I would second (and "third") the need for acidified water.
I've tried several versions of prussian blue toners. But my household
water
is ~ pH 7.15, and I have found that far and away alkaline enough to
completely destroy the toning within 20 to 30 seconds. I found even
distilled / bottled water frequently alkaline enough to have the same
effect.
I have concluded that using acidified water is simply not an option with
iron toning.
Now, my (not so simple) question:
I had made a number of very nicely iron toned prints. They seemed to be
quite permanent. However, I had a gallery show. I entrusted two of the
blue prints to the gallery. The owner of the gallery liked one of the
prints so well that he put it into the window of the gallery. Within a
week, the print had turned rust-brown. Not unattractive, mind you :-)
:-)
but definitely not the blue print I had made!
Well, of course! The print does have residual iron in it.
The second print I have hanging in the gallery, which has been there for
about 6 months, is not in sunight, and it is also starting to "turn".
(I had had these prints previously stored in portfolio cases.)
So: does anyone know a way to dramatically reduce the amount of free iron
left from iron / prussian blue toning, so the prints are more permanent?
Or
have I completely misunderstood something here?
Don Feinberg
ducque@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:pure-silver-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Graham Max
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2007 6:51 PM
To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Iron Toners
The Somerville two-stage blue toner will give more subtle
tones than a direct toner. It does not intensify the print
and, depending on the degree of bleaching, can produce split
tones or replace the blacks with blue. The formula below is
from Larry Bartlett's B & W Printing Workshop.
If contamination is avoided, both solutions will keep well
and can be re-used to exhaustion.
Bath 1 ( Bleach )
Potassium ferricyanide, 10% solution 200 ml
Ammonia, 10% 100 ml
Water to
1000 ml
Test the effect of varying degrees of bleaching. Partial
bleaching will produce a split-toned print, bleach to
finality and even the darkest tones will be replaced by
shades of blue.
Wash VERY thoroughly between baths, preferably with slightly
acidified water.
It's worth testing with scraps of print and small volumes of
toner to see how long you need to wash because the slightest
carry-over of bleach will produce a blue precipitate,
impossible to remove, which will ruin the print AND the toner bath.
Bath 2 ( Toner )
Ferrous sulphate 20 g
Hydrochloric acid, 10% 100 ml
Water to
1000ml
I find that the process is more controllable if the toning
bath is weaker than shown in the formula, and I make it up at
half the strength shown - it will still keep well.
The final wash should be acidified to preserve the blue tone.
Conversely, to weaken the tone, try slightly alkaline water.
Blue toning seems to emphasise any marks on the emulsion
surface, so handle the print with extreme care at all stages.
The counsel of perfection is to use over-sized paper, touch
only the edges and trim the dried print back to the required size.
Only experiment will show how individual papers will respond
to toning - I find it helps to keep all the test strips for
any prints intended for toning and use them for toner tests.
Graham Max,
Somerset, UK
.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Nelson" <emanmb@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2007 6:29 PM
Subject: [pure-silver] Iron Toners
>I need to Blue (iron) tone a print today and was
> looking at my formula I've used in the past and
> comparing with those I found online.
> What I've used in the past is this formula:
> SOLUTION A
> WATER 206
> mls
> POTASSIUM FERRICYANIDE 2 gms
> GLACIAL ACETIC ACID 30 mls
>
> SOLUTION B
> WATER
> 309 mls
> FERRIC AMMONIUM CITRATE (GREEN) 3 gms
> GLACIAL ACETIC ACID
> 45 mls
>
> As I recall and from samples I have that I did a long
> time ago, the borders aquire a blue cast as well. I'm
> wondering if anyone has any experience with other
> formulas such as this one that might NOT tone the
> borders as well.
>
> TONER WORKING SOLUTION A
> Distilled Water (120°F/48°C) 500 ml
> Ferric Ammonium Citrate 8g
> Potassium Ferricyanide 8g
> Succinic (tartaric) acid* 37 g
> Distilled Water to make 1000 ml
>
> Eric
>
>
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