Scientific American Supplement, No. 344, August 5, 1882

by Various

I find that the dry albumen of commerce will answer as well as the fresh. In that case I employ the following formula:

Dry albumen from eggs.............. 15 to 20 parts
Water.............................. 100 "
Ammonia bichromate................. 2.50 "

Always add some drops of ammonia, and keep this mixture in a well corked bottle and in a dark place.

To coat the metal plate, place it on a turning table, to which it is made fast at the center by a pneumatic holder; to assure the perfect adhesion of this holder, it is as well to wet the circular elastic ring of the holder before applying it to the metallic surface. When this is done, the table may be made to rotate quickly without fear of detaching the plate by the rapidity of the movement. The plate is placed in a perfectly horizontal position, where no dust can settle on it; the mixture is then poured on it, and distributed by means of a triangular piece of soft paper, so as to cover equally all the parts of the plate. Care should be taken not to flow too much liquid over the plate, and when the latter is everywhere coated, the excess is poured off into a different vessel from that which contains the filtered mixture, or else into a filter resting on that vessel. The turning table should now be inverted so that the sensitive surface may be downwards, and it is made to rotate at first slowly, afterwards more rapidly, so as to make the film, which should be very thin, quite smooth and even. The whole operation should be carried out in a subdued light, as too strong a light would render insoluble the film of bichromated albumen.

When the film is equalized the plate must be detached from the turning table and placed on a cast iron or tin plate heated to not more than 40° or 50° C. A gentle heat is quite sufficient to dry the albumen quickly; a greater heat would spoil it, as it would produce coagulation. So soon as the film is dry, which will be seen by the iridescent aspect it assumes, the plate is allowed to cool to the ordinary temperature, and is then at once exposed either beneath a positive, or beneath an original drawing the lines of which have been drawn in opaque ink, so as to completely prevent the luminous rays from passing through them; the light should only penetrate through the white or transparent ground of the drawing.

I say a positive because I wish to obtain an engraved plate; if I wanted to have a plate for typographic printing, I should have to take a negative. After exposure the plate must be at once developed, which is effected by dissolving in water those parts of the bichromated gelatine which have been protected from the action of light by the dark spaces of the cliché; these parts remain soluble, while the others have been rendered completely insoluble. If the plate were dipped in clear water it would be difficult to observe the picture coming out, especially on copper. To overcome this difficulty the water must be tinged with some aniline color; aniline red or violet, which are soluble in water, answers the purpose very well. Enough of the dye must be dissolved in the water to give it a tolerably deep color. So soon as the plate is plunged into this liquid the albumen not acted on by light is dissolved, while the insoluble parts are colored by absorbing the dye, so that the metal is exposed in the lines against a red or violet ground, according to the color of the dye used.

When the drawing comes out quite perfect, and a complete copy of the original, the plate with the image on it is allowed to dry either of its own accord, or by submitting it to a gentle heat. So soon as it is dry it is etched, and this is done by means of a solution of perchloride of iron in alcohol. Both alcohol and iron perchloride will coagulate albumen; their action, therefore, on the image will not be injurious, since they will harden the remaining albumen still further. But to get the full benefit of this, the alcohol and the iron perchloride must both be free from water; it is therefore advisable to use the salt in crystals which have been thoroughly dried, and the alcohol of a strength of 95°.

The following is the formula:

Perchloride of iron, well dried 50 gr.
Alcohol at 95° 100 "

This solution must be carefully filtered so as to get rid of any deposit which may form, and must be preserved in a well-corked bottle, when it will keep for a long time. The plate is first coated with a varnish of bitumen of Judea on the edges (if those parts are not already covered with albumen) and on the back, so that the etching liquid can only act on the lines to be engraved. It is then placed, with the side to be engraved downwards, in a porcelain basin, into which a sufficient quantity of the solution of perchloride of iron is poured, and the liquid is kept stirred so as to renew the portion which touches the plate; but care must be taken not to touch with the brush the parts where there is albumen remaining. The length of time that the etching must be continued depends on the depth required to be given to the engraving; generally a quarter of an hour will be found to be sufficient. Should it be thought desirable to extend the action over half an hour, the lines will be found to have been very deeply engraved. When the etching is considered to have been pushed far enough, the plate must be withdrawn from the solution, and washed in plenty of water; it must then be forcibly rubbed with a cloth so as to remove all the albumen, and after it has been polished with a little pumice, the engraving is complete.