Daguerreotype sealing tape? Gold Chloride? The Questions Keep Rolling In

Posted in Daguerreotypes by Jonathan on the January 31st, 2008

Here are my answers to some recent questions that have rolled into my inbox this week.

what kind of tape do you use to seal the photos?

Permacel’s J-Lar Tape from Talas. Jerry Spagnoli also suggested to me back in 2004 that using Filmoplast P90 would be fine; I don’t know if he still agrees. I choose not to use P90 because it is permeable and J-LAR is an impenetrable mastic fortress. For what it’s worth, P90 is probably the closest you’ll come to the original paper tape used in the 19th century. The advantage of P90 is that it is archival and reversible though J-LAR is acid-free. J-LAR has also been endorsed by daguerreotype conservators that are a whole lot smarter than me at the Library of Congress.

do you just take a regular piece of glass and place it over the top of it when its done?

You need to put some sort of mat (even construction paper would do) between the plate and the glass. I use museum glass (AKA “water white”) from the local frame shop. I use brass mats that I have made at a emachineshop.com.

where do you get your gold chloride?

Photographer’s Formulary. You want the solid AuCl3. 1 gram will let you do 20 or so 4×5 plates.

is sodium thiosulfate just fixer?

Not sure. It’s cheap though.

what temperature does the blow torch you use go to?

I use a Bernzomatic propane cylinder (blue) to drive a simple torch. The flame temperature in air is 3,450F. The original daguerreotypists used alcohol lamps to do it though. You need to keep the flame constantly moving so that you don’t get hotspots. Some modern daguerreotypists use a hotplate and a frying pan (see “View Camera” November/December 2004). I like the idea because it provides an even distribution of heat but I’ve never tried it. I seem to remember Jerry Spagnoli using a torch fueled by a Bernzomatic oxygen cylinder (red) that burns far hotter than my propane torch. If you want to split the difference, use a MAPP cylinder (yellow).

How do you check if your picture is developing when the amberlith is covering it?

You’ll see the image through the Amberlith after a few minutes (see picture to the right). A good exposure will start to show in about 10-15 minutes. Highlights come first and the rest of the image develops out over the course of 2-3 hours.

my teacher said that it would cost like 40 dollars for a silver plated piece of copper, and i was wondering how much you pay for it when you get it done.

The plate is about $5-10 and the plating is about $10-15. There’s a lot of time involved though so that’s worth something too. I’d happily pay someone $30 for pre-made plates if I could find somebody reliable. $40 is not unreasonable for a ready-made plate.

If you wouldn’t mind telling me, what is the approximate cost to you for an electroplated half plate?

Copper plate (4×5″): ~$5
Silver plating (4×5″): ~$11

I buy copper from onlinemetals.com. I polish the copper plate to a mirror finish and then take it to the plater. Then I polish the silver again! Fortunately I have a local silver plater to whom I can drive. I charge something like $40 for a 4×5″ plate because of the amount of labor involved.

Bookmark and Share

Close this Window Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks