Thanks to all who replied so far. I use gloves always for toning because of the risk with finger prints and tong marks, toxic chemicals etc. I tend to tone in batches after printing, so very little dry side work is involved there. I too use the one hand technique. I have largely fallen out of using them for printing, which I used to do, except for large prints, but mostly I print at 16x12, which Kenro tongs handle perfectly. Maybe I shall go back to gloves again - there are so many really bad tongs out there! I thought Kostiner were no more. Am I wrong? To Jim, I never use bare fingers now - used to all the time many years ago but they can be the kiss of death for bleach/tone or bleach/redevelopment techniques, which I use a great deal now. Personally I think fingers (and tongs) should be _always_ kept of the image area, and all visible borders. My days of rubbing up highlights are long over. Tim http://www.worldbookoflithprinting.com -----Original Message----- From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard Knoppow Sent: 25 July 2005 05:20 To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [pure-silver] Re: After sinks, your favourite tongs? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randy Stewart" <randal@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 8:19 PM Subject: [pure-silver] Re: After sinks, your favourite tongs? > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <ellinger@xxxxxxxxx> > To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2005 9:02 PM > Subject: [pure-silver] Re: After sinks, your favourite tongs? > > >> > So what are your favourite tongs, why and where do you get them? >> >> I like the Kostiner K601 stainless steel tongs. 7 >> inches long and 1 inch > wide so they are >> comfortable to hold. The top blade has a rubber pad on the emulsion >> side. > The bottom >> blade has no pad, so slips easily under the print. I've never marked >> a > print, even when >> using Nelson gold toner at 110F. >> >> Unfortunately, a quick search didn't turn up a retail supplier. >> (Glad I > bought a spare set.) >> They are (were) distributed by Saunders (Tiffen?). Not sure what the > status is now. > > > I'll second this opinion. However, I have seen them only used and on > ebay. > Actually, mine is the Hop Lee Sing Tong, from a Dashell Hammet story. --- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ============================================================================ ================================= To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there. ============================================================================================================= To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there.