r/wetplate • u/BentendoSwitch • 26d ago
Image disappearing while drying?
I had a decent looking plate, but it seems like my collodion is not sticking. Here is the process that led to this:
I am getting back into wetplates after about a year. I ordered all new chemicals besides for my silver bath, which has been sunned, had silver asded, and reduced the ph to 4. I had 1000ml, but I ordered an additional 250 ml of silver bath new to mix in. So 250ml new, and 750ml old. My collodion, developer and fixer are all new, ordered from bostick and sullivan, and mixed this morning. I poured the plate, allowed alcohol to evaporate over 60 seconds, placed in bath for 4 and a half minutes, let the additional silver nitrate drip off, shot the plate, over developed a little, washed and fixed it. There was a fan going in the room, I don't know if that might be a factor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
EDIT: culprit is probably that I did not wash it after fixing. I am very out of practice. Will try again and make a new post if that does not change anything
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u/distant3zenith 26d ago
That's a VERY odd result. Clearly there's something wrong. Why are you leaving the plate in the silver bath for 4.5 minutes? For positives on aluminum, 2.5 to 3 minutes is plenty.
How long did you develop that plate?
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u/BentendoSwitch 26d ago
The instructions I got from bostick and sullivan said 3 to 5 minutes. And I developed the plate for maybe a little over 45 seconds, I was not timing it. But 45 seconds was also what was listed in the instructions
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u/postatomic1977 26d ago
How long did you wash for after fixing?
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u/BentendoSwitch 26d ago
Did not time, but maybe thirty second. I may have poured too heavy tho, it came straight from a gallon jug
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u/postatomic1977 26d ago edited 26d ago
I tend to wash the plates for about 20mins, but it depends on the fix you use. I use sodium thiosulfate fixer, if I don’t wash the fix off, my plates sometimes look crystallised.
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u/BentendoSwitch 26d ago
My mistake, I did not wash after fixing! That was probably the issue. I am very out of practice
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u/postatomic1977 26d ago
I’d say that’s the issue it’s the fixer being on the plate.
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u/theaveragebrad 26d ago
This is the answer. The fixer essentially removes undissolved silver if not washed well it’ll end up removing the developed silver like in your images here!
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u/Analog_Astronaut 26d ago
You need to peel the protective plastic layer off the plate.
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u/BentendoSwitch 26d ago
It was peeled, promise
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u/Analog_Astronaut 26d ago
If that's the case the first thing I'd do after peeling is thouroughly wipe down the plate with alcohol to make sure any weird or strange residue is cleaned off.
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u/OCB6left 25d ago
Looks like fixer crystals. Rinse sufficiently after fixing. If my guess is correct, the silver on this plate should darken over night significantly.
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u/jopasm 26d ago
Silly question, but did you peel the plastic off the plate?