Archiving Process for FB Paper

[pentaxuser]

Well there's certainly a big difference between 10 mins washing time( Ilford) and 60 galls per hour. I have no idea what rate of flow the Ilford routine specifies but I doubt it to be a gallon a minute. 60 gallons per hour is an incredible use of water in time of diminishing resources. I checked my garden hose operating at a reasonable rate in the summer and that was less than a gallon a minute. I wonder how the water authorities in Australia would regard that kind of use in the drought conditions several APUGers there have mentioned.

In the UK we now have water meters. At this rate my water bill would probably outweigh my other materials cost! I had thought of giving FB a try but at 60 gallons an hour neither my wallet nor my conscience would stand it.

pentaxuser

 

[Chuck_P]

I recently started using FB paper and I use the recommendations found in John P. Schaefer's "Ansel Adams Guide Book 1: Basic Techniques of Photography" (1999 Revised Edition). On page 315 upon recommendations from Ilford's research:

1. develop
2. stop
3. fix (ammonium thiosulfate)-- I use TF-4
4. drain, place in a tray of running water for 2 minutes, then move to a holding tray of clean water for collection of all the prints for the session

Toning:
5. set up three trays each containing a wash aid (I use Kodak's HCA); to the middle tray add selenium toner to make a 10% solution (100ml per liter)
6. place prints in first tray agitate continuously for 3 minutes, then transer to the tray with the toner
7. tone for the desired time with continuous agitation, then transfer to the third tray
8. agitate in the last tray of HCA for 5 minutes, then transfer to a tray of running water for a few minutes, then put in an archival washer
9. wash until a residual hypo test (HT-2) is negative
10. squeege
11. dry
12. store in an archival storage box

So far, it works. I want to be able to say that my prints are archivally processed and for it to mean something to those who know. I figure if I follow this method and keep getting a negative HT-2 test at the end, then I'm being truthful with my claim.

Chuck

 

[Monophoto]

Chuck1 -

Re your step 5 -

Adams advocated mixing selenium toner in hypoclear. That's fine as long as you dispose of the entire bath after each session. However, selenium doesn't deplete very rapidly and can be reused - but only if it is NOT mixed with hypoclear. There are some minor environmental concerns with disposal of undepleted selenium toner, so the current preferred practice is to mix selenium toner with plain water only so that it can be saved for reuse.

 

[Chuck_P]

Chuck1 -

Re your step 5 -

Adams advocated mixing selenium toner in hypoclear. That's fine as long as you dispose of the entire bath after each session. However, selenium doesn't deplete very rapidly and can be reused - but only if it is NOT mixed with hypoclear. There are some minor environmental concerns with disposal of undepleted selenium toner, so the current preferred practice is to mix selenium toner with plain water only so that it can be saved for reuse.

I know and good point. I failed to mention that for the middle tray in step 5 I use selenium mixed in distilled water. I use HCA in trays 1 and 3.

 

[Richard Jepsen]

Contrastique

Alkaline swells the film gelatin coating and an acid stop contracts gelatin. Using an acid stop preserves an acid fix and was need when papers required hardening due to ferrotype drying techniques. The modern fix method is to use a neutral or alkaline fix like TF-4. A couple of Saint Ansel methods are out of date such as his fix and toning routine. Regarding washing, David Vestal discovered the amount of water is not critical. A surprizing small amount of water is required to diffuse hypo out of the paper. Follow Ilford's directions for processing. Be mindful of fixing around 10 to 12 8x10 prints per L unless using a two fix method.

The Film Developing Cookbook mentions that Sodium Thiosulfate is no longer recommended to fix contemporary photographic materials. Materials changed and we know more since Ansel authored his books.