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Dinesh and Joy

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 5:07 pm
by JohnFP
Hey, I just thought of a great idea. How about if you offer DCG holographic plates for sale. You could make them to order thus they would be fresh. Seems with the increase in the availabliliy of green diode lasers there may be a need for that market. I have researched and there is no where to buy DCG plates.

Just a thought!!!

Peace!

Dinesh and Joy

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:15 pm
by Tom B.
Nice idea - I'd be interested in trying some MB+TMG red-sensitive plates sometime and it
would certainly be easier (and cheaper when setup costs are included) to buy them ready-made rather than going through all the hassle of making my own.

I suspect, though, that it would be very difficult to produce consistent, high quality plates in small volumes at irregular intervals, handhold customers through the inevitable problems with their use, deal with shipping, billing etc., sell the plates at a reasonable cost, and still make enough money to break even, let alone profit...



Dinesh and Joy

Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 6:51 am
by JohnFP
I disagree. If Dinesh is making a batch of plates already, and he is already consistant then doing a half a dozen or so extra would not be that much of a problem or that much additional cost. From what I recall, Slavich DCG plates sold for about $8 US a piece plus shipping from Integraph and the batch they has were almost a year old. If Dinesh wanted to get serious, he could even contact Integraf and have them list his "DCG plates" on their site. I think with an existing coating process in place and the fact that he probably makes plates once a week it would be very fesible. In fact because he would be the only game in town and DCG is beautifully bright he could probably charge a little more.

Just a thought!

Dinesh and Joy

Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2004 2:57 am
by Tom B.
I confess that I realized that making extra plates could be part of the normal production routine immediately after hitting "respond", but oh well. As to whether it is practically feasible to do this and if it would be a viable business proposition, perhaps Dinesh would be best qualified to answer.

Re consistency, I meant that I thought that due to uncontrollable variations in raw materials, processing environment, storage time, phase of the moon etc. it would be difficult to repeatably produce separate batches of DCG plates with identically optimum exposure and processing requirements. Even Silver Halide manufacturers seem to have real problems with this and I think it would be even harder with DCG. Perhaps DCG plates could be offered in a baker's dozen package - pay for 10 plates and recieve 3 "free" plates - (perhaps a good use for those with cosmetic defects which would otherwise be scrapped) to allow the customer to determine the best exposure and processing for that batch without wasting known good plates.




Dinesh and Joy

Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 5:11 pm
by Dinesh
Actually, we produce about 20 plates in a run. Sometimes when we have a big job we've done 40 in a run. Sometimes we produce 20 in a run and 4 to 6 8x10's. We usually have enough 'goop' left over to make an additional 10 to 15 plates. The standards seem to be as good as Silver to the extent that every plate seems to be pretty much the same. We've had runs of 15 to 17 plates all exactly the same to visual inspection.
I'd be glad to make a set of 10 for a cost and throw in an extra 2 or 3 for testing. Let me know if anyone's interested.
Since I'm not one of the big names in holography, I expect no one will follow through on this, but the offer is open. I think I can say that I know sufficent physics and chemistry to get a reasonable run, but who'd believe it?


Dinesh and Joy

Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2004 5:20 pm
by Dinesh
Good idea John. I don't think anyone will take me up on it. One reason is that I'm increasingly of the view that one reason no one will take holograms from us is that we're not one of the well-known names in holography. After 20 odd years, I'm simply seen as the little Indian camp follower/groupie with beer in his hand! I've heard the most atrocious twisting of 'scientific' and 'mathematical' mumbo-jumbo from these "names" who refuse to accept that a person eduaced in Theoretical Physics may know enough for them to listen. People who can't tell a Jones Matrix from a Poynting vector pontificate mightily on polarisation and everyone around them listens with bated breadth! If you're a name, you can pretty much say anything and they'll consider you an authority on a scientific question on the basis of a big colored display piece.
Anyway,I'd like to state publicly that I'm glad we cleared up the misunderstanding between us. I over-reacted and I'm sorry for it.

Dinesh and Joy

Posted: Mon Jun 07, 2004 9:30 am
by JohnFP
I for one believe it as I have seen your technique and it is very well refined. Don't be surprised if you get some of the DPSS guys wanting to give it a try.

Another option, and I am not sure if I stated this already is so make some plates without the AmDi and let the person that wants the plates to sensitize when they want. This way they can buy 10 but do not have to use them right away, they can sensitize what they want when they want, 3 or 4 at a time. And save the rest in the fridge for the following week. This will help encourage some that feel they could not use all ten in a short time period. And additionally, they could sensitize to different concentrations thus enabling them to maintain a certain amount of control over their desired results. AmDi is very inexpensive and I think the cost of the "unsensitized" plates should cost as much as the sensitized ones. The prep and work would be the same.

How sweet would it be to be able to buy 10 plates, keep them in the fridge, sensitize a few at a time such that they are as fresh as you like. Had I thought about this before I invested so much into making my own plates I would be a regular customer.

I may produce some plates without AmDi and keep them in the fridge for a week then two, and work out the proceedures for sensitizing and post the results here. This will also help me because I almost alway make more plates then I use. It will help me not waste my time making plates I do not use and I would be able to make plates once a month or so.


Peace!

Dinesh and Joy

Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2004 3:37 am
by Tom B.
I'm interested - will email an RFQ for 10 plates for experimentation. Will be fooling around with MB doping for red sensitivity plus whatever else I can find in the kitchen. Maybe a dash of vanilla (supposed to increase sensitivity - I'll have to dig up the paper)

As for not being a big name in the field, status in the holographic Pantheon is irrelevant to my choice of supplier. Quality of product and service come first.