stop bath

[snowqueen]

Darkroom is ready to go and i have iford developer and fixer, my brother when developing uses a weaker solution of developer ( at least i think he said developer) to use as a stop???

is this right? or did i miss hear and it should be a weaker solution of fixer .... at college the solutions where made up and it wasnt something that was explained to us ...

can anyone give me any advice on this, thanks

[taxor]

Using a weak solution of developer (if this is what he is using) will not not perform the same function as a a stop bath. A stop bath does exactly what it says on the tin - it stops development. Usually, they're acidic (either acetic or citric) and work by stopping development more or less immediately. Stop baths also prevent 'carry-over'. This is the gradual contamination of the fixing bath by the developer. A weak solution of developer in place of the stop bath will do neither of these. If you can't get hold of any stop, a plain water rinse is infinitely preferable. Some people even use diluted vinegar, although I'm not sure I'd recommend this (what are you going to put on your chips!). Hope this helps, T.

[snowqueen]

Thanks, i will have to ask him again, as when i used his darkroom he set it up as he explained to me tonight and my prints came out ok? its no hassle to go back to the shop and get some ....

we used developer/stop and fixer at college to develop negs so i was surprised when he didnt have any...

thanks again

[beejaybee]

If you can't get hold of any stop, a plain water rinse is infinitely preferable.

Which is precisely what I've always used, for developing film. You don't really need a stop bath unless (a) the material absorbs a considerable quantity of the developer fluid, (b) the development time is very short in which case you need the stop bath to prevent the developer from continuing to work.

Commercial stop bath fluid is usually just acetic acid, when diluted it's very similar to vinegar except for the colouring in malt vinegar (which will probably stain paper).

You can also use exhausted fixer as a stop bath, its acidic action will halt the action of the developer quickly enough and it will buffer the "live" fixer from contamination - it doesn't matter that it gets dirtied using it this way as it's waste anyway.

[taxor]

I forgot to mention. Like you said, maybe your brother is using a weak solution of fixer instead of a stop. Lots of seasoned printers use a two-bath fixer system but they also use a stop bath. Arguably, fixing is the most critical stage of print processing. Having an image appear on paper is one thing, but having it degrade over time owing to under/over fixing is quite another. Correct fixing of prints requires that you monitor how many prints you fix in a given amount of solution (its capacity - you'll find this on the bottle) and how long you fix them for (higher temp. shorter time). If your brother is using fixer in place of stop, without monitoring capacity, he may well be overfixing his prints.

[taxor]

Ee eck! Who'd a thought stop bath could get us so excited!

[snowqueen]

Thanks for the info

You can also use exhausted fixer as a stop bath,

so for my first printing session, i could just use water....untill i have some 'exhausted fixer' or can get to the shop to get some stop

[snowqueen]

Ee eck! Who'd a thought stop bath could get us so excited!

im excited at getting my darkroom set up and developing my own prints always gets me excited easy to please!

[snowqueen]

Thanks ....

i have my times for developing and fixing, ilford explain it all on there site and i was loaned a couple of good books...specs are on and im reading!

thanks for your help

[taxor]

You are most welcome! Have fun and good luck. Regards, T.

[Gordon_McGeachie]

You could use,as others have said a weak fixer solution, but I used Ilford IN1 stop bath which is readily available from various sources at about £5.50 for a 490ml bottle

http://www.pricera.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?id=28001317

[snowqueen]

Thanks ... my local jessops had one bottle left and i got my student discount on it! so im all ready to go

oh, forgot to buy pegs! damn ......