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VertOlive
February 18th, 2014, 05:07 PM
So I've been dying to try this--to make a couple versions of Iron Gall Ink. There are several versions available to try, so I started two batches:

The Newton Batch: Sir Isaac left us his lab notebooks which contain directions "To Make Excellent Ink"

Here it is written in his notebook using the very ink!:

http://fedora.dlib.indiana.edu/fedora/get/iudl:693031/SCREEN

The Stark Batch: Dr. Jim Stark studied Iron Gall inks in the 1800's.

The Newton Batch is in the jar on the left, and is made with the Guinness. The Stark batch will use water added to the jar on the right. In the foreground is a California Live Oak Gall purchased from JBB's Etsy shop. The inspiration is from Fiberdrunk of FPN.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f261/sparrowe/NewtonInk.jpg (http://s49.photobucket.com/user/sparrowe/media/NewtonInk.jpg.html)

Results to follow in one and two months, depending on the recipe.

Raising the rest of the glass of beer to Isaac and Jim!

earthdawn
February 18th, 2014, 06:33 PM
Well thats just AWESOME !

And thanks for sharing the info to go with the pic.

While I will now have to try this I can't wait to see your results.

velo
February 20th, 2014, 01:39 AM
Mmmmmm Guinness.

gweddig
February 20th, 2014, 08:16 AM
Do share the results. I was very pleased with my Valley Oak IG ink. Still have half-a-gallon of it.

Just started a batch of acorn ink.

--greg

orfew
February 20th, 2014, 08:48 AM
Nice, looking forward to the results.

Laura N
February 20th, 2014, 10:42 AM
Good for you! This is fantastic. I assume these would be for dip pens. Are you going to test them in a fountain pen?

VertOlive
February 20th, 2014, 10:48 AM
I'll test them first in a dip pen--have to see how well the inks turn out and how well I can filter them first!

mhosea
February 20th, 2014, 11:42 AM
FWIW, I would think if it is an excellent ink for dip pens, it should be a rather poor ink for fountain pens. I suppose you could dilute it and add a surfactant, but he's also essentially recommending ethyl alcohol as a preservative, which is ill-advised for use in fountain pens. Seems to me that a reasonable FP formulation would add an ethyl alcohol removal step, replace the ethyl alcohol with a safe preservative for FPs (e.g. phenol), adjust the concentration with water, and add a surfactant for flow.

VertOlive
February 20th, 2014, 02:47 PM
Dr Streck [ the formula I used for the second batch] uses whole cloves as his preservative, once the infusion weeks are done....just a point of interest. :)

Lady Onogaro
February 20th, 2014, 03:51 PM
What a cool experiment!

VertOlive
February 21st, 2014, 10:43 AM
My husband is actually relieved that this year it's only jars of ink in his kitchen. Last year it was several bowls of ornamental freshwater shrimp under a steam punk lighting setup I was working on.....

:crazy_pilot:

velo
February 21st, 2014, 07:55 PM
Oh that sounds interesting.

VertOlive
March 4th, 2014, 08:01 PM
Whoa. The Newton recipe with the beer suddenly spewed out of the jar! It actually stained the formica counter top. This is gonna be some bulletproof ink! Got a bigger jar and more beer....

Jeph
March 5th, 2014, 02:39 AM
Fermenting ink. Maybe you can drink it while you write! It might be a good idea to get some of the pressure release caps for wine making to preserve your furniture.

VertOlive
March 10th, 2014, 08:52 PM
Cracking the top every so often. The beer is officially flat now....

VertOlive
May 11th, 2014, 09:49 PM
Tomorrow is Ink Brewing Day. I have 911 on speed dial.

Lady Onogaro
May 11th, 2014, 09:52 PM
Oh, goody (not the 911 part, but the brewing part). :)

Sailor Kenshin
May 12th, 2014, 06:26 AM
Cracking the top every so often. The beer is officially flat now....

Back when we had enough dandelions for me to make dandelion wine, I 'capped' my bottles with a balloon.

VertOlive
May 12th, 2014, 12:25 PM
Today is Ink Brewing Day, first results are in:

The Mess:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f261/sparrowe/Brewing.jpg (http://s49.photobucket.com/user/sparrowe/media/Brewing.jpg.html)


First Dip Stark Note: The Stark Recipe ink has dried here, the Newton Recipe ink has just been laid down. Both look like dirty water at first, then they darken as they dry:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f261/sparrowe/Pale.jpg (http://s49.photobucket.com/user/sparrowe/media/Pale.jpg.html)

Newton Recipe After Drying:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f261/sparrowe/NewtonDip.jpg (http://s49.photobucket.com/user/sparrowe/media/NewtonDip.jpg.html)


Final Draft:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f261/sparrowe/Final.jpg (http://s49.photobucket.com/user/sparrowe/media/Final.jpg.html)

All the inks are hot off the stove! I used a dip pen, of course. Copperas and Gum Arabic also purchased from JBB's Etsy shop.

jbb
May 12th, 2014, 12:38 PM
That's looking great Vert Olive!!!! Why does everyone's iron gall ink turn out darker than mine?????????

cwent2
May 12th, 2014, 01:02 PM
That's looking great Vert Olive!!!! Why does everyone's iron gall ink turn out darker than mine?????????

Why is everybody always pickin' on me = Charlie Brown, he's a Clown.......

VertOlive
May 12th, 2014, 04:52 PM
That's looking great Vert Olive!!!! Why does everyone's iron gall ink turn out darker than mine?????????

JBB, I have tried the ink on onionskin and it dries to about half as dark. Does that figure in at all?

AndyT
May 13th, 2014, 01:43 AM
Excellent work, VO!

The Newton version has the same dirty dishwater appearance as Blots IGI - interesting. How would you describe the viscosity?

VertOlive
May 13th, 2014, 07:42 AM
Excellent work, VO!

The Newton version has the same dirty dishwater appearance as Blots IGI - interesting. How would you describe the viscosity?

The gum arabic takes a day to dissolve, yesterday the viscosity seemed close to that of water for both recipes. I did write one pen pal letter with it, but it took more dips than usual since the ink seemed to slip right off the pen.

AndyT
May 13th, 2014, 09:07 AM
Hmmm. My reason for asking is because Blots is so very thin, closer to water than milk in consistency. Yet it clings to the nib and absolutely doesn't feather. I'd assumed that there was no binder, but maybe it just doesn't take much.

Any thoughts on walnut ink? (I have an ulterior motive for asking this ...).

VertOlive
May 13th, 2014, 02:04 PM
Hmmm. My reason for asking is because Blots is so very thin, closer to water than milk in consistency. Yet it clings to the nib and absolutely doesn't feather. I'd assumed that there was no binder, but maybe it just doesn't take much.

Any thoughts on walnut ink? (I have an ulterior motive for asking this ...).

Remember, the first shot of the Newton is before it dried. Both inks look even lighter than that when first on the page, then they darken within minutes to the final result posted.

No thoughts on walnut inks, but I am sure there are recipes out there. These got finished because DH wanted them out of his kitchen!

AndyT
May 13th, 2014, 02:38 PM
Remember, the first shot of the Newton is before it dried. Both inks look even lighter than that when first on the page, then they darken within minutes to the final result posted.

No thoughts on walnut inks, but I am sure there are recipes out there. These got finished because DH wanted them out of his kitchen!

Here in Blighty, there are are two heavyweight players in the Uncompromising Iron Gall Ink for Calligraphers market: Blots and Brian Walker's Copperplate Ink. I haven't tried the latter yet, but will probably have to because Brian puts logwood in his, giving it the signal advantage of being visible when you write with it. Honestly - Blots starts out slightly murky and a few seconds later you get to see what you've written. Mind you, after five minutes it's positively Stygian.

I've just made my first batch of walnut ink. The sheer bloody awfulness of the last few months put me right off letter writing (no pen friend of mine deserves to receive a catalogue of woes in the post, after all), but now that I'm snapping out of it I've a mind to send you the ingredients. It's absurdly easy if you're prepared to cheat, and the results are good. :)

VertOlive
May 13th, 2014, 04:41 PM
Remember, the first shot of the Newton is before it dried. Both inks look even lighter than that when first on the page, then they darken within minutes to the final result posted.

No thoughts on walnut inks, but I am sure there are recipes out there. These got finished because DH wanted them out of his kitchen!

Here in Blighty, there are are two heavyweight players in the Uncompromising Iron Gall Ink for Calligraphers market: Blots and Brian Walker's Copperplate Ink. I haven't tried the latter yet, but will probably have to because Brian puts logwood in his, giving it the signal advantage of being visible when you write with it. Honestly - Blots starts out slightly murky and a few seconds later you get to see what you've written. Mind you, after five minutes it's positively Stygian.

I've just made my first batch of walnut ink. The sheer bloody awfulness of the last few months put me right off letter writing (no pen friend of mine deserves to receive a catalogue of woes in the post, after all), but now that I'm snapping out of it I've a mind to send you the ingredients. It's absurdly easy if you're prepared to cheat, and the results are good. :)

We'd love to see a walnut writing sample if you'd like to share!

AndyT
May 14th, 2014, 04:29 AM
The white balance is a bit skew-whiff (and much else besides):

11415

AndyT
May 14th, 2014, 08:12 AM
Better colour rendering, and more shading:

11417

VertOlive
May 14th, 2014, 01:10 PM
Better colour rendering, and more shading:

11417

Better handwriting too! :)

AndyT
May 14th, 2014, 01:20 PM
Better handwriting too! :)

It's closely correlated to the amount of caffeine in the bloodstream, I find.

So, should I send you some??

VertOlive
May 14th, 2014, 06:36 PM
Better handwriting too! :)

It's closely correlated to the amount of caffeine in the bloodstream, I find.

So, should I send you some??

1) Caffeine--Yes!

2) Ink--Yes!!!

:)

AndyT
May 15th, 2014, 01:51 AM
Okay, I shall pour some into the envelope. :)

Andy's sage advice for the day: when writing with brown ink, it is advisable not to set one's espresso cup down next to the bottle. Just don't ask me how I know this, okay?

VertOlive
May 15th, 2014, 12:57 PM
Okay, I shall pour some into the envelope. :)

Andy's sage advice for the day: when writing with brown ink, it is advisable not to set one's espresso cup down next to the bottle. Just don't ask me how I know this, okay?

Caffeinated Ink--Yess!

VertOlive
January 1st, 2019, 01:47 PM
Bumping this after a pen pal inquiry.