Geoffrey Crawley`s new FX-55 Developer Formula.

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Keith Tapscott.
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Geoffrey Crawley`s new FX-55 Developer Formula.

Post by Keith Tapscott. »


Keith Tapscott.
Posts: 551
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:58 am
Location: Plymouth, England.

Post by Keith Tapscott. »

I am thinking of trying this formula in a slightly different way than described in the link I posted. I will make up the concentrate as recommended and will make up the working strength developer as follows:

In 900ml of water at 20 degrees Celsius, I will dissolve a `pinch` of sodium sulphite, 1 gram of Metol (Elon) and 1.3 grams of L-Ascorbic acid, then add 100ml of the concentrate for immediate use.

I have chosen to use Metol because it is easier to weigh than the small amount of Phenidone required. I may also add a sequestering agent like sodium hexametaphosphate at about 1-2 grams/litre when making up the concentrate. Comments and advice if this is worth trying are welcome. :idea:

Lowell Huff
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Post by Lowell Huff »

Kieth: Why?

Keith Tapscott.
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Post by Keith Tapscott. »

Lowell Huff wrote:Kieth: Why?
Just curiosity Lowell and boredom. :oops: I`m not expecting anything miraculous. There`s lots of good proprietory developers out there. No Clayton stuff over here yet.

Lowell Huff
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Post by Lowell Huff »

kieth, i can get it there someone needs to order it.

RJ-
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Post by RJ- »

Aren't Crawley's formulae just fascinating? It's lovely to see your formula switch out the phenidone for the metol/sulphite approach; perhaps this combination tames the harshness inherent in the phenidone formulations and renders a more gentle modulated highlight effect?

Or at least, this is the rationale I find for using a metol rich developer, such as Perceptol with Fuji Acros, which otherwise can come across as a little too fierce in the highlights. It seems that the metol/sulphite combination is still very energetic at the concentrations you're using. 5 1/2 minutes is an incredibly short development time scale, suggesting that your combination does indeed have a flattening effect on contrast compared to the more potent Phenidone formulation.

The phenomenon of sudden developer exhaustion doesn't seem too troublesome with deep tank development using an air blockade for storage. Although unorthodox (perhaps, not being a fan of stock developers like ID11/D76/HC110) even Ilford Perceptol as working solution, recommended for up to a maximum half life of 24 hours by Ilford, can be extended to approximately 2 weeks, factoring in a 10% loss of potency per development cycle, and another 10% per week, by resorting to the air blockade method. Perhaps this is not the case with smaller volumes of stock developer......

Thank you for taking the time to share your experimentations too. It looks like you have some other fascinating articles buried in your website. On a minor note, is Is Ilford SLX sounds like a great update to Ilford SFX...!

Kind regards,

RJ

Keith Tapscott.
Posts: 551
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:58 am
Location: Plymouth, England.

Post by Keith Tapscott. »

RJ- wrote:Aren't Crawley's formulae just fascinating? It's lovely to see your formula switch out the phenidone for the metol/sulphite approach; perhaps this combination tames the harshness inherent in the phenidone formulations and renders a more gentle modulated highlight effect?

Thank you for taking the time to share your experimentations too. It looks like you have some other fascinating articles buried in your website. On a minor note, is Is Ilford SLX sounds like a great update to Ilford SFX...!

Kind regards,

RJ
Not guilty your honour, it`s not my site and none of the articles written there are mine. Some of what is on the site I would take with a pinch of salt.

RJ-
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Post by RJ- »

Not guilty your honour, it`s not my site and none of the articles written there are mine. Some of what is on the site I would take with a pinch of salt.
I think so. These days, a pinch of sodium metabisulphite can be very helpful!

Kind regards,

RJ

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