Silicone Rubber Coating Rod/Squeegee?

[Nomad]

Just wondering if this is feasible...

I'm planning to have a go at making dry plates using albumen, and I've been thinking about sensitising. A while back, I made some albumen paper and used a hake brush, but I felt that was wasteful of the silver nitrate because the brush tends to absorb some of the fluid. I'm not keen on dipping the plates because of the increasing contamination, and it seems to me that a glass rod might not be conducive to an even coating due to small differences in the flatness of the plates and straightness of the rod.

It just occurred to me that maybe a silicone rubber squeegee of some sort could be used instead. This appeals because I have the means to make something of a suitable shape. In other words, it could spread like a glass rod, meaning only the fluid needed for the plate is used, and have enough flex to aid even coating.

However, would the silicone rubber react with the chemistry?

 

[AgX]

Silicone-rubber/-oil is quite inert. So there would be no problem.

However silicone-oil can be a mess. If you rub that silicone-rubber and then have a smoother feeling on your fingertips, you should not bring it near to anything to be coated, as such film would hamper any coating if having been in contact with the plain surface before.

 

[Nomad]

Thanks for that - good point about contaminating the surface to be coated. I don't oil should be an issue - previous castings of this rubber haven't been oily at all. However, it's likely that a releasing agent would be used (petroleum jelly), so that would need to be cleaned off.