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Thread: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

  1. #1

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    selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

    Hi,

    i've learned that Bostick & Sullivan made a selenium toner called "fool's gold toner" because it gave a gold toner apparence with a bluish black color to alternative photographic prints like Van Dyke or POP.

    I'm not able to find the formula of this toner and it seems that B&S don't make it no longer and doesn't publish it no more.

    Is anyone has the formula of this toner based on selenium ?

    Thank you.

    Sincereley,

    Olivier

  2. #2

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    Re: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

    I read about it before, but have never really looked into it. Some googling suggests that it is either:
    * Selenium (6g/l) and sodium sulfite (75g/l) (from James' book of Alternative Processes, page 383, accessible through Google Books)
    * Selenium with sodium tungstate (original B&S formulation, ratios unknown)
    * Selenium with borax (B&S reformulated)
    * Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner with some borax added (random Flickr post)
    Given the variety of options, it seems that selenium is relatively easy to coax into producing a cooler tone. But like I said, I never really looked into it or even tried it. Might be worthwhile to get some borax and give it a try with adding it to the stock KRST toner.

  3. #3

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    Re: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

    You could probably just call the folks at B&S and ask them about it. They're very friendly and helpful...

  4. #4

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    Re: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

    Hi,

    yes i've sent a mail to B&S and i wait for their answer.

    Thank you.

  5. #5

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    Re: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

    Quick research @Koraks! Seems interesting to give a fool's gold toner a try for Van Dyke. Keep us posted if you have any news for B&S @olive92

    Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

  6. #6

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    Re: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

    I have been dealing with Bostick & SUllivan since they were basically operating out of their garage in Van Nuys. For a while, beginning in 1982, Dick published a very complete newsletter "Lumen". I have all of them, along with several early catalogs which were more than listings of chemicals. I just completed a re-reading. Nowhere do I find any mention of "Fool's Gold Toner".

  7. #7

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    Re: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

    Hi,

    i've got the answer of B&S themself:

    We did previously have the fools gold toner kit but no longer. I'll check on the formula, but we know Christopher James very well and you can trust his information.

    So i give the formula from the book of Christopher James:

    Na2SO3: 75 g
    Selenium: 6 g
    Water to make: 1000 mL

    Olivier

  8. #8
    おせわに なります! Andrew O'Neill's Avatar
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    Re: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner


  9. #9
    おせわに なります! Andrew O'Neill's Avatar
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    Re: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

    I wonder if one could use KRST instead of selenium powder....

  10. #10

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    Re: selenium toner: the fool's gold toner

    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew O'Neill View Post
    Correct.

    Part A: 500ml Selenium Solution.
    Part B: 500ml Borax Solution — Updated Toner.

    For use:

    Part A -- 5ml.
    Part B -- 5ml.

    Water to 500ml.


    --
    As per the Blog Post...
    Does anybody 'perhaps' now know, what percentage (1%, 2%, 5%, 10%)... The 'Borax Solution' is?

    Thank-you, -Tim!

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