Re: daguerreotype plate polishing tip

You'd probably be better to use a bench grinder adapted with some
tapered spindles. Get a decent Craftsman bench grinder instead of the
knock-off bargain brands and shoot for 3000+ RPM with 3/4 horsepower
minimum. Make sure that it's 3/4 REALY horsepower at the spindle and
not 3/4 HP unencumbered.

I'd love to see a drawing of your developing chamber. Are you following
the tried-and-true inverted pyramid design?

-Jonathan

Bradley Lewis wrote:
> Hey Jonathan,
>
> As far as the Hg box goes, I'm trying to use all iron or carbon steel,
> no nickel or vanadium etc. That's the important part because iron isn't
> soluble in mercury, at least below a few hundred degrees. I'm also
> having someone weld it together, and I asked if he was sure the weld
> wouldn't include any other metals. Solder would be particularly bad,
> I'm guessing. I also plan on making a sliding plate holder out of high
> density polyethylene. I was originally thinking of using Teflon, but
> it's pretty expensive, though I may use thinner Teflon for making
> holders for the sensitization boxes.
>
> It sounds like you're packing some mean buffing power in that JET,
> Jonathan. I'm not really sure what a JET is, but I bet it's big! I was
> thinking of trying a belt sander with a muslin belt for polishing. I
> though it sounded like a mechanized form of the buffing method employed
> in The American Handbook of the Daguerreotype. They have a small el
> cheapo belt sander at Lowes that I thought might do the trick.
>
> Brad
>
> Jonathan Danforth wrote:
>> I don't mind, I'm honored! I'm planning an Hg box too, would you
>> care to share your methods? I wanted to make sure that Hg wasn't
>> reactive to, say, sheet steel which I had planned to use for the
>> chamber.
>>
>> I use a big 'ol buffing machine made by JET. The armspan is about a
>> meter!
>>
>> -Jonathan
>>
>>
>
>
>
>

-- 
http://photographs.danforthsource.com