Latest Wet Plate Preparation Work

 Wet plate is all about preparation. I did some work at work and at home in the trailer the last few days.

At work:

- Cleaned and deburred 4x5 plates clear glass plates

- Cleaned and deburred 4x5 plates clear glass and black glass plates.

- Cleaned and deburred 4x5 and 8x10 clear glass plates.

At home:

- Attached  the sewer out from the sinks to the portable sewer tank with an adaptor. There seems to be a blockage in the line, need to figure that out, draining is slow.

- Tested the agitation pump, it works on the 200w Costo battery unit. Not sure for how long.

- Redid the specific gravity of my silver, measuring hydrometer to check that it was a about 1.07. 

- Placed the large free silver storage cooler I got and made from work in the trailer.

- Mixed up another bottle of plate cleaner. 1/3 calcium carbonate, 1/3 Distilled water, 1/3 Alcohol.

I now have 2 larger bottles of about 2500-3000ml each. If one bath has problems I can try the second. I need to buy more EXPENSIVE silver nitrate for future use. I have a small amount in a bottle (misplaced) that I can use for toping up. But to do up larger amounts of Silver that I will need for the 16x20 camera this year I need to get more.

There are 2 problems with the silver bath storage unit. One is that 2 of my bottles are stuck, the foam kept expanding and trapped them. The second is I am getting a slight droplet leak when I tighten the caps on the older bigger bottles that I bought cheaper (should have realized). I need to figure out how to seal those properly so no air gets in and no Silver liquid gets out.

Update* Might try this to get a better seal on the caps, will give it a go after work tomorrow. I will also work on the sewer plugged issue. Got to get the trailer and the rest 100% functioning, so it will be a great tool in the field!

I love how you can find help for almost any problem on YouTube!

How To Stop A Leaking Cap By Improvisation!

Silver Nitrate Cooler