Pseudo Scabiosa - My 1St Fp Friendly Iron Gall

[NeelsK]

Greetings and Salutations!

 

Well, after a lonnnngg break from ink mixing and fountain pen faffing I've finally returned and had some fun. I decided that I wanted to make my own ink. Not mix, but MAKE. First off, I have to give all the credit to Pharmacist since this ink is based on his recipe. I did deviate on some of the steps but I will explain that below. The biggest hurdle was to get hold of Gallic Acid. I searched high and low and could not find ANY in South Africa, but finally managed to get some imported by a chemical company. The rest of the chemicals are quite easily obtained here. So without dragging this out, here's the recipe:

 

5ml glycerine (I did not add this, as I will explain after)

1gm Gallic Acid

1.5 gm ferrous sulphate (hydrated?) (FE2SO4.7H2O)

200 mg salicyclic acid (preservative to prevent mould)

1ml hydrochloric acid 25%

distilled water

 

Steps

1. Dissolve gallic & salicylic acid in 40ml hot distilled water

2. Dissolve ferrous sulphate in 40ml hot distilled water

3. Add hydrochloric acid to (2)

4. Add (3) to (1)

5. Add 10ml Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue to (4) - did not add

6. Add glycerine to (5) - did not add

 

Okay, the recipe is easy and straight forward. I did not perform step 5 & 6, so I ended up with a base iron mix that is pale lavender in colour. On paper it is basically invisible for the first 10 seconds after which it starts turning black. The reason I did not do the last two steps is to be able to experiment with different colours etc.

 

I took 3ml of the base, added .5ml glycerine and .5ml Waterman Purple. The result is a light purple ink that darkens to something I would swear is the exact same ink as R&K Scabiosa. I've tried the ink in a cheap eye dropper with a bit of a scratchy nib (yeah yeah, Im too lazy to smooth it), but the ink flows nicely. Shading is very good and since it Is and IG, it is waterproof in the sense that only the added dye/ink will wash away, leaving the black IG component on the paper. The test was done on Tamoe River (cream).

 

I do not have proper tools to measure the acidity of the base or final ink but after a week in the cheapy pen (no precipitation or gunking) I can't see any adverse effects yet. I'm linking the smaller version of the scan and including a link to the full sized version.

 

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g459/NeelsK/Ink%20Mixes/Pseudo-Scabiosa-small_zps53115ce6.gif

 

Link to full size scan:

http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g459/NeelsK/Ink%20Mixes/Pseudo-Scabiosa-full_zps1a751451.gif~original

[amberleadavis]

This is wonderful!! Thank you!

[kwzi]

Very nice ink

 

I was starting from similar ideas. But addition of hydrochloric acid, although it improves stability of ink and prevents precipitation for some time it also make ink corrosive even for good quality stainless steel limiting this ink for safe use almost exclusively in pens with gold nibs and no steel parts that have contact with ink ;(

[amberleadavis]

Well, wait, now long are you expecting the ink to remain in the pen?

[NeelsK]

I have been using this ink for more than a year now. Two days after the original post I made a batch of 100ml, of which 50-60ml is still left. I use it in 3 pens, Pilot VP with a gold nib and a Lamy studio with a SS nib and a Montblanc 169. Neither of the pens show the slightest hint of any adverse effects. I clean the pens about every 3rd refill, so +- every 2 months and inspect them with a 10X and 30X loupe to see if I can spot any issues. The inspection covers the nibs, feeds, metal parts in the pilot nib unit and cartridge converter. The 169 is completely stripped down and inspected too.

 

Obviously I don't want to cut the pilot nib unit completely apart to inspect it, but I think I do a pretty good job during the inspection.

 

Now, the remaining ink. I was worried that it might precipitate similar to the Registrars blue/black that I've had for almost 3 years now. Not so. Not a single fleck of precipitate after a year. I syphon the ink out of the bottle slowly so as not to disturb the bottom 2 or 3 ml. This gets poured through coffee filter paper to see if anything gets caught. After leaving it to dry for a day I gently wash the paper in a bowl of distilled water to see if anything dislodges that I couldn't see. Al I have seen so far is a very lightly stained purple water

 

I have no issue with using this ink in any of my pens, gold nib, ss nib, metal part or what ever. But I DO clean them regularly, so that might make a difference.

Edited January 16, 2015 by NeelsK

[amberleadavis]

Good to know. Thank you.

[Husar]

Yes, that is scabiosa.

[Reevers]

That's a handsome looking ink, well done.

[musicman123]

By any chance, do you know the molarity of the acids that you used? I want to try this mix, but I'm not sure how to dilute the acids. I don't want to put a 12M HCl into my pen.

[NeelsK]

By any chance, do you know the molarity of the acids that you used?

My good sir, this ink was not tested on animals. As such it contains no moles.

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.Alright, dangit. I'll admit my chemistry knowledge is too basic to know the molarity

[musicman123]

My good sir, this ink was not tested on animals. As such it contains no moles.

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.Alright, dangit. I'll admit my chemistry knowledge is too basic to know the molarity

Haha! So when you are adding 1gm, do you mean 1 gram (I'm used to just a simple g)? Also, how are you measuring in grams if the acids are assumed to be liquid?

[NeelsK]

Haha! So when you are adding 1gm, do you mean 1 gram (I'm used to just a simple g)? Also, how are you measuring in grams if the acids are assumed to be liquid?

 

Okay ... yes it is supposed to be g, not gm. Solids are measured in grams and liquids in ml. I use one of those squeezy, plastic pipette thingies thats graded in 1/2 ml increments.

[musicman123]

Okay ... yes it is supposed to be g, not gm. Solids are measured in grams and liquids in ml. I use one of those squeezy, plastic pipette thingies thats graded in 1/2 ml increments.

Oh so you are using the acids in a powder?

[NeelsK]

Oh so you are using the acids in a powder?

Oh, now I see what you meant. Yes, salicyclic and galic acids are in powder form.

[fiberdrunk]

I have been using this ink for more than a year now. Two days after the original post I made a batch of 100ml, of which 50-60ml is still left. I use it in 3 pens, Pilot VP with a gold nib and a Lamy studio with a SS nib and a Montblanc 169. Neither of the pens show the slightest hint of any adverse effects. I clean the pens about every 3rd refill, so +- every 2 months and inspect them with a 10X and 30X loupe to see if I can spot any issues. The inspection covers the nibs, feeds, metal parts in the pilot nib unit and cartridge converter. The 169 is completely stripped down and inspected too.

 

Obviously I don't want to cut the pilot nib unit completely apart to inspect it, but I think I do a pretty good job during the inspection.

 

Now, the remaining ink. I was worried that it might precipitate similar to the Registrars blue/black that I've had for almost 3 years now. Not so. Not a single fleck of precipitate after a year. I syphon the ink out of the bottle slowly so as not to disturb the bottom 2 or 3 ml. This gets poured through coffee filter paper to see if anything gets caught. After leaving it to dry for a day I gently wash the paper in a bowl of distilled water to see if anything dislodges that I couldn't see. Al I have seen so far is a very lightly stained purple water

 

I have no issue with using this ink in any of my pens, gold nib, ss nib, metal part or what ever. But I DO clean them regularly, so that might make a difference.

 

Your ink looks lovely! I love purple! I hope to try it out soon.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about Pilot ink feeds... I've used a few different Pilot pens with my homemade inks (Pilot 78G, Parallel, Metropolitan, and the one shaped like a squid... sorry, the name of it escapes me at the moment!) and they are some of the best and hold up very well to them, including the iron gall inks.

 

Thanks for posting your recipe!

Edited March 13, 2015 by fiberdrunk

[fiberdrunk]

I made your ink a couple months ago. Sorry it's taken me so long to post. The ink turned out lovely. It's free-flowing and on the wet-side for an iron gall ink. I have not had to flush my pen yet since I first put it in there (a Parker Vector). There is no sign of precipitation in the bottle. Everything is looking good.

 

This is a scan taken shortly after the writing sample was made (the paper is Sugarmade, and this image is enlarged quite a lot). It's a nice grape color. It does darken somewhat after awhile, but not all the way to black. It's a nice ink-- I only wish it was waterproof. But hey, purple iron gall ink is the coolest!

 

Edited July 18, 2015 by fiberdrunk

[Canopus]

Looks good, but exactly how much ink you're making for the given formula. I would take a look at the quantity of iron sulphate, to me it looks a bit too little but I'm kinda lazy to actually do the math right now (it's 1:30 in the morning and a night-owl can only do so much while battling the forces of darkness while the norms are deep in to their peaceful slumber.) But it appears to be the case since your water test removed too much, you might not be getting the full potential out of the gallic acid. But be carefuller because the opposite is also true, too much iron and it will deposit a rust like powder as it dries when laid too heavily... that can't be archival at all.

 

Nice call on the hot water, it took me a while to realize that.

 

If you go really strong on the gallic acid you will need glycerin to help you solubilize it not only on the final ink but also on the mixing partial volumes.

 

I also have what I can call a 1.0 version of my ink if batch 0.11.1 proves to be success. I will post that soon... I think

[kwzi]

Proportions of gallic acid na iron sulphate are okay