Silver Photo Emulsion | How To Make It Yourself

This Gelatine is absolutely non-toxic, keeps indefinitely and is not light sensitive. It can be shipped anywhere without trouble from custom officials. It has been dosed with the exact molecular amounts of chlorides so you can Make a Silver Emulsion At home in less than 1 hour. An instant emulsion mix.

Besides our Magic Photo Gelatine, all you will need To Make Your Own Silver Emulsion is Silver Nitrate which You Can get from a Chemical Supplier in your own Locality for $ 0.50 to 1.00 per Gram (USD)

Make Rapid Silver Chloride Emulsions at Home

with Lucenta Gelatine and Silver Nitrate

Silver Photo Emulsion Make It Yourself. A New Type of Gelatine Invented By Saul Bolanos allows you to Make your own Silver Emulsion at Home almost instantly.
HOME contact us MAKE YOUR PHOTO PAPER ALTERNATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY LIQUID EMULSION INSTRUCTION MANUAL SILVER COFFEE ART

Thanks to a breakthrough in Gelatine Manufacture, A Gelatine was crafted at the Lucenta™ Cafegrafia® Research Labs In Costa Rica.

This revolutionary photo gelatine allows silver chloride emulsions to be made with an increase light sensitivity of 50 to 100 times.

50 to 100 times more rapid than any other chloride emulsion in history.

Weight out exactly 6 grams of silver nitrate. Use a stainless steel or plastic spoon and gloves to handle the silver nitrate. Weight out the gelatine separately and on different pieces of paper. Never mix with each other weather wet or dry. The only time they should mix is in the presence of hot water under red or dark orange light.
Rinse any dishes or objects thoroughly after contacting silver nitrate dry or in solution. (toxic) otherwise they will stain clothes or hands later. Weighting is critical, it has to be exact. Use same size of paper to weight chemicals. Use same weights to weight the silver as well as the 24 grams of gelatine.

Use a 100 - 250 ml graduated vessel to measure exactly the volumes of distilled water needed.

dissolve silver nitrate

Next, in exactly 60 ml of distilled water dissolve the 6 grams of silver nitrate at room temperature.( in a 4-6 oz glass) Stir with plastic or stainless steel spoon. The solution keeps for many weeks (bottled) if not exposed to daylight. Set aside until needed.

Weight out 10 grams of Citric acid and prepare a 10% solution (non toxic) thus:

Water at room temperature........ 80 ml
ethyl alcohol ........................................20 ml
citric acid .............................................10 grams

Stir until dissolved and bottle it. Solution keeps indefinitely. Without the alcohol it grows mould.

of this 10% solution use (as antifoggant) 12 ml per every 240ml (half of pint) of finished emulsion. Use a 1ml dropper to measure above quantity.

Weight out exactly 24 grams of LUCENTA Chloride Rapid Gelatine granules. (none toxic) Make sure the pieces of paper on both sides of the scales are same size in order to obtain exact equal weight.

The proportions of gelatine to silver nitrate must always the same regardless of the amount of emulsion, otherwise there will be serious trouble.

For example: when making 500 ml of emulsion 48 grams of gelatine must be used with 12 grams of silver nitrate and for 1000 ml (1 liter) 96 of gel for 24 of silver

Next; to a 700 ml to 1.0 liter volume glass jar; add exactly 180 ml of distilled water at room temperature
and the 24 grams of Lucenta gelatine. Immediately after

Stir with plastic or stainless steel spoon for 1 full minute to cause the dry gelatine granules to be moistened evenly. Leave alone with glass jar lid on for at least 5 minutes until the gelatine swells before melting in hot water bath. ( cold water soaking time is not critical)

The glass jar must have a cover or lid to prevent the gelatine solution from loosing water by evaporation during immersion in hot water bath because Gelatine concentration or water content must remain at a constant value, this is critical. A wide mouth jar is to be preferred because it facilitates pouring the silver solution inside the jar ( in precipitation step below ) without missing it.

Plastic vessels could be used but they are poor heat conductors and their lightness may cause them to tip over in the hot water bath.

The mixing jar must be large enough. For 250 ml (8 oz) of emulsion, a 650 - 1 liter volume is adequate. As a rule it should be about 2.5 times larger than the final volume of the emulsion so it will not spill out during stirring.

After soaking in cold water for 5 minutes or more melt gelatine by placing the jar

in a hot water bath at exactly 50c (122 f) The iron pot can be of a 2-4 liter volume.

Water bath level should be a little above the level of final emulsion volume. in this case above 240 ml.

pre-marking the jar with a line at this level is helpful.

Make sure that the jar will not tip over and it sits firmly on floor of the pot.

The jar must be covered with its lid during this time to prevent water from escaping and condensing the solution.

If water bath is 50c (122f) in 20 minutes the gelatine will be at 50c also (no need to take the temperature of the gelatine) the jar may remain in the bath much longer and temperature in its interior will not rise as long the iron pot is not covered (never do that, heat will rise uncontrollably)

Before precipitation (adding the silver solution) the gelatine must be stirred to cause it to go into a perfect solution. See next step 8.

Before turning the room lights off Make sure you have everything near by.

The minute timer, the silver solution, the citric acid, the stirring fork or spoon, and the lid of the jar.
If you are not ready to precipitate, leave gelatine jar capped in the hot water bath until you are.

dry material coated with photographic emulsion

Coat liquefied emulsion at 30 - 35c / 86-95 f in the darkroom by red or orange light.

Use a soft brush. Apply a thin even coat and place material to dry in front of a current of cold air from a fan shown as "A" in fig above.

After 5-10 min. when coat has dried; apply another thin coat, dry again in front of fan and apply a third coat, dry again.

The surface of the material should have an even gloss by then. If there are matt zones, another coat will make it all glossy. Wait at least 12 hours after material has dried before processing it. The coat will be firmer then and the blacks will be denser.

Store each piece of coated material immediately after drying, individually enclosed inside plastic bags or wrapped with cellophane so they will not stick together on humid weather.

processing: develop in dektol 1:2 for 30 seconds
see Make your own 35mm negative film or plates

gelatine solution for making photo emulsion

After heating the gelatine in the hot water bath at 50c for at least 20 minutes, open the jar, and stir for 1 full minute to make melted gelatine to go into perfect solution.

This is done with the jar placed in the water bath.

After this point precipitation by adding the silver can begin.

4. in the darkroom by red or orange light, add the silver solution to the melted gelatine solution heated at 50c while stirring briskly.

5. Ripen emulsion by continuous heating at exactly 50c/122f for another 20 minutes and finally add the citric acid.

Precipitate By red light, start stirring the salts solution with one hand first; then add the silver sol (at room temperature) in a fine stream in a period of time between 5 to 10 seconds, while at the same time agitating briskly.

After adding all of the silver, continue stirring for 1 full minute; Immediately after, put the lid on vessel and Set the timer to ring in 20 minutes which is the time it takes to ripen becoming extremely light sensitive.

The emulsion goes milky by formation of white insoluble silver chloride suspended in gelatine. for consistency always precipitate in same manner and time.

Once mixed, the silver chloride suspended in gelatine is harmless. The emulsion is absolutely non toxic. No need for gloves.

In the next 20 min at 50c ( 122f ) the jar must be opened and agitated 4 times, each stirring lasting for 30 seconds, this can be done about every 4-5 minutes always Capping the jar at the end each agitation to avoid condensation.

Poor agitation leads to lower contrast. The more it is agitated the better. An ordinary stainless steel dinner fork causes less splashes preventing emulsion to exit jar, especially if it is small.

At the end of 20 min. ripening;

take jar out of hot water bath and add the 12ml of citric acid stirring for 30 seconds. Ripening is now over. If continued for another 10 minutes emulsion could fog.

Never hold at this temperature 50c/122f again. Its final volume should be about 250 ml / 8.33 oz

If emulsion is to be coated on glass for negative or positive work; For easy flowing and suppressing bubbles on glass add now: 25ml of ethyl alcohol and stir well before filtering.

filter liquid photo emulsion While it is still hot, if it is going to be coated on glass plates filter through a linen handkerchief rested on a funnel.

Use hands to press emulsion through linen if necessary. Filtering minimizes bubbles during coating. Do not shake or stir emulsion violently after this. Treat emulsion gently

Place emulsion jar inside a light proof container.

To make one; use an empty tin food or paint can
(shown as B in fig 12)

Put emulsion jar inside and make a cover for it with several folds of tin foil shown at C. which may be held secure with a string or a rubber band.

Make sure the there is no light leaks (fog)

Place emulsion now in its light proof container immediately inside the refrigerator.

Before using wait at least 2 hours until it sets into a solid stiff jelly.

chilled and held At 5c ( 23 f ) or below emulsion will retain its speed acquired at the end of ripening and will not fog for at least 6 months.

It will not change speed as long as it is not heated or left out at room temp for more than 2-4 hours.

Never heat it again or leave it out of the fridge unless all of it is going to be coated To use it see next step.

After chilling the fresh emulsion for a few hours (or days or weeks) Take out of the refrigerator,

it will be a solid milky white mass. In darkroom by red or orange light Scoop out with a spoon only the portion that is going to be coated or tested.

Melt this portion for use only. Leave the rest of the stock emulsion undisturbed and unheated and return it inside its light proof container to the refrigerator as soon as possible where uncoated will keep ready to be used again for a long time.

If left at room temp it will continue to gain speed, in 24 hours it will double, and in 48 hours it will fog.

Left over, melted by heat, but uncoated emulsion should not be placed back together with un-heated stock emulsion because it this portion was heated too long or too hot ; it may have gained more speed than the unheated portions.

Coat any left over heated emulsion on paper and use it for exposure test strips instead.

melt emulsion for coating For melting ice cold emulsion for coating, after scooping out the estimated quantity or portion to be used, and placing it in a small glass jar,

it is immersed in water at 50c (122 f) but just long enough to melt all of the emulsion until it all liquefies without ever

becoming as hot as 50c (122f) When all has become a liquid, it is taken out of the hot water bath, it will have a long liquid phase. Especially if the alcohol was added. But on cold weather, to keep it fluid, it is kept warm by sitting it above the water level as shown in next step or figure.

Emulsion is non toxic; it can be handled and probed with fingers. Do not shake (bubbles) when to be coated by flowing on glass for negative or positive work.

To keep liquefied emulsion at 35c for coating. Sit a larger dish inside water bath at 50c (122f) shown as "A " in figure. And on top of it, place the liquefied emulsion jar.

In this way emulsion will keep fluid for coating at around 30-35c (86-95 f) without ripening too much. This will keep it from developing fog as long as the same portion of emulsion is not heated more than 4 hours at this temperature.(35 c / 95 f )

To insure this, melt just enough emulsion for the job and coat it before 4 hours. in this way also, thermostat settings of 50c, will not be disturbed to continue rapidly making more fresh batches of 250 ml (half pint) emulsions. Coating see next step.

Shelf Life of Coated Material

All material coated in any work session will retain on drying, the speed and contrast that the emulsion has acquired at any particular stage of its uncoated life in humid form.

So date with notes each coated lot of materials and save this written data along the paper that was coated for test exposures.

Pure chemically inert coated material like watercolor paper or glass, will retain same speed without fog for a long time: 60 days or more.

But according to storing conditions, and the amount of time and temperature the fresh liquid emulsion was heated before coating; it may gain twice the speed in a later date and finally it will develop Age fog giving impure whites.

For consistency it is advised to process coated material as soon as possible. Less than 4 weeks on chemically active surfaces like materials painted with “any type” of commercial paints.

Thinner: for coating large areas, dilute or thin down with 5-10% of water to facilitate spreading.

Alternative Photography: make your own negative material
Can be exposed in the Camera for Negative Work

Above, window glass plate size: 35 x 50mm coated with 0.75 ml
of the Rapid Silver Chloride photo emulsion and exposed in a
35mm camera for negative work. Exposure for front lit subject
under bright sunlight: 1/2 of second at f 4. (film or plate speed
Rated at ISO: 0.5 ) Developed in dektol 1:2 for 30 seconds.

see alternative photography make your own 35mm negative film or plates

Enlarging Speed for Positive work: For a 2x enlargement by projection. - Lens opening: f 4. Lamp source: 75 w ordinary incandescent bulb: 10 to 20 seconds. Contrast: grade 4
Processing: see Lucenta Instruction Manual below

make photo emulsion with this amazing gelatine step by step instructions with every package of Lucenta Gelatine
Buy 250 grams
of Lucenta Gelatine for $ 50 USD
plus shipping

Enough amount to Make 10 half of Pint ( 250ml )
Batches of Emulsion

less than $ 15 per half of pint
full instruction manual with every package.