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  #11  
Old 14th December 2009, 01:59 PM
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Welcome to FADU Kevin.

Kent - my favourite hunting ground

Big fan of PMK pyro too.

I would love to read an article by you on the process of photogravure. Can you put something together for this website?
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  #12  
Old 14th December 2009, 03:10 PM
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Hi Kevin, and welcome to FADU...
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  #13  
Old 14th December 2009, 05:22 PM
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Default Copperplate photogravure

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Originally Posted by Trevor Crone View Post
Welcome to FADU Kevin.

Kent - my favourite hunting ground

Big fan of PMK pyro too.

I would love to read an article by you on the process of photogravure. Can you put something together for this website?
Absolutely Trevor, yes. I had thought about it and will get started when this darkroom thing is sorted out. The process requires very controlled management of ferric chloride, which is used in 5 separate baths of measured densities, there's the gelatin sensitizer potassium dichromate, denatured alcohol, 'old' or distilled water, loads of bench space in a dust free environment, and more tenacity and patience than our modern age allows for. Then another alcohol, such as bottle of wine to either celebrate a successful etch, or drown the sorrows if it stuffs up.

But yep. Thanks for the suggestion. It spurs me on.

PMK: I saw your notes in another thread and was hoping to speak to you about it at some point. I have Gordon Hutchings' Book of Pyro, and the wish to attend a workshop of is, should it occur again when I can afford travel to Montana. Other than that, I have a few beautifully stained rolls of film with successfully masked grain, ruined with blotches and "orange peel" from not getting the agitation right. Kicking myself then, because I should have duplicated the exposures on a second magazine for alternative development. However, at that point my darkroom was demolished. So the desire for PMK Pyro magic remains elusive.

Cheers. Kevin
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  #14  
Old 14th December 2009, 11:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Parratt View Post
Absolutely Trevor, yes. I had thought about it and will get started when this darkroom thing is sorted out. The process requires very controlled management of ferric chloride, which is used in 5 separate baths of measured densities, there's the gelatin sensitizer potassium dichromate, denatured alcohol, 'old' or distilled water, loads of bench space in a dust free environment, and more tenacity and patience than our modern age allows for. Then another alcohol, such as bottle of wine to either celebrate a successful etch, or drown the sorrows if it stuffs up.

But yep. Thanks for the suggestion. It spurs me on.

PMK: I saw your notes in another thread and was hoping to speak to you about it at some point. I have Gordon Hutchings' Book of Pyro, and the wish to attend a workshop of is, should it occur again when I can afford travel to Montana. Other than that, I have a few beautifully stained rolls of film with successfully masked grain, ruined with blotches and "orange peel" from not getting the agitation right. Kicking myself then, because I should have duplicated the exposures on a second magazine for alternative development. However, at that point my darkroom was demolished. So the desire for PMK Pyro magic remains elusive.

Cheers. Kevin
Sounds interesting stuff Kevin, I'll certainly look out for the article in due course .

Pyro staining and even development can certainly be problematic. I find I have greater consistency with sheet film then I do with roll film.

For developing roll film I use Paterson System 4 tanks and when using pyro developers I now only use spiral agitation with these tanks, 1 minute continuous and every 30 seconds for about 7 seconds. This usually secures me with evenly stained and developed negs.
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  #15  
Old 15th December 2009, 06:09 PM
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It's funny Trevor, I guessed that because of the photogravure experience > managing so many process steps, each of which calls for focus, and none of which allows margin for error, the PMK process would run smoothly. ... Ha! I was meticulous in preparation of the solutions, in fact everything. But can't recall how I agitated those failed attempts (have notes somewhere), but what you say is ringing bells. Especially the fact that roll film can be more problematic. Not one to give up, because others report success with roll film and 35mm. We'll see. But I am especially looking forward to the 4x5 and 5x7.
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  #16  
Old 15th December 2009, 06:35 PM
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Welcome aboard Kevin.

Have you looked at Pyrocat HD as an alternative to PMK if you want a staining developer? It seems less critical than PMK and does not oxidise as quickly (or so I am led to believe). Even I had success with Pyrocat with rotary and semi-stand agitation...

I've never tried PMK however so can't compare - perhaps Trevor or someone else has experience of both.
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  #17  
Old 15th December 2009, 06:59 PM
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Kevin,

I have not used PMK for some time now as I found it inconvenient to use with VC papers due to it's yellow stain. As Bob mentioned there are other staining developers, some of which produce a brown stain and are very effective e.g. Pyrocat HD, Moersch Tanol and Peter Hogan's Prescysol to name a few worth trying.
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  #18  
Old 15th December 2009, 07:45 PM
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Kevin, as mentioned by both Bob and Barry, Prescysol and Pyrocat-HD (I used both) are also excellent staining developers and are much more even tempered with regard to agitation. However they give less stain then PMK pyro and there's something about the 'look' (all very scientific ) of a PMK negative and how it prints that just has the edge for me.
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  #19  
Old 16th December 2009, 06:49 AM
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This had me searching last night for a report I came across over at photo.net years ago, when I was first starting to read up on Pyro. I found references to it and the Author's name, Steve Allen. I contacted him and received a reply within hours. He kindly emailed the link to me.

Gordon Hutchings' PMK workshop, Montana.

The PMK stain colour could be a film type issue, because mine has all been green. Anyway, I must get off line for now.

Thanks, Kevin

Last edited by Kevin Parratt; 16th December 2009 at 06:51 AM. Reason: Word correction.
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