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This is a modification of the Plain Jane Alpha Hydroquinone that incorporates Borax. Some people really adhere to strong brand loyalty to different types of Borax when it comes to solutions. I picked Mule Team Borax because the box was clearly labeled and displayed at the grocery store. Since I’m using it in about 24g increments; it might be a while before I try another brand.
One of the nice things about Beta Chi was that it was a little softer; and that it offered more of a normal tonal range while still fulfilling my desire for some strong blacks. It’s not as high contrast as the Alpha, but it’s still strong enough to respect and bring some good grays in there.
Longevity; one of the reasons why people will add borax is because it has a chemical property that will restrict the rate of the flow of energy between particles; it’s an alkaline buffer; it will permit reactions, but it tempers the rate at which those reactions occur. I believe I got a little more longevity out of a previous batch of this solution than I did out of Alpha. Plain Jane Alpha will rapidly turn and oxidize to depletion within 72 hours.
In these hydroquinone solutions; if you walk in on them periodically and check, you will notice that there will be a point in the deterioration of the solution that you will actually see the massive oxidation change take place. I believe, from observation of the color change, that at some point the rate will just suddenly increase. I suspect that there may be some type of compounding involved; the progression of the oxidation will increase sharply during a period of 30 minutes. It is so marked, that if you see the change occurring, and you built your solutions the same each time; you could probably time down to the hour when the solution would “turn” if it was stored unused. One might also be able to backsolve print area coverage; I haven’t done this, although I probably should have; the performance of the solution during the 48 hours that Alpha is good and fresh is about “normal”; it’s close to what I would have expected from D-76.
Beta Chi, however, seems to me to be close to Dektol; if Plain Jane Alpha is like Litho developers; then Beta Chi is almost on over to Dektol. I will need to do more research into densitometery in order to make a good assertion; but, gut instinct holds to the description.
Plain Jane Beta Chi
300+ mL warm water
60g sodium sulfite
24g hydroquinone
24g borax
50g sodium carbonate
water to make 1L
Dilute 1:3 or 1:4, as with Plain Jane Alpha.
The print times for Plain Jane Beta Chi seem to be about one stop more than normal. That is, an f/8 exposure with Dektol will require f/5.6 for the same duration and height, to make the print with Beta Chi. Conversely, the same print would have required one stop less, f/11, if it was developed in Plain Jane Alpha; and, the contrast in that solution would be much higher.
This is a modification of the Plain Jane Alpha Hydroquinone that incorporates Borax. Some people really adhere to strong brand loyalty to different types of Borax when it comes to solutions. I picked Mule Team Borax because the box was clearly labeled and displayed at the grocery store. Since I’m using it in about 24g increments; it might be a while before I try another brand.
One of the nice things about Beta Chi was that it was a little softer; and that it offered more of a normal tonal range while still fulfilling my desire for some strong blacks. It’s not as high contrast as the Alpha, but it’s still strong enough to respect and bring some good grays in there.
Longevity; one of the reasons why people will add borax is because it has a chemical property that will restrict the rate of the flow of energy between particles; it’s an alkaline buffer; it will permit reactions, but it tempers the rate at which those reactions occur. I believe I got a little more longevity out of a previous batch of this solution than I did out of Alpha. Plain Jane Alpha will rapidly turn and oxidize to depletion within 72 hours.
In these hydroquinone solutions; if you walk in on them periodically and check, you will notice that there will be a point in the deterioration of the solution that you will actually see the massive oxidation change take place. I believe, from observation of the color change, that at some point the rate will just suddenly increase. I suspect that there may be some type of compounding involved; the progression of the oxidation will increase sharply during a period of 30 minutes. It is so marked, that if you see the change occurring, and you built your solutions the same each time; you could probably time down to the hour when the solution would “turn” if it was stored unused. One might also be able to backsolve print area coverage; I haven’t done this, although I probably should have; the performance of the solution during the 48 hours that Alpha is good and fresh is about “normal”; it’s close to what I would have expected from D-76.
Beta Chi, however, seems to me to be close to Dektol; if Plain Jane Alpha is like Litho developers; then Beta Chi is almost on over to Dektol. I will need to do more research into densitometery in order to make a good assertion; but, gut instinct holds to the description.
Plain Jane Beta Chi
300+ mL warm water
60g sodium sulfite
24g hydroquinone
24g borax
50g sodium carbonate
water to make 1L
Dilute 1:3 or 1:4, as with Plain Jane Alpha.
The print times for Plain Jane Beta Chi seem to be about one stop more than normal. That is, an f/8 exposure with Dektol will require f/5.6 for the same duration and height, to make the print with Beta Chi. Conversely, the same print would have required one stop less, f/11, if it was developed in Plain Jane Alpha; and, the contrast in that solution would be much higher.
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Hey, thanks for writing! Excellent layout over there!
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