west coast fixer

[Colin Graham]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a fast & reasonablly cheap nonhardening paper fixer available to ship from the west coast? Are ones like Nacco and Arista from Freestyle any good? I can't get a handle on times and dilutions from their website. I'll keep ordering ammonium thiosulfate from Artcraft for film but the shipping from NY could get brutal at the rate I'm going through paper fixer. I used to use heico but can't find it except at B&H. Any suggestions most appreciated!

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

You can get TF-4 from Photographer's Formulary in Montana.

Among acid fixers, I like Zonal Pro rapid fixer, which is sold separately from the hardener. You can also use Kodak Rapid Fixer without the Hardener. If you're going through it at a good rate (i.e. not letting it sit around) two-bath plain hypo is always an option, and it ships in crystalline form, so you don't have to pay to ship water. I haven't used the Ilford fixers recently, but I'm guessing they must have a non-hardening rapid fixer.

 

[Bob F.]

If you are getting through a lot, it may be worth making your own from raw chemicals - saves paying for shipping all that water around... Several formulas in the Chemical Recipes section here (and many more elsewhere on the Web). Or check out the Photographers' Formulary who have a ready mixed powder fixer.

Cheers, Bob.

 

[Colin Graham]

Thanks guys. I forgot about plain hypo. In any case getting something in powders is probably the best option. Guess I've just gotten spoiled by the liquid concentrates. I saw the nacco (zip fix?) at ten bucks per gallon of concentrate at Freestlye and seems to good to be true...

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

www.fineartphotosupply.com , owned by Photographer's Formulary has a fixer named Artfix, which has great capacity, is alkaline, and is non-hardening. Best of all, it ships in powder form, so you can mix it whenever you use it, and not worry about it going bad.

- Thom

 

[fhovie]

TF3 from Ammonium Thiosulphate is a ph of 8. It is fast and inexpensive to mix yourself.