% strength of silver bath for wet plate

[Andrew Moxom]

Ok, I just mixed up my salted collodion mixture from Bostick and Sullivan and that went well. Now the silver bath has me a bit baffled. THe B+S kit has a 10% silver nitrate solution that is a little strong, and even in the directinos, they say that some folks use a 6 to 8% solution and state that I can dilute with Distilled water if required. Will I harm anything by leaving it at 10%?

Also I've heard some folks state that for iodizing a silver bath, you must only use glass plates for soaking overnight to load the iodines into the bath. Using tin will cause cloudy silver bath.... So is this true, and would I be better off just adding in 5 drops of the collodion/iodizer (Bottle A) that came with the kit. (this is in the instructions for folks who want to fast track it.) Just not sure what to do.

any takers??

Andy

 

[Barry S]

My silver bath is 8% and I use the same collodion formula as sold by B&S. Not sure it makes a difference. I sensitized my silver bath with a coated trophy plate aluminum and it seemed to work ok. I suppose a little bit of the iodizer will do the same thing.

 

[Andrew Moxom]

THanks Barry..... so did you soak it over night with the tin left in it or just until the coating went clear?

 

[Barry S]

Hi Andrew, I left my tin in overnight. If you find any debris in your silver bath, just let it sit in the sun for a few hours and then filter it. There are some references that suggest the strength of the silver bath should be balanced with the type of salted collodion, but I think it's rarely done these days.

My main reference book on wet plate is the Treatise of Photography on Collodion by Waldack and Neff (1858). I highly recommend printing out a copy and dipping into it from time to time. I have yet to find any significant improvements to the wet plate collodion process or general knowledge that have occurred after 1858.

 

[Zebra]

Andrew,

I use a slightly more concentrated 9%. Get yourself a hydrometer from the wine store if you find you like the process enough to be in it for the long haul and when you mix up your 9% solution pour some in the hydrometer and measure it with a marker. There's your standard. Check after you run a fair amount of plates through your silver and you'll see that the percentage of silver has ended up on your beautiful plates. Have you a 30% solution on the ready to recharge your 9% and you'll keep you images bright and beautiful.

Monty