Caffenol-C + Phenidone?

I've been using the Caffenol-C-L recipe with great success. I also use Phenidone/Sodium Ascorbate developers that work well. It turns out the pH of Caffenol-C-L is similar to Phenidone/Vit C/Borax which got me thinking about combining developers. It looks like I could make something similar to Pyrocat-HD. Has anyone tried this?

hi michael

i haven't tried the combinations you are talking about ..
i usually just mix a strong batch of coffee, and eyeball
measure vit c and the washing soda ... and lately i have been
carefully measuring out about 30cc of ansco 130 ( i am sure you can use whatever
print developer you have on hand ) for every 750cc of coffee developer.
i am also roasting my own 100% robusta coffee beans,
and not using instant coffee ( which is a blend of arabica + robusta )
feel free to see some of my results ( my blog here, the coffee developer group, and my gallery here )

good luck !
john

I figure that since Caffenol-C already has an alkali (Sodium Carbonate) and Sodium Ascorbate, I'm most of the way to a Phenidone developer so the thought is to add some Phenidone and possibly adjust the Carbonate and Ascorbate levels. Just a thought and something I'll have to try. I was hoping someone may have tried this before and has some starting points.

acorbate ?
vit c is ascorbic acid, not ascorbate acid

if you use ascorbate instead you are going to have loads of trouble ...

if you do your experiments, post your results in the coffee group

thanks !

( and good luck ! )
john

Sodium Carbonate reacts with Ascorbic Acid to form Sodium Ascorbate.

thanks anthril

i know folks sometimes are sold ascorbate acid instead of ascorbic acid
so i wanted to make sure ...

- john

Sorry ... to be clear, I'm starting with Ascorbic Acid mixed with Sodium Carbonate to get Sodium Ascorbate. It's not that there's anything wrong with Caffenol-C-L that I'm trying to correct, it's more a matter of curiosity to see if Phenidone will make any noticeable difference. I'll post my findings when I have a chance to test.

hi michael

not worried
anthril clued me into
what was going on ...
i'm not up on all the chemicals
and what they combine and form when mixed ..
i just know there are folks in the scandinavian regional
forum who are doing great-stuff with caffenol ...
but once in a while there are problems because
the pharmacy or chemical supplier sold them ascorbate instead of ascorbic acid.
so just in case, i wanted to warn you if you were using the wrong component ingredients ...

i added the ansco 130 into the mix ( about a year ago, maybe more )
to remedy something with the caffenol c formula i was using ..
( i don't pay attention to many of the published formulae )
i added the developer in to boost the contrast and reduce the fog of caffenol c.
it still gives beautiful stain and grain, but i can process
15year old ( would normally be foggy ) shelf-stored film and get
very little fog ...

good luck with your experiments !
john