What good is this thing?

[Charles Webb]

I have a BluRay blue print machine that I bought many years ago to proof Senior portraits I was doing for several high schools and a state college. I used Kodak POP paper, with it and it worked very well. When I moved to Denver to work at Jafay Photographs, I put it and a bunch of other stuff into storage. The BluRay and much of that same stuff is still there. I see these beasts advertised on ebay, but don't really klnow who is buying them or what they are being used for?

My question is does this machine have any use for alternative proceses?
Like as an exposure device for cyanotype or perhaps for some of the other processes that call for a blue light source? This device has various controlls like speed and time. I has a bunch of what looks like florescent tubes that do the exposure. To operate, you simply placed the negative base up on the paper (film emulsion to paper emulsion) and fed the sandwitch into the machine, a few seconds later the neg and print would land in a collection tray.. I was using 90mm roll film, in a Beatty Portronic and Kodaks rolls of the POP paper.

Can any one shed any light on my treasure, should it's rightful residence be the city dump, or is it something that is or could be useful?

BTW, I spent a handy bundle for this "Silver Bullet" and I am not real sure it earned it's keep, though it did allow me to fulfill my contracts for several years.


Thanks, Charlie....................

 

[JLMoore3]

Are the bulbs UltraViolet? If so- you could probably use this like a contact printer for cyanotype at least, since it was intended for blueprint.

 

[Donald Qualls]

Given the very low sensitivity of traditional cyanotype, if it's roller transport (like the blueprint machines I operated briefly back around 1986) you'll probably find you can't slow it down enough to get a print with cyanotype. If it's a flatbed, you've got yourself a ready-to-use alt process printing box. Don't bother replacing the tubes with BL-B type; the ones that are in there probably give almost as much, if not a little more UV.

And if it's a flatbed and you decide you don't want it, I'd love a chance to pony up shipping to get it -- I'm getting really tired of trying to combine sunshine with a day I have time to work to print cyanotypes...

 

[Charles Webb]

I believe the tubes are UV, but since it is in storage I can't check for sure.
This is a rotary pricessor, not a flat bed, the speed control can be turned down to a very slow crawl, perhaps an inch a minute or less. My thoughts were it might work for a cyanotype printer, but I have never tried it. I am not overly enthuastic about Cyanotype, as I don't like the color, it is a personal thing with me. VanDyke B would be nice but I know nothing about it or the process!

Thanks for the input!
Charlie.................

 

[Poptart]

VanDyke is a similar (albeit faster-exposing) process with different chemistry.

 

[Donald Qualls]

One possible issue with printing-out processes of any sort is that exposure is so often done "by eye", like developing by inspection. With this machine, where exposure is by time and the print is out of sight during exposure, you'd have to find ways to actually control the sensitivity of your coatings, or else you'd be in a random walk trying to get prints that work -- and that would be equally true of van Dyke, cyanotype, salt prints, etc.

Mind you, I don't know how much variation there is in the sensitivity of the various UV processes -- some folks get pretty consistent exposures from the same negative with developing-out processes like platinum/palladium, so it may be less of an issue than I think; my extremely variable cyanotype exposures may be more due to using natural sunlight than any variability inherent in the process itself.

Seems to me it'd be cheap to find out -- a Formulary traditional cyano kit is under $20 plus shipping.

BTW, you can change the color of cyano by either bleach/tone or direct toning processes. I soak mine in strong, cold black tea (seems to work best with Red Rose in the bags) and the blue darkens, eventually reaching a nearly neutral black while the paper picks up a very subtle tan base color; it's MUCH more pleasant for things like portraits than the original blue.

 

[Charles Webb]

Donald,
Thank you, sounds interesting, I believe I will give the old machine a try sometime in the near future. I have much to learn about the alternative processes.

Thanks again,
Charlie..............................

 

[Donald Qualls]

Sure like to see the results in the gallery, if and when.

Tell you one thing, if you've got a UV light source, even if you just rip the tubes and ballast(s) out of that Blu-Ray, you'll be miles ahead of those of us who are still exposing with the sun. Sunlight makes for some damned long exposures when after midnight is a prime working time...