RC vs FB

[Anthony J. Martinez]

I've got quite a lot of fiber paper, courtesy of a fellow APUG member, but I've never used fiber paper before - only resin coated. Are there additional steps required, or do things just take a bit longer in the various trays?

(I assume this will answer itself once I finish 'The Negative' and move on to 'The Print' - but I figure I'll fish for brief answer first).

 

[tony lockerbie]

That's it, the FB takes longer to develop and especially to wash. Where RC only takes a couple of minutes, the FB takes up to an hour to wash, much less if you use a washaid. Much has been written about the various merits of both, I much prefer the look and feel of FB, and always use it when doing large prints.
Really it is no harder to ues, just takes longer is all, and if the stuff is free....well go for it!

 

[Anthony J. Martinez]

Excellent.

 

[MattKing]

As compared to RC, FB paper requires you to be much more careful with stop baths/water rinses, fixing times and capacities, use of wash aids and washing. There are lots of threads about those subjects here on APUG, so some "wandering" through this forum and the Black and White forum is a good idea.

 

[johnnywalker]

Drying FB paper is a bit of a problem due to it curling. There are threads on the drying methods for FB and I'm sure a search will find them. In a nutshell, you can't just hang them up to dry. One solution is putting the print between sheets of blotting paper and piling books on top for weight, and another is taping the picture to glass with butcher's tape. I do the latter. More expensive solutions usually involve print dryers.

 

[Anthony J. Martinez]

Cool, having a list of issues to research is definitely beneficial.

I've got more than 1000 sheets (various - some of which I lack large enough trays to use w/o cutting), so I've got plenty of room for experimentation.

 

[Bob Carnie]

You may want to try your hand at lith printing, with all that paper from various boxes, I am assuming old , newer, open or unopen.
The lith process is perfect for paper that may be slightly fogged.
After 1000 sheets I would say you call yourself a Lithoholic and move on to other types of silver prints.

Freestyle , B& H , sell the lith chemistry.
Just need a strong light source enlarger , lots of patience and you will not regret starting with lith.
Lith teaches you a lot about looking at the print in the developer, pull times, emergence times and after a year or so of lith printing I felt I became an overall better silver printer.

Cool, having a list of issues to research is definitely beneficial.

I've got more than 1000 sheets (various - some of which I lack large enough trays to use w/o cutting), so I've got plenty of room for experimentation.

 

[tkamiya]

FB paper gets really soft and floppy once saturated with chemicals. It also gets really REALLY slippery and slimy especially after the STOP tray. Unless you have a firm grip, it will slip off of your tong. When it does, it can strike at the corner or fold over and that may result in crease or bend that will not come out even after hot pressing. Poking it around in tray will cause indentations also. It takes a lot more careful handling.

When dry, surface "glosy-ness" rating will be down one. For example, glossy will be something like pearl. If you want glossy, you'll need to ferrotype it. I do not... I kind of like how glossy drys and becomes not-so-glossy.

It will also curl badly after drying. You may need to invest in Hot Dry Press to take care of that. I've tried blotting paper but it left all kinds of pressure marks and lint, it didn't work for me.

 

[PhotoBob]

FB query

Are you looking to part with some of your Fibre paper, or just looking for processing data?

 

[Anthony J. Martinez]

just processing data. I'm off to Scotland tomorrow, I intend to use up quite a bit of the paper when I return.

 

[2F/2F]

The boxes should have processing instructions inside. It is quite different from RC, though what goes on in the emulsion during the major steps (develop, stop, and fix) is the same between FB and RC.

In a nutshell:

- You develop at least twice as long as with RC – 2 to 3 minutes, or even longer.
- You stop for 30 seconds to a minute, instead of 10 to 20 seconds.
- You fix for four to five minutes instead of one or two.
- Instead of washing for only five or ten minutes immediately after the fixer, you give a quick rinse on both sides, then start a timed wash for an hour or more.

Also:

- Instead of the hour-long wash, after the fixer you can just give a quick rinse, then use hypo clear solution with agitation (Kodak recommend 2 or 3 minutes, and Ilford recommend 10), which will make washing more efficient. If you use hypo clear, you can wash for only 20 to 30 minutes.
- There are variations you can make to this process to supposedly improve the keeping of your prints over time. Two bath fixing is an example. Another example is using a stronger brew of fixer for less time. Using a stabilizer such as Sistan is another.