[LargeFormat] Amidol: a better way to mix it

[Clive Warren]

At 16:28 23/11/2002 -0500, Curt Miller wrote:
>An idea to share.
>
>I take zero credit for this.  I was in my friend Shelby's darkroom last
>weekend and he explained his methods for mixing amidol.  Shelby's one of the
>finest printers I know and his techniques are the result of years of
>methodical work...so I listened very carefully.
>
>Most of us who use amidol have experienced flying black powder and black
>smudges on our prints.  Use a small electric hand blender to mix the amidol
>powder into solution and your problems are over.  I bought a Sunbeam brand
>hand blender at Wal-Mart for $10 and used it today for the first time and
>it's great.  Should find good use to mix lots of chemistry, in fact.
>Another important procedure Shelby shared was the importance of filtering
>the amidol through a basket-type coffee filter before use.
>
>Using amidol is (almost) as easy as using Dektol now.
>
>
>Curt

Curt,

Thanks for sharing that with us. I will probably be starting to use Amidol 
very shortly as there is now some Azo paper winging its way to the damp 
shores of England. We now have Wal-Mart here in the UK so there may even be 
a similar product on sale locally. Do you find that the mixer introduces 
air into the chemicals - do you leave it to stand?

Final question (honest!), do you use Amidol as a general paper developer or 
is your use for Azo paper?

Cheers,
            Clive