Paulus Posted October 9, 2012 Share #1 Posted October 9, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Today I tried flushed my Ilford Multigrade Warmtone FB a little hotter than normal. Say 40/50 degrees Celcius instead of 20 C. I noticed that the dried paper had a very nice shine. I dry my paper by hanging it in the air at room temperature. I used to use a hot linnen press some fifteen years ago to dry the paper. The paper had the same shine in that time. Do any of you have experience with very hot replenishing/flushing and what is your advice? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted October 9, 2012 Posted October 9, 2012 Hi Paulus, Take a look here Ilford FB as hot as it gets. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
tobey bilek Posted October 20, 2012 Share #2 Posted October 20, 2012 The hotter you dry it, the more gloss there is because the gelatin surface melts. Air dry is a soft gloss. For plastic like gloss, use ferrotype plates PROPERLY if this is a true glossy paper, and I don`t remember if it is . 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted April 5, 2022 Share #3 Posted April 5, 2022 Yes, ferrotyping is the best, ever! Years ago (too many) I had a competition with the Ilford rep who tried to convert from using FB paper tp RC paper. I promised that I would switch over when he could demonstrate the blacks and whites on RC paper was as good or better than FB paper. To cut a long story short my argument won because I used a rotary glazer (ferrotype) to dry my glossy prints. That was more than 50 years ago. I don't believe it has changed. Later, I did switch to RC paper, but purely for speed and commercial reasons. I still maintain the FB paper to give superior results, on ferrotyped gloss paper. As it happens, I have just reinvigorated my old darkroom ( after a 10 year break) and just got it fully functional again, including starting up my old rotary glazer. Yet to pump some FB paper through it, but it won't be long. See my glazer below that I bought more than 50 years ago. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! 8 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/189789-ilford-fb-as-hot-as-it-gets/?do=findComment&comment=4412892'>More sharing options...
Pintpot Posted May 3, 2022 Share #4 Posted May 3, 2022 Back in the day a Kodak rotary glazer was a must for any commercial studio, and from experience I can say that FB prints run through a glazer are superior to RC prints. Now I'm not decrying RC paper at all, used plenty of it and value the ease of use, esp. when my flatbed glazer gave up the ghost. And then there was mounting! anyone remember using sheets of photo mount, I had to use an iron. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted May 3, 2022 Share #5 Posted May 3, 2022 7 hours ago, Pintpot said: Back in the day a Kodak rotary glazer was a must for any commercial studio, and from experience I can say that FB prints run through a glazer are superior to RC prints. Now I'm not decrying RC paper at all, used plenty of it and value the ease of use, esp. when my flatbed glazer gave up the ghost. And then there was mounting! anyone remember using sheets of photo mount, I had to use an iron. Thanks for the memory. I've tried hard to forget some of those 'hardships'. Probably the worst was spotting prints using fine camel hair brushes and variously toned dyes. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintpot Posted May 3, 2022 Share #6 Posted May 3, 2022 16 minutes ago, erl said: Thanks for the memory. I've tried hard to forget some of those 'hardships'. Probably the worst was spotting prints using fine camel hair brushes and variously toned dyes. Tell me about it! We used to sell Hypo by the 1lb. then. Happy days 😁 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
erl Posted May 3, 2022 Share #7 Posted May 3, 2022 Advertisement (gone after registration) 2 minutes ago, Pintpot said: Tell me about it! We used to sell Hypo by the 1lb. then. Happy days 😁 I still have some of those solid chemicals sitting in jars on my DR shelves. Also Kodak Rapid Selenium Toner, Liquid Light and other stuff. 🤓 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
david strachan Posted May 4, 2022 Share #8 Posted May 4, 2022 (edited) I used to have a very little gold chloride, used for cool toning and archiving prints. Very little indeed...a gram or two. It was very effective though with the subtlest blue shade...but indestructible print which never changed tone. ... sometimes i really miss my darkroom; I loved the chemistry, and hours of isolated concentration. Edited May 4, 2022 by david strachan 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Albertson Posted October 25, 2022 Share #9 Posted October 25, 2022 I use a dry mounting press (set at around 275F) to flatten my prints, and it puts a nice semi-gloss on them. Both Ilford FB and the Adox MCC papers I have left. One thing I noticed with the "new" MGFB paper from Ilford - when I squeegeed the prints after they came out of the wash, there are blue speckles all over the back of the print. A bit alarming, but when I retrieved the dried prints the next day, the speckles had disappeared. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Hilo Posted October 26, 2022 Share #10 Posted October 26, 2022 (edited) 12 hours ago, Chuck Albertson said: I use a dry mounting press (set at around 275F) to flatten my prints, and it puts a nice semi-gloss on them. Both Ilford FB and the Adox MCC papers I have left. One thing I noticed with the "new" MGFB paper from Ilford - when I squeegeed the prints after they came out of the wash, there are blue speckles all over the back of the print. A bit alarming, but when I retrieved the dried prints the next day, the speckles had disappeared. I have always pressed at 90 Celsius (almost 200 Fahrenheit) and get what you call "a nice semi-gloss". But I think the type of gloss is more a result of how warm you dry your prints. I assume your prints are already dry before you press them. After washing I wipe the water off both sides and just hang the prints from two lines using larger plastic clothes pecks. I make sure the room is not too warm, because I try to get the same gloss over the years. For 50x60cm (20x24in.) I use an old Büscher drymounting press that has 3 heat settings. There is no thermostat so I alternate between the higher two settings, keeping the temperatue around the 90 degrees Celcius. (I keep an eye on the built-in thermometer). There have been a couple of times that I let the temperature run up too high (phonecalls grrr) and yes, this increased the gloss. (some I washed again and repeated the sequence at the right temperature). I use the Seal 210 press for smaller prints and since this press has the automatic switching off and on to keep the right temperature, everything is easier. Finally, what can also influence the gloss of a print is the tension of the press. I haven't seen any blue speckles, I only use Ilford warmtone paper. Edited October 26, 2022 by M.Hilo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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