Kodak Brown Toner...

[ChristopherCoy]

Why have I waited this long to try this?!? I. LOVE. IT.

 

[zsas]

Looking good

 

[ChristopherCoy]

I thought it was going to be a lot more complicated than it was. I've gotten to a 7th and near final print, which ill scan later on. I think I definitely prefer the brown/warm tones than the cold tones.

 

[andreios]

I do understand.. I have just now a dozen prints in wash to get ready to tone them..

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Use sulfide toners such as Kodak Brown Toner with good ventllation. The rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas. Make sure the toner solution never comes in contact with acids even weak ones. Hydrogen sulfide is especially dangerous since it first dulls the sense of smell even at low concentrations. Then the amount of gas can reach a toxic level without being detected.

The concentrate and solutions are very alkaline and can cause burns upon skin contact. Wear protective gloves.

 

[Roger Cole]

I love the stuff too. Simple, easy and repeatable. I use very dilute (1/4 or 1/8th the normal) solutions with Ilford MGWT FB and love the results.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Use sulfide toners such as Kodak Brown Toner with good ventllation. The rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulfide, a poisonous gas. Make sure the toner solution never comes in contact with acids even weak ones. Hydrogen sulfide is especially dangerous since it first dulls the sense of smell even at low concentrations. Then the amount of gas can reach a toxic level without being detected.

The concentrate and solutions are very alkaline and can cause burns upon skin contact. Wear protective gloves.

Oh. Nice. Glad I didn't die!!

I used it in my makeshift bathroom darkroom with just the normal bathroom vent running.

And I didn't use gloves! I didn't bathe in the stuff, but I wasn't exactly in chemists safety gear either.

Thanks for the tips! I'll use it outdoors next time.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

I love the stuff too. Simple, easy and repeatable. I use very dilute (1/4 or 1/8th the normal) solutions with Ilford MGWT FB and love the results.

I diluted 1oz into a 1L of water.

 

[Klainmeister]

This thread cracks me up! I just tried this as well! I posted a shot in the gallery, but here:


I also did 4 minutes in selenium too.

 

[payral]

Is Brown Toner still available ?

 

[Klainmeister]

I believe so. If not there's a shop here in town with about 20 bottles that I could pick up. ^_^

 

[DWThomas]

Is Brown Toner still available ?

My understanding is the Kodak version is gone or going away. I recently got some "Legacy" stuff from Freestyle which is purportedly equivalent , but haven't had occasion to try it yet.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

I've heard that the Kodak stuff has already GONE away and anything left is old stock.

Houston Camera Exchange still has a few bottles on the shelf, which is where I got mine. I'll probably pick up three or four more next time I'm there.

 

[Roger Cole]

I diluted 1oz into a 1L of water.

That's bottle instructions and you can certainly do that. There was a pretty long thread here about using the stuff where we discussed it. I use 1/8th oz per quart of water but I often want a subtle tone.

 

[Roger Cole]

My understanding is the Kodak version is gone or going away. I recently got some "Legacy" stuff from Freestyle which is purportedly equivalent , but haven't had occasion to try it yet.

Last I looked Kodak was available but you had to buy a gallon for something like $300. That may be gone too, I don't know, but I use the Legacy Pro and it works fine. I believe there are other equivalents too.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

Another safer alternative is to use warmtone paper in a warmtone developer like Ilford Warmtone. It won't get you as profound a brown as brown toner, but you don't have to work with it under a fume hood either.

 

[Valerie]

Chris, had I known you were interested we could have toned as well. I have a few bottles here.

 

[Klainmeister]

Another safer alternative is to use warmtone paper in a warmtone developer like Ilford Warmtone. It won't get you as profound a brown as brown toner, but you don't have to work with it under a fume hood either.

I tried just that and it's nowhere near as toned looking as I had hoped. Also, I couldn't seem to get a true black either. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but it was fresh paper and fresh chemistry.

The brown toner felt a lot more controllable and I was able to get the midtones/highlights just ride and retained true black through and through.

 

[Roger Cole]

I use reasonable precautions by toning in the open part of my basement with a door open not in my much smaller darkroom but certainly not a fume hood. I ain't dead yet. Be mindful but there's no reason to be afraid of it, just use reasonable care.

I print on Ilford MGWT FB developed in Ilford WT developer when I intend a warm image and then tone. It certainly isn't even similar without toning.

 

[tkamiya]

As far as I know, stuff FreeStyle sells under their house brand is a copy of Kodak Brown Toner. I do all my toning in garage with door open. Not only do I not need to worry about the fume but also if I spill it, I can just hose it down....

 

[DWThomas]

Since I don't do a lot of printing, and there is no need to do brown toning in the dark, I try to manage using it outside. I float the toner tray in a larger tray of hot water and have maneged to use the technique down to a 50ºF ambient.

I use Ilford FB MG warmtone and have never gotten tones with developers approaching what I have gotten with brown toner, so I hope to keep going with it.

Gerald raises a good point about the hazards of H2S. Fortunately our noses are extremely sensitive to it, we smell it well below dangerous concentrations, but in high concentration it does reduce or disable the sense of smell. It is also heavier than air and can build up in the bottom of open vessels. The process control manager at a paper mill I did some work in put it succinctly for their facility: "If ya can't smell it, yer dead!"

 

[DREW WILEY]

Freestyle is currently out of Legacy Brown Toner. They called me yesterday and told me to expect
shpmt around May 1st. Apparently the same thing as Kodak.

 

[Roger Cole]

I have often had to wait for stuff to become available at Freestyle including brown toner before but this one is worth it. At the concentrations I use a bottle will last a long time and I have one over half full and one unopened. If you like it pick up a couple of bottles when available and when you use up the first and open the second, order another. If you have to wait a bit you should still be ok.