Berg Golden Yellow Toner???

[Chris101]

Two questions -

1) What happened to this toner? I assume it was some sort of osha/rcra concern about toxic chemicals. Is there any information about this?

2) Is there any information on the composition of this toner? It is not a simple vanadium toner - it did not bleach as much, nor did it cause yellow-green color.

 

[Chris101]

Anyone ever use this toner?

 

[cupcake_ham]

Do you mean their dye type "toners", or are you referring to the Gold Protective Solution? I haven't used any of Berg's toners....but I have used Tetenal Gold Toner. I couldn't tell you if these are similar. The Tetanol gives a somewhat blueish color. I now prefer a warmtone.

Anyone else?

 

[Chris101]

Do you mean their dye type "toners", or are you referring to the Gold Protective Solution? I haven't used any of Berg's toners....but I have used Tetenal Gold Toner. I couldn't tell you if these are similar. The Tetanol gives a somewhat blueish color. I now prefer a warmtone.

Anyone else?

Thanks Dave,

It's neither of those. BGYT was a two solution, ferricyanide based toner, not a dye, and not a protective gold toner. The product was similar to Berg Brilliant Blue Toner, but it toned prints creamy yellow instead of bright blue.

The toner was readily available in photo stores and on line until about a year ago. Now it seems to have been wiped off the face of the earth. I wonder if it contained a toxic material of some kind that prevented it's shipment and sale, or if it became too expensive to produce in limited quantities.

 

[cupcake_ham]

Might be a question for APUG.....

 

[Chris101]

I finally heard back from the manufacturer. They say that it is a problem with the patent, however I suspect that it is more about the safety of the ingredients. Through careful experimentation, wanton disregard for OSHA and EPA regulations and a bit of serendipity, I believe that I have come up with an acceptable substitute.

Dissolve 3 grams of vanadium (iii) chloride in a minimum volume of concentrated nitric acid. Add this to 50 mL of a solution containing 30 grams of oxalic acid, and stir until all of the solid is dissolved. Buffer the pH as high as possible without precipitating. Label this solution 1, part A and set it aside. Prepare a bleach solution containing 3 to 8 grams of potassium ferricyanide in 50 mL of water. The more concentrated this solution is, the faster the toning will proceed, and the lighter the final tone will be. Label this solution 1, part 2.

Prepare a solution containing 8 grams of uranium (vi) nitrate, 4 grams of oxalic acid and 4 grams of potassium ferricyanide in one liter of water. Label this solution 2.

Mix up working strength solution 1 by mixing part 1 with 500 mL of water, then adding part 2, finally diluting to 1 liter. Tone your print in solution 1 until the highlights disappear. Wash it in tap water for 5 minutes then tone it in solution 2 until the highlights return, and the shadows turn orange. Rinse the print and return it to solution 1 until the shadows look like you want.​

Here is an example:

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Note: I used a frisket mask to stop parts of the print after solution 2.

Note 2: DO NOT try this at home. Vanadium and uranium compounds are very toxic, even in microscopic amounts. I have provided the formula here for educational purposes only.

 

[donbga]

The toner was readily available in photo stores and on line until about a year ago. Now it seems to have been wiped off the face of the earth.

This product can be purchased at Adorama.com.

 

[Chris101]

No, I tried. It cannot be purchased.

 

[donbga]

No, I tried. It cannot be purchased.

It has to be purchased as part of a kit.

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[Marco B]

Note 2: DO NOT try this at home. Vanadium and uranium compounds are very toxic, even in microscopic amounts. I have provided the formula here for educational purposes only.

I wouldn't even have the faintest idea how to get uranium compounds, not even an atom of the stuff, what "special" connections do you have??? :confused:

But anyway, here is a possibly slightly safer alternative for creating a yellow/green vanadium based toner developed by Wilco Oelen, and it seems a novel, cheaper and more stable toner based on vanadium IV instead of vanadium III chloride:

http://81.207.88.128/science/photo/toners/toner.pdf

A further small description, including the advantage compared to using vanadium III chloride, is here (scroll down):

http://81.207.88.128/science/photo/toners/ferrocyanide.html

And some examples of toning:

http://81.207.88.128/science/photo/toners/vanadium-img.html

Never tried it though, but it is well described and may be worth a try for you. Let me know what your experiences are if you try it.

Marco

 

[Chris101]

Marco, thanks for those links! I had read the pdf, and cooked up a batch of V2O5 toner last spring. It did work, but the color, which looked so vibrant when I took it from the tray, always seemed to end up a duller brownish color, especially when multi-toning with the uranium. I had not done the interim fixing step though (which is strange, because I used to fix the Berg toned prints, at least partially.)

After looking at the examples on the page in your link, I will revisit it when I get a chance. I'm taking the summer off from exposure to nasty chemicals. :eek:

You can get uranyl nitrate from chemical suppliers. It is an analytical reagent made from depleted uranium, which is barely radioactive. I cannot detect any radioactivity from my prints.

Thanks Don. The yellow toner in the Berg kit is not the same as their Golden Yellow Toner. The kit has a dye based yellow toner in it.