Daguerreotypes | The Daguerreotype: Contemporary work by Jonathan Danforth

Sulfide Contamination. I have a new favorite kind of paper.

Posted in Artist's Journal, Daguerreotypes by Jonathan on the June 29th, 2008

My workshop is a glorified toolshed in my backyard. I love it very much but it is not without its shortcomings. When I bought the workshop I had to install power, lights, a floor, shelves, storage air conditioner, fume hood, dark “room”, etc. One of the worst problems with the workshop is the lack of environmental control due to it being, well, an uninsulated toolshed.

I live in North Carolina and let me tell you that the summers hear are murder. If it isn’t hot, it’s humid. Often it’s both. The current temperature of my workshop as I write this is 84F. I’m unsure of the humidity but my shirt is decidedly moist.

One of the big problems with humidty other than discomfort is the danger of contamination of my materials. Did you mom ever make you polish the silver? Well let me tell you that the black stuff you worked so hard to remove is caused by sulfur contamination… and the air is full of it (among other things). Silver is not alone in its susceptibility to corrosion… copper, brass, and countless other materials are ill-suited to storage in my workshop.

I made the mistake of storing some freshly (and exhaustingly) polished copper plates in the workshop for a few days. After polishing (more…)

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New (old) Source of Copper Plates!

Posted in Artist's Journal, Daguerreotypes by Jonathan on the June 27th, 2008

In my neverending quest to simplify my Daguerreian life I have rediscovered a resource for buying copper plates that are 90% ready for electroplating with silver! Yahoo!

The fine folks at Renaissance Graphic Arts have finally revamped their website and I’m quite excited. I’ve ordered from RGA before and I was very pleased with their copper plates. The plates have already been polished to a high degree and only need a few minutes with red or blue buffing compound to get them ready for Surtronics.

You can find the copper plates under Intaglio Products in the RGA online store. And the best part? The copper plates are less expensive than and thicker than the copper at onlinemetals.com!

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Two Daguerreotypes Developing

Posted in Artist's Journal, Casemaking, Daguerreotypes by Jonathan on the June 14th, 2008

Well it’s 10:00AM and I have two daguerreotypes already developing outside. Here’s hoping that I didn’t screw up the exposures.

I’m going to the ShopBot Tools open house in a minute. I’m curious to see what a proper CNC machine looks like and if there’s a place for one in my studio (and wallet!).

Jonathan