[amilne]

Ok, so, I forgot that in gelatin emulsions silver halide crystals do form very small bits of elemental silver on exposure to light. This is actually where the crystal ends up forming around. On a Dag, either the amount of the halide that does reduce on exposure to light is enough to generate a visible film of amalgam, OR, there is no crystal lattice on the plate at all, rather individual molecules, and the silver halide just goes straight from halide to silver at the touch of light. Fascinating all the same.

[amilne]

Pete, thank you so much. That clears some things up. But there are still things that aren’t checking out. The tiny drops of mercury you describe are probably not mercury, per se. My guess is that the mercury vapor is depositing on the silver as an amalgam. Which is a cool thing that happens with mercury and some metals. And silver halides to the best of my knowledge don’t reduce spontaneously. They need to complete a redox reaction with another chemical. And this is where it gets weird for me, since it seems that the development step is missing. That being said, the AgX film on the silver plate must be miraculously thin. Like, only a few molecules thick. (Dag resolution BTW must be incredible) . And I am no chemist but I believe films this thin can behave in strange ways indeed.

[amilne]

No one knows this?

[amilne]

jgmotamedi wrote:

amilne wrote:
I would ship it inside a a thick, glass bottle, sealed in a metal container with much packing, all in a well-padded box. It will not leak. Shipping to United States only, please.

Why are there legal issues with Marco selling mercury and not you?

 

That’s a valid point. Marco, you saw my post on LFforums, so, no need to go over the reasons. If you really want to ship it contact me via LFforums and I’m happy to coach you through it. Its just that what you are describing is almost a worst case scenario. If you ship it via air it is a worst case scenario. Unless you are talking about a solid iron or steel (not stainless steel) vessel then I would disregard all those comments on LF forums telling you not to worry about it.

And also, yes, I do take exception to pirating my thread! You can start your own, if you’d like.

[amilne]

There are multiple legal and safety concerns with Marco’s proposal.

I contacted the mods about this but I don’t want anyone buying from him in the meantime.

[amilne]

captivelight wrote:

@forum
Is triple distilled Hg the typical type of Mercury that is used for Daguerreotypes? @ OP
If so, I’m interested in buying some if it’s still available. How much do you have? and what part of the country are you in? Thanks, Ben

Yes. “Triple distilled” is just an older term that means the mercury was literally boiled and distilled through a column three times over. Should be no less than 99.9% purity.

Mercury slowly forms oxides over time. The batch I have will have a very thin film of oxide on top. Perfectly normal and I’m sure some of the folks on here may have noticed it on older bottles of Hg. You can skim it off and dispose of it properly at local hazmat day, etc.

I’m in MA. I originally had 1.4 kg, but now only have 250 grams. I’ve sold the other mercury @ $0.20 per gram + $10 shipping to others with great success. Let me know in the thread here if that sounds good and we will discuss how to get in contact with one another, as I’m not about to post my email here.

[amilne]

Let me also say. Shipping to continental US only via ground.

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