varnishes for alt and the elusive soehnee

Good evening all,

I am about to tear hair out; I am in the throes of finishing my alt process
manual to bring to the printers tomorrow so I can leave town the following
frikkin day and I am STRESSED!!! However, there is a blessing in disguise
here, for in that said alt manual, is (including all my gum secrets) a blurb
on varnishes. I FINALLY got to read through all the varnish reprints I had
xeroxed off of microfilm. A year or two ago I promised Eugene Robkin, Judy
Seigel, and one other interested party that I would search for any and all
info on the subject, in hopes that the secret vernis soehnee would appear.
It's been so long I think they have forgotten, but I haven't. I am
fulfilling that promise as of this post. Sadly to say, only two mentions of
soehnee, Judy and Gene...but I'm givin' you all I got! Every formula from
back in the day that I found (before Nam) is included. I eliminated the
ones that used ether or chloroform. No secret soehnee formula, only a clue
or two.

Here is a severe cut and paste condensation from my manual; please excuse
lack of formatting because I will send only in rich text, so you'll have to
add spaces and such. Who knows if it is useful today or not, what with
Future and Gamblins and Dorland and Renaissance wax. A lot of the formulas
were used for negatives, of course, but there was a crossover to prints.

I had a thought, though; anyone contact Dusan Stulik at the Getty to see if
he can electron scan a little sample of the stuff???

Chris

"Some of us obsessive compulsives are in search of the elusive, secret
formula "Vernis Soehnee" that was raved about in days gone by ("vernis" is
French for varnish, and Soehnee is the inventor's name). Perhaps the romance
of Vernis Soehnee rests in its unattainableness. I only found two references
to the varnish, one in 1861: "According to M. Soehnee (as quoted by Dumas
[he was a chemist]) copal acquires solubility in alcohol by being reduced to
an impalpable powder, and exposed to the air for at least twelve months."
and one in 1872 where a Mr. Gordon found the Soehnee varnish was probably
bleached lac.

So, like spraying buckshot into the air in hopes of downing one duck, I'll
share all sorts of formulas for varnishes from that day. Maybe one comes
close to Vernis Soehnee. Maybe not. The disinterested reader can skip down
to Modern Day Varnishes and save the fun for those of us who like to dabble
in arcane bits of knowledge to no apparent purpose.

The reader will have to determine which methods are archival and which are
not--some varnishes yellow with time....

Historical Varnishes

Lacquers Before the 1840's

shellac 120 parts

sandarac 45 pts

mastic 30pts

amber 30 pts

black resin 90pts

dragon's blood 30pts

turmeric 30pts

gamboge 30pts

rectified spirit (methylated alcohol) 1000pts

Shake occasionally till dissolved and strain.

or

seed lac 120pts

gamboge 120 pts

dragon's blood 120 pts

saffron 30pts

rectified spirit 1000pts

Put in a hot place, stir at intervals, and filter.

____________________

A really good rundown on varnish ingredients is from BJP 1861:

Solvents Solids Colors

linseed oil amber gamboge

turpentine copal dragon's blood

rosemary oil mastic aloes

alchohol sandarac saffron

ether lac(shellac) turmeric

benzole elemi annnatto

chloroform benzoin red sanders

methylated spiritcolophony cochineal

naptha arcanson indigo

                anime

                dammar

____________________

Lac Varnish by Monkhoven

alcohol 40 oz

white stick lac 3 oz

picked sandarac 3 drachms

or

alcohol 100 pts by weights

white lac 6 pts

picked sandarac 4 parts

____________________

5 Formulas from BJP 1867

No. 1

shellac, bleached 4 oz

alcohol 1 pint

No. 2

Benzoin 1 oz.

sandarac 20 grains

mastic varnish 20 drops

alcohol 8 oz

No. 3

benzoin 1/2 oz

jalap resin 1/2 oz

sandarac 10 grains

mastic varnish 20 drops

alcohol 8 oz

No. 4

bleached shellac 8 oz

sandarac 4 oz

Canadian balsam 1 oz

alcohol 1 gallon

No. 5

sandarac 90 parts

turpentine 36 pts

oil of lavender 10 pts

alcohol 500 pts

____________________

Varnish

Bleached lac (white shellac) 10 drachms

Picked sandarac 5 drachms

alcohol 12 oz.

____________________

Ricinus Varnish

sandarac 1 oz

alcohol 6 oz

castor oil 80 grains (or minims)

or

sandarac 3oz

castor oil 1 oz

alcohol 18 oz

few drops oil of lavender for smell

(BJP 1871)

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Mixed Resin Varnish

palest orange shellac 2 3/4 oz

bleached lac 5 1/2 oz

gum sandarac 1/2 oz

methylated spirit 1 quart

"Bruse the bleached lac till reduced to small pieces. Powder the sandarac,
and then add the whole to the spirit, putting in a few small pieces og glass
to prevent the shellac caking at the bottom of the jar. Stir or well shake
the whole from time to time, till it is evident that solution is complete.
Set aside to clear, pour off the clear, supernatant fluid and filter the
rest. Allow a month or two for subsidence..." (BJP 1882).

____________________

Bleached Lac Varnish

Lac (bleached or unbleached) 1/2 lb or 250 g

Mastic 1 oz or 30g

spike oil of lavender 2 oz or 60 g

methylated alcohol (about) 1/2 gal or 2 litres

no directions given (BJP 1901).

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Water Varnish

shellac flakes 4 oz

water 1 pint

Put in a pan on top of the stove, and bring to the boiling point. When
reached, add a few drops of hot saturated solution of borax, stir vigorously
and it'll cause the shellac to dissolve in water. Filter, and let cool. (BJP
1902)

____________________

White Shellac Varnish

white shellac, crushed and dried 1oz

sandarac 1 oz

Venice turpentine 1 oz

methylated spirits 1 oz.

At time of use dilute with equal parts methylated spirits. (BJP 1922)

____________________

Vidal's 1886 method of 1/2 oz borax, 1 dram sodium carbonate ( 3.6ml of
powder?) in 10 oz water. Add 2 oz. white powdered shellac. Boil until the
shellac dissolves

____________________

Burnish with Castille soap dissolved in alcohol.
Received on Tue Dec 27 23:01:21 2005