ADOX attempting a return of Forte Polywarmtone

[77seriesiii]

I'm not sure if anyone here has used the paper, I have not, but it appears that Adox is trying to bring back Forte's Polywarmtone Fiber paper. Here is the story:

http://www.polywarmton.com/index.html

If someone has already posted it, sorry I looked but didnt see it. Has anyone here used the original Polywarmtone and if so, how did you like the paper?

Thanks

Erick

[willwilson]

It has a nice warm image tone, excellent contrast and good blacks. It tones very very easily. I really like it and I don't like warmtone paper.

[Drew Wiley]

Used up the last of my old inventory two weeks ago. Lovely stuff and warmer than
Ilford Warmtone, for example. Quality control was a little dicey on eveness of coating,
but that could be fixed on a fresh run - don't know why, since the Polyrade V I used
quite a bit from Forte had excellent quality control.

[MIke Sherck]

It was my favorite paper and would be again were it available.

[Toyon]

Polywarmtone was superb, but quality control was iffy enough that I stopped using it.

[Andrew O'Neill]

It was a very nice paper, but I would really get excited if they brought back Forte's Polygrade V!

[Don Dudenbostel]

I used the polywarmtone plus and loved it. It's about the same as the polywarmtone but a warmer base. It reminds me of papers I used fifty years ago. I would describe it as having a vintage look.

[Vlad Soare]

I loved that paper. If it ever comes to life again, I'll throw all my other papers away. Polywarmtone FB semi-matte is all I need.

There were four things I loved about it:

1. It was a warm tone paper, but with a perfectly white base. Most warm tone papers have a slightly cream base, which I find unattractive. Not this one. This was white.
2. Variations in tone due to the use of different developers were obvious, even if you didn't tone the paper. I could get perfectly neutral, deep blacks with one developer, brownish blacks with another developer, olive blacks with another developer, and so on. And all these variations were so obvious that you didn't need a direct comparison to notice them.
3. I loved the semi-matte finish.
4. Of all fiber based papers I've used, this one used to curl the least when drying. Flattening it was a piece of cake.

Also, it was said to respond very well to most toners and to lend itself to lith printing, though I personally haven't tried that. By the time I started using toners, Polywarmtone was already gone.

The fourth point I could live without. But I'd be very happy if I could find a paper to simultaneously meet the first three.

[Michael Graves]

Polywarmtone was superb, but quality control was iffy enough that I stopped using it.

That kind of describes my experience with it. I liked the sheets of paper that weren't nicked at the edges. I bought two boxes to try and had to send one back because the first sheet I pulled out had severe fog all along one edge of the paper. The next two sheets got developed without exposure under the enlarger and they too were fogged. Freestyle was good enough to take the box back and allowed me to get Agfa MCC110 in its place (which was still available at the time).

That said, I've never had problems with Adox, however, and their replacement for MCC110 is magnificent. Therefore, if Adox reprises Forte's paper, I would be willing to give it a try. They seem to take quality control more seriously.

[Bruce Barlow]

It was a very nice paper, but I would really get excited if they brought back Forte's Polygrade V!

Me, too!