New to FB paper

[RobC]

Well thats one of the reasons wht you dry prints face down on drying screens. The airflow is greater over the upward facing paper side of the print.

 

[2F/2F]

Hello, Bob.

Where did you get those Tetenal fixer test strips?

I use Edwal Hypo Chek drops.

 

[PVia]

I've been drying my prints face down on a clean lintless towel (gasp). No problems with emulsion sticking to the towel and they dry beautifully with very little curl in my arid So Cal climate (although this week feels like Florida here)...all that's left is to put 'em under some heavy books when dry.

 

[2F/2F]

I am in Pasadena as well (Highland Park, technically...Ave 64: right on the border), and I get no major curling problems just setting my prints face up on top of the washing machine and dryer after squeegeeing them off on an otherwise unusable ferrotyping plate. I mean to build a drying rack, but keep procrastinating, as the need is not major.

Anything larger than 11x14 I do at PCC, however. I just don't have the facilities to handle large prints or larger than 6x6 negs at home. They have a large Pako fiber dryer there. Its ferrotyping drum is absolutely destroyed and the canvas belt is disgustingly stained from 40+ years of soaking up hypo from improperly washed prints, but there is not enough drying cabinet space there to do it any other way. I have brought them home to wash and dry a few times, but I need a deeper tray next time I decide to do that......

Tri-Community in Covina is supposedly a very nice place to work, as is ELAC.

But soon I will have the Art Center lab at my disposal...drool drool drool...

If ever you do not want to use books to flatten your prints, just bring your prints into the PCC photo lab in the basement of the E building. There are two dry mount presses on the West wall counter, and at least one of them is on the entire time the lab is open. (Be sure to check that the cover sheet is clean before you press your prints!) Just walk in like you know what you're doing. You won't be able to print or use the fiber dryer (nor should you be able to, as we have to pay a chemical fee each semester), but you could definitely get away with using some of the school's electricity to flatten a few prints. The presses are just there cooking the air if they are not being used.

 

[Bob F.]

Hello, Bob.

Where did you get those Tetenal fixer test strips?

I use Edwal Hypo Chek drops.

As I'm in the UK I get both the Tetenal Ag/pH test strips and HT-2 hypo test from Silverprint. Sorry, no idea where you can get it in the US. The strips are expensive so I cut them along their length to get twice as many (cheap so-and-so that I am )..

Cheers, Bob.

 

[Stan160]

Bob, Do the Tetenal test strips have an expiry date once the container has been opened?

Thanks,
Ian

 

[pentaxuser]

Harman/Ilford was supposed to be releasing a version of MG FB that dries flat. See (there was a url link here which no longer exists). Did it ever come to pass?

Also, (there was a url link here which no longer exists) might be useful.

A question for the Ilford tour this October? Of course Simon might not be willing to give current status, understandably, if things are still ongoing. It might have been quietly shelved as a "no-go" either for reasons of practicality or econs but based on Ilford/Harman's welcome transparency I suspect that if It was a no-go Simon would have said.

So maybe there's hope yet

pentaxuser

 

[Bob F.]

Bob, Do the Tetenal test strips have an expiry date once the container has been opened?

Thanks,
Ian

The last one marked "Tetenal" did not but the latest one I have does and although otherwise identical, it is branded as Macherey-Nagel which is the manufacturer. Possibly Tetenal no longer re-brand them, IDK. This one does have what looks like a use-by date (which has now expired). I have no idea how critical the use-by date is but the box does say to reseal the container immediately after use.


[Addendum]

From the Macherey-Nagel site :

"The plug of the container is filled with a desiccant resulting in a shelf life of 2 1/2 years for Ag-Fix sticks."

So it would seem that the main killer is moisture.

Bob.

 

[2F/2F]

I would rather they lowered the price of warmtone rather than inventing new gimmicks to apply to it! It is so ridiculously expensise that I very rarely use it anymore, although it is one of my favorite papers. Over $90 for a box of 50 sheets 11x14 is crazy. I'd rather buy Emaks and have a killer dinner with the remainder.

 

[dancqu]

I also test the fixer to keep silver content below
1g/l using Tetenal test strips; fresh fixer is essential
to this method.

A fixer can be completly exhausted and still have less
than some specific level of silver. Where fixers are
used and reused and worse yet bottled then
back in use again they deteriorate.

A strip test similar to that for film is likely best if one
wishes to be sure. Counting square inches or sheets
is not so good because the mix of silver halides and
the amount varies more than a little from paper to
paper.

So strip test and silver load test. Or as I've done,
establish fixer minimums, use fresh as a one-shot,
and don't worry.

BTW, 1g/l is a good safe level although Ilford has
set a level 0.5g/l for optimum permanance. Dan

 

[Bob F.]

I didn't mention it above ('tho I have in other posts) but I also do a clearing-time test with FP4+ to test the fixer's soundness before printing (even when mixing fresh fixer). In practice, the fixer has always hit the 1g/l mark well before the clearing time for the film hits 50% longer.

I have done the usual "fix for N-seconds and then drop in developer" tests on my papers to arrive at the 90s worst-case scenario. You could do them every time but it is time consuming and wastes developer as you have to chuck it after the test 'cos it is contaminated with fixer.

Ilford say 0.5g/l for "archival" and something like 3g/l (IIRC) for "commercial" work. I go for 1 g/l because the test strips are not accurate at low values, 1 g/l seems a reasonable compromise and HT-2 tests on the paper shows clear.

It is quite right of course that everyone should test their methods for themselves. Other people's results and methods are unique to that person's materials and working environment. I for example usually develop, stop and fix in a Nova at 22C and wash at around 24-28C, details I did not mention until now; perhaps doing the same at 18C would leave prints seriously under-fixed and under-washed (IDK - never tested it). Reading what others are doing is never more than a source of ideas that need tweaking for the individual's own work. Plus which of course, there may be a fatal flaw in my method that I'm not aware of, or in anyone else's method.

Cheers, Bob.

 

[2F/2F]

A fixer can be completly exhausted and still have less
than some specific level of silver. Where fixers are
used and reused and worse yet bottled then
back in use again they deteriorate.

A strip test similar to that for film is likely best if one
wishes to be sure. Counting square inches or sheets
is not so good because the mix of silver halides and
the amount varies more than a little from paper to
paper.

So strip test and silver load test. Or as I've done,
establish fixer minimums, use fresh as a one-shot,
and don't worry.

BTW, 1g/l is a good safe level although Ilford has
set a level 0.5g/l for optimum permanance. Dan

I have always bottled and reused my fixers until the Hypo Chek drops turn milky. Sometimes, when I have not printed or processed film much, this could be six months or more for a gallon of fixer. I wonder if my prints and film will all start turning ugly in the future. They seem OK so far. I simply don't want to have to spend so much on fixer and have to store so much exhausted fixer until I can get rid of it safely and legally. Just how bad is it to save your fixer?

Does anyone know if I can still purchase the Kodak in-line fixer filters? Or do I have to just stick with steel wool? Also, how much steel wool do I need, how often to I have to change it out, how long to I have to pass the fixer through it, and how do I properly dispose of the steel wool?

 

[dancqu]

I have always bottled and reused my fixers until the Hypo
Check drops turn milky. Sometimes, when I have not printed
or processed film much, this could be six months or more
for a gallon of fixer.

I simply don't want to have to spend so much on fixer and
have to store so much exhausted fixer until I can get rid of it
safely and legally. Just how bad is it to save your fixer?

Also, how much steel wool do I need, ... ?

I don't know your format or volume. For myself with 120 and
several rolls each year, fresh fix each roll used one shot works
well. My mix, Sodium thiosulfate anhydrous straight, nothing more.
I think of it as a dry concentrate which is likely good forever.

A roll of Acros or Pan F+ will be clear + in about 10 minutes using
16 grams in whatever solution volume needed. I've not tested
all films by any means. I give the roll constant agitation the
first minute and 3 to 5 inversions each minute there after.

I use the same method with prints. I know how many prints
will be made in any one of my short sessions so mix fresh
fix accordingly. Amounts have been predetermined.
No testing, no storing.

You may feel safe skipping the steel wool. As I use fixer
VERY LOW levels of silver are in solution. BTW, one-shot
does not mean A roll or A print. In quick succession I will
do as many as four prints at one time. Dan