Bunch of old Ilford paper from auction - Help!

[Elliot]

Back in the darkroom after 15 years and got a bit carried away at an auction, scoring a bunch of old Ilford paper which I'm hoping at least some is usable without bending over backwards with advanced techniques.

In particular, I'm struggling to find any info on what "SP 875P" is. Believe the batch code to be "93E570X00" but could be wrong.

Just a general question really on what the heck I've got myself into by buying these old boxes of paper. Feel free to start with the most obvious stuff!



Elliot

[Michael R]

That stuff is all ancient with the possible exception of MGIV which is still going to be quite old. You’ll need to try each type to see if any of it is viable for regular printing. Some will disagree with me, of course, but in particular if you’re coming back to darkroom work after a long break, are out of practice and want to keep things relatively simple I’d recommend using fresh materials.

[ic-racer]

Develop a sheet of each with no exposure and see what you get. Some may be all gray or even black.

[Tin Can]

Experiment

[Oren Grad]

That stuff is all ancient with the possible exception of MGIV which is still going to be quite old.

Yes, MGIV RC Deluxe was introduced in 1994, and given the company it's keeping here, this pack is likely an early sample. The whole batch is probably ~30 years old.

[Molli]

Hi Elliot, with the exception of your Ilford SP875P, I have boxes of all of these papers and have been able to use all of them for the most part. Loss of contrast has been more of an issue than age fogging. The simplest test for the latter is to simply develop, stop and fix a small piece and ONLY fix a second piece. Compare the pair. If you do have fogging, an addition of a few millilitres of 1% Benzotriazole will often clear it up. Alternatively, you can over expose the print and then give it a dunk in Farmer's Reducer to clear the highlights and also give the impression of higher contrast.
With regard to "what is it?" the Agfa-Gevaert and Ilfospeed papers are all graded papers, the grade being the first number with the Ilford papers. After the dot is the paper surface 1=Glossy 24=Semi-Matte 26 = Velvet Stipple 35=Silk 44= Pearl. The letters at the end represent the paper's weight P=Single Weight M=Medium Weight K=Double Weight. Your Multigrade paper uses the same designations, but you get to change the grades through the use of filters.
The Agfa-Gevaert BW310 is Grade 1 is a Glossy Medium Weight Resin Coated paper... I think. I had all of their codes more or less memorised but I'm unsure, in this moment, which letters and numbers represent what.

I possibly have datasheets for most of the papers you have there if your boxes have been opened already and the paperwork has been discarded. At this point in time, they're more in the way of historical interest and a starting point. Let me know if you'd like me to dig them up and scan them for you.

Oh, clearly I have low standards and no aspirations to be a fine art printer, but please don't be too quick to turf old paper. I just enjoy printing and old paper is an affordable way for me to spend time in the darkroom. I hope you get some use and enjoyment out of your paper, too.

Now to go for a dig for some of that SP875P paper - that's a new one to me!

[LabRat]

Old RC & fiber MG papers tend to age funny, as the contrast layer tends to degrade first, leaving the flatter contrast layer dominant, so after 10 or 15 years, it loses the ability to produce good contrast + Dmax...

When fibre paper gets really old, the stresses in the paper base make the baryta base brittle underneath the emulsion, and when wetted and handled, pressure marks can occur when bending, where tongs grab print, even finger marks etc... Best to make prints with ample borders than can be cut off later, and be very careful of bending and pressure to central image area when wet at all times...

Test, test, test...

Steve K

[Elliot]

Thanks all. I'll chop some of the paper up, write on each piece what it is, and get testing.

Initially thought I was on to a bit of a money saver with this paper, but had no idea how old it all was! We live and learn.

Hopefully some of it is usable enough to practice on and perhaps even the age of the paper could add a little look and feel to the end result, or I could be talking total rubbish.

First hurdle is that the darkroom I use only has a red safelight, but all of these papers recommend a light brown safelight.

Cheers

Elliot

[Molli]

Thanks all. I'll chop some of the paper up, write on each piece what it is, and get testing.

Initially thought I was on to a bit of a money saver with this paper, but had no idea how old it all was! We live and learn.

Hopefully some of it is usable enough to practice on and perhaps even the age of the paper could add a little look and feel to the end result, or I could be talking total rubbish.

First hurdle is that the darkroom I use only has a red safelight, but all of these papers recommend a light brown safelight.

Cheers

Elliot

If it's a safelight of a deeper red variety, they're generally good with all black and white papers, regardless of vintage (happy to be corrected by my betters here!). I'm just using an old Kodak Brownie Safelight over a 15W globe in the ceiling - the same as this: https://victoriancollections.net.au/...cdd10fb0e8dc7c
It's decidedly orange.
I'd say it's about a metre and a half from the enlarger and developing trays.
The below is a contact print from a circa 1940s Whole Plate glass negative. As I don't know the people in the photo, please forgive the smiley faces obscuring their identity and also if you can see "scrape marks" running down the prints. It's a gift from my scanner and, as print scans are merely a cataloguing venture for me, buying a new scanner isn't a priority for me.
At any rate, I'm showing you this as it's a straight print on Ilford Ilfospeed 2.1M Glossy Medium Weight Paper, just as you have in your collection there. Still no guarantees for you, but just a "please don't be discouraged until you've tried it" request.

[Chuck Pere]

I'd say it was best to see what fresh new paper was capable of doing first. Then you can try out the old stuff and see how it compares. Else you will never know what is possible. You may like the look of the old stuff better and that's Ok if it fits how you want the prints to look.