Hello, All...

I am toying with the idea of going to a potassium cyanide fixer. Does anybody have any safety or success tips to share in using this type of fixer? Thank you in advance to any and all who may be able to help me in my quest.

Jason Kladiva
Mackinac Island, Michigan

I love the stuff, just remember it'll kill ya real fast.
I only mix up as much as I'll use. I do 1/4 plate mostly so that is about 300 ml for a light day. Use it in a ventilated place, don't stick your head right over the tray, don't mix it with acid. Pretty much the usual safety stuff. In my opinion treat it the same as you would a tray of ammonia. Avoid getting it in cuts. That'll hurt you as it will get right into the bloodstream. When you notice the clearing time getting substantially longer it is time to change the bath. I'll pack some spare cyanide in 3 gram lots. I have some tiny plactic bottles for this. That way I get all my measureing done at one time. The less I handle a 300 gram bottle of this stuff the better. What suprised me was how fast it dissolves in water. I mixed it right in a graduate once, and 1 gram had dissolved before it reached the bottom!
Right now I just bottle and store the used fixer. I have not found a disposal method I really like yet. I've been toying with electroplating with it for Daguerreotype plated. I've had some success.

cheers,
chriso

Thanks for the tips. I appreciate it.

Jason Kladiva
Mackinac Island, Michigan

I use a respirator and saftey goggles and mix it in the garage or outside (plenty of ventilation). I have purchased some from John Coffer, he just lifts the lid off his barrel, and scoops it into a plastic jar. He does put tape around the jar lid, though. The local recycle center has a hazardous disposal day, but I haven't accumulated enough to take it in yet. People on other forums have stated that they take it to a local metal plating shop for disposal, since they use a lot of the stuff. Some of the chemical suppliers have stopped stocking it, it is a hassle to ship. Chemsavers has sold to individuals in the past, it costs $50 extra to ship (with free shipping) for the packaging fees and hazmat shipping fee. Always store it in plastic, dropping a glass bottle with KCn in it could be fatal. For fixing plates, it takes very little KCn, and will fix a lot of plates.

Wayne