Re: Liver of sulfur?

From: Sandy King <sanking@clemson.edu>
Subject: Liver of sulfur?
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 23:06:26 -0500

> I was looking at polysulfide toners and they all seem to require
> something called liver of sulfur? What is this and where can I buy it?

As you see in its name, POLYsulfide is a somewhat indefinite
specification of chemical compounds. Indeed, details of the reaction
is not very deeply worked out. What is called liver of sulfur is a
mixture of potassium polysulfide, sulfate, carbonate, and other stuff,
and also is a somewhat indefinite specification of the mixture of
compounds. This is the most common source (practically speaking, the
source) of polysulfide toning agents. You can buy it from various
chemical supplies, including Sigma and other standard places, as well
as Post Apple Scientific (http://www.postapplescientific.com/).

> Or could I substitute chicken livers or such?

If you are not very susceptible to cholesterol, those are best eaten
as long as the chicken wasn't fed with too much antibiotics. Cook it
in butter, sage, and white wine... sometimes add fine chopped shallot
and a bit of tomato sauce. ummm... delicious. (The name "liver of
sulfur" came from its appearance, not taste nor smell, if it wasn't
obvious.)

Instead of mixing from raw chemicals, one can achieve similar results
by using Kodak Brown Toner. That is said to be an aqueous solution of
liver of sulfur plus or minus nothing.

Warning: liver of sulfur solution WILL smell REALLY BAD and the smelly
fume (hydrogen sulfide gas) as well as the solution will fog the
material when contaminated to emulsion or developer. I recommend to
use separate beakers, trays, etc. for toning, and never share them
with developers or emulsion making setup. Also always work in a well
ventilated area. If film and/or paper are stored in the area nearby,
they should be in a drawer, fridge, or other enclosures that are
reasonably blocking the air flow. I use the same darkroom to tone and
make emulsion, but as long as I allow extra time to exchange air
between sessions I never had a problem. When I set up trays of
developer, stop, fix, rinse and tone in a line in the sink, I saw a
fog that is most likely due to the H2S fume. So this should give you
somewhat realistic level of the problem, though I do recommend to use
extra precaution.

You might find some of this useful:

http://silvergrain.org/Photo-Tech/toners.html

--
Ryuji Suzuki
"Reality has always had too many heads." (Bob Dylan, Cold Irons Bound, 1997)