Argyrotype toners formulae

Hi, I'd like to platinum tone my argyrotypes. What kind of toners are you using? I understand that kallitype and VDB toners are inadequate, right?

Ricardo de Oliveira said:

Hi, I'd like to platinum tone my argyrotypes. What kind of toners are you using? I understand that kallitype and VDB toners are inadequate, right?

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Just curious: Where does this understanding come from?

:Niranjan.

nmp said:

Just curious: Where does this understanding come from?

:Niranjan.

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Of course, not being the original poster, I can't answer your question. ;-)

However, Mike Ware comments in the "Image Permanence" section of his instructions for Argyrotype (i.e. https://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/Argyrotype_Process.html) : "If improved permanence is desired, the image is receptive to the usual toning agents (e.g. selenium or gold), though these may have to be used at a lower concentration than usual. Not having tested them all, I should be glad to hear of people's experience with such toners."

To the OP... If I was going to experiment I'd start with the "Basic Toner for Kallitype' recipe in Christopher James' book and go from there.

fgorga said:

Of course, not being the original poster, I can't answer your question. ;-)

However, Mike Ware comments in the "Image Permanence" section of his instructions for Argyrotype (i.e. https://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/Argyrotype_Process.html) : "If improved permanence is desired, the image is receptive to the usual toning agents (e.g. selenium or gold), though these may have to be used at a lower concentration than usual. Not having tested them all, I should be glad to hear of people's experience with such toners."

To the OP... If I was going to experiment I'd start with the "Basic Toner for Kallitype' recipe in Christopher James' book and go from there.

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Hmm....not sure what Mike Ware means in comparison to - other silver siderotypes or the conventional silver gelatin. I know from my experience with selenium on salt prints and POP that dilutions 60-100x are required, whereas for silver gelatin they would typically be almost an order of magnitude less, otherwise severe bleaching occurred.

C. James has a section on argyrotypes (I have the 2nd edition.) In it he describes gold toning and mentions that the toner similar to that used for POP process would work fine. The formula given for gold thiocyanate toner is the same as that described for salt prints elsewhere. For both kallitypes and VDBs, he uses the gold chloride / citric acid formula so no apple-to-apple comparison can be made regarding the concentration. Unfortunately, no formulas for platinum or palladium are given for argyrotype there, so can't be of help to OP's query.

:Niranjan.

Thank you, Fgorga. Do you guys think a pop paper platinum toner recipe will work then?

nmp said:

Hmm....not sure what Mike Ware means in comparison to - other silver siderotypes or the conventional silver gelatin.
:Niranjan.

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https://www.mikeware.co.uk/downloads/ArgyroWork.pdf