what's YOUR classic cyanotype formula ?

removed account4 · Nov 2, 2014

i have used

solution A
10g ferric ammonium citrate
solution B
25g potassium ferricyanide

( for 100cc of water )

off and on with slight variations for a handful of years

i was going to make another batch of stock solutions
and thought maybe i would do something a little different ...

do you have a favorite, and why ?

( i don't have or really want to use oxalic acid )

i don't generally leave things blue, sometimes i bleach my images
and either tone them or paint over them with watercolors...

thanks !
john

grahamp · Nov 2, 2014

I have to admit I cheat and use http://www.sunprints.org/ . (Disclosure: I manage their computers).

On the other hand, heavier weight paper by coating my own is tempting. But so little time.

gone · Nov 2, 2014

I use the Sunprints products too.

erikg · Nov 2, 2014

Try this one John. http://www.mikeware.co.uk/mikeware/New_Cyanotype_Process.html

I'm sold. And the site is a wealth of interesting info.

removed account4 · Nov 2, 2014

thanks erik

i have the siderotype book and dr. ware's formulas are
discussed there too.
unfortunately, oxalate and dichromate give me the willies ...

dr ware's site is pretty amazing though, i've gotten lost there (for hours) ...

===
momus and grahamp

for the price of a packet of the premade paper
you can buy hundreds of paper's worth of chemistry ...
i've been tempted to use the sunprint paper for art class demo's
where kids make photogram sunprints ... but i found it almost effortless
to coat 2 sheets of 30x42" paper with pennys worth of chemistry, and cut them up
besides precoated paper on my art/craft supply store's shelves that i don't know how long it's been there
at least i know paper i coat has been lying around for a week or 2

===

john

Toffle · Nov 3, 2014

I have used both the original and Mike Ware kits from Photographers Formulary. The speed of the Mike Ware formula is a definite advantage; it produces a well-exposed print in about 25% of the time of the original formula. Other than that, both have given me hundreds of detailed and expressive prints over the years. This last June, I did a couple of workshops using the original formula with students at my wife's elementary school. Apart from having to deal with 25 prints that need rinsing at the same time, things went pretty well. Unfortunately, by the end of the session, some of the prints were still quite weak - the Mike Ware formula would have given us more time to get the prints we wanted.

Cheers,
Tom

pdeeh · Nov 3, 2014

The few I did I used 8g/100ml Ferric Ammonium and 20g/100ml ferricyanide.

If you are looking for something different to try that doesn't involve different chemicals, Have you tried coating the paper with just Ferric Ammonium, then exposing it, and then "developing" it in ferri?

I used to have a reference for the Pellet process which is for a positive cyanotype but can't find it at the moment. Ware's site refers to it but I can't find him giving actual instructions. I think it uses Ferric chloride & Tartaric acid.

Simon Howers · Nov 3, 2014

I use Mike Ware's "Cyanotype II" formula which I mix myself. It's a little more fiddly than the original formula to mix but I find this worth the effort. The final solution is very stable and gives very good "bright" results with none of that slightly 'muddy' appearance which you sometimes get with the original formula.
I print onto Bergger COT-320 paper.

Gadfly_71 · Nov 4, 2014

I use the original formula. No tweaks. Cyanotype is supposed to be stupid simple and I like to keep it that way. I also like to keep my chemistry footprint minimal so I tend to use formulae that share ingredients with other processes.

removed account4 · Nov 5, 2014

thanks for your formulas and suggestions!
i made a regular old classic formula
so i wouldn't have to deal with other chemistry this time around
i don't really worry about speed ...

dr ware's work is amazing ... and it is tempting
to buy a few other materials and make his recipe ..
but i think i am in the same shoes as gadfly ..
and don't really want to change my footprint

( i know when i wash my classic formula
it washes out iron ... if i did the "new" formula
i wonder what washes out at that point ... )

removed account4 · Oct 2, 2016

snip snip snip snip snip

momus and grahamp

for the price of a packet of the premade paper
you can buy hundreds of paper's worth of chemistry

eating crow, and LOTS of it !!

its that time of year again and i am going to be doing another workshop with grammar school kids
IDK maybe 5 or so times i have precoated and brought cyanotype paper that i coated myself. while 99% of the time
everything worked out perfectly i realized once in a while something didn't work right and a kid's print wasn't hardcore BLUE
so i decided to buy some sunprint paper from the good folks at sunprints.org .. over the years i have asked them questions regarding
safety and tailings and whoknowswhatelse, and they told me that all that runs off are iron, and according to the state of california their paper
( the classic formula tweeked a little bit ) is "child safe" and i was sold. all in all, it was an effortless transaction, i received
a tracking number/confirmation and a few days later, and 3000+ miles traveled i got my packet of 81/2 x 11 paper ( refill packet )
of paper. unfortunately the paper is not available where i live so it was shipped. they sell it on amazon too !
anyways, if someone is looking for a fun way or spending a few bucks, this paper is well worth the expense. there is no chemistry neede
except hydric acid or dihydrogen monoxide ( DHMO ) (there was a url link here which no longer exists)
which in some areas might be under tight control / rashioning but usually readily available ...

john

removed account4 · Oct 17, 2016

just about 20 mins ago i mixed up some of my own classic formula.
i mixed 8oz of each
50g of the FAC
35g of the PFC

i forgot how light the FAC is ! almost used up EVERYTHING i had !
i'll either coat tongiht or tomorrow, can't wait to compare this with the store bought i got !

NedL · Oct 18, 2016

Holy Toledo, look what I just stumbled across, Mike Ware's Cyanomicon. It's like an encyclopedia of cyanotype! What an incredible reference.

John, Hershel's true original formulae are on p. 62.
Pdeeh, the so-called Pellet process is on p. 66, but it turns out that Hershel already knew about the process of using ferrocyanide to make a positive, and Pellet is the one who promoted it and got a patent for it 25 years later.

pdeeh · Oct 18, 2016

NedL said:
Pdeeh, the so-called Pellet process is on p. 66,

ha! I knew i'd seen it somewhere! another one to add to the list to try "one day"

thanks ned

removed account4 · Oct 18, 2016

thanks ned !
saved in the "reading list"
i have the crystotype and cyanotype books
that dr ware published a long while ago
purchased through siderotype awesome references too !

john

what's YOUR classic cyanotype formula ?

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