. and I never got around to mixing more -- too many other games
to play.
Maybe next time....
J.
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