making and polishing large plates

[Jeremy Lynch]

How would one prepare, make and polish a 20″ x 24″ plate?

I realize that this has been covered in detail in other posts.

But a 20″ x 24″ plate is a whole other insane asylum.

Question, I have heard of Brass being used, the benefit I see is a more solid, perfectly linear plate?

Using a Bosch with 5″ pads seems too small with imperfections being accented, a bigger pad maybe and machine?

Anyways what I am asking is what steps would you take in achieving a quality 20″ x 24″ plate. Complex enough already, but maybe because of the size of the plate it might be easier, a Fata Morgana as you will and yes I am not making sense. One thing I do have on my side is an East German Electro Platting Engineer (He prefers to be known as East German) who is into it.

Thank you for any knowledge shared.

Cheers Jeremy Lynch

[CasedImage]

Hoping not to sound like a wet blanket but it may be the better question to ask is why rather than how. Plates at that size show so much reflection that from any angle it is difficult to see the whole image. Daguerreotypes are best viewed hand held and so something approaching a size that will fit in your hand/s makes this optimal. The general rule with making daguerreotypes is that it gets more difficult as you increase in plate size. I would recommend that once you can make good whole plates then progress to larger sizes.

Adam Fuss makes plates of 11 x 17″ size from memory, perhaps 20 x 24″, I have visited his studio and he has a team of people to assist him in his endeavors.

www.CasedImage.com

[Jeremy Lynch]

Yes I understand what you mean about the size and effect and I agree. But my photographic technique is a little bit different. I want to shoot using a endoscopic lens with no camera. Long multiple exposures. I have done this before with 8 x 10″ Positive film. Please go to http://www.jeremylynch.de to get an idea of what I am talking about. Most of the Dag will not be exposed onto light. Think of it as drawing on a dag with a long pencil shaft of light.

Also the ideal of having a team of assistants around sounds appealing, but I have resorted to growing a third arm instead.

Cheers Jeremy Lynch

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