From: Christopher Lovenguth (zantzant@hotmail.com)
Date: 10/28/02-12:49:39 PM Z
Hi all, I need suggestions on an issue I'm still having with gilding my
daguerreotype plates. I have 1 gram of gold chloride in 500ml of distilled
water (mixed last night fresh but had these issues with my last batch as
well) and I am mixing an equal amount sodium thiosulphate solution (the
solution is 4 grams to 500ml water) to make a working solution. My problem
is that my plates are instantly (5-10 seconds) turning dark, destroying the
highlights and making the entire plate almost non-viewable. My only hope in
being successful at this process is to dunk the plate in and pull it out
instantly, but that's not true gilding and often stains my plate.
I've tried increasing the water to the point that I'm using 50ml of the gold
chloride solution(1g to 500ml concentration) to an additional 150ml of water
(making 200ml) then and equal amount of sodium thiosulphate solution. Still
my plates are turning dark blue in under 30 seconds. I've tried less heat
(since more heat makes the process happen faster) to the point that my last
attempt was just above what I would guess as hot tap water. I've tried less
and more sodium thiosulphate concentration and even tried no sodium
thiosulphate, that didn't help. I've tried an extended gilding to see if the
instant coloring would disappear, that did nothing but eat my image off the
plate.
Why would my plates be changing so fast and the highlights turning dark?
Any suggestions? -chris
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