It's hard to say how much is required. The fixer is buffered to pH 6.1 and you must overcome that buffering system to get it above 7.0. To be practical you must establish a new buffering system to keep the fixer at roughly pH 7. That is why I suggested sodium metaborate which should create a new buffer system. -----Original Message----- From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Eric Neilsen Photography Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 9:59 AM To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [pure-silver] Re: D-Max with pyro Gerald, Couldn't one just dilute the NaOH more and then allow for higher volumes to be used later? I know that it will change over time if mixed into solution, but I don't believe that it is that much. How much are you taking about? Drops or mls at a time? Eric Eric Neilsen Photography 4101 Commerce Street Suite 9 Dallas, TX 75226 http://e.neilsen.home.att.net http://ericneilsenphotography.com > -----Original Message----- > From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pure-silver- > bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Koch, Gerald > Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 8:30 AM > To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [pure-silver] Re: D-Max with pyro > > Sodium hydroxide, being such a strong alkali, is rather hard to > control. I would suggest adding small amounts of sodium metaborate > (Kodalk) until the pH of the Flexicolor fixer is what you want. Keep > track of the total amount for subsequent batches. I suggest sodium > metabrate as Kodak suggests using it instead of borax to raise the pH > of one of their fixers. > > -----Original Message----- > From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of john stockdale > Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 7:49 PM > To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [pure-silver] Re: D-Max with pyro > > > At 08:20 AM 15/12/2005, Russ Gorman wrote: > ><snip> > >It seems that using a water stop bath , and TF-4 fixer, to be a huge > >part of getting consistent stain. It is easy to make the stain > >disappear ( either completely or unevenly) with an acid stop or with > >traditional fixer. Weak fixer can also lead to uneven stain as well > >as uneven clearing of silver. > > > >That said, to the eye the negatives tend to look a little brownish ( > >some emulsions look greenish or yellowish) and a little thinner than > >negs developed in Rodinal or D-76 but not greatly so. They also tend > >to have lots of information in the shadows and highlights in spite of > >their "thinner" appearence. The difference is not really apparent > >until > > >they are on a light table side by side with negatives developed in > >other chemistry. > > > >One of the nice things due to tanning of the emulsion in Pyro is that > >they are dust and scratch free... Clear skies and smooth clean skin. > > Consistency seems to be important, and I have found that new PMK did > not > > give as much stain as when somewhat older. Now I top up my aged PMK > with a little of a new batch so that I don't have any sudden changes. > > I have been using a slightly alkaline fixer (Agfa FX-Universal, pH=7.5 > approx, made for C-41 primarily but quite ok for black and white). My > stain is consistently olive/khaki, but nowhere near as green as some > I've seen on web pages. With the demise of Agfa, and with importation > to the > > end of the Earth here of Formulary products impractical, I might have > to > > start mixing up some slightly alkaline fixer. I bought some Kodak > Flexicolor Fixer the other day (pH=6.1) and was disapponted that it > has the characteristic "acidic" smell of ordinary acid fixers, even > though it is > > not as acidic as they are. I might add something alkaline to it. > Would a tiny bit of sodium hydroxide be ok? > > ====================================================================== > == > ===================================== > 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. ======================================================================== ===================================== 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.