HELP: K40 Caffenol-C

I used the following Caffenol-C recipe for developing a roll of Kodachrome K40:

40g Coffee
54g Washing soda
16g Vitamin C

Dissolved in 480ml and developed for 9m at 20C and then washed and blixed for 5 minutes.

It seems I messed up somewhere because only a fraction of the frames developed, but the most emulsion seems to have been completely stripped save for some purple swirls. Maybe K40 isn't compatible with the blix I used? Do I need to purchase a bleach-free fixer?

if you are processing kodachrome for black and white images ..
why are you using fixer with bleach in it ( blix ) instead of regular old
speed fixer or old fashioned hypo ?
i have processed my share of c41 and e6 ( never kodachrome or olde color processes )
only used caffenol c ( with a little dektol or ansco 130 mixed into it ), no stop but water rinse then speed fixer ..
and never had a problem. i have processed maybe 10-20 rolls ( 135 + 120 ) this way ...

the caffenol group on flickr or the cafenol palace also on flickr has information with people who have processed
kodachrome ( i think ? ) you might poke around there to see if anyone there has had similar problems or better results.

i wish i had better suggestions or experience for you,
good luck !
john

to expand a bit on what jn said...

remember that if you develop colour film in caffenol,only a silver image will result . that is, a black and white negative one. no colour image will be formed.

if you then use a blix on that film, the silver will be removed and you will end up with little or no image.

in normal colour processing, once the colour image has been formed, the silver no longer has a use and that's why the bleach is used to remove it.

so you need to try it with a regular fixer (e.g. Ilford rapid fixer) next time.

it's all further complicated because your're using Kodachrome of course . ;-)

Were you trying to do a reversal process?

An excellent question

I read somewhere that colour fixer would work to fix b/w images. Although when I bought the kit I thought it came with a regular fixer, not one that you'd have to mix to create a blix. Thanks for the recommendations and replys though, I'll have a look at that Ilford rapid fix

hi

post back after you do his with regular fix, I am guessing your results will be pretty good.
the color film I have processed as b/w has a really beautifully smooth grain ..

have fun
john

sophisee said:

I read somewhere that colour fixer would work to fix b/w images.

Click to expand...

it will work fine (no lesser an authority than forum member PE has said so ) but as you've discovered a combined bleach/fix (blix) won't

(although I know someone who has experimented with using very short blix times on ordinary black and white film and managed to find something like an optimum time between not fixing at all and disappearing the images altogether; not quite sure what the point was, mind you, and who knows what it will do for the long term stability of his negatives )