Dry Plates... What can I do with these??

[Jim Moore]

I won a box of HALOID paper on eBay and there was a delay in shipping it so the seller threw in 2 unopened boxes of Photographic Dry Plates as a bonus.

They are from the Hammer Dry Plate & Film Company. The box says:

OPAL : Hammer Plates : 3-1/4 x 4-1/4

Can someone tell me how these are exposed and developed?

Thanks!

Jim

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Dry plates were the subsequent step to wet-plate collodion process. They were slower than wet-plates but amateurs bought them in trove because of the easier handling. That said, you'll probably need a specific holder, as these are glass plates, and not film.

 

[matt miller]

If you get a proper holder, Jim, I've got a 3-1/4 x 4-1/4 camera that you're welcome to use. Or, if you need an old holder or two to modify, I've got some extras you can have.

 

[removed account4]

hi jim

dry plates might have been around asa 1-5 ...
they were often orthochromatic and my guess is they could
be processed in paper developer ( under a safelight ) ...

if you don't want to expose them in your camera, you can enlarge onto them, as you would photo paper.

good luck!

john

 

[athanasius80]

Those are Hammer dry plates from St. Louis, MO. Best guess for age is 1930s-1950s. They're probably very expired now, but the boxes are cool, and the size works for quarter plate negatives and stereopticon slides, so maybe you do something fun with them.
Good luck.

 

[Donald Qualls]

If those are from the 50s, they're probably panchromatic, and likely have (had) and ISO equivalent of 25 or perhaps even 50.

I used to have some 3x4 adapter frames that fit my 9x12 cm plate camera holders, but I haven't been able to find them since moving to North Carolina -- don't recall if I gave them to someone, traded them, or just forgot which box they wound up in.