[LargeFormat] Making Water in the Dark

[TigerShark]

Fully agree.  Color fixer (Fuji Hunt, Kodak, Russell) used in C41 and E6
is alkaline too, and I have used it for 10 or so years for all B&W
processing.
At $25-$30 for a 5 gallon container of concentrate you can't beat the
price/performance ratio either.

Ingredients listed on the safety data sheet are similar to the ones you
listed.

TigerShark

 


-----Original Message-----
From: largeformat-admin@f32.net [mailto:largeformat-admin@f32.net] On
Behalf Of Les Newcomer
Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2002 12:09 PM
To: largeformat@f32.net
Subject: Re: [LargeFormat] Making Water in the Dark

Shamelessly copied from "The (B&W)Film Developing cookbook"

"...film processing should ideally take place in high salt solutions at
or
near the ph of the developer.

there are several advantages to using an alkaline fixer:
1. Alkaline fixers do not dissolve image-bearing silver

2.alkaline fixers allow shorter washing times. Removal of hypo is faster
than when an ordinary fixer plus a hypo clearing agent is used. Hypo is
down
to archival levels after a minute of washing. but film should be wahid a
total of three minutes to ensure all developer reside is removed.

3. Keeping the entire system either neutral or alkaline, from alkaline
develeoper, neutral water stop, alkaline fixer and neutral final washt
without HCA) will improve the permanence of all films and papers because
the
thiosulfate does not mordant to the silver image or base.

4. Alkaline fixers have greater capacity than acid fixers.

5. alkaline fixers are easier to formulate and more stable as
thiosulfates
are more stable in analkaline solutions.

6. Alkaline fixers can be formulated to have a very low ordor"


The only commercially available fixer is Photographer's Formulary's
TF--4

But here is TF-3.  It's more alkaline than TF-4 and has a faint ammonia
odor.
Ammonium Thiosulfate 800ml
Sodium Sulfaite anhydrous 60g
Sodium metaborate 5g
water to make 1 liter

working solutins  Dilute 1:4 with water.



""...Immediatley after development wash in running water for 60 seconds.
Fix
film for three times the clearing time usually 3-5 minutes. Wash for 3
minutes. A hypo Clearing agent is not required"


I've got a friend that eliminates the water stop, goes directly into the
fix.  After 6 months even though the fix was still working well, he
finally
replaced it so he could sleep nights.

he keeps telling me the whole world is wrong.  "Hey the best way to get
the
acid out of the paper is not to put it in!!!!!!"