Roy, I used to mix my own gold toners at one time, and I too still have a couple of vials of gold chloride. They are usually 1gm.
My favourite gold toner formulas were;
Gold toner solution a/b:
solution A
thiourea...................4g
distilled water..........225ml
solution B
gold chloride.............1g
distilled water...........225ml
use 236ml water plus 29ml soln. A plus 29ml soln. B plus a further 236ml water, then add slowly, 5 drops of concentrated sulphuric acid. Mix well. This working solution lasts a long time and can be discarded when toning becomes too slow.
This one is a bit more user-friendly although the citric acid does not keep too well;
Gold toner 3 bath, a, b, c;
solution A
thiourea..................3.5g
distilled water.........250ml
solution B
citric acid.................3.5g
distilled water.........250ml
solution C
gold chloride............1g
distilled water..........250ml
use 1 part of each to 10 parts water.
This toner used to give the most delicate grey blue tones to chlorobromide papers like Record Rapid and was certainly a favourite of mine.
I also used to use Nelson gold toner but of course this gives brown tones, particularly effective with bromide papers.
Thiourea is nasty being carcinogenic so do not get it on your person and of course avoid breathing air-bourne dust.
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"To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty, and in the same field, it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before, and which will never be seen again" Ralph Waldo Emerson.
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Last edited by Trevor Crone; 2nd February 2011 at 04:27 PM.
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