Re: Pyrocat-HD for alt printing?

I am a novice alt process printer and have a question about Pyrocat-HD. I
have been using this developer for a while and obtain excellent results when
making traditional silver prints (ie using enlarging paper). I use the
following working formula: Sol A 20 ml; Sol B 20 ml; 1 liter water. The
processing is done in a JOBO Expert drum with 5 minute pre-rinse. Using a
formula found in Keepers of the Light, I recently tried making a Vandyke
(brown) print but found my exposure times were very long (30 minutes or
more). The UV source is a bank of 18 inch blacklight bulbs (“350
 Blacklight” by Sylvania). I have used the same printer with non-pyro
negatives and typically get exposure times for Vandyke prints in the 5-8
minute range. Ideally, I would like to get more reasonable exposure times
for pyro-developed negatives as well (possibly 10-15 minutes). Any
suggestions how to achieve this or do these negatives simply require a
stronger/different UV source? The pyro negatives do not appear dense or
blocked up when viewed on a light box. Thanks for any assistance.

Don Ciccone
Received on Mon Aug 15 21:54:21 2005