Alcohol

I never use alcohol of any kind. Nor do I use photo flow. P.E. may try to assassinate me, but I use a drop of Dawn Dish-washing liquid. For glass plates 1 drop per 400-500g of emulsion eliminates crawling or bubbling emulsions. An Old Navy Guy (the Service, not the cloths company), told me about this. I never have a problem with the detergent messing up adhesion to glass. And I never need to use a sub coat.
Of course, I do not use gelatin, so my observations may be irrelevant for gelatin emulsions . Now- If I can just get rid of that expensive silver. Grin!
Bill
Bill

dwross said:

Hi Simon,
This is the easiest "problem" of any to solve. Use plain vodka. It's essentially half ethanol. Double the volume Everclear called for and then subtract the extra water from the water called for in the rest of the recipe (except the water in the precipitation step -- that particular water/gelatin ratio is usually precise). Good luck and fun.
d

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Good tip but only use the cheapest vodka you can find because many of the newer, trendy brands are flavoured. BTW you must have strong vodka where you are - its only 37% here! OzJohn

In the spirit of traditional photographers everywhere, I think some experimentation is called for. I intend to line up vodka, IDA and Isopropyl and make some small batches of a simple emulsion to see what occurs. Hopefully I'll be able to report early in the new year. Presently I am refurbishing my darkroom and making kit (emulsion wells, for example). I have a Zeiss 6x9 glass plate camera which takes very nice photos. I tend to use it for testing because the plates are small.
Simon

OzJohn said:

Good tip but only use the cheapest vodka you can find because many of the newer, trendy brands are flavoured. BTW you must have strong vodka where you are - its only 37% here! OzJohn

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On the other hand, it looks like you have this: https://www.nicks.com.au/polmos-spi...ctified-spirit-polish-pure-spirit-vodka-500ml

I can't think of anything that would add more to the "data base" of handmade emulsion making than developing a list of alternative materials. Not only is availability different in different countries, the forever-availability of just about anything is not a given. The case is always being made by naysayers that photographers should just move on to the latest and greatest, and of course, that is fine for some -- but not for all. It's nice to be in control of our own art. Understanding our materials is downright empowering.

dwross said:

I can't think of anything that would add more to the "data base" of handmade emulsion making than developing a list of alternative materials ... availability [is]different in different countries ...

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(my emphasis)

It can be quite off-putting to encounter recipes and equipment lists that are obviously drawn from the retail possibilities in a particular country. It can be time-consuming and frustrating to have to research and track down one's local equivalents, and then be very unsure whether they are really equivalent.

Everclear is a good example, but there are plenty of others.

I hope you won't take this as an unwonted criticism, Denise, but rather simply an observation, but when I've looked through the recipes and how-tos on TLF in the past, it seems often to fall prey to this issue.
Similarly when someone (usually a non-US resident) comes to APUG and asks about chemicals and is told s/he just needs to go to WalMArt and buy product xyz.

We all need to bear in mind when advising others that what is available to purchase varies wildly across the world.

Hence threads like this become really valuable resources.

It is absolutely un-unwonted I agree completely about the problem. I tried to hang a big, bright lantern on the situation in my book. Digging through the resources, export/import laws, pricing, etc., for chemistry in every country is beyond one person's ability (at least this one person!). I can, however, extend encouragement. There is information, and it is growing.

Henk Mantel did a lot of research a couple of years ago. http://thelightfarm.com/Map/Index/HenkMantel2/ChemicalList.htm

Martin Reed is a wonderful resource in the UK. Martin wrote the classic book, "Silver Gelatin, a user's guide to liquid photographic emulsion." He's on Facebook.

Also on Facebook, Radoslaw Brzozowski founded the "Silver gelatin dryplate" public group. He is a photographer and photography teacher and has started a photo supply company in Poland. He's got an English language catalog coming out soon. You can join the group on Facebook. That's how I talk with him, but I would imagine there are other ways of contacting him.

Ellie Young in Australia is absolutely a go-to person. http://www.goldstreetstudios.com.au/.

One of these days, organizing a dedicated resource section on TLF will rise above all the other things I love doing the day. Laments such as yours are an excellent motivator! Thank you. But I also agree with you about APUG and it's why I keep coming back. This is the single best aggregator of worldwide talent and information available on the web today.

However, it all really comes down to one issue that is a critical sticking point. Someone has to do the work. Hopefully, many someones. This is all pretty much brand new. It's not like the hordes of emulsion making experts are keeping secrets. There are no hordes. Every one of us is starting from the beginning, doing the work, learning our craft, and (hopefully) sharing. You can wait until someone does the work, or you can be the first to find workable materials in your area.

Denise, do you have a table of contents or outline that you have shared for Volume 2?

Thanks!!