Ether in the House ... Wet Plate question

[Brook Martin]

Drew, needless to say pyro and ether are different, but irrational fear is irrational fear. Your local codes will be different than mine, we all have to do our own due diligence. No one else can do it for you.
People grow dope with lamps just like the one I print with. All sorts of thing are used for nefarious purposes, so what?
I am more concerned about long term cadmium exposure than ether, which I have under control. but thats my fear. Rather than tell everyone else to not use cadmium compounds, I am finding alternatives for myself.
I know a guy who was very interested in the process, but just could not get past his fear of the chemistry. He should not be doing the process.

[Steven Tribe]

The old fashioned name for these compounds is petroleum ethers. The lab solvent is diethyl ether (sorry i wrote the wrong one) and any bottle/flask/winchester quart(!) labelled just "ether" will contain this.

[SteveKarr]

Wow, Great info from everyone.

*** Can we take this in a different direction for a while? I would like to hear from Actual Wet Plate workers on the handling they use. Do you pour in the garage & dip in the sealed bathroom? Do you use a darkbox only or only on location? At my last house I had to pour on the back porch here in AZ in June, I didn't even get into the house to the silver it was dry or waive to the point of unusable. Real working experience and the methods are my interests.

I (like others hopefully) do try to learn thoroughly the risks, hazards & particulars of any craft to make the best choices. I do try to respect all electrical, chemical & other factual players in my work and life, so this is all about trying to know the facts and let the rest fall out. This thread has been very helpful.

Thanks to all who have contributed so far.

Steve

[Brook Martin]

Before I had good ventilation in my new darkroom I poured 2 8x10 plates and stunk up the house for 4 hours or better. had to use the box in the yard till the problem was solved. I use a plastic bladed 8" inline fan mounted on a piece of plywood covering a basement window opening. I run 6" flexible aluminum duct into the darkroom and clamp the end of the duct work to edge of the table I am working on. If I am within about 18" from the opening of the duct, I can pour 8x10 plates and never smell the ether. I dont know how much air the fan is moving, but it feels kind of like a shop vac. It will actually suck stuff up. If you had a piece of wood over the window, you could easily do this and avoid having to run around with a quickly drying plate. My fan was a lucky find, I would guess it was pretty expensive, but dont know how much.

Working outside in a box is not the worst thing in the world either. I pour sitting at the box, but outside the shroud, I have started wearing a respirator when pouring and when inside the box. I always wear shielded safety glasses in the box. Everything is so close.

Running back and forth sounds like the worst of both worlds, particularly in bone dry heat.

[eddie]

i never pour my collodion inside. i do it in my garage in the winter and outside other times. the garage is fairly large. ventilation on (read open doors and windows). i pour the plate and put it in my silver bath in my dark box in full daylight). i take out the plate and into the holder while inside the dark box, i do this and develop in the DB but nothing else.

prior to the DB i had to run upstairs to my dark room.a PITA but probably good for my health to get so many stairs in.

i am very very careful with my ether and chemicals. i used to pour ether with a shield and gloves, long sleeves etc etc. now i just pour it in. i store it in the basement. no problems.

eddie

Wow, Great info from everyone.

*** Can we take this in a different direction for a while? I would like to hear from Actual Wet Plate workers on the handling they use. Do you pour in the garage & dip in the sealed bathroom? Do you use a darkbox only or only on location? At my last house I had to pour on the back porch here in AZ in June, I didn't even get into the house to the silver it was dry or waive to the point of unusable. Real working experience and the methods are my interests.

I (like others hopefully) do try to learn thoroughly the risks, hazards & particulars of any craft to make the best choices. I do try to respect all electrical, chemical & other factual players in my work and life, so this is all about trying to know the facts and let the rest fall out. This thread has been very helpful.

Thanks to all who have contributed so far.

Steve

[mrladewig]

Ether is starting fluid. One squirt in a carburetor and a stubborn engine will instantly spring to life, if only for a moment, even when gasoline won't do it. It is far more flammable than gasoline, and ignites over a far wider range of concentrations. Think about that.

It merits care, but I agree that the impacts of using briefly it in a closed space will be more along the lines of a stiff headache than explosion. But the potential for the later is definitely there.