Re: Contemporary Tintypes

Rita wrote:

>I start out fine with a puddle in the middle of
>the plate, but then I always end up with thickish "ribbons" of emulsion
>near the edges, which "set" before I can coax them into a smooth coating.
>When I try to nudge the emulsion with my fingertip (or fingernail, as the
>directions suggest), I end up with finger marks. Perhaps the emulsion
>needs to be hotter; Rockland recommends 130 degrees but I always fogged
>Silverprint Liquid Emulsion at that temperature so I was wary of ruining a
>whole (expensive) bottle of AgPlus.

I have never used any of the modern silver-gelatin faux-tintype emulsions,
but have a great deal of experience flowing silver-gelatin emulsions onto
glass and collodion emulsions onto glass and japanned steel plates.

Hint No. 1: Preheat the plate to 130-150 degrees F. This works fine for
glass plates and my emulsions, but with metal sheets you may need more
thermal mass. If so, place the tin on a piece of tile (like bathroom tile)
and preheat them both. Leave the tin on the tile until the emulsion is
spread and even.

Hint No. 2: Heat the emulsion more. If you're worried about fogging,
while you're testing, heat only enough for one plate.

Hint No. 3: Don't ever try spreading emulsion, whatever the manufacturer
says. (If you want to build a proper slot coater, that's another story.)

The emulsion should be the consistency of very warm honey or pancake syrup
(not as runny as most modern maple syrup, though), and the plate should be
warm enough that it stays that way for at least 45 seconds. If you get to
the fogging temperature and it's still too thick, dilute it with distilled
water.
You really should set the gel before drying -- a cold (40 degrees F or so)
slab of countertop stone (marble, granite, whatever) that has been
carefully leveled is ideal. Once set (5 minutes), then put the plate(s) in
a dry place. I leave my emulsions overnight -- YMMV

Best regards,

etienne
Received on Thu Feb 16 20:20:39 2006