OT ink

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Pan Tau

Joined
Sep 3, 2002
Messages
750
Hello,
I know some here are into medieval stuff and/or art (Ferrous, Sylvrfalcon (anybody heard from him), JOtto ...?), . As a last project with my 7th graders in the "special-history-course" (some results from last year here) I would like to do a paleographic workshop. I have all the alphabets used from latin Tiron´s notes to the handwriting of the humanists, will get the feathers of a swan, know how to make paper (pergament is a bit expensive...)...

- but does anyone know how to make ink with stuff that is affordable (for pupils) today?

until now I have found two:

lamp black and "gummi arabicum" ("arabian rubber(?)")

tannid, ferric(II)sulfate, water, oxigen (tannide may come from oak-apples, bananas, the rest can be done with iron nails and aceto balsamico - but it would be faster to take pure stuff from the pharmacy or the chemistry teachers).

both are black inks.

So I look for
1. other black inks easy to make
2. coloured inks for the capitals

Any help is appreciated - thank you!

Andreas
 
Indelible ink: German Receipt: Dissolve 20 grains of sugar in 30 grains of water, and the addition to the solution of a few drops of concentrated sulphuric acid; the mixture is then heated, when the sugar is carbonized by the action of the acid. It is said that the writing is not only of a solid black colour, but that the acid resists the action of chemical agents.
 
Andreas we ndns use different plants and berries for dye and I would think they would work for ink as well although they may not be real dark or brilliant except for the berry ones. Vinegar is added to the dye to "set" the colors. I imagine that a little vinegar added to some berry juice would make an acceptable ink. It would be worth a try before you begin anyway.:)
 
I have several more in that book I took that one from, but they're from an 1891 encyclopedia, so ahve to see if I can track down what items they're talking about with some of them. If your library has or can get threough interlibrary loan, a copy of the Chemical formulary(any of the volumes) they have recipes for most anything from common household items. More recent volumes will have them with names you know, older ones you have to track down one of the books/lists/sites that translates old names to ones we can recognize now(and I can't find bookmark I had for one of those sites). The books themselves are $70 a piece though, which is why I don't have any copies yet, and why I suggest getting them through interlibrary loan(I know of one library that has them, but don't think I can walk out with them ;) )
 
Don't know if any variety grows in your region, but

My grandmother once mentioned that when she was young
her family used walnut husks for ink.

The husk is the softer covering over the hard walnut shell.
In season, or if you can find some old dried ones
that have not gotten too wet;
Soak the husk in a bit of water to extract the juices.

I recall that the juice of the husk will stain anything &
everything, and is very difficult to remove.

The ink color is a medium to dark brown,
depending on .......??????
 
... Wow - fast responses to a very special question - I think I will try them all. - found another receipt with the bark of sloe. There seem to be quite a few ways. I will see if I can use berrys (after all it is spring) - but the idea is good.

Thank you all very much - this is simply a forum full of wonders and knowledge.
Andreas
 
Sounds like folks have jumped on this already. I know more about medieval clothing dyes than writing inks, but I'll check the shelves here and see what I can come up with...

Keith
 
There is a man in Missouri that produces some beautiful watercolor prints using clay as his pigment. He has collected quite a palette from different areas. Though they appear to be a bit more transparent than what you may be looking for, it may be something for you to experiment with.

Otto
 
Pan Tau,
You've found one of the most friendly, intelligent, well read and generous forums on the web. As one of our forumites says, be worthy.
Nut galls were an early american ink raw material. You have to spend some time in the woods to find them. They are small, lumpy, growths on trees that look like cancers. Pulverized, and soaked in water they yield ink.
 
THANK you Brian. Was wondering what theheck nut galls were. Have atleast 12 different recipes here that call for nut galls and had no idea what that was.
 
Back when trapping furbearing animals was a good way to make some spending money for a kid, it was customery to put a bunch of walnut hulls in the boiling pot with the steel traps and when the traps were as black as pitch you'd throw in a bar of paraffin wax and let that melt, then draw the traps up through the wax and let them cool. The wax kept the steel from rusting and made the action smoother and the walnut hulls and wax eliminated all of the metal smell. If you couldn't find walnut hulls to blacken the traps then find a maple tree and strip off some bark to boil them in and that would blacken them just as well :)
 
On the night of a full moon, find a gallows near a crossroad, and sever the right hand of a hanged murderer. Use the shroud of the corpse to squeeze any remaining blood from the hand. At that very same crossroads, bury the hand in an earthenware vessel filled with peppercorns, mugwort, hemlock, and wolfsbane and water from the hollow stump of a lightening-blasted oak. Oh, wait, sorry, wrong recipe...

You might want to try this recipe instead. It appears to be a variation of the second one you posted.

--Josh
 
Josh, just one question. Have you been "hanging out" with Bruise lately? :D
 
Hi Guys
Medieval nut here too. A book called Scribes and Illuminators, ISBN 0-7141-2049-9 covers the whole process. Produced by the British Museum Press. Cost about 10 Pounds. Has ink recepies and much more. Amazon maybe???
Can post more later if required.
Regards
Phil
 
Josh Feltman said:
On the night of a full moon, find a gallows near a crossroad, and sever the right hand of a hanged murderer. Use the shroud of the corpse to squeeze any remaining blood from the hand. At that very same crossroads, bury the hand in an earthenware vessel filled with peppercorns, mugwort, hemlock, and wolfsbane and water from the hollow stump of a lightening-blasted oak. Oh, wait, sorry, wrong recipe...

You might want to try this recipe instead. It appears to be a variation of the second one you posted.

--Josh
Click to expand...

Eye of newt,toe of frog
wool of bat and tongue of dog
spiders fang and wart of toad
Moon be full at cross in road

Just planted some datura seeds and about 6 plants are now peeping through. Getting ready for Halloween early this year.

http://www.hirts.com/cgi-local/catalog.cgi?cat=&item=3348

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3183&item=4300496249&rd=1
 
From the web-page Josh linked:

Fine steel wool
Kerosene
White vinegar
Tea bags
Mucilage
Water
Several containers
Experiment:
Clean a wad of steel wool with kerosene and let it dry overnight. Put the steel wool into a jar and cover it with vinegar. Set it in a pan of water that is hot, but not boiling. Put four tea bags into half a cup of water and boil. Let both solutions cool and then mix them in equal amounts. Dip a finger into the mixture and mark a large X on a newspaper page. It will gradually show up black.
Explanation:
The chemical reaction between the vinegar and iron produces hydrogen ions and iron acetate. The tea yields tannin. When mixed, they produce ferrous tannate, which is almost colorless. But, when exposed to air and allowed to dry, ferrous tannate changes to ferric tannate (which is black). In anywhere from three hours to a day, the color change in the X should be complete. A little mucilage mixed with the newly produced ink will allow it to flow from a pen as regular ink.

--- so if you blow air into the solution with a straw or tubus - the third oxygen-part would be added if I understand Chemistry right - that is very nice and it not so soulless as taking tannin from the chemistry-teacher...

Andreas
 
Andreas--I got the impression that the ink oxidized and changed color once it was on the paper. I don't know if adding oxygen to the ink with a straw would work or not.

Clearblue--you're not thinking of ingesting that Datura, are you? :eek:

--Josh
 
Pan Tau said:
so if you blow air into the solution with a straw or tubus - the third oxygen-part would be added
Click to expand...
Might work better to mix in a little H2O2.
(hydrogen peroxide 3% antiseptic from the pharmacy)
 
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