tablespoonfuls; turpentine, 2 tablespoonfuls. Melt the rosin, and stir
in the other ingredients in the order given. When the ink is cold it
should look like ordinary printers’ ink. Spread a little of this ink
over the pad and ink the rubber stamp as usual, and press it on the
clean steel—saw blade, for instance. Have a rope of soft putty, and
make a border of putty around the stamped design as close up to the
lettering as possible, so that no portion of the steel inside the ring
of putty is exposed but the lettering. Then pour into the putty ring
the etching mixture, composed of 1 ounce of nitric acid, 1 ounce of
{405} muriatic acid, and 12 ounces of water. Allow it to rest for only
a minute, draw off the acid with a glass or rubber syringe, and soak
up the last trace of acid with a moist sponge. Take off the putty,
and wipe off the design with potash solution first, and then with
turpentine, and the job is done.
«Writing on Ivory, Glass, etc.»—Nitrate of silver, 3 parts; gum arabic,
20 parts; distilled water, 30 parts. Dissolve the gum arabic in
two-thirds of the water, and the nitrate of silver in the other third.
Mix and add the desired color.
«Writing on Zinc» (see also Horticultural Inks).—Take 1 part sulphate
of copper (copper vitriol), 1 part chloride of potassium, both
dissolved in 35 parts water. With this blue liquid, writing or drawing
may be done with a common steel pen upon zinc which has been polished
bright with emery paper. After the writing is done the plates are put
in water and left in it for some time, then taken out and dried. The
writing will remain intact as long as the zinc. If the writing or
drawing should be brown, 1 part sulphate of iron (green vitriol) is
added to the above solution. The chemicals are dissolved in warm water
and the latter must be cold before it can be used.
«GOLD INK.»
I.—The best gold ink is made by rubbing up gold leaf as thoroughly as
possible with a little honey. The honey is then washed away with water,
and the finely powdered gold leaf left is mixed to the consistency of a
writing ink with weak gum water. Everything depends upon the fineness
of the gold powder, i. e., upon the diligence with which it has been
worked with the honey. Precipitated gold is finer than can be got by
any rubbing, but its color is wrong, being dark brown. The above gold
ink should be used with a quill pen.
II.—An imitation gold or bronze ink is composed by grinding 1,000
parts of powdered bronze of handsome color with a varnish prepared by
boiling together 500 parts of nut oil, 200 parts of garlic, 500 parts
of cocoanut oil, 100 parts of Naples yellow, and as much of sienna.
«HORTICULTURAL INK.»
I.—Chlorate of platinum, 1/4 ounce; soft water, 1 pint. Dissolve and
preserve it in glass. Used with a clean quill to write on zinc labels.
It almost immediately turns black, and cannot be removed by washing.
The addition of gum and lampblack, as recommended in certain books, is
unnecessary, and even prejudicial to the quality of the ink.
II.—Verdigris and sal ammoniac, of each 1/2 ounce; levigated
lampblack, 1/2 ounce; common vinegar, 1/4 pint; mix thoroughly.
Used as the last, for either zinc, iron, or steel.
III.—Blue vitriol, 1 ounce; sal ammoniac, 1/2 ounce (both in powder);
vinegar, 1/4 pint; dissolve. A little lampblack or vermilion may be
added, but it is not necessary. Use No. I, for iron, tin, or steel
plate.
«INDELIBLE INKS.»
These are also frequently called waterproof, incorrodible, or
indestructible inks. They are employed for writing labels on bottles
containing strong acids and alkaline solutions. They may be employed
with stamps, types or stencil plates, by which greater neatness will be
secured than can be obtained with either a brush or pen.
The following is a superior preparation for laundry use:
Aniline oil 85 parts
Potassium chlorate 5 parts
Distilled water 44 parts
Hydrochloric acid, pure (specific gravity, 1.124) 68 parts
Copper chloride, pure 6 parts
Mix the aniline oil, potassium chlorate, and 26 parts of the water
and heat in a capacious vessel, on the water bath, at a temperature
of from 175° to 195° F., until the chlorate is entirely dissolved,
then add one-half of the hydrochloric and continue the heat until the
mixture begins to take on a darker color. Dissolve the copper chloride
in the residue of the water, add the remaining hydrochloric acid to
the solution, and add the whole to the liquid on the water bath, and
heat the mixture until it acquires a fine red-violet color. Pour into a
flask with a well-fitting ground-glass stopper, close tightly and set
aside for several days, or until it ceases to throw down a precipitate.
When this is the case, pour off the clear liquid into smaller (one
drachm or a drachm and a half) containers.
This ink must be used with a quill pen, and is especially good for
linen or cotton fabrics, but does not answer so well for silk or woolen
goods. When first used, it appears as a pale red, but on washing with
soap or alkalies, or on exposure to {406} the air, becomes a deep, dead
black. The following is a modification of the foregoing:
«Blue Indelible Ink.»—This ink has the reputation of resisting not only
water and oil, but alcohol, oxalic acid, alkalies, the chlorides, etc.
It is prepared as follows: Dissolve 4 parts of gum lac in 36 parts of
boiling water carrying 2 parts of borax. Filter and set aside. Now
dissolve 2 parts of gum arabic in 4 parts of water and add the solution
to the filtrate. Finally, after the solution is quite cold, add 2 parts
of powdered indigo and dissolve by agitation. Let stand for several
hours, then decant, and put in small bottles.
«Red Indelible Inks.»—By proceeding according to the following formula,
an intense purple-red color may be produced on fabrics, which is
indelible in the customary sense of the word:
1.—Sodium carbonate 3 drachms
Gum arabic 3 drachms
Water 12 drachms
2.—Platinic chloride 1 drachm
Distilled water 2 ounces
3.—Stannous chloride 1 drachm
Distilled water 4 drachms
Moisten the place to be written upon with No. 1 and rub a warm iron
over it until dry; then write with No. 2, and, when dry, moisten with
No. 3. An intense and beautiful purple-red color is produced in this
way. A very rich purple color—the purple of Cassius—may be produced by
substituting a solution of gold chloride for the platinic chloride in
the above formula.
«Crimson Indelible Ink.»—
The following formula makes an indelible crimson ink:
Silver nitrate 50 parts
Sodium carbonate, crystal 75 parts
Tartaric acid 16 parts
Carmine 1 part
Ammonia water, strongest 288 parts
Sugar, white, crystallized 36 parts
Gum arabic, powdered 60 parts
Distilled water, quantity sufficient to make 400 parts
Dissolve the silver nitrate and the sodium carbonate separately, each
in a portion of the distilled water, mix the solutions, collect the
precipitate on a filter, wash, and put the washed precipitate, still
moist, into a mortar. To this add the tartaric acid, and rub together
until effervescence ceases. Now, dissolve the carmine in the ammonia
water (which latter should be of specific gravity .882, or contain
34 per cent of ammonia), filter, and add the filtrate to the silver
tartrate magma in the mortar. Add the sugar and gum arabic, rub up
together, and add gradually, with constant agitation, sufficient
distilled water to make 400 parts.
«Gold Indelible Ink.»—Make two solutions as follows:
1.—Chloride of gold and sodium 1 part
Water 10 parts
Gum 2 parts
2.—Oxalic acid 1 part
Water 5 parts
Gum 2 parts
The cloth or stuff to be written on should be moistened with liquid No.
2. Let dry, and then write upon the prepared place with liquid No. 1,
using preferably a quill pen. Pass a hot iron over the mark, pressing
heavily.
«INDIA, CHINA, OR JAPAN INK.»
Ink by these names is based on lampblack, and prepared in various ways.
Many makes flow less easily from the pen than other inks, and are less
durable than ink that writes paler and afterwards turns black. The ink
is usually unfitted for steel pens, but applies well with a brush.
I.—Lampblack (finest) is ground to a paste with very weak liquor
of potassa, and this paste is then diffused through water slightly
alkalized with potassa, after which it is collected, washed with clean
water, and dried; the dry powder is next levigated to a smooth, stiff
paste, with a strong filtered decoction of carrageen or Irish moss,
or of quince seed, a few drops of essence of musk, and about half as
much essence of ambergris being added, by way of perfume, toward the
end of the process; the mass is, lastly, molded into cakes, which are
ornamented with Chinese characters and devices, as soon as they are dry
and hard.
II.—A weak solution of fine gelatin is boiled at a high temperature in
a digester for 2 hours, and then in an open vessel for 1 hour more. The
liquid is next filtered and evaporated to a proper consistency, either
in a steam- or {407} salt-water bath. It is, lastly, made into a paste,
as before, with lampblack which has been previously heated to dull
redness in a well-closed crucible. Neither of the above gelatinizes in
cold weather, like the ordinary imitations.
«To Keep India Ink Liquid.»—If one has to work with the ink for some
time, a small piece should be dissolved in warm water and the tenth
part of glycerine added, which mixes intimately with the ink after
shaking for a short time. India ink thus prepared will keep very well
in a corked bottle, and if a black jelly should form in the cold, it is
quickly dissolved by heating. The ink flows well from the pen and does
not wipe.
«INK POWDERS AND LOZENGES.»
Any of these powders may, by the addition of mucilage of gum arabic, be
made into lozenges or buttons—the “ink buttons” or “ink stones” in use
abroad and much affected by travelers.
The following makes a good serviceable black ink, on macerating the
powder in 100 times its weight of rain or distilled water for a few
days:
I.—Powdered gallnuts 16 parts
Gum arabic 8 parts
Cloves 1 part
Iron sulphate 10 parts
Put into an earthenware or glass vessel, cover with 100 parts of rain
or distilled water, and set aside for 10 days or 2 weeks, giving an
occasional shake the first 3 or 4 days. Decant and bottle for use.
The following is ready for use instantly on being dissolved in water:
II.—Aleppo gallnuts 84 parts
Dutch Madder 6 parts
Powder, mix, moisten, and pack into the percolator. Extract with hot
water, filter, and press out. To the filtrate add 4 parts of iron
acetate (or pyroacetate) and 2 1/2 parts of tincture of indigo. Put
into the water bath and evaporate to dryness and powder the dry residue.
«LITHOGRAPHIC INKS.»
These are for writing on lithographic stones or plates:
I.—Mastic (in tears), 8 ounces; shellac, 12 ounces; Venice turpentine,
1 ounce. Melt together, add wax, 1 pound; tallow, 6 ounces. When
dissolved, add hard tallow soap (in shavings), 6 ounces; and when the
whole is perfectly combined, add lampblack, 4 ounces. Mix well, cool a
little, and then pour it into molds, or upon a slab, and when cold cut
it into square pieces.
II. (Lasteyrie).—Dry tallow soap, mastic (in tears), and common soda
(in fine powder), of each, 30 parts; shellac, 150 parts; lampblack, 12
parts. Mix as indicated in Formula I.
«MARKING OR LABELING INKS:»
«Black Marking Inks.»—
I.—Borax 60 parts
Shellac 180 parts
Boiling water 1,000 parts
Lampblack, a sufficient quantity.
Dissolve the borax in the water, add the shellac to the solution and
stir until dissolved. Rub up a little lampblack with sufficient of the
liquid to form a paste, and add the rest of the solution a little at a
time and with constant rubbing. Test, and if not black enough, repeat
the operation. To get the best effect—a pure jet-black—the lampblack
should be purified and freed from the calcium phosphate always present
in the commercial article to the extent, frequently, of 85 to 87 per
cent, by treating with hydrochloric acid and washing with water.
II.—An ink that nothing will bleach is made by mixing pyrogallic acid
and sulphate of iron in equal parts. Particularly useful for marking
labels on bottles containing acids. Varnish the label after the ink is
dry so that moisture will not affect it.
«COLORED MARKING INKS:»
Eosine Red.—
Eosine B 1 drachm
Solution of mercuric chloride 2 drachms
Mucilage of acacia 2 drachms
Rectified spirit 4 ounces
Oil of lavender 1 drop
Distilled water 8 ounces
Dissolve the eosine in the solution and 2 ounces of water, add the
mucilage, and mix, then the oil dissolved in the spirit, and finally
make up.
Orange.—
Aniline orange 1 drachm
Sugar 2 drachms
Distilled water to 4 ounces
Blue.—
I.—Resorcin blue 1 drachm
Distilled water 6 drachms
Mix and agitate occasionally for 2 hours, then add: {408}
Hot distilled water 24 ounces
Oxalic acid 10 grains
Sugar 1/2 ounce
Shake well. This and other aniline inks can be perfumed by rubbing up
a drop of attar of rose with the sugar before dissolving it in the hot
water.
II.—A solid blue ink, or marking paste, to be used with a brush for
stenciling, is made as follows: Shellac, 2 ounces; borax, 2 ounces;
water, 25 ounces; gum arabic, 2 ounces; and ultramarine, sufficient.
Boil the borax and shellac in some of the water till they are
dissolved, and withdraw from the fire. When the solution has become
cold, add the rest of the 25 ounces of water, and the ultramarine. When
it is to be used with the stencil, it must be made thicker than when it
is to be applied with a marking brush.
III.—In a suitable kettle mix well, stirring constantly, 50 parts of
liquid logwood extract (80 per cent) with 3 parts of spirit previously
mingled with 1 part of hydrochloric acid, maintaining a temperature of
68° F. Dissolve 5 parts of potassium chromate in 15 parts of boiling
water; to this add 10 parts of hydrochloric acid, and pour this
mixture, after raising the temperature to about 86° F., very slowly and
with constant stirring into the kettle. Then heat the whole to 185° F.
This mass, which has now assumed the nature of an extract, is stirred
a little longer, and next 15 parts of dextrin mixed with 10 parts of
fine white earth (white bole) are added. The whole is well stirred
throughout. Transfer the mass from the kettle into a crusher, where it
is thoroughly worked through.
«PRINTING INKS.»
Black printing inks owe their color to finely divided carbon made from
lampblack, pine-wood, rosin oil, etc., according to the quality of
the ink desired. The finest inks are made from flame-lampblack. There
are, however, certain requirements made of all printing inks alike,
and these are as follows: The ink must be a thick and homogeneous
liquid, it must contain no solid matter but finely divided carbon, and
every drop when examined microscopically must appear as a clear liquid
containing black grains uniformly distributed.
The consistency of a printing ink must be such that it passes on to the
printing rollers at the proper rate. It will be obvious that various
consistencies are demanded according to the nature of the machine used
by the printer. For a rotary machine which prints many thousands of
copies an hour a much thinner ink will be necessary than that required
for art printing or for slow presses. As regards color, ordinary
printing ink should be a pure black. For economy’s sake, however,
newspaper printers often use an ink so diluted that it does not look
deep black, but a grayish black, especially in large type.
The question of the time that the ink takes to dry on the paper is a
very important one, especially with ink used for printing newspapers
which are folded and piled at one operation. If then the ink does not
dry very quickly, the whole impression smudges and “sets off” so much
that it becomes illegible in places. Although it is essential to have a
quick drying ink for this purpose, it is dangerous to go too far, for a
too quickly drying ink would make the paper stick to the forms and tear
it. A last condition which must be fulfilled by a good printing ink is
that it must be easy of removal from the type, which has to be used
again.
No one composition will answer every purpose and a number of different
inks are required. Makers of printing inks are obliged, therefore, to
work from definite recipes so as to be able to turn out exactly the
same ink again and again. They make newspaper ink for rotary presses,
book-printing inks, half-tone inks, art inks, etc. As the recipes have
been attained only by long, laborious, and costly experiments, it is
obvious that the makers are not disposed to communicate them, and
the recipes that are offered and published must be looked upon with
caution, as many of them are of little or no value. In the recipes
given below for printing inks, the only intention is to give hints of
the general composition, and the practical man will easily discover
what, if any, alterations have to be made in the recipe for his special
purpose.
Many different materials for this manufacture are given in recipes, so
many, in fact, that it is impossible to discover what use they are in
the ink. The following is a list of the articles commonly in use for
the manufacture of printing ink:
Boiled linseed oil, boiled without driers.
Rosin oil from the dry distillation of rosin.
Rosin itself, especially American pine rosin. {409}
Soap, usually rosin-soap, but occasionally ordinary soap.
Lampblack and various other pigments.
By the most time-honored method, linseed oil was very slowly heated
over an open fire until it ignited. It was allowed to burn for a time
and then extinguished by putting a lid on the pot. In this way a liquid
was obtained of a dark brown or black color with particles of carbon,
and with a consistency varying with the period of heating, being
thicker, the longer the heating was continued. If necessary, the liquid
was then thinned with unboiled, or only very slightly boiled, linseed
oil. Lampblack in the proper quantity was added and the mixture was
finally rubbed up on a stone in small quantities at a time to make it
uniform.
«Boiling the Linseed Oil.»—This process, although it goes by the name
of boiling, is not so in the proper sense of the word, but a heating
having for its object an initial oxidation of the oil, so that it will
dry better. Linseed oil is a type of the drying oils, those which when
exposed in thin coats to the air absorb large quantities of oxygen and
are thereby converted into tough, solid sheets having properties very
similar to those of soft India rubber. The process goes on much faster
with the aid of heat than at the ordinary temperature, and the rate at
which the boiled oil will dry in the ink can be exactly regulated by
heating it for a longer or shorter time. Prolonged heating gives an oil
which will dry very quickly on exposure in thin coats to the air, the
shorter the heating the more slowly will the ink afterwards made with
the oil dry.
Linseed oil must always be boiled in vessels where it has plenty
of room, as the oil soon swells up and it begins to decompose so
energetically at a particular temperature that there is considerable
risk of its boiling over and catching fire. Various contrivances have
been thought out for boiling large quantities of the oil with safety,
such as pans with an outlet pipe in the side, through which the oil
escapes when it rises too high instead of over the edge of the pan, and
fires built on a trolley running on rails, so that they can at once
be moved from under the pan if there is any probability of the latter
boiling over. The best apparatus for preparing thickened linseed oil
is undoubtedly one in which the oil offers a very large surface to the
air, and on that account requires to be moderately heated only. The oil
soon becomes very thick under these conditions and if necessary can be
diluted to any required consistency with unboiled oil.
In boiling linseed oil down to the proper thickness by the old method
there are two points demanding special attention. One is the liability
of the oil to boil over, and the other consists in the development
of large quantities of vapor, mostly of acroleine, which have a most
powerful and disagreeable smell, and an intense action upon the eyes.
The attendant must be protected from these fumes, and the boiling must
therefore be done where there is a strong draught to take the fumes as
fast as they are produced. There are various contrivances to cope with
boiling over.
«Savage’s Printing Ink.»—Pure balsam of copaiba, 9 ounces; lampblack,
3 ounces; indigo and Prussian blue, each 5 drachms; Indian red, 3/4
ounce; yellow soap, 3 ounces. Mix, and grind to the utmost smoothness.
«Toning Black Inks.»—Printers’ inks consisting solely of purified
lampblack and vehicle give, of course, impressions which are pure
black. It is, however, well known that a black which has to a
practiced eye a tinge of blue in it looks much better than a pure
black. To make such an ink many makers mix the lampblack with a blue
pigment, which is added in very fine powder before the first grinding.
Prussian blue is the pigment usually chosen and gives very attractive
results. Prussian blue is, however, not a remarkable stable substance,
and is very apt to turn brown from the formation of ferric oxide. Hence
an ink made with Prussian blue, although it may look very fine at
first, often assumes a dull brown hue in the course of time. Excellent
substitutes for Prussian blue are to be found in the Induline blues.
These are very fast dyes, and inks tinted with them do not change
color. As pure indigo is now made artificially and sold at a reasonable
price, this extremely fast dye can also be used for tinting inks made
with purified lampblack.
«To Give Dark Inks a Bronze or Changeable Hue.»—Dissolve 1 1/2 pounds
gum shellac in 1 gallon 65 per cent alcohol or cologne spirits for 24
hours. Then add 14 ounces aniline red. Let it stand a few hours longer,
when it will be ready for use. Add this to good blue, black, or other
dark ink, as needed in quantities to suit, when if carefully done {410}
they will be found to have a rich bronze or changeable hue.
«Quick Dryer for Inks Used on Bookbinders’ Cases.»—Beeswax, 1 ounce;
gum arabic (dissolved in sufficient acetic acid to make a thin
mucilage), 1/4 ounce; brown japan, 1/4 ounce. Incorporate with 1
pound of good cut ink.
«INKS FOR STAMP PADS.»
The ink used on vulcanized rubber stamps should be such that when
applied to a suitable pad it remains sufficiently fluid to adhere to
the stamp. At the same time the fluidity should cease by the time the
stamp is pressed upon an absorbing surface such as paper. Formerly
these inks were made by rubbing up pigments in fat to a paste. Such
inks can hardly be prevented, however, from making impressions
surrounded by a greasy mark caused by the fat spreading in the pores
of the paper. Now, most stamping inks are made without grease and a
properly prepared stamping ink contains nothing but glycerine and
coal-tar dye. As nearly all these dyes dissolve in hot glycerine the
process of manufacture is simple enough. The dye, fuchsine, methyl
violet, water blue, emerald green, etc., is put into a thin porcelain
dish over which concentrated glycerine is poured, and the whole is
heated to nearly 212° F. with constant stirring. It is important to use
no more glycerine than is necessary to keep the dye dissolved when the
ink is cold. If the mass turns gritty on cooling it must be heated up
with more glycerine till solution is perfect.
In dealing with coal-tar dyes insoluble in glycerine, or nearly so,
dissolve them first in the least possible quantity of strong, hot
alcohol. Then add the glycerine and heat till the spirit is evaporated.
To see whether the ink is properly made spread some of it on a strip of
cloth and try it with a rubber stamp. On paper, the separate letters
must be quite sharp and distinct. If they run at the edges there is too
much glycerine in the ink and more dye must be added to it. If, on the
contrary, the impression is indistinct and weak, the ink is too thick
and must be diluted by carefully adding glycerine.
Aniline colors are usually employed as the tinting agents. The
following is a typical formula, the product being a black ink:
I.—Nigrosin 3 parts
Water 15 parts
Alcohol 15 parts
Glycerine 70 parts
Dissolve the nigrosin in the alcohol, add the glycerine previously
mixed with the water, and rub well together.