developing old glass plates

pmiddleditch

pmiddleditch

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peter
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an elderly gentleman i met yesterday asked me to find out where he could get a couple of old glass plates developed locally to where he lives in Northwich Cheshire and the likely cost.this is something i know nothing about at all so im asking here

any help appreciated

peter
 
thanks for that Ozei.

ive got in touch with him for more info and am awaiting a reply however i do know that these were taken by this gentleman and the images on them are of his parents.how long ago i will have to wait and find out but they are not 'ancient'

peter
 
I have stand developed glass plate negs in 1:100 Rodinal, and they came out ok. This combination works for nearly any emulsion provided the quantity of developer is sufficient. Depending on age there may be some base fogging which can be countered by adding something I can't remember, but essentially you can treat most like film, just fragile, smashy film :D
 
I suspect they are just B&W emulsion on glass. In which case, they can be developed in any normal dev. However, as they will probably be quite "slow" they will need to be developed by inspection, rather than in the dark. Not something I'd fancy tbh.
 
pmiddleditch said:
thanks for that Ozei.

ive got in touch with him for more info and am awaiting a reply however i do know that these were taken by this gentleman and the images on them are of his parents.how long ago i will have to wait and find out but they are not 'ancient'

peter
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If he took them himself there's a strong chance they're Kodak (they were making glass plates as long ago as the 1890s) - in which case the boffins at Harrow would be a good bet for advice, assuming you can find the right department.

I went round the Harrow factory once - fascinating stuff. Pitch black in there - couldn't see a darned thing in the 'dark' areas and nearly got turned into a roll of Kodachrome! :eek:
 
I'm betting he doesn't mean developing, my money's on him wanting prints from an existing glass plate...

" i do know that these were taken by this gentleman and the images on them are of his parents." - if the bloke was able to coat and expose his own glass plates, I'm fairly sure he'd have developed them himself right after. Far more likely that he now wishes prints making from the plates, but no longer has his own darkroom and access to the kit.
 
TheBigYin said:
I'm betting he doesn't mean developing, my money's on him wanting prints from an existing glass plate...
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That would be easy - just scan them and print from the scan. I did it with some big glass plate positives dating from 1888. They looked terrific.
 
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My assumption on reading the question was the same as Mark's, not developing per se.

I think this needs to be clarified with the gentleman in question.
 
you guys are clever.quite right the gentleman has now got back to me and he developed the plates himself many moons ago and now just requires a print each from them (2).at 16 cm x 20cm.
so can anyone offer any help as to where reasonably local to Northwich where he could get these prints done from the plates and what might the costs be.i can then pass this on to him,though it will probably be myself that will be getting this done for him

and thanks for all your input guys,its really appreciated

peter.
 
Got a reply from cheshirephotolab today and they do indeed print from glass plates,very reasonable and helpful they are too,so im now sorted

many thanks

peter
 
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