Re: Dag Questions Comments

Hello Bradley,

Halogens have been used in alcohol solution for test plates with success.
To my knowledge, only for single sensitization. You may want to consider
chlorine rather than bromine for accelerating your plates. A small quantity
of chlorine is easy to generate.

Here are a couple of links you might find useful:

http://tinyurl.com/ebddx

http://tinyurl.com/h6z64

Something to keep in mind, the Daguerreotype was perfected in the 1850's;
few modern plates have ever matched what was accomplished at that time.
Try to keep the essential elements of the process as close as possible to
the original practice. The process is simplicity itself. The devil or
god is in
the details.

Having said that, a modern convenience for polishing your plates is to
use a random orbit sander. You can sew pieces of padded buckskin to the
detachable discs and replace them as needed for different polishing
compounds. Have some on hand for rottenstone and others for lampblack
or rouge. You'll want a mask and good ventilation. Finish your plates
with hand buffing using fine cotton velvet and or brain tanned deerskin.

-Phillip

BRADLEY ALAN LEWIS wrote:
> Good advice, Bob. I know the dangers associated with mercury as well as bromine
> and iodine, and am proceeding nonetheless! As far as the silver plating goes,
> I have electroplated far more silver than I care to remember, sadly. But that
> is for a very different application with way different requirements than the
> Dag plates.
>
> I'm actually building my own mercury development box and am taking a lot of time
> making sure that it is as sealed up as possible to eliminate any chance of
> accidental leakage of Hg. I plan to keep the box in a large tupperware-like
> container when not in use.
>
> One thing I have been wondering about for a while, re the iodine/bromine
> sensitization: Has anyone ever attempted to sensitize the plates via a solution
> phase rather than a vapor phase method? A dilute solution of the halogens in
> methyl alcohol, or in a bromide or iodide salt solution in water might be a
> more controllable way to do it, especially since the concentration would always
> be known.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brad
>
>
> Robert W. Schramm wrote:
>
>> Frankly, no one should be attemptingthe daguerreotype process (mercury
>>
> development) unless they understand the dangers inherent in this process and
> know how to protect themselves from them.
>
>> Mercury vapor and bromine vapor are both extremely dangerous.
>>
>> As far as silver plating is concerned, the standard method uses potassium
>>
> cyanide. Ingesting or
>
>> absorbing even minute quantities of this chemical can lead to death. It is
>>
> far safer to purchase
>
>> plates than to try to do it yourself. If you do decide to try silver plating,
>>
> utmost caution must be used. Also, when plating silver there is a danger of
> inadvertently producing fulminate of silver which
>
>> is an extremely unstable explosive.
>>
>> Fair warning.
>>
>> Bob Schramm
>> Check out my web page at:
>>
>> http://www.SchrammStudio.com
>>
>>
>>
>
>
Received on 08/21/06-05:35:17 AM Z