Concentration and times for printing FB Ilford Multigrade papers

[Henry Alive]

I work in 35 mm B&W film, and I have printed exclusively Ilford Multigrade RC paper. These are the liquids I use:
Developer: Ilford Multigrade, 1:9, for 1.5 minutes.
Stop: Kodak Max Stop 1:15, for 30 seconds.
Fixer: Tetenal Superfix Plus, 1:9, for 5 minutes.
Now, I am going to print also with Ilford Multigrade FB paper. Could you recommend me the correct concentration and times for these liquids or for others that you prefer? The only thing I do not want to change is the paper, as I like Ilford and my RH Designs Analyser Pro is already calibrated for Ilford papers.
Thanks,
Henry.

 

[David Brown]

The documentation that comes with the paper will have sufficient recommendations.

 

[Dan Henderson]

There is no reason why you cannot continue to use Multigrade developer with FB paper. Develop for 2 or 2 1/2 minutes. I use a water stop bath and TF5 fixer, so I cannot comment on the products you have been using.

 

[bdial]

The only change you need to make between the RC and the fiber paper is the fix time and the wash time. As David said, just follow the label recommendations on your fix, and/or the Ilford data sheet. As an aside, if the Tetenal Superfix is a rapid fix, 5 minutes for RC (or fiber) seems like a very long time.
In the developer, the image will start to come up more slowly on the fiber paper, but the total time shouldn't need to be extended if you developer is fresh.

 

[Henry Alive]

Thanks to everybody. I am going to work with the same liquids, following the general instructions.
Henry.

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

Hi Henry. Yes, the 2 to 3 minutes for developing fiber paper versus 1 1/2 to 2 minutes for resin coat. There is a lot of discussion you can search for concerning the fixer times and concentrations. My own problems ended when I went to the film-strength, two bath method. Washing times were shortened by an order of magnitude (sodium sulfite bath first, though).

A vexing problem with fiber paper is compensating for dry down. If you are going to stick with a certain paper, it is worth your time to figure out exactly. You can do this with an existing print. Basically, make a print on your fiber paper that, while wet, matches your existing dry print. Seems like papers generally exhibit 5% to 8% dry down, so you can make say four more prints sequentially with 5-6-7-8% less exposure. Wait for them to dry and see which one matches.

A disclaimer: my enlarger has a dry down compensation feature which is expressed in percentages. Basically a potentiometer that dims the bulb intensity. If you don't have that, I do not know if a 5% difference in exposure time is the same as a 5% difference in bulb intensity. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable could comment on this. In any event, dry down is something of issue. I have had more than one of those "thrill of victory and agony of defeat" printing sessions!

 

[Henry Alive]

Thanks, Rich. I have no experience working with FB paper, so I am going to start working with the same liquids and following the general recommendations. It means, I will work for 3 minutes in the developer try, 30 seconds in the stop one, and two fixer baths, 30 seconds in each one. Then, to wash for a long time…
I will be careful trying to find out how to compensate for dry down. However, my main problem right now is “to iron” the final copy. I am thinking to work with something similar to: http://www.fernandogago.es/planchado.html. I would accept other ideas!
Thanks,
Henry.

 

[bdial]

Most people compensate for dry down with a 5 - 10% reduction in exposure, and the usual method is to reduce the exposure time by that amount. But the actual time you use depends on the paper, and on the lighting where you plan to view it. Another method is to judge the exposure of the wet print using a relatively low wattage white viewing light, maybe 20 Watts or so.
To get started though, there is no need to obsess about it. RC papers have dry-down too, just not quite as much.
As for getting the print flat after it is dry, weight it down under some books, magazines or whatever you have. After a day or two it will be flat and will stay that way.

 

[MattKing]

Thanks, Rich. I have no experience working with FB paper, so I am going to start working with the same liquids and following the general recommendations. It means, I will work for 3 minutes in the developer try, 30 seconds in the stop one, and two fixer baths, 30 seconds in each one. Then, to wash for a long time…
I will be careful trying to find out how to compensate for dry down. However, my main problem right now is “to iron” the final copy. I am thinking to work with something similar to: http://www.fernandogago.es/planchado.html. I would accept other ideas!
Thanks,
Henry.

I would double check your times for fixing - 2 x 30 seconds sounds quite short.