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View Full Version : Me and my big mouth. watch this EBay sale going crazy. Live now.



Tin Can
8-Feb-2015, 20:39
As many know I an investigating hand retouching negs and prints the old way.

Somebody pointed out a Kodak Etching took had not sold twice on EBay for $10.

I contacted the seller and asked to buy it. He never responded but he did put it back on sale at a starting price of $10. That's his right.

The sale is heating up, very likely some buyers are reading this as soon as I post.

I dropped out at $20. Let''s see what happens.

I am not the seller, don't know him or her and have no further interest in this sale.

77 minutes...

231469130004

Tin Can
8-Feb-2015, 20:43
Adams Retouching machines are also moving once again.

It's 8x10 Polaroid Processors redux.

Jim C.
8-Feb-2015, 21:03
I kept looking for a book, thought you had a typo, that etching knife is easy to diy with a metal grinder, there may even be wax sculpting tools that already have that shape.
Another thought is surgical tools.

diversey
8-Feb-2015, 21:09
Everyone in today's CLFG meetup is suspicious. But it looks very cool! :)

Tin Can
8-Feb-2015, 22:03
Well that's over, but it looks nothing like any retouching knife I have seen in pictures, and not like the one that says Kodak on the handle I now have.

It was either never sharpened or something. No edge was apparent.

And yes we can make them. They are not Samurai swords.

Maybe the box was worth the price...

richardman
8-Feb-2015, 22:27
So Randy, next time before you announce "I want XYZ", give me a warning first :-)

richardman
8-Feb-2015, 22:28
Yes, what's the deal with 8x10 Polaroid Processors? If I move up to 8x10, I might try it with some Impossible film...

Tin Can
8-Feb-2015, 22:43
Yes, what's the deal with 8x10 Polaroid Processors? If I move up to 8x10, I might try it with some Impossible film...

They peaked a while back and have started coming down.

They will be valuable as long as IP makes film, if they stop production they will be worthless.

I had one, sold it here and later it was sold again here. Nobody made any money on the processor.



You are allowed 200 saved searches on Ebay. Some keep an eye on way more than that with multiple accounts.

Depends on how much data you need in your head.

My latest theory is, as you add data to a brain it leaks out the other side. Careful about the leaks, they may be valuable memories...

richardman
8-Feb-2015, 23:21
Ha ha, thanks for the advice. Looks like right now they are hovering between $700-$850. Historically, have they been lower? I can wait, since a) I don't have an 8x10, and b) I don't have $$ for an 8x10 currently :)

DannL
9-Feb-2015, 21:50
The old way . . . ???

https://books.google.com/books?id=cdcsAQAAMAAJ&dq=retouching%20negatives&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=retouching%20negatives&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=r6NbAAAAQAAJ&dq=retouching%20photographs&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=retouching%20photographs&f=false

https://www.google.com/search?q=retouching+negatives&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1#q=retouching&tbm=bks&tbs=bkv:r

Tin Can
9-Feb-2015, 21:55
The old way . . . ???

https://books.google.com/books?id=cdcsAQAAMAAJ&dq=retouching%20negatives&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=retouching%20negatives&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=r6NbAAAAQAAJ&dq=retouching%20photographs&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=retouching%20photographs&f=false

https://www.google.com/search?q=retouching+negatives&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1#q=retouching&tbm=bks&tbs=bkv:r

Thanks! All free ebooks!

DannL
9-Feb-2015, 22:02
That last link was just a general search at Google Books (the free downloadable books) for the term "retouching". You can change the search criteria to anything you desire. You may be surprised what turns up. "photography" and "camera" usually bring back quite few results.

Tin Can
9-Feb-2015, 22:06
That last link was just a general search at Google Books (the free downloadable books) for the term "retouching". You can change the search criteria to anything you desire. You may be surprised what turns up.

I know, the last one was a search, but it also revealed a book. I have too much to read...

I have wanted home access to the libraries of the world since I was very young in the 50's and we got it! But back then I had time to read a book a day, but now it's emails all day long...

Michael Cienfuegos
9-Feb-2015, 23:30
I know, the last one was a search, but it also revealed a book. I have too much to read...

I have wanted home access to the libraries of the world since I was very young in the 50's and we got it! But back then I had time to read a book a day, but now it's emails all day long...

I have the best of both worlds. My son is a librarian with the Chicago Public Library. If I can't find something, he can usually find it for me and arrange an interbranch loan.

m

Tin Can
10-Feb-2015, 00:47
I have the best of both worlds. My son is a librarian with the Chicago Public Library. If I can't find something, he can usually find it for me and arrange an interbranch loan.

m

Actually a lot of the books I want to read are missing in most libraries. Redacted, not by librarians, but others unknown.

Jim Jones
10-Feb-2015, 07:11
Gee, Randy, you should ask here rather than search there for etching tools. I gave away a set of three, although not boxed Kodak, a year or two ago.

Tin Can
10-Feb-2015, 08:44
Gee, Randy, you should ask here rather than search there for etching tools. I gave away a set of three, although not boxed Kodak, a year or two ago.

I did in another thread. A member gave me one. I don't care about boxes. This is shaped differently. Are you familiar with this shape?

Kirk Gittings
10-Feb-2015, 09:22
Randy I wonder if there are not still some retired old school classic retouchers around Chicago. They might well be ancient but a good resource. I would contact John Miller at Hedrich-Blessing. He's been around from back in the day and may know of someone.

Jac@stafford.net
10-Feb-2015, 09:49
The edge-tools used in scratchboard art today are about as close to negative retouching as we can get.

Google 'scratchboard tools'.

Jim Jones
10-Feb-2015, 10:29
Perhaps Exacto blades can be reshaped to serve as retouching knives. I've often used broken glass and the "unsharp" edges of razor blades to scrape away extremely fine layers of wood and other materials. It doesn't take a razor edge. For some things, an extremely sharp right angle edge gives better control. Broken glass finishes wood better than sandpaper; it doesn't leave sand and particles of wood to be removed.

Tin Can
10-Feb-2015, 10:34
Thanks Greg, Kirk, Jac and many others. All great info. I may not ever be good at it, but I can try and perhaps find a better hand to do it. As I have said before, my last wife was an expert at it. She never showed me.

I now have a Homer English Retouching machine from Robert Zeichner , a good knife donated by Dan Dister and several anonymous people supplied retouching formulas, one purported to be the Kodak elixir, which I don't doubt as it smells correct.

Tin Can
10-Feb-2015, 10:42
Perhaps Exacto blades can be reshaped to serve as retouching knives. I've often used broken glass and the "unsharp" edges of razor blades to scrape away extremely fine layers of wood and other materials. It doesn't take a razor edge. For some things, an extremely sharp right angle edge gives better control. Broken glass finishes wood better than sandpaper; it doesn't leave sand and particles of wood to be removed.

Jim, I use single edge razor blades constantly. Using them at 90 degrees is, as you say, perfect for removing anything form darn near anything. A handheld razor blade is the perfect tool for removing head gasket coatings from aluminum cylinder heads without scratching or denting the soft surface while maintaining it's 'RA' or surface finish. My engineers insisted I use plastic scrapers, but they never worked, so a covert razor blade application was always needed to removed baked on Teflon...Some do, some draw.

kintatsu
12-Feb-2015, 23:03
I'd recommend going to http://archive.org and doing a search for art of retouching. They have the 1936 and the 1941 editions. I also found others by just searching negative retouching. In one, they recommend a safety razor blade, which can be found in the scraper widgets from hardware stores.

I haven't tried anything yet, as I don't want to risk something I'd like to save. But I'll make a couple practice negatives and try them soon enough.

The site has just about everything you could imagine.

Tin Can
12-Feb-2015, 23:34
I'd recommend going to http://archive.org and doing a search for art of retouching. They have the 1936 and the 1941 editions. I also found others by just searching negative retouching. In one, they recommend a safety razor blade, which can be found in the scraper widgets from hardware stores.

I haven't tried anything yet, as I don't want to risk something I'd like to save. But I'll make a couple practice negatives and try them soon enough.

The site has just about everything you could imagine.

I have used the Archive before. Really great place.

I have read the Veronica Cass retouching book, a modern work. Your tip pointed me to, 'THE ART OF RETOUCHING AND IMPROVING NEGATIVES AND PRINTS (1941)' which is a revision of a 1896 version. I just started reading it and again right away, very good tips are present.

Thank you.

kintatsu
15-Feb-2015, 03:05
I have used the Archive before. Really great place.

I have read the Veronica Cass retouching book, a modern work. Your tip pointed me to, 'THE ART OF RETOUCHING AND IMPROVING NEGATIVES AND PRINTS (1941)' which is a revision of a 1896 version. I just started reading it and again right away, very good tips are present.

Thank you.

Thanks for the information about the Veronica Cass book. I'll definitely look into acquiring a copy.

As for working on my own, I'm doing 4x5, so any touching up should be minor. I just want to make sure I do it right before I work on something I'd like to keep. My thoughts are mostly toward smoothing high values in small areas, so that means a big productions isn't necessary.

Good luck!