Ink bottle

“ Cork of ink-bottle with wad for preservative.
The use of colour for the key-block is treated in Chapter VII. The ink is prepared as follows. Take a stick of solid Chinese ink of good quality, and break it with a hammer into fragments; put these to soak in a pot with water for three or four days. (The quality of the sticks of Chinese ink varies greatly. The cheap sticks make a coarse and gritty ink which does not print well.) Day by day pour off the water, adding fresh, so that the glue that soaks out of the softened black fragments is removed. ”

“ If left too long the whole mass goes bad and is spoiled. When the black mass is soft and clean drain off the water and rub the ink smooth in a dish with a bone palette knife. It is then ready for use, but would rapidly go bad if not used up at once, so that a preservative is necessary to keep a stock [Pg 57] of ink in good condition. An effective method is to put the ink at once into a well-corked, wide-mouthed bottle. To the under side of the cork is nailed a little wad of unsized paper soaked with creosote. ”

“ Never leaks or blots. A perfect pen and ink bottle combined. Will last for years. Price, $2.00 plain; $2.50 gold mounted. Sent by registered mail, on receipt of price. A six month's supply of ink forwarded on receipt of 25 cents.
THE CROSS PEN COMPANY, No. 3 Milk Street, Boston, Mass. ”

“ The lines of an original may be of any variety of thickness. It is necessary, therefore, for the draughtsman to see that he works with a good black ink, or ink that will tell as black when it is exposed to the photographic plate. Inks of a warm tone—that is, inclining to red or orange—yield better results than cold inks which incline to blue.
Most prepared liquid inks have a tendency to lose their blackness by exposure to the atmosphere on the removal of the cork from the bottle. The ideal ink is one freshly ground from a dry cake of colour when beginning work. ”

“ This will make the most rich and beautiful ink of this color in existence; will not fade or corrode steel pens, and is not injured by freezing. An addition of 1 lb. [8] of sugar and 1/2 lb. glycerine will make an excellent copying ink. This ink is usually sold at $2 per pint bottle, $1 for half pint and 50 cents for gill bottle. It is worth an enterprising man or woman $1,000. Do not bury it—use it and make money out of it. ”

“ An excellent black ink may be made by putting into a gallon stone bottle twelve ounces of bruised galls, six ounces of green vitriol, and six of common gum, and filling up the bottle with rain water, this should be kept three or four weeks before using, shaking the bottle from time to time. Blue ink has lately been much used, it is made by dissolving newly-formed Prussian blue in a solution of oxalic acid. To make it, dissolve some yellow prussiate of potash in water in one vessel, and some sulphate of iron in another, adding a few drops of nitric acid to the sulphate of iron ”

“ He sat down again at the little table, fitted a stub pen into his penholder, lighted a match, and held the steel point in the blaze, to burn off the oil and take out the temper, making it soft and flexible and easy to write with. He uncorked the ink, wiped out the neck of the bottle with a blotter, and dipped his pen in. ”

“ For the sake of saving trouble to others, if for no other reason, all of one's handkerchiefs, collars and underclothing should be plainly and permanently marked. A bottle of indelible ink is cheap, a clean pen still cheaper, and a bright, sunny day or a hot flat-iron will complete the business. ”

“ In bottles, which are the staple production, almost every variety are manufactured in large quantities both in the patented vitreous stone, and white glazed, varieties of ink-bottles of every shape and size are made by thousands weekly, as are also ale, porter, ginger-beer, blacking, fruit, and every other kind of bottles. Spirit and other liquor bottles, with handles, up to a very large size, are also made. ”

“ I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper, than of a sword or pistol.” ”

“ Collotype or copper-plate printing inks of various makes are frequently usable. As a rule, however, they must be tested as to their usefulness for our process; their consistency is frequently too hard, and sometimes they are not taken up by the film or cannot be distributed well, even when they are considerable diluted with linseed oil varnish, in spite of an apparently correct consistency.
The nature of the ink is not only influenced by the greasy substance used as a medium, but also by the material of the coloring matter itself. ”

“ Manufacturers, chemists and laymen in great number for many years wasted money, time and energy in diligent worship at a secret shrine which could not give the information they sought. A summary of the meager and barren results they secured is of little value and unimportant. Hence, there is no REAL "safety" ink.
It is true that lampblack (carbon) as made into ink, resists any chemical or chemicals, but simple water applied on a soft sponge will soon remove such ink marks. The reason for this is obvious, the ink does not penetrate the paper. ”

“ 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 majority of these inks unquestionably belong to the "gall" class and if prepared after the formulas utilized in preceding centuries should indicate like color phenomena. As these same peculiarities exist on both paper, vellum and parchment, it cannot be attributed to their use. Investigations in many instances of the writings indicate the exercise of a more rapid pen movement and a consequent employment of inks of greater fluidity than those of an earlier history. Such fluidity could only be obtained by a reduction of the quantity of gummy vehicles together with an increase of ink acidity. ”

“ Thin developing inks, which are distributed with a broad brush or a pad, can be prepared by diluting good transfer ink with equal quantities of wax, benzine, and turpentine.
A good developing ink must have the following properties: When spread upon the print must give a clean, sharp, sufficiently dense impression, which can be easily transferred to the plate or stone; on the other hand, the drawing ought not to spread. The transfer should possess such resistance that, without rolling up, it should resist a slight etching. ”

“ Indigo has been recently imported,—a substance whose composition I have not yet investigated. The dyers make theirs from the dark crust that gradually accumulates on brass-kettles. Ink is made also from torches (pine-knots) , and from charcoal pounded fine in mortars. "The cuttle-fish" has a remarkable quality in this respect; but the coloring-matter which it produces is not used in the manufacture of ink. All ink is improved by exposure to the sun's rays. Book-writers' ink has gum mixed with it,—weaver's ink is made up with glue. ”

“ Copying inks are of two kinds, one dependent on the addition of glycerine, sugar, glucose or like compounds to the black writing inks or chemical writing fluids heretofore mentioned, which are thereby kept in a moist offsetting condition; the other due to the solubility of the pigmentary color with water, such as the aniline inks which are given more body than those for ordinary purposes—and the logwoods in which the pigment is developed and given copying qualities by chemicals, and hence becomes responsive to the application of a sheet of paper dampened with water. ”

“ In short, the atramentum sutorium was added, in moderate quantity, to the atramentum scriptorium, thus constituting it a chemical as well as a mechanical ink. So, modern ink may be improved in blackness, durability and beauty, and rendered unchangeable in color under the action of the chlorides, acids, &c., by the intermixture of a small quantity of the very finest carbon, in the form of an impalpable powder. But, the great difficulty is—that the carbon clogs the pen, and renders the ink too thick to flow easily, so that it can never be used for rapid or ordinary writing. ”

“ M. Piesse, in the Scientific American, is authority for a method of removing ink, found on "patent" check paper:
"Alternately wash the paper with a camel's- hair brush dipped in a solution of cyanide of potassium and oxalic acid; then when the ink has disappeared wash the paper with pure water."
Inks of the tanno-gallate of iron family, whether containing "added" color or not, can be more or less "erased" by chlorinate of lime or soda, in the presence of a weak acid. These chemicals do not, however, materially affect the prussian blue inks, which require solutions of hydrate of potash or soda. ”

“ The use of alcohol or water is inadmissible.
"Valuable information is often obtainable by treating writing or other ink-marks with reagents. Some inks are affected much more rapidly than others, though the rate of change depends greatly on the age of the writing. Normal oxalic acid (63 grammes per litre) , or hydrochloric acid of corresponding strength, should be applied to a part of the ink marked with a feather or camel-hair brush (or the writing may be traced over with a quill pen) , and the action observed by means of a lens, the reagent being allowed to dry on the paper. ”

“ That modern inks do not resist the decomposing and destructive power of chemical agents (whether acids, alkalies, saline bodies or elements,) as well as the ancient inks, is the result of a necessity existing in their very composition and invention, and even in the use for which they were designed, and to which they are applied. A dye (like modern ink) is the result of chemical action, and is therefore subject to chemical re-agents; yet, when well made, it is proof against mechanical action, such as washing, rubbing, and scraping ”

“ Late improvements in the manufacture of inks are due to the discovery and cheapening of substances which can be used in preparing them. While good common writing inks are quite easily procured in the market, still they can be manufactured much cheaper by the consumer; and then again there are a variety of special purposes which require inks that are not on sale, and formulas for making them are very valuable. In this collection we give approved and tested formulas for everything in the ink line. ”

“ The deepest ones will, on printing, give the darkest tones, since they will hold more ink, the shallower ones will give the lighter tones, whilst the shallowest and those parts unetched will give the high lights.
The plate is usually etched three or four times successively in varying strengths of fluid, after which the etching ground and gelatine is cleaned off.
A strong copper-plate ink is then well rubbed in by means of a dabber, after which the ink from the surface is removed, first with a coarse piece of muslin and finally, with fine muslin. The ink must not be removed from the pits. ”

“ Silver ink was again quite common in most countries. Red ink made of vermilion (a composition of mercury, sulphur and potash) and cinnabar (native mercuric sulphide) were employed in the writing of the titles as was blue ink made of indigo, cobalt or oxide of copper. Tyrian purple was used for coloring the parchment or vellum. The "Indian" inks made by the Chinese were imported and used in preference to those of similar character manufactured at home. The stylus and waxed tablets though still used, in a measure gave way to the reawakened interest in ink and ink writings. ”

“ To transfer the design to the glass it is printed from the steel plate on to thin silk paper, the ink used being compounded from 500 parts of oil of turpentine, 1,500 of Syrian asphalt, 500 of beeswax, 400 of paraffin, and 300 of thick litho varnish. The printing is performed in the usual manner, and the transfer laid on the warmed surface of the glass sheet or ware to be decorated, rubbed over uniformly with a cloth to make the ink adhere to the glass, and then the paper is moistened and taken off again, leaving the imprinted design behind. ”

“ This paper must not be inked up with a roller. As soon as the turpentine and benzine have evaporated the print is laid in cold water, and after about ten minutes developed with a clean tuft of cotton wool. The print does not show a strong relief; the development takes place quickly and regularly. The ink, in spite of its being so thin, is very greasy, so that only a very light skin is necessary for the subsequent transfer. The tint produced by a negative slightly too thin cannot be easily removed. ”

“ Put two pennyworths’ lunar caustic (nitrate of silver) into half a tablespoonful of gin, and in a day or two the ink is fit for use. The linen to be marked must first be wet with a strong solution of common soda, and be thoroughly dried before the ink is used upon it. The color will be faint at first, but by exposure to the sun or the fire it will become quite black and very durable.
Blue Marking Ink for White Goods.
Dissolve the silver salt in the ammonia; dissolve the carbonate of soda, gum arabic, and sulphate of copper in the distilled water, and mix the two solutions together. ”