Pixophrenic
Member
I am starting this as a merger of two recent threads, one on homebrew Microdol, and another on ripening and Harvey's 777.
By looking at the fomulas in what they <think> is Harvey's 777, I got to look closely into the family of Edwal 12, and Windisch 667. Which is, given the timeline, from a period when phenidone was out of the circle of comprehension. So, it is not unexpected that they basically mix up D-23, then <supplement> (it is an important word here) it with something that improves on its time-proven qualities. Now, Edwal 12, for one, is nothing but D-23 supplemented with PPD (p-phenylene diamine) and glycin. As I made myself some Edwal 12 (or what they think it is, anyway), I found that it retains the pH of D-23 (or very nearly so). Now it sits on the bench and after a few days I am going to develop the first film and continue watching what happens to it afterwards. An interesting thing is that both PPD and glycin are not supposed to be very active at pH 8. Typical developers for either used in isolation are very alkaline, pH 11 or so, and even then the times for PPD may be over half an hour with 10 g/L PPD. So in Edwal 12 they perform other function than that of a developing agent. My guess would be that one still acts as a halide solvent, and a more powerful one than sulfite, and the other is a padding in the prevention of oxidation of metol. You can see that the general idea behind homebrew Microdol is not that different. Now, Windisch 667 is a step in the right direction, as it uses o-phenylene diamine, now a rather scarse chemical ( which may hint to why Bluegrass may have a supply problem).
So, my question is, what are the organoleptic properties of commercial Harvey's 777? What's its color, how does it smell, and please don't taste it. Also, how color and smell change with time. Your impressions will be highly appreciated.
By looking at the fomulas in what they <think> is Harvey's 777, I got to look closely into the family of Edwal 12, and Windisch 667. Which is, given the timeline, from a period when phenidone was out of the circle of comprehension. So, it is not unexpected that they basically mix up D-23, then <supplement> (it is an important word here) it with something that improves on its time-proven qualities. Now, Edwal 12, for one, is nothing but D-23 supplemented with PPD (p-phenylene diamine) and glycin. As I made myself some Edwal 12 (or what they think it is, anyway), I found that it retains the pH of D-23 (or very nearly so). Now it sits on the bench and after a few days I am going to develop the first film and continue watching what happens to it afterwards. An interesting thing is that both PPD and glycin are not supposed to be very active at pH 8. Typical developers for either used in isolation are very alkaline, pH 11 or so, and even then the times for PPD may be over half an hour with 10 g/L PPD. So in Edwal 12 they perform other function than that of a developing agent. My guess would be that one still acts as a halide solvent, and a more powerful one than sulfite, and the other is a padding in the prevention of oxidation of metol. You can see that the general idea behind homebrew Microdol is not that different. Now, Windisch 667 is a step in the right direction, as it uses o-phenylene diamine, now a rather scarse chemical ( which may hint to why Bluegrass may have a supply problem).
So, my question is, what are the organoleptic properties of commercial Harvey's 777? What's its color, how does it smell, and please don't taste it. Also, how color and smell change with time. Your impressions will be highly appreciated.