Carbon Printing and Ultravoilet Light

Hi!

     Back in the very late '70, I made an attempt that failed at Carbro
printing.
I was able to make one carbon print however. I was forced to move and
the darkroom didn't come with me. Now, I would like to try again, but just
the b&w carbon printing. I was impressed by the three dimensional look
that is unique to this process and others related to it.

       Nowadays, the carbon tissue is not available and must be hand made.
In a book I have, 'Alternative Photographic Processes' by Jan Arnow, she
describes the method of the process and how to make the tissue. This is
not an easy process.

       I'm using 5x7 neagatives for direct contact printing.

      I've aquired and am rebuilding a Kodak D2 8x10 contact printer
from the '30. The wiring is still good and it takes 4 standard light bulbs.
But for carbon printing and many other alternative processes, more ultraviolet
light is needed to keep exposure times short. Carbon arc or mercury vapor
lamps are recommended. Here's an eBay search page for 'mercury vapor':

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?query=mercury+vapor&sosortproperty=1&ht=1&from=R10&BasicSearch=++

      As you can see there are quite a number of mercury vapor lamps available.
Which is best?
Do they need a transformer?

      Also, another possibility, is to not use the wiring in the old Kodak D2
contact printer.
With the front door removed, it's broken anyway, there's a 12x12x4 inch opening,
wide
and big enough for possibly inserting a bank of tubes.

      Previously, I had used a dedicated light box from Aristo that was 11x14
with a bank
of small tubes and a timer. However, the old Kodak D2 contact printer has one
big advantage
over the Aristo box. The Kodak printer is wood, of course, but it has grooves
in the sides to
place extra glass. It's my understanding, that before enlarging became
possible, these 'shelves'
could be used to place tissue cut-outs to simulate 'dodging', something
impossible with the
Aristo box. Also, it would be possible to save the tisssue(s) when making
reprints. I plan
to store the tissue with the negative.

       This is all analog. I've just joined the list. If anyone is active in
carbon printing, your
replies will be appreciated!

TIA,

Rich Lahrson
Berkeley, California
tripspud@transbay.net
Received on Mon Mar 22 18:50:01 2004