From: Richard Knoppow (dickburk@ix.netcom.com)
Date: 07/12/03-11:31:51 AM Z
----- Original Message -----
From: "Yu rei" <nanocrystals2003@yahoo.co.jp>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Saturday, July 12, 2003 5:46 AM
Subject: Old "Chloride Paper" Contact Printer?
> Recently I obtained what I imagine is a contact printer...
>
> It has a mechanical timer 0 - 60 seconds... kind of
> neat... it makes an "antique" clock sound as it counts
> down the seconds and it even turns the lights off at the
> right moment! It has a nice system for holding the neg and
> paper in contact. Forl lights, it has 6 (8?) little thumb
> sized bulbs, I guess 5-10 watts each, an off center
> safelight, about 4 glass shelves or layers animation
> style. otherwise mostly wood.
>
> My question is, is there anyone on the list that has used
> such a device? About how old are they? When was their hey
> day? When were they last produced, and regularly used?
> Were they only used for gaslight papers or did many use
> them for the faster enlarging papers as well?
>
> Does anyone have instructions for one of these toys?
>
> (yes... i can figure out the basics, but I am looking
> for tips on how to use the 4 frosted glass shelves... one
> of them had a thin sheet of paper... tracing paper? on
> it...
> ---------------------------------
>
> Related Thouhts...
>
> Anyone know When, and WHY the first "enlarger" came in to
> being... ?
>
> Thanks for any help!
>
> Ray
These were very common for contact printing up to perhaps
the 1950's, maybe later. Printers varied from very simple
boxes containing a single printing lamp, for small
negatives, to very elaborate floor standing models for
negatives as large as 11x14. Many had built-in masking
devices to hold the negative and mask the print borders.
Morse Instrument Co. made some very elaborate contact
printers for the air force during the 1940s t0 1970s. These
had a multitude of argon (UV) lamps, with elaborate
switching of the lamps idividually and by groups, for the
prupose of dodging.
The lamps in your box are probably not the originals.
They sound like night light lamps put in to reduce the
illumination level enough to use enlarging paper instead of
contact paper. The tracing paper is probably also for light
attenuation. Normally the lamps are 40 to 60 watts.
A small ruby lamp is included in all contact printers in
order to line up the negative and cropping masks, etc.
Most contact printers have at least one layer of ground
glass as a diffuser. More than one can be used to get better
diffusion. Some have an extra glass layer to hold tissue or
other material used for dodging. The idea is that you can
set up elaborate dodging and make multiple, identical,
prints. Contact printing boxes were often used for mass
production of prints such as motion picture publicity
prints.
The only contact speed paper left on the market is Kodak
Azo. This is a silver chloride emulsion paper with neutral
image color. It is about 1/100th the speed of most variable
contrast enlarging paper. In the past all the larger
manufacturers of printing paper made at least one contact
speed paper. Kodak made at least four. Azo was their general
purpose professional contact paper. At one time it came in
six contrast grades and a plethora of surfaces and textures.
Now it comes in one (two?) grades and in single weight
glossy only. Kodak also made a very warm tone paper called
Athena, and of course, the famous Velox, a blue-black
relatively fast paper used very widely by amateur
photographers and the most commonly used paper for
photo-finishing.
It is interesting that these devices, once very common,
have become so rare as to be mysterious.
I have two 8x10 contact printers. An ancient Agfa/Ansco,
probably from the 1930's or 40's, and an 8x10 Morse printer.
Its hard to date the wood ones like the Kodak and Agfa or
Ansco boxes because they were made from the mid twenties to
the 1960's with few changes.
Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee are keeping Azo alive by
selling it and keeping up the minimum volume Kodak needs to
continue making it. I suggest you buy from them to help keep
the stuff alive.
Time-O-Lite made a good 8x10 box with a built-in timer and
Burke & James made a quite fancy metal box with individual
light switching. I have not seen any larger contact printers
at local camera sales for some time.
--- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA dickburk@ix.netcom.com
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