Home Made Ink (Mostly Ig) & **tips And Tricks**

[Sakura]

My thoughts are indeed inky today, this being my second question in this forum.

 

So, can you soften the undesirable qualities of iron gall ink by mixing it with other inks? Any other ink, although with my MB blue-black I might turn up with some strange colours depending on what ink.

 

I'm not necessarily looking for permanent or waterproof properties in the resulting mix, but it would be interesting to note what durability or other properties it does yield.

 

 

[NeoTiger]

I have mixed Rohrer & Klingner's Iron Gall Salix with other blue inks before, with no bad results. I think that modern iron gall inks are already mild enough that they won't damage fountain pens as long as you give regular cleaning/maintenance (which I'd do with any pen anyway).

 

The result was a blue ink which dried to a much paler colour, and had a water resistant component to it.

 

Now that I've got Noodler's Luxury Blue, I prefer to use that for mixing with non-water-resistant inks.

[Lloyd]

I'd recommend giving any ron gall mixes a day or two rest prior to use. They're usually very acidic and, as such, can cause precipitates.

[mschaffer]

My thoughts are indeed inky today, this being my second question in this forum.

 

So, can you soften the undesirable qualities of iron gall ink by mixing it with other inks? Any other ink, although with my MB blue-black I might turn up with some strange colours depending on what ink.

 

I'm not necessarily looking for permanent or waterproof properties in the resulting mix, but it would be interesting to note what durability or other properties it does yield.

 

Well, it is not always a good idea to mix inks because you never know what will happen.

 

Of course, this is also why it can be fun to mix inks. Some are compatible, some aren't. This is true of all inks---iron gall or not.

 

Also, keep in mind that just about all iron gall inks that are on the market for fountain pens are already a mixtue of the iron gall ink and another dye (so it can be seen easily when it is firs applied to the paper).

 

I would think that if you diluted the iron gall ink enough to raise the pH (i.e. less acidic), or if components in the other ink neuturalized the gallic and gallotannic acids, the reactions that form iron gall pigments would be retarded or prevented completely.

 

Sure, you may end up with some different colors, but the whole process depends on what specific inks you are mixing together.

Just be careful of precipitates that may form when you mix any two inks together.

[Sakura]

I will proceed as advised. There are better inks to mess around with, but I'm looking for something interesting to use up the MB blue-black and learn in the process.

Edited August 5, 2007 by Sakura

[Sakura]

A follow-up to this discussion, now that my Montblanc pen is back in working order (the only pen I care to use iron gall inks with for now).

 

My initial reason for wanting to mix MB blue-black was curiosity and wanting to use up the ink. However since then I've decided I want inks that have water-resistant (or semi WR) properties.

 

When I tested my cleaned-out 146 to see if it worked, I inked it up with my old-bottle MB green. While the pen worked great (huzzah!), the green was so light as to be difficult to read on my preferred Seyes-ruled paper.

 

I looked at my MBBB, and then I looked at my MB green, and suddenly

 

Yes, mix them together, not just because they are there, but because I suspected it would make a fabulous dark turquoise blue.

 

I wasn't off the mark by much at all...it's a lovely shade that resembles Noodler's Legal Lapis but even a bit richer. I just have to tweak it to get it more blue than green, to my preference. The water-resistance is not perfect but acceptable to me.

 

Thanks to the advice I received here (thank you, Lloyd, mschaffer, and NeoTiger :clap1: ), I am taking care to let it sit overnight to be sure that precipitates won't poison the experiment (and knock my 146 back out of commission). If the result proves precipitate-free and interesting enough for public consumption, I'll post pictures and details, and link them to the Ink Recipes pinned thread.

 

If it weren't for the helpful people in this forum, I would not have had the courage to attempt either project -- cleaning out my abused pen, or mixing the inks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sakura]

My ink-mixing experiment has been accomplished precipitate-free, so the results [insert drum roll here]:

 

Some comments about the ink...you'll notice the striking resemblance to Noodler's Legal Lapis. With my apologies to Mr. Tardiff, I was not trying to make a knockoff. I'm accomplishing two things - one, using up inks I have, and two, saving money in a budget crunch But on my monitor at least, the resemblance is striking, which doesn't make me unhappy.

 

To reiterate the recipe for clarity's sake...one part Montblanc Blue-Black to one part Montblanc Green (the emerald shade, not hunter). You can go up to two parts green, if you like a greener peacock blue, but you'll have of course lighter traces of gall left if your writing takes a bath.

 

Here's mine post-bath:

 

 

As predicted, the iron gall is left, so the more you have in the mix, the more water resistance you have. The traces of green left on the paper are where the most concentrated Q-tip applications were; with plain text, nothing is left of the green.

 

This ink feathers on cheap paper. It is just fine on good paper, but it is certainly not a fast-dryer, so go forth, tilt paper, and underwrite, ye lefties.

 

The writing in the photos was done with my newly-restored MB 146, which has an M nib, but I'm surprised at how broad it is (been a long time since I wrote with it, if you've followed the story.) I have a journal with narrow ruling, in which I can't write with this pen. I made the ink to use with it though, because of the iron gall content, and because a broader nib shows off the shading.

 

Speaking of shading...I find it a bit too varied in this ink, but various mixes didn't even it out. I can live with it...until I can afford Noodler's

 

 

The question remains for me: does diluting the MBBB in this ratio make it safe enough for steel nibs, or should I not take the chance? Any thoughts appreciated.

[titrisol]

Blue-green

since I was in chemical engineering school I made my own type of ink

 

about 0.1g of MethyleneBlue

Dissolve in 50ml of alcohol

Filter in a whatman paper #5 (coffee filter should be fine) to get the grit out

 

Dissolve the resulting to 100-150 ml with water depending on the shade.

 

I'll try to get my paws in some more Mthylene blue to replicate this and post a sample

 

 

[pgary]

I have just registered with the fountain pen network.

My hobby is to made iron gall inks for fountain pen from chemical reagents.

So I would like to ask your comments about my homemade iron gall ink.

I have uploaded videos about the my inks <a href="http://iron-gallink.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.

Sorry, my poor english.

 

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ds6k-mtng/my-homemade-ink.gif

Edited June 13, 2012 by saskia_madding

[LDB415]

Welcome and don't worry about your English. It is far better than millions of people. Cool hobby you have. Are you a chemist by trade?

Edited September 3, 2009 by macthemaths
Tidying up.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I like the one labeled Fiord!

[djpyle]

I have just registered with the fountain pen network.

My hobby is to made iron gall inks for fountain pen from chemical reagents.

So I would like to ask your comments about my homemade iron gall ink.

I have uploaded videos about the my inks here.

Sorry, my poor english.

 

Very cool. I love the melon color.

[ZeissIkon]

Nice. I've been working my way up to making some iron-gall ink, more or less the old fashioned way, with tea to supply tannic acid, and copperas (ferrous sulfate, sold as a lawn and garden supplement) for the iron.

 

Have you found the need to add flow modifiers, detergents, or other things to your inks for fountain pen use?

[pgary]

Thank you for everyone for very constructive comments.

I am very happy to read these comments.

 

I have a license as a pharmacist in Japan, so I can obtain and prepare the reagents.

 

"Base" is the original solution of the iron gall ink without dye reagent.

"Fiord" is a mix of "base" and blue dye.

 

"Melon" is a mix of "base", blue dye and yellow dye.

Immediately after writing using "Melon", the brushstroke is light green (Melon color), but it changes color to gradually deep green (Matcha color).

(Matcha is a type of green tea used for traditional tea ceremony.)

 

I don't use any detergents or surface-activating agents.

Even if they are not added, the ink flow is very good.

[scribbler77]

Thanks for posting. Your English is fine. Much better than my Japanese.

 

What is the pH of your iron gall inks?

[pgary]

Thanks for posting. Your English is fine. Much better than my Japanese.

 

What is the pH of your iron gall inks?

 

Thank you for your comment!

The pH of my iron gall inks is 2.0.

I measured the pH value by a pH meter (HORIBA Twin Compact pH meter B-212).

http://www.horiba.com/scientific/products/water-quality/ph-meters/details/b-211-212-213-twin-compact-ph-meter-416/

[mooshi]

I've become quite interested in making my own ink. Scouring the web, I've found most of them to contain galls (which are not available to me) or things that I have never heard of. I'm pretty sure you all have had this curiosity as well. Just wondering what you've all done in your "quest" for homemade inks.

 

On FPN, I ran across a thread about making iron gall ink, but it's been a couple of years since the last post and has long been abandoned. It included the use of steel wool (for iron sulfate?) and strong tea for the tannin.

 

In my own experience, I have tried to make the "India (?)" ink with the soot, water, and gum arabic. Which... failed because I was trying to make dextrin out of corn starch to replace the gum arabic (similar chemical properties). Well, mostly because I burned the corn starch rather than "roast" it. xD Do keep in mind that I was doing this all in my room with a tea candle and some foil.

 

I think I'll buy the gum arabic when Michaels emails me another 50% off 1 item coupon, making the whole bottle about $6-7.00USD. Wait, is the Winston&Newton (?) brand alright for the job? The bottle said it was for water colours.

 

I'll soon be starting on trying out the steel wool/tea combo.

 

ANYWAY! I'm getting a little sidetracked. Please do post anything you feel about the topic. Your own experiments (fails AND successes!), and any ideas you might want to try, or maybe ideas that you're too afraid of trying but are still curious about- somebody else might just pick it up for you! I'd like to hear about these things and I'll bet a bunch of other forum members would too. Post away!

 

-- Moo

 

Note: I hope for this to be an open discussion rather than just answering my questions. ^^

 

**ETA: grammatical errors

Edited September 19, 2009 by mooshisho

[mooshi]

Looks like my "india" ink (lampblack/soot + water + dextrin) didn't turn out too badly.

 

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h238/mooshisho/test.jpg

 

The left side was submerged in water until the paper was drenched all the way through, then left to dry. The right hand side was just used for reference. There was no runoff whatsoever. Not even on my finger when I rubbed it. O_O

 

BTW, I used a dip pen for this experiment. There was still some sediment left over. I would assume that it's the soot since the floaties looked irregular. Corn starch dextrin would have been more or less the same shape throughout.

 

But not bad for my first experiment.

 

-- Moo

 

**ETA: ... If I were to filter it... would it be made usable for cartridges or would the soot just go away leaving me with clear water? xD I THINK India ink is just soot suspended (by use of gum arabic) in water...

Edited September 19, 2009 by mooshisho

[lapis]

I don't make my own ink (from scratch) because that would be too complicated and expensive for me.

I think I know what I could buy and where to buy it in the way of aniline dyes and certain colouring compounds.

But then I'd always need to check out the pH (which is easy) and the length of stability and range of stabilizing factors in regard to room temperature, light shading, fluidity, addition of non-ionics like Triton or Emulgen etc., which all become more and more time-consuming.

IMO it's easier and faster and cheaper to buy any of the hundreds (thousands?) of inks available and then mix. I do that all the time.

I'm always interested e.g. in my own special mix resulting in a black-purple-brown. There are so many of each colour already available that there's still no end in experimentation to be seen. Plus, working out "the" concentration ratio (e.g. 1:5:2 or 1:8:3) is fun. That's all.

 

Mike

[ZeissIkon]

**ETA: ... If I were to filter it... would it be made usable for cartridges or would the soot just go away leaving me with clear water? xD I THINK India ink is just soot suspended (by use of gum arabic) in water...

 

Depends on the carbon you used, what you'd get. Common lampblack pigment, as sold for hard-core artists who mix their own paints, is coarse enough that most of it will stay in a fine filter, but there is carbon available in nanoparticles that will readily pass a coffee filter.

 

I'm working on making some iron tannate ink, hopefully this weekend. I got some steel cuttings from a pipe threading machine at work that I was going to use for the iron, completely forgetting that I also have a bunch of woodworker's steel wool balls (which don't require me to find a way to wash the cutting oil off the steel). I have battery acid that I'll add to the mix to make the steel react (I'll probably neutralize the solution with baking soda once it's "ripe", so the resulting ink isn't too acidic), and I plan to use very strong black tea as the tannin source. Like you, I'll be making dextrin from corn starch, and I also bought a tiny bottle of glycerin; those two will act as flow modifiers. Iron-gall ink (especially if not colored with paper ashes as was commonly done in medieval times) should pass a filter easily, as the working ink is a solution, rather than a suspension, and even a medieval formula shouldn't damage a modern pen (at least not quickly). I suspect I'll have to find a source of dye to color the ink so I can see it on the page before it darkens, but I'll be able to see how the ink acts, at least.

 

I'll be posting results here once I have something...