Kodagraph Transtar TP5 advice, please

[Rich Ullsmith]

I picked up a 100' roll of this stuff the other day, cheap-cheap, based on vague references to its lith properties. The box is sealed, and it appears to have spent its life in a cool, dry geographic locale. I can find no data on this paper anywhere on google, and this forum has only one reference to it. Here's my basic q's:

1) Any lith experience would be helpful. Basically, a starting Kodalith dilution, sulfite/bromide balance too. Probably "season to taste" as usual, but a starting point would be good. I imagine it is a slow paper.

2) I have access to a darkroom where I could chop this up, but that leads to another question. I don't lith bigger than 16X20, so in the interests of shelf life, should I chop the whole thing up and bag/freeze it in smaller lots, thawing as necessary (this amount of paper will last me at least 4-5 years), or should I just pull a year supply off the roll?

3) Perhaps an old data sheet exists somewhere in somebody's darkroom. I would trade a print for a data sheet (might take a month or two to reciprocate.)

Of course, any wisdom on the handling of paper in rolls would be helpful. I don't even know what safelight to use! I'll check back after lunch. Thanks, everybody.

 

[Mike Crawford]

So that's where the TP5 went!

Last night at midnight I was a happy bunny. I was 15 seconds away from getting the 100' roll of Transtar TP5 off ebay I had been watching all week for a great price. You just don't see it around these days. It was mine. No one else wanted it and boy was I looking forward to getting the bottles of A and B out. Then disaster struck. Out of nowhere came a rival and in the time it took to blink and raise my bid a few more dollars, the big red cross struck and it was gone. I opened the window and howled into the night. Grrrrr! And ********!

Seriously though Rich, well done. I hope you have fun with it as it is a truly great lith paper. It's not been produced for about 10 years but hopefully it should work fine. Lith seems to work on some old papers when conventional dev doesn't. I used to use quite a lot of TP5 back then and it is ideal for lith printing. Infact, it is a genuine lith paper, made for purely black on white graphic and type work, (when processed in undiluted lith dev), and the lith process, (diluted lith dev and exposure / development control), is a welcome deviation of it's intended use. I trust you are familiar with lith printing, so use it like any other paper for lith. It is very versatile. As I remember, when wet it is quite yellow / red but dries down a more darker red colour. Real sharp blacks and shadows. Be aware that it is a single weight resin coated paper so it has to be handled very carefully, especially as it is coming off the roll.

I would keep a 16x20 box for the paper and every now and again, cut out 20-30 sheets or whatever is comfortable to have in the box. I think the paper will last better on the roll than totally cut up. Once you handle the thin paper you will see what I mean. Back in the day, you could buy 16x20 boxes of TP5 in London from Silverprint . Also if you are handling a lot of the paper, do not touch the emulsion except for the edges, as it easy to get finger prints on it which will develop in the print. Or wear white cotton gloves when chopping. It my be possible to saw it in two so you then have two 21' rolls which makes it easier to cut into sheets, but it's not something I've tried so could not endorse it. I'm sure Mike Spry once mentioned he has had to saw up really big rolls. Maybe someone on APUG can say if this works OK.

Looking at your questions, it is relatively slow to develop as I remember, though normal for a lith print; 5-10 minutes. With Kodalith dev, both A and B were diluted 1+3 if from stock made from powder or 1+9 if from liquid. (Idon't think Kodalith dev is made any more.) Other lith devs use similar dilutions. I bet it works wonderfully with Moersch Lith dev. It also tones very well. And use a red safelight, oh yes.

Think that's it.
All the best
Mike

 

[Mike Crawford]

And another thing

Also..... it really responds well to developer and exposure control. You can get really harsh gritty prints on the contrasty side, or really tonal colourful prints on the smoother side. If the colour gets a bit too strong, it can be bleached and redeveloped in print dev or given a little bit of selenium. Gold toning makes it a beautiful violet / blue colour. Better go now, I'm getting excited again!

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

Thanks, Mike. It did occur to me it's safer on the roll, with the added bonus of justification for a new (used) freezer. I did not know it was RC. These washing cycles with lith processes kill me.

I'm thinking about dicing up maybe 50 8X10's and a handful of 11X14's, which would probably carry me the year.