Ferrous Oxalate Developer

Rlibersky · May 16, 2007

In my quest for old and interesting developers that are known for not fogging I came across this one. Has anyone here seen or worked with this formula or one like it?.

My goal is to find a companion developer for the Chlorohydroquinone developer. This is a nice warm tone developer that has not fogged any of the old paper I have tried it on, some more then 70years old. It does have a nice warm tone without any extra toning. Now a colder or neutral tone developer with the same no fog quality would be nice.

I found this in Photographic Facts and Formulas Version 1975 AMPHOTO Page 116

Ferrous Oxalate (FeC2O4H2O)
25% Solution Ferrous Sulfate 1 part
25% Solution Potassium Oxalate 3 parts

Invented in 1879 a Dry Plate Developer. Replaced by organic developers because of the 4x exposure needed for film. Still used in scientific work that demand photometric measurements of great accuracy. This is due to the fact that this id practically the only developer that gives no trace of fog or stain.

Ferrous Sulfate oxidizes very rapidly to exposure to air. Mix at use. Sulfate must be added to the oxalate to dissolve fully.

It is the no trace of fog or stain that intrigues me. Has any one used an Oxalate as a paper developer? How about any formulas? If not, where do I start?

Thanks for any information.

Cor · May 16, 2007

Hi, I cannot help you on below developer (I am sure that you know that these are toxic compounds, but Pt/Pd work with PotOx all the time, with proper working methods it should be ok).

I was curious by your mentioning of chlorohydroquinone as developer: what recipe did you use: Defender 58-D?

And what were the results?

thanks,

Best,

Cor

Rlibersky said:
In my quest for old and interesting developers that are known for not fogging I came across this one. Has anyone here seen or worked with this formula or one like it?.

My goal is to find a companion developer for the Chlorohydroquinone developer. This is a nice warm tone developer that has not fogged any of the old paper I have tried it on, some more then 70years old. It does have a nice warm tone without any extra toning. Now a colder or neutral tone developer with the same no fog quality would be nice.

I found this in Photographic Facts and Formulas Version 1975 AMPHOTO Page 116

Ferrous Oxalate (FeC2O4H2O)
25% Solution Ferrous Sulfate 1 part
25% Solution Potassium Oxalate 3 parts

Invented in 1879 a Dry Plate Developer. Replaced by organic developers because of the 4x exposure needed for film. Still used in scientific work that demand photometric measurements of great accuracy. This is due to the fact that this id practically the only developer that gives no trace of fog or stain.

Ferrous Sulfate oxidizes very rapidly to exposure to air. Mix at use. Sulfate must be added to the oxalate to dissolve fully.

It is the no trace of fog or stain that intrigues me. Has any one used an Oxalate as a paper developer? How about any formulas? If not, where do I start?

Thanks for any information.

Rlibersky · May 16, 2007

I have been using Defender 58-D for a while with good results on older paper that fogs with other paper, some that has been expired from as far back as the 30's. The results are quite warm even on neutral paper, with what appears to be very little contrast loss. (as compared to developers with an abundance of benzotriazole os Pot. BromideIt takes about 4 minutes for the image to develope but is worth it.

Ole · May 16, 2007

I posted a classic acidic ferrous sulfate developer once, I'll see if I can't find it and repost it.

gainer · May 18, 2007

Hurter and Driffield used 1 part of saturated solution of ferrous sulfate to 4 parts of saturated potassium oxalate. One part of this solution was often diluted with one part of water. They favored it for their experiments because of its complete lack of fog and its linearity. From the Hurter and Driffield Memorial Volume I quote "That ferrous oxalate does not, however used, attack silver bromide which has not been exposed to light is a most valuable and characteristic property of this developer."

A virtue of saturated solutions is that the ingredients need not be weighed.

Ferrous Oxalate Developer

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