post alternative techniques

[bob carnie]

thanks Pere

[koraks]

Koraks, these prints excellent work, I'd like to learn that...

You can Pere, knowing what you've been doing with your dry plate endeavor this is entirely within your abilities. I'd be glad to help you out if you have any questions!

[Pere Casals]

You can Pere, knowing what you've been doing with your dry plate endeavor this is entirely within your abilities. I'd be glad to help you out if you have any questions!

I think I'll be asking you, thanks

[bob carnie]

I asked this question on another forum and will ask here as well.

Kallitype vs Palladium prints ... I am wondering the differences, specifically in archival attributes. I understand that they can look very similar.

I am hooked on gum over palladium, but I do a lot of personal printing to figure out my series and Palladium is not cheap.. with that said I do not want to compromise the archival nature of my prints by switching to Kallitype.

All thoughts comments would be appreciated..

Bob

[bob carnie]

Second not related question.

I just received a used plate burner , and though the vacuum works , the rubber blanket and seal seems very stiff and not pliable, and it is almost impossible to make the glass suck down.

Is there any types of oils or something that can be applied to the rubber to soften... I think over years of no use this lip of rubber has become to inflexible, or does anyone have experience in replacing the whole rubber.

thanks Bob

[koraks]

Bob, it seems to me that an untoned kallitype would be difficult to make "archival", but not impossible. The main issue is iron compounds remaining in the paper and they are notoriously hard to wash out. The major share will disappear through proper processing, but I think it's unavoidable that a minor fraction will end up as insoluble and persistent compounds that will degrade the paper and the image itself in the (very) long run. Of course, the silver image is fragile itself due to the minute particle size. Top-notch processing, paper choice and perhaps sealing the prints against external influences are all supposed to have positive effects. And of course toning in something more noble than silver, ie gold, platinum or palladium - provided toning is done to completion, which takes a while.

I suspect that a salted paper print is slightly easier to process in such a way that it is archival due to the lack of iron compounds in the printing chemistry. We have many examples of mid-19th century salted paper and albumen prints to suggest that it can be done - but of course, examples of badly degraded prints are at least as numerous.

One of the main issues I think is that we can never be entirely sure of the composition of the papers we use. Reliable information on this is simply unavailable even for the papers that are generally considered the best. AFAIK, not a single paper manufacturer publishes information about the kind of water they use for making their papers and the trace compounds in it, to give just one example. And that's only talking about but the unintended 'additions'; let alone whatever stuff ends up in the paper as part of binders, sizing, surfactants, and auxiliary chemicals used in equipment maintenance.

All this makes it extremely hard to say anything conclusive about how stable a print will be in the long run. We can only hypothesize based on the printing chemistry, chemical makeup of the final image and our own processing habits.

[Erik Larsen]

Second not related question.

I just received a used plate burner , and though the vacuum works , the rubber blanket and seal seems very stiff and not pliable, and it is almost impossible to make the glass suck down.

Is there any types of oils or something that can be applied to the rubber to soften... I think over years of no use this lip of rubber has become to inflexible, or does anyone have experience in replacing the whole rubber.

thanks Bob

Hi Bob, I've used silicon spray on a rag to wipe down the seal. I'm not sure of the long term effect of the silicon on the rubber but it seems to help. On my plate burner I had to re align the vacuum frame by loosening the hinges and making the glass sit evenly on the seal then re tightening the hinges. This helped the most as the area near the hinges would smoosh down more on the seal than the open end making it difficult to draw vacuum. On my machine the hinge screw wholes are slotted which allow for 3/4 inch of adjustment, maybe yours are as well?

[freecitizen]

Hello Bob

I have not tried Kallitypes ( yet ), but have been researching the process. This article is saying that a Pt or Pd toned Kallitype is essentially the same thing as a Pt or Pd print because the silver is replaced by the nobler metal. Much less Pt or Pd is used in toning rather than making a Pt or Pd print, and as you only tone the " keepers " , costs are reduced even further. Also, seems getting rid of all the ferrous/ferric irons is very important ..... hence a wash with EDTA solution to clear those molecules at the end is recommended by some.

https://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/K...kallitype.html

[Andrew O'Neill]

Gold toned Kallitypes are archival. Sandy King also says that a Kallitype print toned in a platinum palladium toner is essentially a platinum palladium print. It's a poor man's platinum print. I've stuck with kallitypes, toned in gold or weak selenium. Been making them for 10 years and very happy.

[blindpig]

Hi Bob,
Had a similar problem with a vacuum frame,in my case the rubber seal was brittle(no flex at all).Picked up a foam type rubber strip for sealing windows and contact cemented it around the existing"seal".The material came in a coil and was shaped like a long cylinder with a tab extending from it for attachment,think it was about$7.00 US so pretty cheap fix.I still have and use it occasionally.The rep[air is likely 25 or 30 years old now.Just a suggestion....
Luck, Don