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XTOL--worth mixing it myself? Anyone tried "Instant Mytol"?

Daniel Jackson

Member
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Jul 22, 2008
Messages
12
Location
Edmonton, AB
Format
Medium Format
I've been working with Tri-X and XTOL for about two years now, maybe ten of the twenty or so medium-format rolls I've shot.

I've got a freezer full of Tri-X I plan to shoot this summer, probably 45 rolls left. That's only 4500ml of stock solution needed, actually doable with only one bulk pack if I store the stock solution carefully and use it all within a month. (I've had success with XTOL older than that, but I don't want to count on it or force myself to use test rolls every two weeks.)

This isn't a question of economy, though; I called my local photo store and all they've got are 50l bulk envelopes.

So, since they're not willing to put in a special order for just one envelope, and I don't care to switch to another developer (I'd try DDX, but they don't have any of that either...) I figure it'll be just as easy to order chemical from photoformulary as from anyplace else.

Is Mytol easy enough to mix in a darkroom? I've got a .01g precision scale, which should be good enough for the ingredients in a 1l batch, or possibly something smaller. Is Mytol feasible in, say, 200ml batches? Has anyone tried this?

I'm also looking at this formula here ("Instant Mytol... Stock solution in propylene glycol / triethanolamine" at the bottom of the page) and I'm very much interested in the possibility of a developer I'm happy/comfortable with that will have a good shelf life. Any comments?

If there's a place in Canada that could get me cheap Xtol in a hurry, I'd just start buying from there, but the possibility of mixing small batches has got me almost convinced. Xtol will probably be around for as long as TriX is, but that won't be forever, so I should probably get used to hunting for chemical anyway... (I plan to start doing my own plates for 4x5 sometime soon, but I like my Yashicamat for portability. ^_^ )
 

They don't have XTOL listed, but you could contact the folks at darkroomcentral.ca. They may have it, but not listed, or be willing to get it in for you.
 
I really have no problems with using XTOL up to 6 months. Just mix it up and pour it into .5 L bottles. That way you never have more than .5 L in a half empty bottle...
 
I've used XTOL stock that was 12 months old and gotten results as if it were freshly mixed. You have to store it and mix it correctly for it to keep this long however. What I do is mix it with steam distilled water, the store it in old wine bottles with VacuVin stoppers. So it's stored under vacuum. Been doing this for four or five years maybe without any problems at all. Just sayin'.
 
Heh, I know that it can last that long... but I'm getting tired of the hassle. I've lost one roll to guesswork with old developer (yes, it was stored in a full glass container, but I think the rubber seal gave out.) Making 100-200ml at a time would be perfect.

Paul, thanks for the link, I'll definitely check them out.
 
[facepalm]
Jodan's a member here and (there was a url link here which no longer exists)...
 
Tim Gray said:
I really have no problems with using XTOL up to 6 months. Just mix it up and pour it into .5 L bottles. That way you never have more than .5 L in a half empty bottle...
Click to expand...

I have also used XTOL that has been sealed in full bottles up to 6 months and never had degradation or failure.

You will read from time to time about XTOL failure. This did occur several years ago and was due (IIRC) from packaging defects from KODAK. But those problems were fixed. I personally have never had aproblem with XTOL and that was using the 6 month old stock dilluted at 1-3.
 
5L bags of Xtol can't be that hard to find. Divide it up into small containers. 0.5L empty drinking water bottles come to mind. It keeps a good long time.

Compare that to testing your own home brew and the variables involved in that undertaking.

If it was easy Kodak couldn't sell Xtol.

If you want a home brew solution, look into Barry's Two-bath developer. Easy. Cheap. Works. Looks good. GOOGLE knows all.
 
Aright, Darkroomcentral has Xtol for a reasonable price... still thinking about mixing my own, but it's actually much cheaper to buy two pouches than to get all the chemistry for 5l worth separately. Also much quicker.
I'm starting to use RO water for everything but print washing, that should help keep down any problems with iron reactivity (can't remember if I ever accidentally used tap water for XTOL dilution, but it's possible.)
 
I mix Xtol and Photo-Flo in steam distilled water. Works quite well for me.

I am glad you found the Xtol. since you have to "order in", why not buy several bags? Spread out the shipping cost.
 
Venchka said:
I mix Xtol and Photo-Flo in steam distilled water. Works quite well for me.

I am glad you found the Xtol. since you have to "order in", why not buy several bags? Spread out the shipping cost.
Click to expand...

This is how a lot of camera stores are slitting their own throats, if I need to order all my chemicals from a place, I might as well order my film and paper from there as well, since the more you get, the cheaper the shipping per item. Since you can buy digital cameras at Worst Buy and Wally World, it squeezes the local dealer in the middle.

May lead to an return to the popularity of powdered chemistries, in that you can make a big order once a year or so (Christmas Cash?) . Since powders last a lot longer then liquids do on the shelf.....
 
Daniel Jackson said:
Is Mytol easy enough to mix in a darkroom? I've got
a .01g precision scale, which should be good enough
for the ingredients in a 1l batch, or possibly
something smaller. Is Mytol feasible in,
say, 200ml batches?
Click to expand...

I also favor fresh chemistry so usually mix developer
a day or two/week or two ahead. Fresh fix at time of
use. The least amount I'll weigh when compounding
is 1 gram. The Acculab scale used has 0.01 gram
resolution and accuracy.

IIRC, if you have Mytol ingredients on hand and
another chemical or two you have what it takes
to compound a few other developers, film
and paper. Dan
 
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