cheers
-steve
On Fri, 29 Sep 1995, Barbara N. Brown wrote:
> The following question is from someone who does not have ready access to
> email or this list, so I am posting the question for him and will forward
> all replies. Note: this phone call _just_ came in, and if possible, the
> information is needed by _tomorrow_ (Sept. 29)! [I am sure, however, that
> any information, whenever it is received, will be welcomed, and I will pass
> it on.] This will also be cross-posted to the Photohst list, so please
> accept my apologies in advance for any duplication, or if this list is not
> the best place for this posting.
>
> >Ferrotyping or glazing as a finishing technique:
> >Which photographers used this technique as part of their presentation, and
> >can >we ascribe a person or date to the beginning of its use?
>
> Many thanks for your time and assistance!
>
> Barbara Brown
> bnbrown@mail.utexas.edu
>
Ferrotyping goes back to the 19th century. Read Clercs Photography for
history and early techniques. At first glass plates were used but they
had to be scrupulously cleaned with "ox gall" and then dried with clean
coth. The prints were laid face down and squeegeed so that there would
be no bubbles. No heat could be used.If you were lucky the damned prints
would fall off the next day. If you were not lucky you had to soak the
whole plate in water to get the print off and do it again. Then they
discovered that a hardening fixing bath was necessary to make the geletin
hard enough to not stick so easily. Big improvement! Now only about 20
per cent of your ptints stuck.
Next step...laqured iron sheets. These were painted with a very smooth
lacuer on one side. You had to wax this everytime you used it. Bigger
improvement. At least the prints would not stick if you knew how to wax
the iron.
Finally the Chromium plated brass sheets. Perfection! No waxing
necessary. All you had to do was wash them once in a while with a
detergent and best of all you could put them in an electric dryer and the
job was done in five minutes.
Last;y the resin coated papers. Since water cannot enter the paper base
the manufacturer uses a special gelatin layer of high gloss so that you
dont need to ferrotype them.
Remember this...ferrotyping works because of a peculiar physical
condition of geletin. When it dries it assumes the surface of whatever it
was dried on. If you dry a print on ground glass you will get a mattte
surface print> >
Tracy Diers Historical Photographer and expert on Photographic Trivia.
at herbie@ios.com