warm tone developer forumlas

Just wondering who mixes up their own warmtone developer and how the formula compares to that of Ilford warmtone developer. Is it any cheaper to do it from scratch? Cheers

Jarvman said:

Just wondering who mixes up their own warmtone developer and how the formula compares to that of Ilford warmtone developer. Is it any cheaper to do it from scratch? Cheers

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- less expensive, possibly... but it does take a while to mix up a 5 litre batch; I'd recommend the ID-78 formula. Actually I've recently bought a bottle of the Harman warmtone developer to compare.

Tom

I mix all my black and white solutions. I don't use warm tone papers that much, but there are a number of formulas out there for developers. Most of them are not available commercially. D-52 is more or less standard and not particularly warm. It is supposed to be similar to Kodak Selectol:

Kodak D-52 warm tone paper developer (similar to Selectol)
Water (52C) 500 ml
Metol 1.5 g
Sodium sulfite (anh) 21.2 g
Hydroquinone 6 g
Sodium carbonate (mono) 17 g
Potassium bromide 1.5 g
WTM 1 l
Dilute 1:1 for use and develop about 2 minutes. Add more bromide for warmer tones.
Dilute 1:3 for softer prints.

Ilford ID-78 is sometimes said to be similar to MG Warmtone:

Ilford ID-78 warm tone paper developer
Water (52C) 750 ml
Sodium sulfite (anh) 50 g
Hydroquinone 12 g
Sodium carbonate (anh) 62 g
Phenidone 500 mg
Potassium bromide 400 mg
WTM 1 l
Dilute 1:1. Develop 1 minute at 20C.
Dilute 1:3. Develop 2 minutes at 20C.

Another possibility is:

Glycin Warm-Tone Developer
Water 650 ml
Metol 800 mg
Sodium sulfite 90 g
Hydroquinone 7.9 g
Glycin 8.2 g
Sodium carbonate (mono) 90 g
Potassium bromide 1.25 g
Dilute 1+4 for use. Develop 1-1/2 tp 3 minutes. For warmer tones, increase exposure and decrease development. For colder tones, increase development time.

Jarvman said:

Just wondering who mixes up their own warmtone developer and how the formula compares to that of Ilford warmtone developer. Is it any cheaper to do it from scratch? Cheers

Click to expand...

I mix my developer from scratch as it is much cheaper and more controllable should you elect to change things a bit.

The base developer I use is GAF 135, an old warm tone developer which breaks down this way. I will rely on my memory for the amounts, should you have an interest in trying send me a PM and I will check the formula amounts.

5 Gallon mix, begin with 2 gallons of water @ 125 degrees and mix chemicals in the order I list them.

Metol 16 grams
Sodium Sulfite 240 grams
Hydroquinone 66 grams
Sodium Carbonate 240 grams
Potassium Bromide 28 grams

Developer is mixed to working strength, I develop for 1.5 minutes, (shorter development times usually helps keep the image color warm)

You may add up to 10 - 12% more Hdyroquinone to increase contrast with no sacrifice of image color. Careful with too much Pot Bromide as this will turn the image color to a green cast.

Hallo,
Don't want to take this off-track but, is it possible (easily) to alter a standard dev - such as Dektol or Multigrade dev - to a warmtone dev?
*apologies for the sidetrack*
Sim2.

Sim2 said:

Hallo,
Don't want to take this off-track but, is it possible (easily) to alter a standard dev - such as Dektol or Multigrade dev - to a warmtone dev?
*apologies for the sidetrack*
Sim2.

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With Dektol? Yes, and it's fairly simple. Dilute 1+4 and run a couple of prints through a liter. Instant soft working, warm tone developer. Not as good as a specially formulated warm tone developer and the results are not nearly as reproduce-able, but it does work. All warm tone developers have a lower concentration of developing agents and a higher proportion of bromide compared to "standard or cold tone developers. Higher dilution takes care of the first part. Running a few prints through increases the bromide concentration. Don't know about Ilford Multigrade. I believe the restrainer used in that developer is benzotriazole, and the technique might not work as well.

nworth said:

...............

Ilford ID-78 is sometimes said to be similar to MG Warmtone:

Ilford ID-78 warm tone paper developer
Water (52C) 750 ml
Sodium sulfite (anh) 50 g
Hydroquinone 12 g
Sodium carbonate (anh) 62 g
Phenidone 500 mg
Potassium bromide 400 mg
WTM 1 l
Dilute 1:1. Develop 1 minute at 20C.
Dilute 1:3. Develop 2 minutes at 20C.
.............................

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This formula is often printed incorrectly. The KBr should be a lot more, I think from memory 4.5g. Ian Grant might well chime in with the exact figure.

Correct formula ID-78

john_s said:

This formula is often printed incorrectly. The KBr should be a lot more, I think from memory 4.5g. Ian Grant might well chime in with the exact figure.

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Yes ID-78 was incorrectly published ny Morgan & Morgan with less than a tenth of the required Bromide as such it's a neutral toned developer. It should be 4.5g as John says,

It was once available commercially as a powder developer and is closely related to the Ilford "liquid" Warn Tine developer.

Phenidone / Hydroquinone developers are warmer toned than their Metol / Hydroquinone equivalents, also longer lasting.

Ilford ID-78 Warm tone developer

Sodium Sulphite (anh). . . . . . . . . 50 g
Hydroquinone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 g
Sodium Carbonate (anh) . . . . . . . 62 g
Phenidone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.5 g
Potassium bromide . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 g
Water to. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 litre


Ian

Try potassium carb instead of sodium carbonate. Increase pot bromide (sometimes up to 10 g per L working solution); also try adding sodium bicarbonate. Results vary w/developer and paper used of course. The PB and S bicarb will lower paper speed.

Ian Grant said:

Yes ID-78 was incorrectly published ny Morgan & Morgan with less than a tenth of the required Bromide as such it's a neutral toned developer. It should be 4.5g as John says,

......................

Ian

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I remember one day in about 1975 buying the loose-leaf Photo Lab Index. I was very pleased to have so much "information" about formulas. On the way home in the train, I found at least half a dozen obvious glaring errors. I never trusted it again.

This particular error in ID-78 has been copied very often.

I've warmed a number of developers through the use of KBr. It's all an experiment. I even created a somewhat warm toned Amidol developer by adjust the mixture of KBr and benzo. It's a matter of taste.
juan

juan said:

I even created a somewhat warm toned Amidol developer by adjust the mixture of KBr and benzo. juan

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I would avoid the use of benzotriazole as this restrainer definitely cools the image tone.

Amidol is valued for producing neutral blacks, again not what is desired. I've read that the developing agent chlorhydroquine was often used in warm tone developers. Sadly its almost impossible to obtain today.

What is left is changing the amount of bromide and carbonate in the developer for warm tones. Potassium carbonate is said to produce a warmer tone than the sodium salt.