If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Fixer recipes, etc
"Larry" wrote in message ... Hello, I am currently living in a small town with no access to photographic chemicals. I would like to manufacture my own anyways..... I need recipes for Fixer and wetting agent... Thank you in advance to your replies and also, please send the replies via e-mail Thanks, Larry All of this stuff can be gotten mail order, try Freestyle Photo since they seem to be able or willing to ship stuff that B&H claims is restricted. Also, there are web sites with large collections of formulas for nearly all photographic solutions. I don't have a formula for a wetting agent but virtually all of the commercial wetting agents are based on a substance sold as Triton-X. This is a very highly concentrated chemical and a little will last you a lifetime. Kodak Photo-Flo 400 is a mixture of Triton-X and another wetting agent, I am not sure what. More concentrated versions of Photo-Flo seem to be Triton-X alone. I think it would be easier for you to obtain a large container of Photo-Flo than the ingredients to make it. In use I make a combination of Photo-Flo at half strength with about 30ml of rubbing alcohol per liter. This makes a sort of super wetting agent which is less likely to leave a residue on the film. The rubbing alcohol should be 70% isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol) without oil of wintergreen or other flavorings in it. Pure alcohol can also be used, just use a little less. I don't have formulas for rapid fixers, which use ammonium thiosulfate in place of the sodium thiosulfate in standard fixer. Ammonium thiosulfate is not very stable as a powder so is usually supplied as a liquid concentrate so the formulas vary according to the concentration obtainable. For powdered ammonium thiosulfate use about 60% of the amount specified for _crystaline_ sodium thiosulfate. For liquid concentrates calculate the amount from this and the concentration. Other than the use of the ammonium salt in place of the sodium salt the formulas are identical. A form of rapid fixer can be made from sodium fixer by adding ammonium chloride to a standard bath but mixing directly with ammonium thiosulfate is, in general, more satisfactory. This is a standard formula for an acid, hardening, fixing bath for film or paper, Kodak F-5. If you want a non-hardening fixer just leave out the potassium alum or use F-24, which follows below F-5. Kodak F-5 Fixing Bath Water (at about 125F or 52C) 600.0 ml Sodium thiosulfate, crystalline 240.0 grams Sodium sulfite, dessicated 15.0 grams Acetic acid, 28% 48.0 ml Boric acid, crystalline 7.5 grams Potassium alum 15.0 grams Water to make 1.0 grams Notes: 1, Use crystalline boric acid, the granulated type dissolves with great difficulty. 2, If sodium thiosulfate, anhydrous is used the amount should be reduced to 154.0 grams and water not over 90F should be used for mixing. Note also that crystalline thiosulfate is is very endothermic and will quickly cool the water as it goes into solution so some heating may be necessary to insure it dissolves completely. Anhydrous thiosulfate has little heat of solution so cooler water should be used to insure against decomposition. Kodak F6 Oderless Fixing Bath Water (at about 125F or 52C) 600.0 ml Sodium thiosulfate, crystalline 240.0 grams Sodium sulfite, dessicated 15.0 grams Acetic acid, 28% 48.0 ml Kodalk (sodium metaborate, see below) 15.0 grams Potassium alum 15.0 grams Water to make 1.0 liter Notes as above for F-5 This bath must be preceded with an acid stop bath. If you can not find Kodalk you can made the equivalent as follows: In order to make 1.0g sodium metaborate tetrahydrate, mix 0.692g borax and 0.145g sodium hydroxide. When dissolved in water, these two make the equivalent of 1.0 gram of sodium metaborate in solution. Note that while Kodak has referred to Kodalk as the octahyrate is is actually the tetrahydrate in modern nomenclature. Sodium hydroxide pure enough for photographic purposes has long been sold as Red Devil Lye but may be hard to find these days. 20 Mule Team Borax is chemically pure borax suitable for photographic purposes. Again, its harder to find than it used to be. Kodak F-24 Non-Hardening Fixing Bath Water (at about 125F or 52C) 500.0 ml Sodium thiosulfate, crystalline 240.0 grams Sodium sulfite, dessicated 10.0 grams Sodium bisulfite (or metabisulfite) 25.0 grams Water to make 1.0 liter Notes as above for F-5 It is strongly recommended that any fixing bath of any type be used in a two-bath system. This not only insures complete fixing but is economical because the capacity of a two bath system for complete fixing is from four to ten times that of a single bath. Full instuctions for two bath fixing are in several Kodak publications such as the _Kodak Black-and-White Darkroom Dataguide_ and have been posted to this group by myself and others. -- --- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
development recipes | Richard Knoppow | In The Darkroom | 1 | June 22nd 08 02:19 AM |
south indian recipes | Santhosh1992 | Digital Photography | 0 | April 1st 08 08:21 AM |
FA: Photographer's Formulary Fixer 24, a NON-HARDENING fixer for toning in selenium, polysolphide, sepia, etc. | [email protected] | Darkroom Equipment For Sale | 0 | August 9th 06 12:31 AM |
Precipitate in once-used D-76 & fixer | tbrown | In The Darkroom | 0 | March 31st 05 09:05 AM |
Very old rapid fixer | Ming | In The Darkroom | 1 | April 6th 04 09:52 AM |