There are some historical references to buckle brushes which were basically made out of glass rods (I think) and cotton wads (I know). Anyone have one/ made one / know how to make one / have a picture of one? I need one as the process I'm using is so sensitive that it seems to contaminate the brush each time I use it.

conversely I might ask the same question saying that I want to do salt prints but I do NOT want to dip them in a vat of silver nitrate, I want to brush the silver nitrate on the surface. I believe the dedicated brush that I've been using has been the contaminating agent. I"m pretty sure this is the case because the first couple of prints are fine and over time, with exactly the same process I get contamination issues. Any OTHER suggestions?

Thanks for this, I know someone else out there has managed to best this problem before.

See

[books.google.com]

[books.google.com]

[books.google.com]

[books.google.com]

Dan
www.Antiquecameras.net

I sensitize my albumen paper and salt paper with a very non historical FOAM BRUSH, it works great and easy to clean if you want to keep it.

I use cotton pads (found at any drug store) to sensitize salt prints and dispose of them after each use (a trick I learned from Mark Osterman). No contamination.

Dave

I would be concerned about leaving fibers on the surface.

To avoid leaving cotton fibers on the paper (when using the cotton pad applicator) the pad must not be too wet, nor too dry. Too dry and the pad drags on the paper (leaving fibers); too wet and puddles result. I also make 2 applications of silver.

Dave

You can also buy natural cotton from talasonline.com...it's unbleached and has had no chemicals added to it otherwise. It comes in a roll and you just tear off what you need to do a silver application and then throw away the rest.

Coffer describes it in his manual as a "Blanchard Brush" it is a piece of plexi that has a piece of flannel attached to one end. It is reusable. he discusses it as an alternative to the flotation method of creating albumen paper. He calls it albumen printing the EZ way.

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