stuart_pratt Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 I have made up some Sepia toner from the formula given in Tim Rudmans book, The Master Photographers Printing Course. The bleach is 50ml of stock solution in 1l of water. The stock solution is 100g ferricyanide in 1l water, ie 10% (no bromide). However, after 30 minutes there is no discernable bleaching of the print? The print is fully washed and fixed? What am I missing?? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJG Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 I've never mixed my own sepia toner from a formula, but you should see bleaching in a couple of minutes with any of the commercial versions that I have used. The one I used to like the most was made by Fotospeed, and had the great advantage of not using hydrogen sulfide that smells like rotten eggs. I don't know if it is still made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul ron Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 try a stronger solution? The more you say, the less people listen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart_pratt Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 Update - it is bleaching, but very slowly. It is outside the house in a tray, temperature about 8 degrees celcius - that might have something to do with it, but even so I'm surprised it is this slow. Chemicals are new as of yesterday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodeo_joe1 Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Most (all?) chemical processes are temperature sensitive. With something like a halving of reaction time for every 10 degrees C rise in temperature. So working at 8 C isn't a particularly good idea. Also, a 2% w/v (20% of 10%) solution doesn't sound strong enough to me. BTW, potassium ferricyanide doesn't release cyanide gas, if that's what you're concerned about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Marcus Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 For these toners to work, the print must be a conventional silver gelatin photo paper. Prints likely need to be printed via an over-exposure, best 10% thru 15% more. Prints are to be properly fixed and washed before attempting to tone. I like the old GAF 221 Sepia Toner Bleach solution Water 52°C (125°F)……………………….………750 ml Potassium Ferricyanide …………………….….50 grams Potassium Bromide ………………………….…..10 grams Sodium Carbonate (monohydrated) ……..........20 grams Add cold water to make 1 liter Soak thoroughly fixed and washed prints in an undiluted bleach solution. Image turns light brown in about 1 minute. Wash prints for 15 minutes, and then re-develop. Redeveloper solution Sodium Sulfide (desiccated) …………….........…..45 grams Water …………………………………………………500 ml Dilute 1 part re-developer with 8 parts water for use Wash 30 minutes after redevelopment. If you see streaks or fingermarks, soak print In 3% acetic acid and then wash 10 minutes. By the way, you must Potassium Ferricyanide to bleach not just ferricyanide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthur_gottschalk Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 I use Kodak's Polytoner. It's a one-step direct toner that is so much easier to use than the bleach and redevelopment process. It's been discontinued for years but I have a stash from the good old days. Still, you can find online a formula to recreate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernard_lazareff Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 I would have thought that for toning, the bleach should be re-halogenating, i.e. include some bromide. And, when doing ordinary bleaching with ferricyanide, the effect materializes when the print is put into fixer (sometimes to diiscover it's over-done). For instance, here is the bleach part of the thiourea toner, from Anchell's Cookbook. Bleach: Water at 125F/52C, 750.0 ml Potassium ferricyanide, 50.0 g Potassium bromide, 10.0 g Sodium carbonate, monohydrate, 20.0 g Water to make 1.0 liter This solution should be stored in the dark as ferricyanide solutions are light sensitive. Should the solution turn blue the bleach should be discarded. Try adding 10g/l of bromide, as suggested by Alan Marcus above. You should see a prompt bleaching action. You could also try taking one of your ferricyanide-only bleached prints into fixer and see the bleach action, but that one cannot be toned any more because the silver halide is gone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart_pratt Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Thanks everyone for all your responses, much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Bowes Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 I am a bit late to the thread, but when I wet labbed, I used 8x10 paper cut into 1x8 inch length test strips. Save the last test strip before your final print & make another TS right after your final print. Process these with the print & use them to "test" the bleaching & toning effects. . When your "happy", do the final print. Aloha, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now