Speckles in Varnish
Okay gang, not sure where else to turn. I cannot get rid of fucking speckles in my varnish process. It seems to happen every time, some times are worse than others.
I've tried premade Shellac, premade Sandarac, making my own Sandarac
Wiping plates with microfiber cloth
Heating at a lower temp (vs like the UV Photographics varnishing videos)
Heating for less time
Using Chemex filters to strain the varnish
Waiting for days & times with low humidity
Using toaster oven
Using heat gun
What I haven't tried:
Cleaning plates with alchohol after removing plastic peel before shooting
Using distilled water through the whole process / final clean instead of tap water
These speckles appear without heat. At first I thought it was gasses etc trapped underneath when I heated it but I don't really think that's the case anymore as they appear before heating.
I've annoyed all of my tintype friends to death on this and none of us can come up with an answer. It seems to always happen SOME, but sometimes it's really bad. I've been shooting wet plate for over a year and this is something I just can't seem to solve. Any insight is super appreciated!
Some woodworking/construction friends have suggested using distilled water during the whole process (they think its hard water causing it maybe) - that seems a little crazy to me but will try it.
Here are some photos/videos as reference.
Excuse how exasperated I sound in the video, its just been an issue for so long and I can't seem to figure it out! These were videos sent to other wet plate friends.
https://reddit.com/link/1t7na9z/video/sujlsnh7szzg1/player
