A little help with some paper I just found please

Hi folks,

Due to some unfortunate circumstance a local darkroom and gallery was closing and I picked up some very old paper and knick knacks. Can anyone identify this paper - It is labeled Kodak Photographic Paper
Contact printing
Grade A
Contrast 2
emulsion 76101
Light Weight flexible Semi Matte
Stock Number 6750-244-0991
A-D type
Military expiration date per contract Dec. 1971
The stuff is paper thin - no pun intended I tried a contact print at 1 minute and nothing registered so I let it sit in the stop to see if it would change color and after about 5 minutes it is starting to turn black. Anyone know what this is? I also have some Zone VI Brilliant with no exiry date and some Ilfospeed 3 with no expiry date either.

I checked Kodaks site and my searches came up nada for the Kodak stuff.
Thanks for any help.
regards
Erik

Someone in the contact group probably knows more, but I remember using Kodak's Velox and Azo in the Army, thin stuff made for contacting, but made for contacting in a contact printing "box", which exposes the paper with much more light than contacting with a piece of glass under the enlarger. If that is what this is, you need a lot more light to make an exposure. As I recall, the contact printer had 9-12 bulbs arranged in a grid 5 - 6 inches from the paper and neg.

Thanks George, That explains why no image appeared with my minute exposure. I guess I need to use a really long exposure with my enlarger right on top of the contract printing frame.
thanks again
Erik

hi erik

i am not sure what kind of contact printing paper it might be
azo works great with a 300W flood light. there is a ton of
info on azo here --->> http://www.michaelandpaula.com/mp/Azo_Writings.html
azo lasts forever, maybe you got lucky

if it isn't azo or azo-esque, maybe it is proofing paper ...
it requires a blue daylight fluorescent tube to expose,
there was a lot of that stuff in the 70s ( maybe even now? )

http://abacus.bates.edu/Faculty/wmarchive/Dylux_method.html


good luck!

john

Thanks for the info John,
I finally got a decent print but it took a 20 minute exposure with my d5xl and it's 75 watt bulb. The blacks are black and it looks Ok for 37 years past it's expiration
I get the feeling I could work with this stuff in broad daylight and it wouldn't fog, but it is razor thin and difficult to use tongs with. Now on to the Zone VI Brilliant
and Ilfospeed 3 to see what I have got
Erik

Use a 300w bulb starting at 24-30". I have a lot of this type of paper. It is nice once you figure the exposure. The paper can be folded and put in your pocket without damage to the emulsion, that is why it is so thin.

I use a clip on lamp (the type with the large silver reflector...from the hardware store) -- clipped on the head of the enlarger (below the lens) and plugged into the timer. The only problem is that one's eyes are use to the dark, then get zapped with the brightness of the 100W bulb that I have used.

Vaughn

I've got some of this paper: Its a chloride contact paper similiar to Azo. I found the following info from here: http://www.freelists.org/archives/pure-silver/08-2008/msg00087.html

"Ad type was made for making mailable material like advertising and greeting cards. It is coated without a baryta layer so that it can be folded without cracking. I don't know what sort of sizing was used in place of the baryta. The emulsion was similar to Azo and came in 6 contrast grades. A indicates the Ad Type surface and 1 is the contrast grade."

And I can attest: It does indeed fold without cracking.

many thanks folks! I guess it's down to Home depot for a new light. Yeah, I folded up my test prints and did not damage the emulsion other that a crease.
I find it very difficult to use tongs with it, but I can't risk touching my chemicals or I rash all up and people run from me because they think I have leprosy
Consumptive, thanks for the link.
regards
Erik

You might be able to find out something by looking up the federal stock number. There are a number of hints. Since it is Kodak, it is most likely to be a silver (instead of diazo, or iron based) product. Since it says Conrast grade 2, it is continuous tone, rather than a reprographic paper. Light weight (along with continuous tone) hints at aerial film printing, but it still could be a document paper. If it is 9-1/2 or 19 inches wide, it is almost certainly for printing aerial film. The most common contact paper for this use was Resisto. This was an early resin coated paper with an N (white, luster, smooth) surface and coated with an emulsion similar to Velox. But Resisto was usually made as a single weight paper. The light weight paper screams Ad-Type, which was a contact printing paper with a speed and other characteristics similar to Azo. The emulsion and the paper were especially made so that the prints could be folded without damage. The A surface used for Ad-Type was similar to N (white, luster, smooth), but designed for the folding.

Erik L said:

... I can't risk touching my chemicals or I rash all up and people run from me because they think I have leprosy ...

Click to expand...

There may be a simple solution for your sensitivity to photo chemicals. The most common sensitivity is to contact with metol. You may be able to have an easier time if you use any of the metol free developers. Most commonly known are formulas where phenidone substitutes for metol.

There are so many metol free formulas that I won't try to list them other than to point you to:
For film: Ilford ID-62, Ilford ID-67, Kodak Xtol, HC-110, Mytol, PC-TEA, Rodinal, Chris Patton'e E-76 ....
And for prints: Ilford ID-62, Ilford ID-78, Chris Patton's E-72,

Best,

C

Thanks C, As soon as I use up the years worth of metol containing developers I have I will try something more healthy for me. I just really like 130 for paper and it is usually OK with tongs, but this single weight stuff is like wet toilet paper in a tray and very hard not to crease while using tongs if you know what I mean. I was not aware of all the different choices I have available to me.

I went down to the hardware store and found a 300 watt bulb and did as Vaughn suggested and my printing times went from 20 minutes with my enlarger bulb down to 2-3 seconds with the 300 watt bulb
about 4 feet above the contact frame maybe I should have gone with the 150 watt bulb! well for 4 bucks I can guide 747's in from the darkness

Thanks for the help guys!
Erik