Gilding & Drying Stand

People always want to know waht the most difficult part of making Daguerreotypes is - the answer is gilding.  There seems to be some correlation to the varnishing step in Wet Collodion and Gilding in Daguerreotypy. It's a strange and difficult thing to explain in writing. These are all visual processes, every step, you watch and adjust. It's visual and intuative.

Rene designed a "traditional" Gilding Stand for me with the built in feature of being a Drying Stand, too. See the photos/illustrations. Rene thought that this was a better option than using BBQ tongs. I'm also making larger plates - Whole Plates won't fit in BBQ tongs.

Gilding Stand/Drying Stand - this will accommodate both Whole Plate and Half Plate sizes. The drying stand post is removed and the left gilding post is moved into its place and the rack supports Half Plate. In this configuration, it supports Whole Plate. A "Whole Plate" sitting on the Gilding Stand with catch pan for when the meniscus breaks.

Here you see an illustration of me "working the stand". I wish I would have put my pony tail a little higher on my head, but this was in Belgium, and that's the custom there.

The Drying Stand holding a Whole Plate piece of glass.