Litiholo Film without glass?

[John Howard]

I am currently using Litiholo film (which I think is generically called photopolymer film). I would like to find some that is not mounted on glass plates. The Litiholo film is easily peeled off the glass, but I think that ruins it optically. I did peel a good hologram off the glass and it became no longer viewable.

I'm not even sure where the emulsion is, but it seems to be that the emulsion is sandwiched between thin plastic and the glass and, if so, peeling it off wrecks the emulsion.

Thanks for any clues.

[holomaker]

John I thought I sent you a pack of older convestro/Bayer film to test w. Did you get a chance to text it ?

[John Howard]

I have not tested them yet, but when I handle the package, it feels like glass - similar to the Litiholo.

Glass is giving me a problem and I may be forced to start working with film and chemistry (I have the Integraf kit to start).

That is why I am asking if you know of an instant film which is not mounted on glass. Have you heard of such a product?

[holomaker]

John , I sent you like ten pieces of film and a carrier glass plate to mount the film on .....

[John Howard]

Well, excellent. If I understand you, I have instant film which is not mounted on glass. If so, I can run the next experiment. I'll let you know what happens.

BTW, how do you tell the emulsion side from the carrier side? Use the old wet lips technique?

[holomaker]

It’s easy to to tell once you remove the protective cover ...

[holomaker]

As I told you when I sent it , it’s old and will have bubbles
..... there’s a new photo polymer available In smaller batches . See “Zilux “ thread

[John Howard]

I opened up the film you sent and found 4 pieces. One was stuck to the glass, so I set that one up and made a quick Denisyuk using 10 minutes (same as Litiholo). It worked fine. That piece did have bubbles, etc, as you said, so it wasn't a perfect hologram, but the film is fine.

Then, working under a very dim blue safelight, I peeled a corner of the protective skin off the next piece, so I see how that works. Next experiment will require building a special holder so glass is not needed. I'll let you know how that works.

Meantime, I looked at the Zilux thread and then searched the internet, but found no information other than a facebook page. But nowhere to purchase it. Also, have not been able to find how to purchase the Convestro/Bayer ( I think the name is Bayfol HX200 ).

So that's my next question to you: where do I find these glassless photopolymer films to buy.

Thanks again for sending the film samples.

[jrburns47]

You can buy small quantities of HX200 from Geola in Lithuania. Google them. You can buy sample quantities of Zilux from Harlan Papert. Google him. He’s on Facebook and LinkedIn. A good safelight for the HX200 is an 1 watt amber light: Westinghouse 03465 Nanolux 1 watt 1G19 LED bulb, amber, 4 pack via Amazon. Why wouldn’t you want to apply film to glass?! Doesn’t make sense to me unless you want something curved... Even then, it would make sense to apply to a rigid curved surface. Bayer/Covestro has usage videos on their website(s) - google them. Good luck.

[John Howard]

Thanks again - I will check all.

To answer your question: I am exposing film through slit curtains - I get one perfectly exposed strip, but internal reflections in the glass fog the adjacent film thus ruining the adjacent strips before they are exposed. Some of the object light is coming from a very oblique angle so internal reflections are significant. The slit curtains will hold the film flat and stable, so I won't need glass anyway.