Split Thio-Selenium Toning: Problem

[Matthew Gorringe]

Having bought Tim Rudman's book on toning two weeks ago, I'm now experimenting with toning. I've just selenium toned some test strips that had previously been split toned in thiocarbamide and on two of the 6 strips a small dark patch appeared when in the selenium toner.

The patches appeared after only 30 seconds or so in the selenium toner. When they were toned in the thiocarbamide the areas appeared normal, they were apparently sepia toned. One of the patches is small (1mm diameter) and has blistered the emulsion, the other is about 6mm across and has not altered the surface of the test strip. both patches are in fairly dark parts of the prints.

My process as follows, agitation gentle and constant in all solutions:
Develop in Ansco 130 1:3 3min+
Stop in 1.5% citric acid 30sec
Fix in Hypam 1:4 for 1 minute
Wash 1 hour

Next Session
Soak in water 5 minutes.
Bleach in potassium ferricyanide and potassium bromide for ~90 sec (fairly dilute bleach)
Wash for 20 minutes
Tone in Fotospeed Thiocarbamide toner mixed 1:9 as per instructions (50ml of 10% sodium hydroxide accelerator added).
Wash 1 hour

Next Session
Soak for 10 minutes in plain water.
Tone in KRST 1:12 for 3-5 minutes.
Wash one hour.

Because I was just mucking around with test strips (now I know what all those almost good enough prints are for), I didn't use any sodium sulphite as wash aid before my washes. Could this be the source of my problems? Should I routinely fix between sepia and selenium toning?

Any suggestions appreciated,
Matt.

 

[Dan Henderson]

do you use tongs or your hands to move the prints from one solution to another? The spot appearing sounds like it might be contamination, although I have never seen contamination cause the "blistering" you describe.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

I sometimes do almost exactly what you do, but I use Kodak Sepia or Sepia II, and then selenium. I use hypo clearing agent, (actually Heico Permawash) and tray washing between toner baths. I haven't had problems with contamination, but I am extremely careful with where I put my hands. I use nitrile gloves and have a bucket of water to wash the glove when I go from one liquid to another.
Workflow:
Print.
Wash for 20min.
Hypo clear.
Wash 5 min.
Bleach using the pot ferri bleach that comes with Kodak's sepia toners, 1:10 to 1:4 (depending on paper) diluted for about 45-90 seconds (once again depending on paper).
Wash 2 min.
Sepia toner until I have a pleasing color.
Wash 5 min.
Hypo clear.
Wash 5 min
Selenium toner until I have a pleasing color.
Wash 5 min.
Hypo clear.
Wash 1 hour in archival washer.
Squeegee print and dry upside down on nylon screens.

- Thomas

 

[Rich Ullsmith]

Hi there, Matt. Obviously, your selenium is reacting with some unwanted component in the paper, hmm.

Go back there and read a little, it is presented in a convincing manner, the benefits of 1) two bath fixing procedure, and 2) hypoclearing bath.

I know about those spots, but they disappeared forever once these two were adopted.

 

[Matthew Gorringe]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've just split toned 4 real prints and haven't had a problem. The only thing I did differently was to include a 2nd fix before beginning toning and to use a washaid for the final wash only. I was very careful about contamination.

I use nitrile gloves rather than tongs but I wish I could buy them without the lavender scent.