Pomegranate Ink

[smk]

Thanks, keeping the air out makes sense now that you have mentioned it :-) I have a few cloves in there, I'll add some more.

 

Salman

[smk]

I'm happy to report that the ink has darkened over the last few days. It goes down a dark olive-grey and darkens to an almost black shade in a few minutes but continues to darken over the next day or so to an intense black that is slightly glossy. The ink is fairly well behaved and doesn't feather or bleed on any but the worst papers.

 

The writing is somewhat raised and one can easily feel them when running a finger over them suggesting some particulate matter in the ink. Water resistance has improved somewhat but I can't say for sure as I haven't really tested it properly.

 

The ink doesn't flow as well out of broad-edged nibs. Adding a bit of Alcohol might help with that but it might make the ink feather and bleed. I'm quite happy with the interesting shading I'm getting at the moment.

 

I suspect my concoction might be a bit too acidic as the Brause and Mitchel nibs I used with the ink have changed color where they are in contact with the ink. I'm planning on making a test solution from red-cabbage to check for acidity/alkalinity.

 

S.

[Aysedasi]

A really entertaining thread - thanks

[fiberdrunk]

I'm happy to report that the ink has darkened over the last few days. It goes down a dark olive-grey and darkens to an almost black shade in a few minutes but continues to darken over the next day or so to an intense black that is slightly glossy. The ink is fairly well behaved and doesn't feather or bleed on any but the worst papers.

 

The writing is somewhat raised and one can easily feel them when running a finger over them suggesting some particulate matter in the ink. Water resistance has improved somewhat but I can't say for sure as I haven't really tested it properly.

 

The ink doesn't flow as well out of broad-edged nibs. Adding a bit of Alcohol might help with that but it might make the ink feather and bleed. I'm quite happy with the interesting shading I'm getting at the moment.

 

I suspect my concoction might be a bit too acidic as the Brause and Mitchel nibs I used with the ink have changed color where they are in contact with the ink. I'm planning on making a test solution from red-cabbage to check for acidity/alkalinity.

 

S.

 

Iron gall inks are definitely acidic and will corrode steel nibs (it's also bad for the longevity of the ink in the bottle and on the page). It's best to use a feather quill, glass pen, reed, or a gold-plated nib. JBB here on FPN sells some really nice gold-plated monoline nibs. I have put them through their paces with my various homemade inks, and haven't corroded one yet. Mine get heavy use, too.

 

You can try filtering the ink one more time through a couple of layers of cloth. I've gotten better at this after lots of practice in ink-making. My early batches felt gritty on the page once they were dried. Now I can barely feel them, if at all.

 

I'm glad your ink did indeed darken. Iron gall inks are so unpredictable sometimes. Try it out on different kinds of papers. I find cotton rag papers don't really allow the ink to darken. Bleached copy papers do, though.

[WhosYerBob]

This is awesome! I messed around with iron gall inks a few years ago, didn't like the results and got rid of them. However, I've recently rediscovered them (I'm now past my über concentrated dye ink phase) and have a growing appreciation of the incredible shading they can produce. Many thanks!

[smk]

Thank you fiberdrunk. I will filter it one more time to see if it changes the thickness of the dried writing. The ink doesn't feel grainy at all while writing (I have filtered it 2-3 times) but dries similar to Sumi ink. The effect is not unpleasant at all. I plan on using the ink only with dip nibs so I'm not worried about clogged feeds.

 

My main use for the ink would be for pointed pen Calligraphy practice. I do like the way it performs in my flex nibs. The hairlines are just superb on all but the worst paper.

 

I made another batch today from 2 fresh peels. Boiled the peels down from about 6 cups of water to 1 and then added another cup and brought to a boil again. This batch did come out darker than the last one and based on initial impressions, it flows better too. I'll report back in a 2-3 days with an update after it has matured a bit.

 

Interestingly, both my old ink and the new brew tested borderline alkaline. It is possible that some other ingredient in the Ferrous Sulphate tablets I used is making it so but now I don't know why the coating from my nibs is wearing off. I was planning on adding a bit baking soda to counter the acidity but didn't need to. Maybe I'll add some vinegar to a bit of the new batch and see if the nibs fare better with it.

 

Thank you for sharing these recipes. I'm really enjoying ink-making the process.

 

Salman

[fiberdrunk]

That is so amazing! Well, we're learning all the time and we benefit from each other's experiments. I hope you'll post your cooked-down version. I'm sure that will interest a lot of people looking for darker inks.

[vaelen]

Fiberdrunk: Are the amounts of iron sulfate in the chart based on using high yield copperas? (I mean, did you use 2 oz of high yield copperas?)

 

Also, is the high yield copperas you use 100% iron sulfate, or does it contain fillers? The iron sulfate fertilizers I've found locally are only 10% or 15% iron sulfate and the rest is filler.

 

I'm trying to figure out how much iron sulfate I need to use based on what I can find locally.

[fiberdrunk]

Fiberdrunk: Are the amounts of iron sulfate in the chart based on using high yield copperas? (I mean, did you use 2 oz of high yield copperas?)

 

Also, is the high yield copperas you use 100% iron sulfate, or does it contain fillers? The iron sulfate fertilizers I've found locally are only 10% or 15% iron sulfate and the rest is filler.

 

I'm trying to figure out how much iron sulfate I need to use based on what I can find locally.

Yes, I used that amount of Hi-Yield Copperas. So far as I can tell, there's only iron sulfate in it. The label says:

 

 

Guaranteed Analysis:

 

Sulfur (S) -- 11% Combined sulfur (S) ..... 11%

Iron (Fe) -- 19% Water Soluble Iron (Fe) ... 19%

 

Derived from: Ferrous Sulfate

 

Information regarding the contents and levels of metals in this product is available on the internet at: http://www.aapfco.org/metals.htm

 

Nothing else is listed. The website doesn't look very helpful. I'm not a chemist, so I assume this means no fillers, but then again, it doesn't add up to 100%.

 

eta: this is the iron sulfate I have used for all my iron gall inks since I first started making ink and it has worked well. Some of my inks are almost 3 years old now and haven't precipitated out yet. I hope this is a good sign and that the iron sulfate was a good one.

Edited September 30, 2013 by fiberdrunk

[vaelen]

Thanks! That was just what I was looking for.

 

I found this online: http://alphachemicals.com/ferrous_sulfate

 

That is basically the same stuff from what I can tell, so I ordered a 5lb bag. $8 for the bag and $8 to ship it to me.

 

Once it gets here I'll be in business! A friend of mine has a pomegranate tree and he's collecting the skins for me.

 

I'll post pictures once I've got something to show.

[vaelen]

Oh, and from what I've seen, the other 70% is water. The chemical composition is actually FeSO(4)*7H(2)O, where the FeSO(4) is the "iron sulfate" and the 7H(2)O is "heptahydrate". Apparently you can find iron sulfate in various degrees of hydration, but that one is especially common and easy to produce. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(II)_sulfate#Hydrates)

[fiberdrunk]

Oh, and from what I've seen, the other 70% is water. The chemical composition is actually FeSO(4)*7H(2)O, where the FeSO(4) is the "iron sulfate" and the 7H(2)O is "heptahydrate". Apparently you can find iron sulfate in various degrees of hydration, but that one is especially common and easy to produce. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(II)_sulfate#Hydrates)

 

Thanks for the awesome information!!

[Dillo]

Wow! Here's an ink I could actually make. I know where I can get a goodly supply of pomegranate peels. I'm so glad you posted some recipes.

 

Dillon

[fiberdrunk]

Wow! Here's an ink I could actually make. I know where I can get a goodly supply of pomegranate peels. I'm so glad you posted some recipes.

 

Dillon

 

Good luck with it! I hope you'll post your results! I'm chomping at the bit to make a fresh batch of pom ink. It's been a couple years since my last batch. I'd like to try it with an even stronger concentration of pomegranate peels next time. I'm waiting for poms to show up in the stores.

[fiberdrunk]

I've started several fresh batches of pomegranate ink. It's currently fermenting. It won't be ready until just after New Year's. I'm going to make this with a higher concentration of gallotannic acid this time, to see if I can coax an even black color from the ink. We'll see!

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2868/10717922193_def0f74d99_c.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Wow. Thank you!

[BlotBot]

It works! I used ferrous sulfate tablets from Walgreens. I have no green tint, only black. One pomegrante yielded about 3/4 cup of ink.

 

Edited May 3, 2014 by BlotBot

[amberleadavis]

Cool -- let's see some written samples.

[fiberdrunk]

It works! I used ferrous sulfate tablets from Walgreens. I have no green tint, only black. One pomegrante yielded about 3/4 cup of ink.

 

 

Congratulations! Yes, please post a sample!

[BlotBot]

Adding a few notes--

 

I ground the pomegranate skin as finely as I could on a food processor with a bit of water. Most pieces were smaller than 1/4 inch. Next time I think I will mince with a knife first then puree in blender. Brought to 2 c with tap water.

 

Put in jar with loose lid and set on top of frig. At about 5 days it was fermenting so briskly that it over-flowed the jar and dripped down the side of the frig. Lovely. Cleaned up and put it in a larger jar. Fermentation continued without incident. After 2 months has a strong alclhol smell.

 

Filtered through cotton kitchen towel, waffle weave, and boiled to reduce to half volume. Filtered through coffee filter and cooled.

 

Added 40 ferrous sulfate tablets (40 x 325 mg = 13 gm). Went black within about 20 minutes. Let rest about one week. Also got the sludge on the bottom, probably from the formulation of the iron tablets. Today I decanted and filtered through another coffee filter. Sudge and granules are gone.

 

PH -- i bought pH paper for this purpose. When a drop of ink is put on the paper, I get a black spot with a red halo. Red corresponds to pH 1.0, which seems highly unlikely. I took out a 5 ml sample and started adding a pulverized Tums tablet (calcium carbonate). I ended up adding the entire tablet, 750 mg of calcium carbonate, and the halo is still red. I suspect the red halo is pigment from the pomegranate and the pH paper is useless.

 

I have added a few drops of tea tree oil as a antimicrobial. Not sure if I can recommend as the vapors seem to be giving me headaches. Time will tell.