Just purchased Mac 512k

#151 Tue, 10 Mar 2009 - 04:18

But it is important for all readers of this thread and the retrobright site to keep in mind that Lumpy has done some excellent work here on 68kMLA. And after reading the retrobright site and the Vintage Computer threads, I see that Lumpy's technique is preferred. ...

So perhaps we need to call the liquid version, LumpyBright? In any case, thank you, LumpyDog.

Actually, Lumpy is just using the first incarnation of what has become RetrOBright, which is quoted below:

“The problem was finally cracked in late July 2008 with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, a small amount of an “Oxy” laundry booster as a catalyst and a UV lamp; we believed that this could do the job in hours instead of days. ... “All of the initial tests were done with a liquid and we realised that for large parts this was getting expensive, so the next stage was to develop a paintable “gel” version that could be brushed onto larger surfaces. ... We have now released this to the public domain for anyone to use, as we can’t patent it and we coined the nickname “Retr0bright” for it, as it summed up what we were actually doing with it.”

So as much as I thank Lumpy for discovering that smaller concentrations work just as well, thereby also reducing cost and improving overall results, I'm afraid very little credit can be attributed solely to him. His discovery of the 303 protectant as a preservative is worth its weight in gold. Perhaps we should call it "RetrOBright/Lumpy-ized".

Actually after tracing the path on the Retrobright page, I discovered that the original English Amiga forum pages have some very interesting background in terms of tracing the evolution of the development of the process. Some good science in there if you're curious. But Merlin has taken credit for creating the magic brew since the beginning, liquid or gel. However, none have ever used as low a concentration as Lumpy.