Re: Carbon Printing

nadeaul@nbnet.nb.ca
Sat, 11 Nov 1995 14:52:40 +0300

>>
>> What pigments do you use? Do you use dispersions, i.e., toners, watercolor
>> tubes, etc.?
>>
>I once used watercolor pigments but don't any longer. For color
>work the cyan and magentas lack the transparency of pure pigments, and
>the image looks a bit muddied, less brillant than it should. In

Some of them use TiO2 as opacifiers. Some brands cause fog perhaps because
of the nature of the dispersion agents or gum preservatives.

>monochrome I have had good success with the Grumbacher Finest series
>of watercolor, specfifically with Ivory Black, Lamp Black, Raw Sienna,
>and one or two others. The great advantage of watercolor pigments is
>that they disperse wonderfully.
>
>All of my current tissue is made with so-called pure pigments from
>the Color Craft Company of Hartford, CT. These pigments are available in
>4 and 8 oz bottles and are much more economical than the small watercolor
>tubes. I have also obtained numerous pigment samples from companes like
>Dupont, Heubach, Cib-Geigy, etc.

I think Dupont and Ciba are now out of the permanent tricolor set business.

>
>The majority of pigments work fine with carbon printing, but some
>cause staining and fog, others will not disperse well in the gelatin
>solution, while others destroy the bond that holds the pigmented
>gelatin image on the final carrier.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Never heard tell of that one. Do you remember the culprit's name?

I weigh to .1g the amount of
>pigment per 1000ml of solution, and keep good ntoes. If it works,
>great, otherwise chalk it up to experience and move on.
>
>As for dispersions, nothing special. I use 35g of sugar per 1000ml of
>gelatin solution, and 10-15ml of glycerine. I first grind everything
>up very carefully with a pestle and mortar, then mix in a blender at

you mean everything minus the gelatin I presume?

>medium speed for 2-3 minutes. This kicks up a lot of air bubbles and
>you must wait for 2-3 hours to coat, but gives wonderful dispesion.

>A friend of mine tried the blender and swore that it did not work, that
>the bubbles would never go away. But it works fine for me.

Just make very sure that the blade set is never used for food again. I have
never been able to clean them thoroughly

Luis Nadeau
NADEAUL@NBNET.NB.CA
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada