I've got a hodge podge of some parts from old plate holders and was thinking about cobbling together a wet plate holder. Aside from wood, what materials are suitable? Are the wet emulsions corrosive to alumiium or brass? Will they soften plastics?
Thanks!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Aluminum and plastic are ok, have no idea about brass. 2 seperate things to be concerned about, silver nitrate, which eats wood and likes to react with other metals, and the collodion, with the ether and ethanol, both pretty strong solvents. A thin coat of epoxy will protect wood quite well, as will some of the polyurethane based coatings. I have cobbled togather a few holders like you describe. They will work, for a while.
My old wooden dryplate holders in 5x7 and 8x10 have worked for hundreds of plates and for years. Just spray the inside lightly with polyurethane. Wipe out the silver drops after every plate.
Garrett
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The worst the silver does to the metals is plate out on them.
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