I wonder if Bob Shanebrook knows about when Kodak began to use purified gelatin
and add the necessary trace compounds to it. Emulsion making seems to have been
an area of very great secrecy for obvious reasons. My reply: from page 121 of
Making KODAK Film: Jonathan Schwartz of Rousselot Gelatin (formerly Eastman
Gelatine) told me that by 1990 gelatin was photographically inert. By 2015,
20 gels are used that had different physical characteristics.
On another subject, Bob says Kodak finds film making to be profitable so I
wonder if perhaps they would consider setting up for printing paper. My guess
is that it would not seen in large enough amounts to be economical for them. My
reply: I doubt if Eastman Kodak Company would consider making printing
paper. The film coating machine in B38 can coat RC paper but not fiber
base. All Kodak branded chromogenic color paper is coated by Carestream, Inc.
at the former Kodak Colorado Plant in Windsor, Colorado. This is also described
in Making KODAK Film pages 220, 342-343, 360.
On Thursday, August 10, 2017, 3:14:05 PM EDT, `Richard Knoppow
<dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thank you for the very concise summary. I think the story of the cows goes
back a long way. C.E.K Mees mentions it in more than one place in a general way
with little detail. Evidently at some point (dates not given but evidently very
early) Kodak began to have failures of film resulting in their having to
replace a lot of film that had been sold. An intensive investigation showed
that the supplier of the gelatin had changes sources for his original material
(bones and hides). It was found that one group of cows were eating mustard and
the other was not. This was an extremely serious problem for Kodak since a
continuing inability to make reliable film would have put them out of business.
Someone mentioned industrial espionage, I don't know how that was concluded. It
seems to me no stealing of secrets took place nor does it seem to have been
sabotage. I think no one knew that the source of the gelatin could have such
profound effects.
I wonder if Bob Shanebrook knows about when Kodak began to use purified
gelatin and add the necessary trace compounds to it. Emulsion making seems to
have been an area of very great secrecy for obvious reasons.
On another subject, Bob says Kodak finds film making to be profitable so I
wonder if perhaps they would consider setting up for printing paper. My guess
is that it would not seen in large enough amounts to be economical for them.
On 8/10/2017 11:50 AM, Robert Shanebrook (Redacted sender makingkodakfilm for
DMARC) wrote:
The actual mechanism wasn't understood until several decades later when Dr.
Sheppard demonstrated it.
Today's gels are very clean and the desired materials are added as part
of the manufacturing process.
Even then gels have to be carefully managed. In Making Kodak Film I
describe how batches are blended to create a huge lot that is used for
months or even years. When the lot is running low a process is implemented to
crossover from one lot to another. Gel is the most difficult of the
components. That was the case in 1888 and still is today.
Please note:
The imaging ingredients in the B&W films of the 1900 are 90%+ the same as
used in today's color films. The differences are purity and manufacturing
process plus a few ingredients that make up the other <10%.
Bob Shanebrook
--
Richard Knoppow
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
WB6KBL
