By LEON VIDAL.
This process is similar in many respects to the one which was some
time ago communicated to the Photographic Society of France by M.
Stronbinsky, of St. Petersburg, but in a much improved and complete
form. An account of it was given by M. Gobert, at the meeting of the
same society, on the 2d December, 1882. The following are the details,
as demonstrated by me at the meeting of the 9th of May last:
Sheets of zinc or of copper of a convenient size are carefully planished
and polished with powdered pumice stone. The sensitive mixture is
composed of:
The whites of four fresh eggs beaten
to a froth......................... 100 parts
Pure bichromate of ammonia......... 2.50 "
Water.............................. 50 "
After this mixture has been carefully filtered through a paper filter, a
few drops of ammonia are added. It will keep good for some time if well
corked and preserved from exposure to the light. Even two months after
being prepared I have found it to be still good; but too large a
quantity should not be prepared at a time, as it does not improve with
keeping.
I find that the dry albumen of commerce will answer as well as the
fresh. In that case I employ the following formula:
Dry albumen from eggs.............. 15 to 20 parts
Water.............................. 100 "
Ammonia bichromate................. 2.50 "
Always add some drops of ammonia, and keep this mixture in a well corked
bottle and in a dark place.
To coat the metal plate, place it on a turning table, to which it is
made fast at the center by a pneumatic holder; to assure the perfect
adhesion of this holder, it is as well to wet the circular elastic ring
of the holder before applying it to the metallic surface. When this is
done, the table may be made to rotate quickly without fear of detaching
the plate by the rapidity of the movement. The plate is placed in a
perfectly horizontal position, where no dust can settle on it; the
mixture is then poured on it, and distributed by means of a triangular
piece of soft paper, so as to cover equally all the parts of the plate.
Care should be taken not to flow too much liquid over the plate, and
when the latter is everywhere coated, the excess is poured off into a
different vessel from that which contains the filtered mixture, or else
into a filter resting on that vessel. The turning table should now be
inverted so that the sensitive surface may be downwards, and it is made
to rotate at first slowly, afterwards more rapidly, so as to make the
film, which should be very thin, quite smooth and even. The whole
operation should be carried out in a subdued light, as too strong a
light would render insoluble the film of bichromated albumen.
When the film is equalized the plate must be detached from the turning
table and placed on a cast iron or tin plate heated to not more than 40°
or 50° C. A gentle heat is quite sufficient to dry the albumen quickly;
a greater heat would spoil it, as it would produce coagulation. So soon
as the film is dry, which will be seen by the iridescent aspect it
assumes, the plate is allowed to cool to the ordinary temperature,
and is then at once exposed either beneath a positive, or beneath an
original drawing the lines of which have been drawn in opaque ink, so as
to completely prevent the luminous rays from passing through them; the
light should only penetrate through the white or transparent ground of
the drawing.
I say a _positive_ because I wish to obtain an engraved plate; if I
wanted to have a plate for typographic printing, I should have to take a
_negative_. After exposure the plate must be at once developed, which is
effected by dissolving in water those parts of the bichromated gelatine
which have been protected from the action of light by the dark spaces
of the cliché; these parts remain soluble, while the others have been
rendered completely insoluble. If the plate were dipped in clear water
it would be difficult to observe the picture coming out, especially on
copper. To overcome this difficulty the water must be tinged with some
aniline color; aniline red or violet, which are soluble in water,
answers the purpose very well. Enough of the dye must be dissolved in
the water to give it a tolerably deep color. So soon as the plate is
plunged into this liquid the albumen not acted on by light is dissolved,
while the insoluble parts are colored by absorbing the dye, so that the
metal is exposed in the lines against a red or violet ground, according
to the color of the dye used.
When the drawing comes out quite perfect, and a complete copy of the
original, the plate with the image on it is allowed to dry either of its
own accord, or by submitting it to a gentle heat. So soon as it is dry
it is etched, and this is done by means of a solution of perchloride
of iron in alcohol. Both alcohol and iron perchloride will coagulate
albumen; their action, therefore, on the image will not be injurious,
since they will harden the remaining albumen still further. But to get
the full benefit of this, the alcohol and the iron perchloride must
both be free from water; it is therefore advisable to use the salt in
crystals which have been thoroughly dried, and the alcohol of a strength
of 95°.
The following is the formula:
Perchloride of iron, well dried 50 gr.
Alcohol at 95° 100 "
This solution must be carefully filtered so as to get rid of any deposit
which may form, and must be preserved in a well-corked bottle, when it
will keep for a long time. The plate is first coated with a varnish of
bitumen of Judea on the edges (if those parts are not already covered
with albumen) and on the back, so that the etching liquid can only act
on the lines to be engraved. It is then placed, with the side to be
engraved downwards, in a porcelain basin, into which a sufficient
quantity of the solution of perchloride of iron is poured, and the
liquid is kept stirred so as to renew the portion which touches the
plate; but care must be taken not to touch with the brush the parts
where there is albumen remaining. The length of time that the etching
must be continued depends on the depth required to be given to
the engraving; generally a quarter of an hour will be found to be
sufficient. Should it be thought desirable to extend the action over
half an hour, the lines will be found to have been very deeply engraved.
When the etching is considered to have been pushed far enough, the plate
must be withdrawn from the solution, and washed in plenty of water;
it must then be forcibly rubbed with a cloth so as to remove all the
albumen, and after it has been polished with a little pumice, the
engraving is complete.
It will be seen that this process may be used with advantage instead of
that of photo-engraving with bitumen, in cases where it is not advisable
to use acids. One of my friends, Mr. Fisch, suggests the plan--which
seems to deserve a careful investigation--of combining this process
with that where bitumen is employed; it would be done somewhat in the
following way. The plate of metal would be first coated evenly with
bitumen of Judea on the turning table, and when the bitumen is quite
dry, it should be again coated with albumen in the manner as described
above. In full sunlight the exposure need not exceed a minute in length;
then the plate would be laid in colored water, dried, and immersed in
spirits of turpentine. The latter will dissolve the bitumen in all
the parts where it has been exposed by the removal of the albumen not
rendered insoluble by the action of light. But it remains to be seen
whether the albumen will not be undermined in this method; therefore,
before recommending the process, it ought to be thoroughly studied. The
metal is now exposed in all the parts that have to be etched, while
all the other parts are protected by a layer of bitumen coated with
coagulated albumen. Hence we may employ as mordant water acidulated with
3, 4, or 5 per cent. of nitric acid, according as it is required to have
the plate etched with greater or less vigor.
By following the directions above given, any one wishing to adopt the
process cannot fail of obtaining good results, One of its greatest
advantages is that it is within the reach of every one engaged in
printing operations.--_Photo News_.
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