salt printing questions

Good morning,

Since I'm teaching alt process next semester and cannot just confine the
course to my own interests (gum/cyano/pd/argyro/VDB) I made my first foray
into salt printing these last 2 weeks. What a hoot to learn a new process
that I never intended to.

What is the capacity, do you think, of a liter of 5% sodium thiosulfate fix
(with 1% sodium carbonate) for 8x10 salt prints?

Is it an old wive's tale (alias young live in lover's tale) that blow drying
with heat after fixing and washing will add density to the print? I can
see, if this is a myth, how one might believe that because the salt print
starts out very red at first, lightens and yellows in the fix, and exhibits
amazing dry down and tonal change to a dark brown when completely dry. But
I can't see how, once fixed, the tones remaining will get added
exposure/density by a blow dry that wouldn't be there anyway with an air
dry.

How do you clean silver nitrate stains off your sink/bathtub/hands?

I used a few different papers--of course, Arches Platine is so beautiful,
Buxton at $10 a sheet needs more sizing more soaking or else it doesn't
release the silver and will darken and dull horribly, and I have 2 Cranes
papers that I think I mislabeled--they look very similar but one is slightly
creamier. They may be Platinotype and P Wove (?) so if someone can enlighten
me which the creamier one is I'd be obliged.

I have to say that it is an addictive process, and produces beautiful
prints...my very first print was a keeper, not because I'm so wonderful but
because I calibrated a curve for it beforehand with the PDN system...during
which I found that salt has a seriously looonnnnng tonal range.
Chris
Received on Fri Oct 21 07:42:59 2005