I just bought a photo enlarger, and I have no idea how to use it

[Monkeyleg]

Gewehr98, take a look into making platinum prints. I saw a show of work done by Irving Penn on platinum prints, and they had such depth that it was as though you could reach in and feel things. Plus, the depth of the blacks was amazing.

A bit $$$, though.

[zahc]

Me thinks someone is advocating moderne tools

It would make sense if a scanner were a replacement for optical printing. Just because something was invented later doesn't mean it replaces what came before. It's just new and different. The blind acceptance of new technology for its own sense is annoying.

It's kind of like how people still hunt even though they can buy meat. Those who suggest that hunting is pointless clearly don't get it. It also reminds me of a guy in college that I went to a car show with--he didn't understand why people were into old Corvettes because "modern imports are faster, lighter, get better mileage and are cheaper".

They are not old Corvettes, and never will be.

[KD5NRH]

I've always wanted to get back into B&W photography.

Are photo paper and chemicals still widely available in this day of digital photography?

Best luck I've had as far as prices and shipping would be Adorama.

One local grocery store even keeps a few rolls of Tri-X 400 in stock, though I tend to stock up on Ilford Delta Pro whenever I place an order.

If you want to proof it digitally, and even get some pretty good prints that way, look into an Epson refurbished scanner.  I can't speak for the 350, but my 4490 produced all the B&Ws here from Delta Pro and Tri-X 400, both pushed at least two stops and as much as four, and I've had a couple printed at 9x14 that look fine. 

[KD5NRH]

I still want to get into wet-plate techniques, as well as stuff like tintypes and daguerreotypes.

Talk about a witches' brew of chemicals, though.   

Got you covered there too: http://www.photoformulary.com

I think Adorama actually carries just about everything you need too, but it's buried too deeply for me to dig it out on this slow connection.  (Boy, I have gotten spoiled by the DSL at home.)

[zahc]

I guess freestyle photo sells rebranded tri-x and plus-x under their Arista Premium brand. It's only $2 a roll and $30 for 100ft. I'll probably shoot that if I decide to develop film. In the meantime I'll get some XP2 and shoot that because the WAF needs to renormalize around here first. I've been taking up the bathroom every night developing paper negs from my recently-made pinhole camera. I did make one print from a BW400CN negative and it worked pretty well except I think the contrast is kinda flat, probably because of the orange mask; I have Illford MG IV paper but I don't have any color filters at all.

[KD5NRH]

I think Adorama actually carries just about everything you need too, but it's buried too deeply for me to dig it out on this slow connection.  (Boy, I have gotten spoiled by the DSL at home.)

Found it: http://www.adorama.com/CHLL8.html  They have bigger bottles, too.

It's designed for printing to odd media, but I've heard of folks using it for tintypes, etc.  Process just like paper.