Dust Free Negs for printing - Method.

Paul Sorensen · Aug 25, 2005

I use a good antistat brush and make sure that I am looking at the negative under very strong directional light at an oblique angle. At that angle I can see any dust that is on the neg and get it off with the brush. I don't ever seem to need air. To me the most important thing (after trying your best to have a clean environment) is seeing the dust. If you can't see it, your efforts to remove it are likely to be ineffective. Both air and brushes have a bad habit of just moving the dust from one place on the negative to another.

modafoto · Aug 25, 2005

Early Riser said:
I have given thought to wearing clothes made of a synthetic but that's going too far and I think I have already been pretty thorough.

Synthetic clothes will generate static electricity and attract dust...I think

Paul Sorensen · Aug 25, 2005

modafoto said:
Then we are heading towards printing in the nude after a total body shave...

And we don't want Morten to have to shave off his nose hair, it brings him such joy!

JHannon · Aug 25, 2005

modafoto said:
Synthetic clothes will generate static electricity and attract dust...I think

Why not wear one of those clean room "Bunny Suits" with an embroidered Rodinal emblem....

modafoto · Aug 25, 2005

JHannon said:
Why not wear one of those clean room "Bunny Suits" with an embroidered Rodinal emblem....

Wonderful...as long as it says Rodinal I am ready

Early Riser · Aug 25, 2005

modafoto said:
Synthetic clothes will generate static electricity and attract dust...I think

OK that's it!!! No more fooling around, I'm going to build one of those "bubble boy" suits!

JHannon · Aug 25, 2005

Fred Picker in "Zone VI Workshop" mentions using a "Kodak electro brush" that works well. Anyone ever see/try one? I wonder if it is just a treated antistatic brush like the others. I was looking for something that plugs in......with more power.....

Early Riser · Aug 25, 2005

JHannon said:
Fred Picker in "Zone VI Workshop" mentions using a "Kodak electro brush" that works well. Anyone ever see/try one? I wonder if it is just a treated antistatic brush like the others. I was looking for something that plugs in......with more power.....

Check out the Pro-co dust stat,

Nige · Aug 25, 2005

I'd like to add I don't really worry about dust in the darkroom itself, I vacuum occasionaly using a house integrated unit (so no air from vac gets reintroduced into the room.. it ends up in the garage) and have a clean underneath the enlargers about twice a year. In reality, there is dust everywhere but I'm careful the negs get to dry in a dust free area, and they get into the neg sleeves clean. I check/dust the neg as it goes into the enlarger, and very rarely do any spotting of prints.

resummerfield · Aug 25, 2005

JHannon said:
Fred Picker in "Zone VI Workshop" mentions using a "Kodak electro brush" that works well. Anyone ever see/try one? I wonder if it is just a treated antistatic brush like the others. I was looking for something that plugs in......with more power.....

Fred Pickers Zone 6 company sold a variant briefly. They were made by Chapman Company, but production ceased. But you can assemble the parts and make your own.

They all use a "single point ionizer" powered by a high-volt transformer (around 5 kv). The ionizer is about the diameter of a pencil and half as long; attach it on the metal ferrule of a camel hair brush, with the point of the ionizer near the tips of the bristles. I purchased my ionizer and transformer from SIMCO.biz

I have mine on a foot-switch, along with a small high-intensity collimated light, so light and ionizer turn on together. It works great!

3DDD · Aug 25, 2005

I'm pretty new to doing my own prints and negs but somebody told me that if you rub your finger on your nose and get the skin oil on your finger and rub that on your neg it even gets rid of drying marks or fixer that didn't wash off.

this guy got a few awards in the AIPP show this year so the advice must be worth something.

Nige · Aug 25, 2005

3DDD said:
I'm pretty new to doing my own prints and negs but somebody told me that if you rub your finger on your nose and get the skin oil on your finger and rub that on your neg it even gets rid of drying marks or fixer that didn't wash off.

that's termed 'nose grease' or 'noiseoil' (no you can't register at APUG under that id.. someone's already got it!)

You'd do this for a different reason to what's been discussed in this thread so far. Initally you want to make sure there's no dust (or other foriegn objects) on the neg becasue they block the light and you end up with a white spot or mark on your print. If your neg has a scratch that's showing up on the print, sometimes doing the nose grease trick will hide it (someone will have an accurate techy reason). There's products that try to do the same thing. In either case your should clean the neg with a film cleaner before putting it back in your neg sleeve.

gnashings · Sep 1, 2005

OK - so if we breed, or genetically engineer the perfect photographer, he/she will not onlyhave eyes twice the size of the average human eye, capable of seeing things in monochrome, colour and be used as spot meters and accurate rangefinders - BUT ALSO: be totally hairless like those cats, have no sweat glands on their palms but overdeveloped ones on their noses!!!
The future looks positively frightening!

gnashings · Sep 7, 2005

Just a thought after my latest print session...
All the know how in the world... can't make up for being silly...
I had all this dust! Reason: I was hurrying things and didnt follow even my own advice! So here I am, sitting, looking at all these specks... kicking myself

Dave Wooten · Sep 8, 2005

you can wipe negs with "swifties" or "swifters" forget the exact name...will check...soft dry and attracts dust off the neg...doesnt scratch at all...they are the little wipes...not the ones you put on the mop...get them at the grocery store.

Dust Free Negs for printing - Method.

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