Fresh dry plates in a variety of sizes

[Tin Can]

I think that's smart marketing!

[Nodda Duma]

Note: Verify your plates will fit your holders before ordering!

For standard plate sizes larger than 4x5, the glass cannot be cut to fit both antique holders and new wet plate holders. I conform to the original plate "standard" and cut my plates to fit original dry plate holders.

Plate sizes are cut 1mm smaller in width and length from the sizes provided in the table below (excepting 4x5, which I can cut to fit — barely — both original dry plate holders and new wet plate holders). A link to this reference is provided in my Etsy listing.

http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Plate_Sizes

Note I *only* reference the plate dimensions. I don't make tintypes or film. Regardless of what you think of the accuracy of the list, for plates it seems to hold up well: I've pretty much verified all of the plate sizes work with antique holders, but check your holder dimensions against my cut sizes.

Newly made wet plate holders hold plates which are the same size as sheet film. They don’t accommodate old, original plates or my plates. The difference in sizes between sheet film and dry plates means a sheet film-sized plate would fall out of original holders.


If you measure your available holder and don't think a plate from the list will fit, please ask me about it. I am happy to work with you, and when it comes down to it, I can make custom plates as easy as standard plates.

[pepeguitarra]

Note: Verify your plates will fit your holders before ordering!

For standard plate sizes larger than 4x5, the glass cannot be cut to fit both antique holders and new wet plate holders. I conform to the original plate "standard" and cut my plates to fit original dry plate holders.

Plate sizes are cut 1mm smaller in width and length from the sizes provided in the table below (excepting 4x5, which I can cut to fit — barely — both original dry plate holders and new wet plate holders). A link to this reference is provided in my Etsy listing.

http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Plate_Sizes

Note I *only* reference the plate dimensions. I don't make tintypes or film. Regardless of what you think of the accuracy of the list, for plates it seems to hold up well: I've pretty much verified all of the plate sizes work with antique holders, but check your holder dimensions against my cut sizes.

Newly made wet plate holders hold plates which are the same size as sheet film. They don’t accommodate old, original plates or my plates. The difference in sizes between sheet film and dry plates means a sheet film-sized plate would fall out of original holders.


If you measure your available holder and don't think a plate from the list will fit, please ask me about it. I am happy to work with you, and when it comes down to it, I can make custom plates as easy as standard plates.

I just bought a box of 4x5 and want to do my own plate holders. Can you provide the exact dimensions in mm if possible of the 4x5? Are these the dimensions of your plates:

4 × 5 102 × 127 glass? And the thickness is 0.05 inches?

Thanks,

[Nodda Duma]

Hi Pepe,

Per our email conversation, the 4x5 plates are dimensioned 100x126mm +0/-0.5. Thickness is 1.27mm +/-0.03.

If you’re curious, you can dig through this thread to see the discussion regarding dimensioning of the 4x5’s. Lot of good feedback/inputs from the folks here.

-Jason

[Nodda Duma]

Coated a backlog of plates today, including half-plate and quarter-plate sizes. Anybody shoot those?

Half-plate: 4 3/4" x 6 1/2"
Quarter-plate: 3 1/4" x 4 1/4"

[RJ-]

Hi Nodda,

Mostly whole-plate film - some dry-plate (England). Probably more dry-plate the way film is going.

I inherited a half-plate camera from my late tutor and have been playing around with half-plates (1.5mm). It came with a box of Ilford FP3 type dry plates but I leached the emulsion off the plate during development, soaking too long waiting for an image to appear!

RJ

[Nodda Duma]

Thanks for responding, RJ. Yes, I get mostly WP orders from Europe.

I wish there was a less expensive way to get plates to Europe... the cost to ship is about 3-4x that of domestic shipping. I reached out to fotoimperx about selling them. I thought maybe sending a bulk shipment that they could distribute might be easier on customer wallets, but they never responded.

My impression is that Europeans are used to paying more for stuff so maybe it doesn’t bother customers as much as it bothers me. In any case, let me know if you want to try some out.

-Jason

[RJ-]

Hi Nodda,

That's right - dry plates don't travel well across the water.

We have a different taxation system which accounts for higher costs in Europe (with variation from country to country). For this reason, making our own dry plates ( since 1.5-2mm glass, gesso and subbing materials - the non-photographic substrates are abundant here) is probably the only affordable solution.

I can understand your frustration with Fotoimpex whose commercial operation might consider dry plate to be insignificant small fry.

There are smaller UK niche independent suppliers who might be worth negotiating about stocking dry plate if you explore or ask.

Kevin Lunham runs:

http://www.wetplatesupplies.com/raw-chemicals.html

He is very responsive and efficient and specialises in early handmade and alternative processes.

https://www.silverprint.co.uk/ is another UK outfit, much more likely to respond than Fotoimpex, although their ethos and focus on traditional photography has drifted since it changed hands. http://www.ag-photographic.co.uk/ are in transition and perhaps open, although Process Supplies https://www.processuk.net/ might be worth exploring for a niche specialist grounding in the UK. There are some distinctions in the UK compared to Europe - the European market is vast and more likely to gain your dry plate venture a footing here.

Kind regards,

RJ

[Nodda Duma]

Thanks, RJ. That’s good info.

[Nodda Duma]

Pictoriographica officially has a real website now!

This weekend I grabbed the domain name and put together a fancy website that is a little more flexible than my Etsy storefront, including sizing info and sources for buying plates. It includes a contact form that you can request custom sizes (I tested it and it actually works). There’s a blog too where I can blabber on about anything if I’m so inclined, but I will most likely talk about updates and dry plate making details.

It’s rough at this point (I’m not a web designer by any stretch) and I need to do a bunch of write-up editing, but check it out and let me know what you think!


http://www.pictoriographica.com

-Jason