First, let me thank you for your post. Descriptive and helpful. I will
definately try the B&S developer and see how it prints on Arches Plantine.
As for my Kallitype saga, it seems pretty well under control now. I've
finished a "book" of images which are all quite satisfactory to me (although
I have literally hundreds of not-so-satisfactory) trashed prints! Oh well..
It did take me a long time to start going again Mr. Dick Stevens' book -
but I have. Although I still have my problems..
One of which is the Sodium Acetate developer. As you mentioned
>Sodium acetate, easy to mix and reusable=
>,=20
>was excellent. That's 75 g sodium acetate & 3 g tartaric acid per litre.=20
>I'd mix a gallon at double strength, then add an equal amount of water=20
>and the tartaric acid (3 grams is about 1/2 tsp) at time of use.=20
>
I have tried 100g and 75g with the same amount of tartaric and have had
tons of problems. It clears alright, but the image begins to decompose
extremely quickly... it really odd, but small "circles" begin to form
all over the prints after a week or so. Like all the silver in tiny little
patches has fallen off. This has happened with MANY different mixes of
this developer, and I have just quit using it for the time being. If I
REALLY want some blacks, I'll tone for them.
As for the Rochelle Salt developer.. you mention
>As for those Rochelle salts developers, I, too, found it nearly=20
>impossible to get all the chemicals into solution -- but we're willing to=
>=20
>suffer for our art, right? Trouble was that, even after all the weighing=20
>and stirring, I never got the promised variations of color. Also, though=20
>I didn't test EACH variation, the ones I did try didn't last well. If you=
>=20
>re-use them (sometimes, as I recall, just the 2nd time, and that's a fair=
>=20
>amount of money and stirring for one printing session), they ruin the=20
>print (grainy and faded) and you're right back at the mixing table.=20
>
As for the re-using part, I agree it doesn't last wrong. Here is how I
use it. I make it, begin printing my lower contrast negatives- add
more dichromate as the negs demand - until I have printed my "batch". The
size of the batch isn't constant- sometimes 10 prints, sometimes 30. But
I toss it often. I buy my Rochelle Salts cheaply- on the order of 500g
for $7. That makes a lot of developer. I have been using Sodium Borate
instead of Borax (I don't have any reason for this, I just do..). I have
been getting great results with 50g S.B. to 30g Rochelle Salts in 1000ml.
And LOTS of tartaric- I've been using 10g at the beginning and replenishing
with a couple ml's of 20% Tartaric. Everything has been extremely clean-
I haven't seen a bad yellow stain in quite awhile. Just as a note, I
have noticed that the super-saturated (?) Borax-Rochelle developer can
eat up a certain amount of tartaric. I don't know how, but the developer
seems to reach a threshold, when enough tartaric has been added, the
free-floating crystals totally dissolve. At this point, I add another
10g of tartaric and it works fine. Again- this is ONLY for a developer
compounded of 75g S.B. to 40g Rochelle Salts. The color is decidely more
neutral than my 50:30 dilution which I normally use. I hope I didn't
confuse everything too badly.. :)
As for the fixer tests which you did - I have had similar experience.
Selenium has ALWAYS stained my prints- sometimes more prominently than
others, but it never failed to do so. Likewise, the silver based
test I used was fine. Who knows? Nonetheless, I have been fixing for
5 minutes, but maybe I've been wasting density for it. I'll have to
check that out.
And paper. I tried Strathmore, and couldn't get myself to like it. I
don't know why, but it comparison to Arches Plantine- it looked incredibly
"muddy" and had extremely poor midtone seperation. I've tried Cranes as
well- but it doesn't compare either. I ran a test on a Borax-Rochelle
developed step-wedge on Arches and had a DMax of 1.40. Not bad. Though
I am going to try Fabriano. I hate the thought of plunking down another
$150 for paper. Yuck.
I have taken a month break from my obsessive printing practices, but when
I return, I know I'll come looking for you Judy.. beware :)
Bye,
Adam