Carbon Tissue

[Bruce]

Is anyone making their own carbon Tissue?

Have you don a stain test on your tissue?

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I have been making my own tissue for almost 10 years. What exactly is a stain test? A test to see if your tissue stains the substrate?

 

[Bruce]

Andrew

Sorry I have not been on this forum for a while.

Calvin (Spain) told me to mate unsensitized tissue to my paper support and then use the hot water bath for separation. Look to see if any pigment color is left on the paper support.. Run your finger through the print image area. If you can determine where you ran your finger then you might see a color to the side of your finger wipe. This is stain- I think.

I have been getting a slight discoloration (stain?) around the perimeter of my prints. Not sure why.

 

[chrisaisenbrey]

Well I had the problem with fog with DAS sensitizer until I noticed that the carbon tissue with the DAS sensitizer has to dry as fast as possible. Since I have no permanent dark room I’m using now some growth-tent for this purpose.

If there is fog without any sensitizer the problem might be as well the receiving paper/plastic sheet. Perhaps it is also the technique of dissolving the unhardened gelatin. I use PVC plastic sheets (coated with albumin) as receiver for double transfer. The plastic sheet can swim (face down) on the surface and the dissolved gelatin can sink freely to the bottom.

 

[Vaughn]

I have never done any stain testing. But I do simple single transfer monochrome work. If I have a light 'stain' around my print, I wipe it off with a wet cloth (carefully!) and otherwise don't worry about it.

Edited to add: The pigments I have used are several brands of lampblack watercolor pigments in tubes (also some ivory black and burnt sienna.) Some pigments do stain -- folks who do a lot of gum printing can point you to a list of pigments that stain online...bound to be one.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

I do thr same as Vaughn but with a sponge. Even a gloved finger does the trick.

 

[Bruce]

Sirs- Thanks for your comments.
Yes, I also Carefully wipe away any stain but at times i still see it. It might be the final support paper I am using - Ilford Multigrade FB Classic - matte finish or something else.

When I took Sandy Kings workshop I saw some staining around print edges but it wasn't discussed during the workshop. No big deal if I over matt the image but I like to leave a 1/4 inch white border around the final print.