Old Austron paper printing problems

[Jaris]

Hi All,

Recently I was tempted to buy an old unopened pack of Austron No K12 (normal, carton) paper. I tried to print it, however it turned all gray in Tetenal developer (couldn't discern any shapes or just anything that might resemble a photo). Obviously there is a chance that because of it's age it's not usable anymore, but another possibility is that it wasn't meant to be developed in this kind of process. Then, I noticed a small text on the cover in German saying: "Unsere type Atelier ist ein Spezialpapier und für Trockentrommelverarbeitung nur mit Zwischenbad verwendbar (Formollosung 3%)". As far as I understand, it says that this is a special paper for developing in a dry (drum) process with intermediate bath of 13% formalin solution.
If this is correct, do you have any idea what in reality this process might have looked like? And is there any other option to use this paper with modern chemistry?

JL

 

[darkosaric]

In total darkens: half paper directly in fixer, half paper in developer, stop, fixer. Then compare. What are the results?

And welcome to APUG !

 

[AgX]

"Unsere type Atelier ist ein Spezialpapier und für Trockentrommelverarbeitung nur mit Zwischenbad verwendbar (Formollosung 3%)"

"Our paper type Atelier is a special paper and only fit for drying on a (rotary) ferrotyping device if before treated with an intermediate bath (3% Formaldehyde solution)."

I hope this makes more sense to you.
The formalin acts as hardener to the wet gelatin.


Welcome to Apug.
This is the first time I come across someone in a forum hinting at Austron paper.

 

[Jaris]

"Our paper type Atelier is a special paper and only fit for drying on a (rotary) ferrotyping device if before treated with an intermediate bath (3% Formaldehyde solution)."
I hope this makes more sense to you.
The formalin acts as hardener to the wet gelatin..

Oh, I see….it makes much more sense now. Then, it looks like the paper is already gone off apparently
Anyway, thanks a lot!

 

[MDR]

Austron paper was made until the 1950's and can be used for the lith process at least I was able to succesfully make some lith prints with it. At the time of mfg it was considered equal to Agfa Paper. Austron is the post-war name of the SAMUM Vereinigte Papier-Industrie KG. Wien/Vienna named Samum Austron paper before the war. The company was founded in the 1850's but no longer exists. It is a classic bromide paper gr. 3 (normal grade in Austria meant Grade 3). Hardening (3% formalin solution) is only necessary for heat drying. Lith printing should work so don't throw it away.

 

[Jaris]

Thank you for this valuable information. Wow, I'm very enthusiastic about it. The paper seems to be of a very good quality when examined in my darkroom, so I thought it would be a real shame just to bin it. Now, when you talk about this lith-photography I'm already very interested in making some experiments. The only thing is to find a proper developer formula as I like to mix them on my own. I can imagine that making test prints slightly differs from normal b&w photography too, doesn't it?

 

[MDR]

Lith printing formulas can be found on Ed Buffaloe site unblinking eye. Forget test prints also forget short exposure times or short dev. times. For the first try I would buy a commercial Lith print solution like Moersch Easy-Lith or Fotospeed Lith LD20 or Rollei Vintage Creative lith dev. the latter is the best imo but harder to get. Good luck