Kalogen: Not Just for Paper Development?

Snapshot · Dec 17, 2013

Hi All,

I've been trying out a formula for paper development called Kalogen. Ostensibly, it can be used as a film developer, with results similar to Rodinal using a 1+50 dilution level. Would the times be similar to that of Rodinal at 1+50 dilution? Has anyone an experience using Kalogen as a film develper? If you could share your results, I would very much appreciate it.

JW PHOTO · Dec 17, 2013

Whoa! I've been looking, with a great deal of interest, into this developer also. You can do a search and come up with a few hits, but nothing like you get back when search a developer like Rodinal. It certainly doesn't sound that hard to brew up and the plus fact is that it can be a film or paper developer. Maybe when I have nothing to do during the Feb. doldrums here in Michigan I'll make some up and give it a go. JohnW

Gerald C Koch · Dec 17, 2013

I posted the Kalogen formula on APUG some years ago. I recently received a private message concerning its keeping properties. When comparing the original formula with that published in the Dignan Newsletter it seems that the author adjusted the ratio of Metol to hydroquinone without adjusting the amount of sodium hydroxide. The Dignan formula therefore contains too much hydroxide so I offer this modification. Add the hydroxide slowly with stirring until the precipitate just dissolves. At this point stop adding the hydroxide. Then continue on as usual. This method then resembles that used to prepare Rodinal.

I don't use a developer exactly the same as that published. As a starting point I would try a development time for films 1+59 of 5 - 7 m at 20C.

JW PHOTO · Dec 18, 2013

Gerald C Koch said:
I posted the Kalogen formula on APUG some years ago. I recently received a private message concerning its keeping properties. When comparing the original formula with that published in the Dignan Newsletter it seems that the author adjusted the ratio of Metol to hydroquinone without adjusting the amount of sodium hydroxide. The Dignan formula therefore contains too much hydroxide so I offer this modification. Add the hydroxide slowly with stirring until the precipitate just dissolves. At this point stop adding the hydroxide. Then continue on as usual. This method then resembles that used to prepare Rodinal.

I don't use a developer exactly the same as that published. As a starting point I would try a development time for films 1+59 of 5 - 7 m at 20C.

Yes, I remember reading it and also the controversy about who and exactly when it was invented. So, if one stops at just the right time with the Hydroxide addition do you thing the shelf life would be near that of the original Rodinal? JohnW

Gerald C Koch · Dec 18, 2013

Probably not as long as the legendary Rodinal or HC-110 but still better than other developers I have used. I have had the last inch or so in a bottle last for a year. It got vary dark but still worked. Freshly made and in a stoppered PET bottle it is unchanged now for over 7 yrs. As with Rrodinal preparation it is important that there be no excess hydroxide present.

JW PHOTO · Dec 18, 2013

Gerald C Koch said:
Probably not as long as the legendary Rodinal or HC-110 but still better than other developers I have used. I have had the last inch or so in a bottle last for a year. It got vary dark but still worked. Freshly made and in a stoppered PET bottle it is unchanged now for over 7 yrs. As with Rrodinal preparation it is important that there be no excess hydroxide present.

Now that sounds like excellent shelf life to me! After the holidays I'm going to mix a batch to play with. Jerry, I might be picking your brain for a little info when I start using it. Have a Merry Christmas! JohnW

pdeeh · Dec 19, 2013

Gerald C Koch said:
The Dignan formula therefore contains too much hydroxide so I offer this modification. Add the hydroxide slowly with stirring until the precipitate just dissolves. At this point stop adding the hydroxide. Then continue on as usual. .

I do like that you offer this subjective method here, and have in the past been quite admonitory about using a subjective method for making metaborate

Gerald C Koch · Dec 19, 2013

pdeeh said:
I do like that you offer this subjective method here, and have in the past been quite admonitory about using a subjective method for making metaborate

The end point that I suggested for Kalogen is the same that has been used for decades for Rodinal. It is distinct and independent of temperature. The same cannot be said or what happens when making metaborate. An error in the amount of sodium hydroxide in the metaborate solution can have serious consequences for certain developer formulations. So there is no contradiction.

There is an additional problem with the method used to make metaborate as gien on the web. Borax IS soluble in water. If you add sodium hydroxide until the slurry of borax just dissolves this does not take into account the borax that was already in solution when you started. The method is very imprecise. That is why I advocated weighing things out in this case. For Kalogen and Rodinal the solid IS NOT soluble in water so this kind of error does not occur.

Gerald C Koch · Dec 19, 2013

Gerald C Koch said:
If you add sodium hydroxide until the slurry of borax just dissolves this does not take into account the borax that was already in solution when you started.

The line given above should read as given below for clarity.

If you add sodium hydroxide until the slurry of borax just dissolves this does not take into account an amount of borax equal to that which was already in solution when you started.

Snapshot · Dec 19, 2013

Gerald, thank-you for clarifying.

pdeeh · Dec 20, 2013

Gerald C Koch said:
For Kalogen and Rodinal the solid IS NOT soluble in water so this kind of error does not occur.

my tongue was slightly in my cheek when I posted, as I hope you realise Gerald, but the fuller explanation it has prompted is invaluable to me as someone who stopped studying chemistry in 1974

Gerald C Koch · Dec 20, 2013

pdeeh said:
my tongue was slightly in my cheek when I posted, as I hope you realise Gerald, but the fuller explanation it has prompted is invaluable to me as someone who stopped studying chemistry in 1974

I did get that but thought a fuller explanation was needed. Sometimes you can take shortcuts but in the case of metaborate preparation you really need to weight things out. Have a wonderful holidays. Jerry

Kalogen: Not Just for Paper Development?

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