Pt/Pd prices

[PVia]

I noticed that Pt and Pd prices have fallen to new multi-year lows in the commodities markets.

Shouldn't we be seeing a drop in retail prices for chemical solutions and powders as well?

[Robert Hall]

I think the actual purchase of raw materials takes a while to see the results.

I found some on ebay the other day thanks to Jeremy Moore and after jumping through a few hoops purchased 50 grams of Palladium for 7.74 a gram. Now if I could find a similar deal on platinum!

[Davec101]

I saw that too, apparently its used in catalitic converters and with there being a downturn in car manufacturing the price has been going down for the last year or so, would be interesting to hear if bostick and sullivan will be able to pass on these savings.

[Vaughn]

I imagine that buying expensive metals is a chancy thing for B&S...as prices rise, how much should they buy? Do they buy a bunch at $1500 so that their customers can afford to use it, in anticipation of the price going to $2000? Then if the price drops, they can't drop their price all the way down until they recoup their costs of what was bought when the price was high.

I'm just guessing that that is how it works -- being in that business during times like these would keep me up at night!

Vaughn

[domaz]

So that's why people are stealing catalic converters out of cars so much around here. I thought the thiefs were drug addicts but apparently they are just poor Pt printers.

[Robert Hall]

How much does one get out of a converter?

[Vaughn]

How much does one get out of a converter?

I usually get two 8x10's per converter.

On a different topic, cars in my neighborhood seem to be getting louder lately. I wish people would keep their cars properly running.

Vaughn

Edited...PS...3 to 7 grams per converter. The auto industry is trying to find ways to reduce this by 70 to 90% by using nano-particles of the metals. Seven grams = about 0.25 oz, so when platinum hit $2000+ an ounce, that's $500 worth of platinum!

Obviously I need to improve my extraction method -- I should be able to get a whole portfolio of 8x10 prints out of one converter! If not several editions of a portfolio! :o There is only 5 grams of platinum salts in a 25 ml bottle! (And I have no idea how much of the platinum metal that represents).

[Robert Hall]

Nice!

[waynecrider]

Reading the latest View Camera magazine articles on Alternative processes, I thought I'd check out doing some Palladium printing, but at the cost of the materials for an 8x10 print it's astronomical for an enthusiast. It was enlightening in reading that in the heyday of the art the cost of materials again was the limiting factor in the furtherance of the medium for enthusiasts, and besides what alternatives might be coming to the market at a lesser cost, caused the decline of the PT/PD medium overall. Maybe at the prices we're seeing in the market there will be a decline in interests again and the medium will fade? Surely many cannot experiment in this economy at the prices I'm seeing for supplies. Maybe history is repeating itself?

[Robert Hall]

Really if one is just starting out I would think one crazy not to do Van Dykes instead. They have the same look and feel of PT/PD but are a fraction of the cost. Get a kit from the formulary or contact me and I can give you a list of what you need.

I use that in all my classes as it is just so easy to do with none of the pain of screwing up a $30 print for learning.