Kodak T-9 Uranium Toner

[tgtaylor]

Does anyone have experience using this toner?

I've run across 2 formulas for uranium toners and uranium nitrate (depleated uranium) is available ($200/25 grams) and FedEx will ship for a $12 extra fee for Class 7 radioactive material.

If 5 people went in on 25 grams, it would work out to $45 each for 5 grams. Anyone interested?

Thomas

[Neil Purling]

Excuse my ignorance but how dangerous is Uranium Nitrate? The fact you can send it by the postal system suggests it may not be significantly more dangerous than raw photographic chemicals such as Metol, Phenidone or even Hydroquinone?

[Michael R]

Uranium (uranyl) nitrate is radioactive, although the level of radioactivity is low. However radioactivity is not the primary concern. It is a highly toxic compound, and is also a strong oxidizer.

I'd be in for 5g but I'm up in Montreal so it won't work.

[tgtaylor]

It's depleated uranium and not weapons grade or reactor grade. Mildly radioactiveandnot terribly dangerous but you wouldn't want to eat or play in it.

Thomas

[dpn]

I'm definitely interested in 5 grams. There's a lot of text on the dangers of uranium toners -- it's not the radiation that will get you, but inhalation or ingestion toxicity.

There's a practitioner on the rangefinderforum named "Chris" who wrote at length about his work process. Fume hood, ample PPE, and a very healthy respect for the materials seem key. Here's the thread: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104632&highlight=uranium

Here's the relevant quotation from Chris:


Oh man! You should see me in the Tyvek moon-suit I wear when I work with heavy metal salts in a photo tray! The hazard associated with uranium, vanadium and other heavy metals is liver and kidney damage, not the extremely slight radioactivity the depleted uranium nitrate has. While the pure compound does click a geiger counter nicely, the prints do not register anything at all above the background radiation.

Robert W. Schramm used to work with the material before he passed. (http://schrammstudio.com/)

Also check out Abby Hepner's "Transuranic: Uranium Prints" exhibition. I can't find a live link to photos of the exhibition, but her project was very interesting: photograph routes and storage facilities for nuclear waste, and make uranotype prints of them. See https://www.spenational.org/conferences/schedule/2016/03/11/transuranic-uranium-prints.

I also collect vaseline glass, and have wanted to do uranium toned prints of my collection for a long time. I'm not sure what is scarier: working with hot mercury fumes in daguereotypes or uranium toning.

Here are some links of interest on toning and practitioners:

http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/Miscellaneous/curieuraniumtoner.htm
http://www.periodictable.com/Items/092.16/index.html
http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Uranium/uranium.html
http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/Miscellaneous/ableuranotype.htm
http://www.morganpoststudio.com/#!uranium-printing/cx64

[Bruce Watson]

All right. I'll ask. What's the attraction? It's a lot of risk -- what's the reward?

[koraks]

A beautiful ruby to maroon tone. I got something close to it when I toned a cyanotype with an acorn extract, but it lost its saturated ruby tint. I imagine with uranium it'll be more permanent.

[Drew Wiley]

Uranyl nitrate is so weak that the radiation allegedly won't even penetrate the skin. I don't think a hundred gram bottle of it would fog a sheet of film under the bottle. I tried that experiment. But like anything else, you want to be careful with the powder. I use it as a dye mordant. There is some controversy how permanent uranium toning really is in black and white work. Of course, uranyl nitrate is also nicknamed yellowcake, a term related to hypothetical dirty bombs. But it would
allegedly take six or seven SHIPLOADS of the powder to extract enough nasties to pull that off. So getting a tiny jar of it should be simple enough from any legit
scientific chem supplier.

[gary mulder]

Lucifer has always been attractive for some people.

[Bob Salomon]

Excuse my ignorance but how dangerous is Uranium Nitrate? The fact you can send it by the postal system suggests it may not be significantly more dangerous than raw photographic chemicals such as Metol, Phenidone or even Hydroquinone?

FedX is not the postal system.

[tgtaylor]

I'm definitely interested in 5 grams.

Great! Hopefully a couple more will throw in. In the meantime it appears that uranium nitrate is available as a grey colored compound and a yellowish green compound. Does the color make a difference?

Great links BTW!

Thomas

[Michael R]

I'm only familiar with the yellow/green hexahydrate (crystals). Are you sure the grey compound is the same?

[tgtaylor]

Nooo. That's why I asked. The data sheet says it is.

Thomas

[Duolab123]

If you are after red tones gold after sepia toner works well. Of course I haven't tried it with modern paper. I got really nice brick reds on Ektalure, tone first in sepia toner rinse the follow up with Kodak Blue toner (Gold).

[Duolab123]

BTW, Uranium nitrate is a very powerful oxidizer, add this to finely divided metal and you go boom. I'm the first person to call out wimp, for people who are afraid of chemicals, having said that I would avoid this stuff. Destroys your kidneys, and waste disposal is another thing.

I just went through a bunch of comparison prints I did in 1983, you can do amazing stuff by combining sepia, brown, followed by sulfocyanate gold toners. Still want to wear gloves with plenty of ventilation..

If you have a passion and the skill go for it, but you want to really know what you're doing.

Best of luck, Mike

[tgtaylor]

Here's what NOAA has to say about it:


Acidic solution in water of uranyl nitrate, a radioactive yellow crystalline solid. Mildly toxic. Contains nitric acid. Noncombustible, but will accelerate the burning of other combustible materials if concentrated or if the water evaporates. Large quantities may explode if exposed to fire. Produces toxic oxides of nitrogen if involved in fire. Radioactive materials emit certain rays which can be detected only by instruments. Unirradiated uranium is only mildly radioactive. Minimal radiation hazard during transportation. No protective shielding is required. Non-fissile (natural or depleted) uranium, containing not more than 1.0% u-235, cannot sustain a nuclear chain reaction. https://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/12958

To be on the safe side, though, I'll wear a mask, gloves, and a lab coat when mixing.

Can anyone comment on Kodak T-9 - its physical appearance, use, and how the prints looked when toned?

Thomas

[Cor]

I have worked with the T9 toner in the past (hi Gary..;-)..), not scared by chemistry (I work in a lab and have access to safety equipment) I later had a chat with a safety officer, which put me down to the ground: UranylNitrate was the only compound thy had to obtain a special licence, because it is so toxic (his words).

Since the results were nice, but by no means spectacular: a nice warm brown tone, which I think can be obtained with other toner (combinations) as well, I decided it was not worth the risks.

Shipped it to Bob Schramm, got one of his uranotypes as exchange; nice but also not spectacular (I tried to expose a sheet of Xray film to it: no image..;-)..) See also http://abbey-hepner.com/work/transuranic/www-abbey-hepner-com-28/

Be careful...

Best,

Cor

[Drew Wiley]

It is one of those chemicals I store completely outside the sink room, in a dry area, well sealed up. Potassium permanganate is another one you want to keep dry
for safety reasons.

[dpn]

Here's a link to Abbey Hepner's "Transuranic" series of uranotypes. Neat stuff:

http://abbey-hepner.com/#/work/transuranic/ (http://abbey-hepner.com/#/work/transuranic/)

[Mark Sawyer]

Here's a link to Abbey Hepner's "Transuranic" series of uranotypes. Neat stuff:

From the almost terra cotta color, I can tell she's using potassium ferracyanide as the developer. There are quite a few variations in the uranium printing process; I always liked the silver nitrate developer myself.

I still have maybe a quarter pound of reagent grade uranium nitrate from my uranium printing days back in the late '70's/early '80's. I doubt I'll ever get back to that, so I can beat their price and send whatever amount you finally need, as long as shipping isn't too complicated...

[Duolab123]

Here's a link to Abbey Hepner's "Transuranic" series of uranotypes. Neat stuff:

http://abbey-hepner.com/#/work/transuranic/ (http://abbey-hepner.com/#/work/transuranic/)

Very Nice; Buddy of mine got an identical Geiger counter from an old fallout shelter works perfect. I've worked in labs a good part of my life, nasty chemicals, so far I'm still alive. With this kind of stuff no fume hood, no proper waste management, no way.

This is a very nice body of work, guess it justifies the process, certainly drives a point home. If the few grams of material used to make these lovely prints will set off a counter just think about millions of gallons of this stuff in rusty old barrels.

I think I will stick to Gold chloride and stinky sulfides
Best Regards, Mike

[tgtaylor]

From the almost terra cotta color, I can tell she's using potassium ferracyanide as the developer. There are quite a few variations in the uranium printing process; I always liked the silver nitrate developer myself.

I still have maybe a quarter pound of reagent grade uranium nitrate from my uranium printing days back in the late '70's/early '80's. I doubt I'll ever get back to that, so I can beat their price and send whatever amount you finally need, as long as shipping isn't too complicated...

Mark,

I'm toning at this point and not printing with Uranium so I'm interested in 5 grams to try out. But to ask the obvious: Is the uranium nitrate still good after all those years? I know the Uranium is (should be still good for a few million) but what about the nitrate part of the compound? Silver nitrate will turn from a white compound to a grey compound with age.

Thomas

[dpn]

I'm also interested Mark!

[Mark Sawyer]

Thomas, I couldn't say for sure, but it's sealed in a glass jar and looks the same as it did back then, a bright yellow powder or lumps. I'd of course do a money-back guarantee, but you might want to ask around a bit before confirming. I'd hate to waste your time experimenting with it, regardless of the money. (I looked around the web a bit but didn't see much on it's stability or shelf life.)

I'm going down to the Post Office tomorrow, and will ask about shipping then.

And dpn, you're in, subject to shipping not being prohibitive!

[tgtaylor]

If the color hasn't changed, then its probably still good - certainly the uranium atoms haven't went anywhere. I'm looking forward to trying it using the formula for Kodak T-9 toner that I found.

Thomas

[Duolab123]

If you all get some toned fiber base prints sure would be interested in seeing and hearing comments.

[tgtaylor]

From the 19th century to about 1950 uranium toning was widespread. I first read about it being used with the kallitype and other now alternative processes. With the advent of nuclear weapons at the end of WWII, I imagine that the price of uranium shot-up and restrictions were placed on it and uranium toning fell to disfavor. It will be interesting to see what tones it imparts to a print.

Thomas

[tgtaylor]

Here's how Kodak uranium-toned film back in the 20's: http://www.brianpritchard.com/tinting_and_toning_of_eastman_po.htm#URANIUM TONE

For an interesting discussion how Steglitz uranium-toned lantern slides with photos of the slides and colors produced by the toner: http://notesonphotographs.org/images/c/cf/Stieglitz_lantern_slides_final_1028_for_web.pdf Beginning at Section 4.2.

Thomas

[dpn]

Any updates on this? Still very interested! -- Dan

[Duolab123]

Almost everything I read in Kodak manuals is related to dyeing lantern slides, using the Uranium toner in conjunction with dyes for mordant dye toning. If you are after reds try sepia followed by Kodak blue (Gold) toner .

Things have really changed with the big shift to multi-grade papers. The old Ektalure, Medalist, Portriga, etc. papers toned so nicely. Part of the problem with multi-grade papers is the two emulsions act differently. The Forte papers really dis the split toning thing.

You can spend the next few years just trying combinations with existing toners without resorting to Uranium. Having said that this is very interesting, would like to see the results.

[dpn]

First results attached. Ilford MG RC warmtone toned in T-9 toner for 10 minutes. Not a perfect print by any stretch of the imagination, but a first attempt at seeing what this toner can do.

It's less red-orange than I had hoped for, but it's still a nice effect. I think I should have tried a different formula if I had wanted more intense reds and oranges. (The T-9 formula uses 2.5 g of uranium nitrate, while other published formulas use a lot more.) I think that these colors are more easily, safely, and cheaply obtainable with other toners.

https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7372/27264457325_1b43252323_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Hxgthr)Kodak T-9 (Uranium) Toner Test (https://flic.kr/p/Hxgthr) by Ruderal Blue (https://www.flickr.com/photos/141844564@N08/), on Flickr

[koraks]

I think it's lovely and suits the subject matter uncannily well! Maybe something pretty close could be achieved with a thiourea toner, or perhaps thiourea and copper. But still, who's to say that the result will be just as smooth?

[dpn]

Don't get me wrong -- I've been curious about uranium toners for over ten years, and was delighted to have a chance to experiment.

This print was really flat (grade 1.5) and around 1/2 stop underexposed before toning. The toner had a remarkably good intensifying effect.

[tgtaylor]

It looks good to me DPN.

My uranium arrived by a circuitios route due to a PO error. But now I have it and am going to prepare a toner with it and a sensitizer to see what a uranotype looks like. Success will depend on the scene - I'm thinking one with a lot of whites in it and a well-lit night shot would work. If the results look promising, I'll add uranium to the tool kit.

Thomas

Thomas

[dpn]

I'm wishing that I had more than 3.5g left to work with!

[tgtaylor]

I just saw on the national news that the WWII Hiroshima bomb used only 0.7gram of uranium! Aren't we photographers wasteful!

Note: The bomb contained 64 kg (141 lb) of enriched uranium. Most was enriched to 89% but some was only 50% uranium-235, for an average enrichment of 80%.[19] Less than a kilogram of uranium underwent nuclear fission, and of this mass only 0.6 g (0.021 oz) was transformed into several forms of energy, mostly kinetic energy, but also heat and radiation.[20] I checked on Wiki after posting above.

Thomas

[tgtaylor]

Finally got around to toning with uranium. The first try was unsuccessful as I toned a kallitype before fixing and after 5 minutes in the toner the potassium ferriccanide bleached the print down to a very light powder blue in the sky and a little deeper powder blue in the red paint on a sign but leaving the deep shadows more open. After giving it some thought I took a palladium-toned van dyke that I had printed a little too deep, soaked it in distilled water, and toned it with the uranium for a couple of minutes - probably 2. It's drying right now but seems to have worked - giving an orange-red sky while leaving the white clouds white and giving an agreeable overall reduction. I didn't fix it after toning with the uranium.

Thomas

[tgtaylor]

Here's the result:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8706/28531167682_11e4308351_o.jpg
be
This is the image before being toned with uranium:

http://spiritsofsilver.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Cathedral_Rock_and_Merced.177223423_large.jpg

This means that the prints must be fixed and washed before being toned with uranium. While not enthusiastic about this particular tone, it nevertheless shows the possibilities of toning with uranium Reading through the historical writings on the subject I came across the assertion that very good reds were possible when combined with gold toning. Rather than using the formula for Kodak T-9 (which seems to for toning film), I used this formula:

Uranium Toner

Distilled Water 700 cc
Uranium Nitrate 8 g
Oxalic acid 4 g
Potassium Ferricyanide 4 g

Distilled Water to Make 1 liter.

Thomas

[Andrew O'Neill]

I prefer the tone before the toning...:)

[tgtaylor]

Here's a scan of the uranium-toned kallitype mentioned above:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8898/28546720422_a4108daf89_o.jpg

I'm guessing that the blue is iron ferricyanide. Does anyone know for sure?

Thomas

[tgtaylor]

First test Uranotype:

http://spiritsofsilver.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Uranium_test_print.214160237_large.jpg

I think I printed this a little too deep. I started The Uranotype Thread in the LF images section of the forum in case anyone else starts working with this process and would like to share their work.

Thomas