Problem with gold chloride toner (Albumen printing)

[er1483]

Hi everyone,

I've recently decided to try my hand at albumen printing for the first time. Last week my chems arrived from Bostick & Sullivan and begun ironing out my process. I've had good luck getting a nice, even coating of albumen and silver nitrate (via floatation), but I can't seem to get my gold chloride toner to produce any noticeable shift in image colour (it stays that reddish-brown colour, and doesn't shift to the cooler purple-brown as expected).

I can't imagine how the gold toner would be contaminated immediately—I mixed it less than a week before attempting to tone my first print, and have been storing it in a brand new amber bottle.

I've been using the borax-based toner formula quite close to the one described in James Reilly's book, posted online:

http://albumen.conservation-us.org/library/monographs/reilly/chap8.html

25ml 1% gold chloride solution
5 g Borax
475ml distilled water

My process has been to wash the print in a lightly salted water bath solution for 2-3 minutes (as Christopher James recommends in his Alt Process book), then wash in running water for 5+ minutes, and then finally immerse in the gold toner solution (and of course, fix with sodium thiosulfate as the last step).

The paper I'm using is Stonehenge White, the silver nitrate solution is at 15% dilution, and albumen salt I'm using is ammonium chloride. (All my solutions were only mixed this week, so they're fresh and uncontaminated.)

Has anybody else experienced this? What could I be doing wrong? I've searched the net and can't seem to find any complaints about this.

Thanks
Evan

 

[juan]

I have not used your gold toner formula, I use Clerc's formula, but I don't see anything wrong with your process. Albumen can be very variable with color shifts sometimes more obvious sometimes. I use ammonium chloride, too, and don't see a dramatic shift in color from toning. I use that salt for the reddish tones. You might try sodium chloride for a different color, or potassium bromide for something really different. I used KBr as a salt print and got really strong black.
Keep experimenting.
Juan

 

[Jim Noel]

The info I have, and my experience indicates Gold/Borax toner does not keep well after use. If you have used this by immersing prints in it, this could be your problem. Iuse 25ml of toner on an 8x10 print and throw it away which helps preserve the remainder.

 

[NedL]

There is a lot of contradictory information about gold borax toner. I think some people repeat incorrect information they have heard without having personal experience, and other times some combination of factors matters so different people have different experiences. What I do is similar to what Jim Noel wrote: I mix up only what I need for each use.

Also, In printed alt process books that you might read, it is stated that gold borax toner must be used within 1/2 hour, and it is also stated that gold borax toner must sit for 1 hour before use. I wrote a thread about the contradictory information, but my experiments were with salt prints w/o albumin. Other APUG users had experiences like yours (there was a url link here which no longer exists) and (there was a url link here which no longer exists). The only conclusion I've come to is not to trust what I read and try everything myself.

Good luck!

 

[er1483]

Thanks for this information everyone. I'm a bit frustrated that the 3-4 different tutorials I've consulted over the web mentioned nothing of how easily and quickly gold toner can be ruined (especially for a material so costly!)

Follow up question: If I were to buy more of the 1% solution and use it as one-shot, how stable is the 1% stock solution itself? How long should I expect it to last?

 

[juan]

That's why I use Clerc's toner - it keeps well.
juan

 

[NedL]

It is frustrating and I've thought the same thing when I read recipes for mixing up a liter of a toner that does not keep well. It is irresponsible to publish a recipe like that without mentioning the keeping qualities. I've had my gold chloride solution for over a year and it's still fine, maybe someone else has more info.

I'd love to see one of your prints if you make one you want to share. We have ducks so I have an unlimited quantity of fresh albumen, and I've been thinking of trying it myself one of these days!

 

[er1483]

I've kept on experimenting with my process over the past few weeks. Turns out I had beginner's luck—I've been battling several new quirks.

Overall I'm getting good density and even coating, except a large number of my images exhibit weird iridescent streaks, sort of blue/green in tone. (picture attached). The marks appear with exposure of the paper—with washing/fixing they dissipate, but are still noticeable. Any ideas what might be causing this? Contaminated silver nitrate? Or possibly uneven coating of albumen?

Since I haven't yet reinvested in purchasing more gold chloride, I've taken to trying out selenium for toning (1:100 dilution). I find it's quite unpredictable — after 4-5 minutes I get a noticeable tone shift, but if I leave it in even longer, it appears to actually intensify the image, leaving the highlights with a yellow stain.

 

[er1483]

I also should add that (in regards to the streaking) I recently purchased some kaolin and added that to the silver nitrate. It has turned a medium yellow colour in the past week due to the floatation method I've used for coating. Hopefully that helps.

 

[pschwart]

Try sensitizing with a rod -- it's easier, yields more consistent results, it's more economical, and it doesn't degrade your silver nitrate since it's one shot. I think there are other things going on, too, but I can't tell what I am looking at when viewing the uploaded image. I'd suggest eliminating toning from your workflow until you can get a perfect fixed image. That should help you zero in on the problems.