RE: photogravure

From: Richard Sullivan ^lt;richsul@earthlink.net>
Date: 08/16/05-06:28:39 PM Z
Message-id: <20050817002358.1ABFE76F1F@spamf4.usask.ca>

Sorry to sound curt. I just get a bit rankled with chemophobics and I don't
include you in that group. Since gum printers are working with
concentrations 2 to 4 times that of gravurists I am wondering how many are
wearing hoods. You wear a hood to protect from vapors. Chromium solutions do
not vaporize so I am puzzled. The ferric chloride does give off some very
slight hcl fumes but that is not a huge problem. I daresay the gasoline
vapors from fueling ones car put you at far greater risk.

It is all very puzzling. Why we can be so blasé about some risks and go
nutso over others that are even more minor.

--Dick Sullivan

-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Lybrook [mailto:jon@terabear.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 5:56 PM
To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
Subject: Re: photogravure

I of course defer to your authority on the subject Richard. All I know
is what I was told by someone formally trained and certified as a master
at the Tamarind Institute. He said they had to suit up fully with a
hood when doing copper gravure. While he seems to feel there is no
better approach to printing photography in terms of aesthetics and
archivalness, he didn't like it for that reason. Enough that he's
turned down jobs from many accomplished artists who wanted to work in
that medium with him.

Maybe he's keeping the holy grail from us for reasons other than
toxicity, or maybe the way he was trained in differs from the approaches
you have used. I can't say.

Best wishes,
Jon

Richard Sullivan wrote:
> The only toxic compound used in gravure is the chromium and that can be
> replaced with diazo if one chooses The LD50 on the diazo I use for carbon
is
> 15 gm per kilo. Safer than table salt. By my calculations it would take
more
> than 100 mls of a 2% sensitizing solution to approach a fatal dose. An
> amount unlikely to be accidentally ingested.
>
> Even with chrome I am not sure of safer? How? Unless one is extremely
> careless and so much so they should be restricted from fueling their auto
at
> the gas station, there is little risk.
>
> I daresay we have a whole passle* of gum printers here in jeopardy if you
> are correct. Probably a 10 ml dose in the concentrations they use is
likely
> to be fatal. (*Or is a group of gum printers known as a gooey?)
>
> And I know a nutritionist who won't eat meat because it is toxic. So what
> does your master printer know that the rest of us don't?
>
> Would I use this in a high school setting? No. Would I do it in my
kitchen?
> No.
>
> Cheers.
>
> --Dick Sullivan
> The Center for Photographic History and Technology
> A tax exempt organization
>
> -----Original M essage-----
> From: Jon Lybrook [mailto:jon@terabear.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 4:48
> To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> Subject: Re: photogravure
>
> I know a master printmaker in Denver who is trained in copper gravure,
> but refuses to do it due to the toxicity.
>
>
> He does work with zinc
> though, though mostly for non-photo work, as do a number of printmakers
> in the area.
>
> I'd not try either myself since polymer plates are accessible and safer,
> but if I were to, I'd seek out hand-on, qualified instruction on the
> process and safety precautions involved. Not something to try unless
> you're trained and equipped to deal with it or know someone who is who
> can guide and oversee you in the correct procedures.
>
> Jon
>
> Silvi Glattauer wrote:
>
>>Osky,
>>have you tried using photopolymer plates for photogravure? Much safer on
>>the environment!
>>Silvi
>>
>>On 17 Aug 2005, at 3:28 AM, Richard Corbett wrote:
>>
>> Zinc for gravure? I think not.
>>
>> Richard
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fotoalquimia"
>> <info@fotoalquimia.com.ar>
>> To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 1:50 PM
>> Subject: photogravure
>>
>>
>> I need help to sensibilize cooper or zinc to expose with UV
>> light, and after
>> use it for fotogravure.
>>
>> Do anybody knows how to do it??
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Osky
>>
>>
>> ---
>> [This E-mail has been scanned for viruses but it is your
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>>
>> ---
>> [This E-mail has been scanned for viruses but it is your
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>>
>>*/Silvi Glattauer
>>www.silvi.com.au
>>0417 377 962/*
>>
>
>
>
Received on Tue Aug 16 18:28:51 2005

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