Re: Contemporary Tintypes

MessageHi Dianne,
I laughed so hard at your descriptions! But; I am not a skater (except in my dreams and; yes; I think Kurt Browning is the best)- the 'axle' is an 'axel',
from another sportswoman, albeit from the water (pool rat),
Susan
www.susanhuber.com
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Best, Dianne
  To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
  Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 5:09 AM
  Subject: Contemporary Tintypes

  "Is anyone out there making contemporary tintypes?"

  Been there - went to wet plate! Much less frustrating.

  I worked with Rocklands "tintype" process for over a year before I got fed up with their developer (more "bad batches" than good ones and Rockland just doesn't give a sh!#) and went into wet plate collodion.

  I DO like AgPlus and do quite a few different things with it (in a negative process, without their crappie reversal developer).

  I use my colour tempering bath and a small jar to hold the AgPlus at 110 to 115 degrees F while I am working. I also pre-heat the plates to a similar temperature and then spread the AgPlus with a very soft paint brush. While the AgPlus is still liquid, I tilt the plate around to even out the coating and hold the plate until the AgPlus starts to gel.

  I made myself a plate rack that goes into a lightproof box with a small fan that circulates outside air and dry the plates 24 hours. There's a picture of it here: http://www.geocities.com/diannebest/Tintypes/tintype.html

  After working with AgPlus for awhile, I made myself a "coating plate" that is a sheet of galvanized metal with a spiral of copper tube soldered to the bottom. The copper tube hooks to my darkroom water supply and I can select HOT (about 140F) while I warm and coat the plate and then switch to COLD to set the AgPlus. It works like gang busters but probably isn't worth the effort if you are only doing a few.

  Dianne
Received on Fri Feb 17 18:46:20 2006