Intermediate large format questions/photography misadventures

[MTGseattle]

I like dogs too, but I can't figure out how to properly care for one with 2 people working full-time. 8 hours in a kennel or having to hire a dog walker are both reasons to not own a dog in my opinion. Also, once the crazy kitten stage is passed, cats are generally just fine if left alone for a weekend.

 

[Chuck1]

The cats will watch the dog, and vice versa

 

[MTGseattle]

So, how many of you use Ortho film to make larger negatives? Yes, I have an 8x10 camera, but I am sitting on some 4x5 and medium format negatives that I really like and would like to make them bigger or at least try the process out.
This may seem like a silly question, but here is my understanding.
My existing 4x5 neg goes into the enlarger
I place a sheet of ortho in an easel or frame or whatever I use under the lens and treat the process much the same as if making an enlargement on paper. (crop, focus, etc)
I then process that sheet (still reading a bit on suggested chemicals).
Barring any mistakes, I now have an enlarged positive from my negative.
I then contact print the positive onto another sheet of ortho to get the new large negative correct?

In short, 2 sheets of ortho to get from an in camera negative to an enlarged negative?

Is this covered in any of the usual darkroom books, and I have simply never read that portion?

 

[Donald Qualls]

I've done Kodalith back in high school (around 1974) -- we developed in Dektol at print dilution, but the resulting film was pretty high contrast. You might need to develop your ortho litho film in a low contrast developer like POTA or something similar -- the kind used to make microfilm give pictorial images in subminiature cameras. A high dilution film developer (like Xtol1+3 or Rodinal 1:100) with careful time control might also work.

Another option is to reversal process the ortho litho film -- develop to higher contrast than what you'd want for the positive, then bleach away the silver (using a dissolving bleach like dichromate or permanganate, not something like C-41 bleach or Farmer's Reducer that just makes the silver fixable again), fog, and redevelop to obtain a positive image. You'll generally reduce contrast somewhat from the first developer image (with camera films the first developer seems to go to or very near completion), so this may make it easier to get an enlarged negative you can work with -- and saves waiting for the interpositive to dry so you can contact print it to get a negative. Ortho litho is so cheap compared to regular camera films, however, that time saving and increased ease of use are the big reasons to do reversal for enlarged negatives.