Old FB paper...

aste · May 20, 2010

Is it worth even trying?

With the rest of the dark room equipment, I was gifted a bunch of sample packs of outdated paper, which includes some Ilford MG FB. I was thinking I could try it before buying anything new, just to see if FB is worth it to me. But, then I took a piece out of the package...

Is Fiber Base paper supposed to be curling and yellow straight out of the package? LOL...

I'm pretty sure that's a silly question. Then again, I've never handled the stuff, so I'm asking.

gmikol · May 20, 2010

I don't know if your paper is good or bad, but I'm on the lookout for expired paper. If you decide you don't want it, PM me, and I'll gladly take it off your hands for the cost of postage.

--Greg

tomalophicon · May 20, 2010

I recently made around 30 prints on Ilford Multigrade III, which from what I gather was discontinued in the late 1990s.
It is RC paper but the prints were excellent.

And no I don't think your paper should be yellow!

fotch · May 20, 2010

Sure, its worth trying. If nothing else, you will know more than you do now.

However, I would get at least some good paper so in setting up for a print session, its not a total bust. If the old paper pans out, save the new paper for another day.

Just my 2 cents.

aste · May 20, 2010

gmikol, sending you a pm shortly.

Jeff Kubach · May 20, 2010

Try it and see what happens. Nothing to lose.

Jeff

aste · May 20, 2010

The first prints I made were on some old kodak polyrc, or something. I swear I had so many problems that first print session that It could have been a comedy skit.

Anyway, I'll probably give it a try, at least to see if I get anything from it.

Wade D · May 20, 2010

I have 2 8in.x100ft. rolls of AZO F.1 that expired in 1968 and were stored in bad conditions. Curl, yes; yellow, a little but aside from a small amount of fog it still works great for contact prints.
The point being that until you try it you won't know how good/bad it is. Give it a try and as others have said have some fresh paper on hand just in case.

jgjbowen · May 20, 2010

Of course you know you'll need some outdated developer to use with the outdated paper..... Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

There are some threads here about working with outdated papers. You should get some benzotriazole (sp), an anti-fog agent, to add to your developer. It will reduce, if not entirely elimnate, the fog.

good luck,

steven_e007 · May 20, 2010

I've used old, stale papers. Sometimes they are ok, sometimes not. Often the papers at the front and back are foggy, yellowed or curled - but ones out of the middle are ok.

I had some lovely Agfa papers from the 1960s... The Portriga was still usable and really gorgeous. The Brovira was useless - foggy, but patchy fog that couldn't be compensated for. I also had some Barnet papers that were even older which were totally fogged. But... I kept them all. There are ideas on APUG for making solar prints or converting to printing out papers which mean you can often still get something out of them.

bdial · May 20, 2010

The appearance in the (white) light of the unprocessed paper doesn't mean much. To test it, cut a piece in two, develop and fix one, using the normal times you would use for your chemistry. Only fix the second one. Compare them in the light, if it's fogged you'll know, then you can decide if you want/need some benzotriazole, or not, or just make photograms. If you want to be very thorough in your testing wash and dry them, then compare.

As for curling, most double weight fiber paper will be curled, even fresh, it's curled.

removed account4 · May 20, 2010

you might try to make paper negatives ( pinhole or in a large format camera )
with it. the base fog is actually helpful in reducing the harsh contrast some papers
have when used as a negative. you might also soak some of the paper
in a 10% solution of potas nitrate ( twice ) and convert it to a printing out paper ...
instead of using it as a developing out paper. so instead of making prints by enlargement
in a darkroom you can make them by contact in the sun.

you can get potassium nitrate ( saltpeter ) at your local pharmacy, it's cheap.

have fun!
john

Domin · May 20, 2010

Fogged paper might be just fine for lith printing.

At the moment I'm lith printing on somewhat fogged Agfa MCP and I'm happy with it.

aste · May 20, 2010

Thanks for the replies. Some good points and ideas have been brought up. We'll see where it leads.

Thanks

Old FB paper...

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