RE: Mix it all at once (RE: kitchen recipe for palladium)

Clay, I hardly consider weighing out chemicals mucking around when compared
to adding a whole process on top of a print to add some slight color or by
maintain temperature to achieve a color choice of warm, neutral or cool. I
simply add some ammonium based palladium if I want a more platinum look, or
more sodium if I want warmer. I have so seldom had any problem with
solarization of my prints; it is very much a non issue for me. I also don't
recall the price of lithium chloride vs. sodium or ammonium, but sodium is
dirt cheap. Perhaps if you used a less dilute solution of palladium the
problems of that would not be as high. I mix my palladium solutions with
only 40ml of water to give an approximately .7 M solution. This is much
closer to the strength of the ferric.

One demonstration that most of my students really appreciate is seeing an
image printed with different salt combinations. I find that the ones that
come to me with previous printing experience are the most impressed with
differences that are achievable in image color.

As far as the statement in Dick's book, I can not comment on it completely.
I have only seen his prepress book. I received that from him while in
Montana back in 1999. If there is a statement that claims palladium
Chloride (PdCl2) reverts to solid Pd metal I have never seen that happen.
Nor have I ever checked out the electron potential for the salt. It has
been claimed that it will absorb moisture (hydroscopic) but I haven't seen
that in any text. These would be questions that I'd pose to chemist.
Perhaps, on my next order from Engelhard, I'll ask these questions. IS PdCl2
hydroscopic? And can it revert back to solid Pd metal through such a
process?

I would doubt it, but until one can see the electron potential one doesn't
know past personal observation. I'll review the MSDS and see if there is any
indication within it but I doubt that. Most of my supply and reference
material is not quite complete with stability information.

Cheers,
EJ Neilsen

Eric Neilsen Photography
4101 Commerce Street
Suite 9
Dallas, TX 75226
http://e.neilsen.home.att.net
http://ericneilsenphotography.com
 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Clay [mailto:wcharmon@wt.net]
> Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2005 8:06 PM
> To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> Subject: Re: Mix it all at once (RE: kitchen recipe for palladium)
>
> I don't really muck around with the color very much on my prints. I
> find I can get all the variations that I really like by changing the
> developer temperature or adding some platinum. If I want some real
> color, i just do a gumover pass. I like the lithium version because
> it seems to solarize a lot less than the sodium palladium, maybe
> because it is so hygroscopic and maintains the print humidity a
> little better. Horses for courses, I guess.
>
> As far as mixing it up all at once, I do that just because it is
> really not one of the more rewarding parts of the process for me, and
> I'd rather do it infrequently.
>
> BTW, did anyone every verify or discredit that little statement in
> the Arentz book about PdCl reverting to a metallic state if it was
> left in powdered form too long?
>
> Clay
> On May 8, 2005, at 7:37 PM, Eric Neilsen wrote:
>
> > Clay, Why would you mix it all at once? Is that the only mixture of
> > palladium that you use? How do you control the color of your
> > prints? Why
> > limit your self to just the color range that lithium allows or
> > provides?
> >
> > Eric Neilsen Photography
> > 4101 Commerce Street
> > Suite 9
> > Dallas, TX 75226
> > http://e.neilsen.home.att.net
> > http://ericneilsenphotography.com
> >
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Clay [mailto:wcharmon@wt.net]
> >> Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2005 8:33 AM
> >> To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
> >> Subject: Re: kitchen recipe for palladium
> >>
> >> Those are the proportions I use. The proportions are probably more
> >> important than the solution strength, especially if you take into
> >> account the dilution that occurs automatically when you use the Magic
> >> brush. If I were you, I would just mix it all up at once, since it
> >> won't go bad or anything. That amount will make you 300ml of
> >> solution:
> >>
> >> 25g PdCl
> >> 17.5g NaCl
> >> 275ml water
> >>
> >> Clay
> >> On May 8, 2005, at 8:10 AM, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>> I'm kidding, but not really.
> >>> I have 25 g of palladium powder. What gram/ml recipe do you all
> >>> have for this amount? I won't touch it until I hear from you, as
> >>> $291 (gasp) is a lot to waste. I have:
> >>>
> >>> 5 g palladium
> >>> 3.5 sodium chloride
> >>> 55 ml water.
> >>>
> >>> If I am off in any of these, what happens? Is the sodium just
> >>> regular table salt with or without iodine? What does it do to the
> >>> mix?
> >>> TIA,
> >>> Chris
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >
> >
Received on Sun May 8 20:19:59 2005