Inkwell

“ These ink-wells with rubber tops can be obtained for about one shilling each, but for staff and committee use a better variety should be ordered as the rubber degenerates quickly under the chemical action of the ink. Ink-wells should preferably be associated with pen-racks rather than with pen-trays. A rack sorts the pens and pencils out automatically in a visible order, while a tray wastes a large amount of time annually, owing to the groping and examining and fruitless fumblings necessitated before the right pen or pencil is found among its fellows. ”

“ The ink is allowed to ooze out generously on to a large metal cylinder, where it is pounced upon at once by a cohort of gelatine rollers and pounded and smeared in various directions and ultimately taken by carrying rollers with reciprocating motion to larger gelatine cylinders, which are in contact with the plate-carrying cylinder itself. All this pounding, squeezing and manœuvring are the only means of getting an absolutely even distribution of ink, which the reckless speed of newspaper printing requires. ”

“ In modelling, as in painting, there are numerous tricks and contrivances for producing various effects; and as the painter will often value a bit of old scrubby, worn-down brush, so the modeller will find various cutting instruments materially assist him, such as the broken blade of a knife, a steel pen, a bradawl, &c., &c., many of these producing effects that more elaborate instruments would have failed doing. On page 33 will be found an engraving representing three requisite varieties of knives. ”

“ It penetrated the substance of the paper (as caustics or powerful chemical solvents and corrosives act on the organic fibre) : it bit in, or burned in,—and was therefore well named ENCAUSTON and Incaustum.
CHEMISTRY or COMPOSITION of INK.
We do not propose to furnish recipes, prescriptions, directions or instructions for the manufacture of this article. No mere statement in words can enable any one to arrive at perfection, or excellence, or practical success in the production of this article, or any articles whatsoever. ”

“ A large reservoir of ink at the top of the machine supplies the inking tables, from which it is spread evenly over the inking rollers, and, at each revolution of the type cylinder, nine sheets are printed on one side. They are then taken to a second machine to be printed on the back, or, as it is called, "perfected." The accompanying engraving shows the general arrangement of the machines.
Few mechanical contrivances present so striking an illustration of the application of human ingenuity to the production of important results, and to the saving of labour, as these printing machines. ”

“ A composition inking roller is made to vibrate between the inking table, where on the ink is thinly and evenly spread, and the iron feeding roller, and thus delivers the requisite quantity of ink on to the table. ”

“ The sheets of paper are held on to the cylinders at their edges by means of tapes, and are so236 laid on by the workmen, that the type may be impressed on them with an equal margin all round. At each end of the machine is a supply of ink, which is taken from long iron rollers, about three inches in diameter, each of which turns in contact with a flat iron bar, that only allows a small quantity of ink to pass. ”

“ Rolling up.—Apply the inking roller with light pressure to the nearest edge of the plate, and roll backwards and forwards over its surface several times; an experienced printer will at once perceive the condition of the surface. For the first inking a stiffish ink should be used, as the plate will not then so readily become dirty. By repeated rolling in different directions, and what is of equal importance, with varying pressure, endeavour to distribute the ink with perfect evenness, and with a view of producing a clear and vigorous inking, which will yield a similar perfect impression. ”

“ William Nicholson, seeing at once that the idea of a cylinder press could never be worked out to practical perfection with such a process of inking as that, built up an inking roller with manifold layers of cloth, which he covered with the trodden sheep-pelt surface used in the ink-balls, the distribution of the ink on the roller to be made by contact with a revolving cylinder of wood. ”

“ We have now reviewed the relief processes, both dependent entirely on hand work, and the intaglio processes, engraving, dry-point, mezzotint, likewise relying upon manual power to prepare the plate for printing.10 In the etching group of intaglio devices, a chemical factor is called upon to lessen and accelerate the work of the hand. The last group to be considered, planographic processes, is based entirely upon chemical and physical action. The drawing to be reproduced is made with fatty crayon or ink upon a slab of a special variety of limestone ”

“ The inking of the forme is done by another set of rollers called inkers, placed near the impression cylinder. The inking rollers receive their ink from what is distributed on the table and coat the type while it is passing underneath them. Thus the nine operations of the hand-press requisite to print one impression are greatly reduced. The bed carrying the type to and fro from the point of impression moves mechanically, superseding the running in and out of the carriage by the rounce and handle of the hand-press. ”

“ Those will be relics for future generations to value.
The table appointments are among the collectable curios of the library, and prominent among these is the inkstand. Inkstands find their prototypes in the inkhorns of the scribe; and throughout the generations which have provided curios for twentieth-century collectors there have been fresh supplies in silver, pewter, Sheffield plate, copper, bronze, iron, wood, china, and brass. Very beautiful indeed are some of the old inkstands in their separate vase-like attachments. ”

“ An inking roller, charged with an oily ink, is then passed over the stone and inks the drawing, but leaves all the other parts of the stone quite clean. A damped paper is next laid on, and when subjected to great pressure, an exact copy of the drawing or writing is produced.
This simple and ingenious process has been carried to such perfection, that the most beautiful artistic250 effects can be produced by it far more economically than by any other style of engraving; and further improvements in the art are being continually made. ”

“ In the case of inks that do not contain iron, or when the writing was in carbon or aniline typing ink, this method of incineration will prove unsuccessful.
Writing that has been done with an ordinary lead pencil can usually be rendered visible by carefully regulating the heat during the incineration, so as not to burn away the graphite. Marks done with a red pencil are, as a rule, burned away with the paper, but blue pencil marks usually persist owing to the presence of an iron compound in the pigment. ”

“ They have a peculiar kind of ink-stand in Cairo; it is made of brass, and has a long handle running back nearly a foot. This handle is hollow, and holds the pens, and it serves the purpose of sustaining the ink-stand in the girdle. The ink is generally a little thicker than ours, but they can write with European ink without trouble. You see these ink-stands very often in the girdles of merchants and accountants in the bazaars, and it is not unusual to see a man standing or squatting on the sidewalk, and engaged in the production of a letter. ”

“ If we take one of the metal prints or, more simple, draw a sketch in insulating ink upon a sheet of metal A, Fig. 5, and connect a battery B and the galvanometer D as shown, we shall find on drawing the free end of the wire across the metal plate that all the time the wire is in contact with the lines of insulating material the needle of the galvanometer will remain {17}at zero, but where it is in contact with the metal plate the needle is deflected. ”

“ If the reader has been able to follow this necessarily brief description, he will readily perceive how, by the use of duplicate stencils, constructed of .any tough substance, the work of engraving, once an art in itself, becomes merely a mechanical process. As the result of experiments, now nearly completed, a form of rubber ink has been devised which, when laid on paper, converts it into a stencil, sufficiently tough to resist the action of the blast. ”

“ The wire gauze, on to which the pulp is poured, is about 4 feet wide, and 25 feet long, and it is kept constantly moving onwards, by rollers at each end, over which it passes. The gauze is stretched out perfectly level, and the pulp is prevented from flowing over the edges by straps on each side, which limit the width of the paper. As the endless wire cloth moves along, an agitating motion is given to it, by which means the pulp is spread evenly over the surface ”

“ As an example of the necessity of cleanliness, a light lead-pencil mark would serve to conduct the current entirely from a charged sheet to wherever it terminated, and if suitably located, utterly destroy the usefulness of the apparatus. Ink, which most generally contains iron, will cause trouble, and although some cheap foreign condensers are built up of old ledger pages, yet their efficiency is very uncertain. ”

“ Sad is the lot of any poor child who might have the misfortune to upset an inkstand. You would find her on her knees rubbing the stain with soap and scraping it with a piece of glass until every vestige of ink disappears. ”

“ Cut a number of pieces of paper of the desired size, say 6 inches square, and a number of sheets of foil 3 inches square. Round off the corners of the foil and build up first a sheet109 of paper, then a sheet of foil in its centre, then another paper and another foil sheet, and so on. There is to be no connection from sheet to sheet, only the inductive action of one on its neighbor. The foil must be considerably smaller than the paper in this construction, owing to the greater tendency to discharge round the edges of the sheets, owing to the greater potential of the current. ”

“ Instead of allowing the pulp to fall on to a flat surface of wire gauze, a polished hollow brass cylinder, perforated with holes and covered with wire cloth, revolves in contact with the prepared pulp, and a partial vacuum being produced within the cylinder, the pulp adheres to the gauze, and its fibres cohere sufficiently, before the cylinder has completed a revolution, to be turned off on to another cylinder covered with felt, on which it is subjected to pressure by rollers, and is thence delivered to the drying cylinders. ”

“ I have an exquisitely chipped and perfectly symmetrical implement of this character (3 inches) from the neighbourhood of Icklingham, Suffolk, in which county the type is not uncommon. The flaking on the convex surface is very even and regular, and produces a slightly corrugated surface, with the low ridges following each other like ripple marks on sand. The edge is minutely and evenly chipped, and is very sharp. The instrument may perhaps be regarded as a sort of knife. ”

“ The inks of the ancients seem to have been more durable than our own; they were thicker and more unctuous, in substance and durability more resembling the ink now used by printers. An inkstand was discovered at Herculaneum, containing ink as thick as oil, and still usable for writing. The ancients used inks of various colours. ”

“ Hood Mould.—These may be cut with the “knife-compass,” and the mouldings worked by fitting a piece of ivory filed to the required form in lieu of the knife; they must be slightly gummed upon the underside to the cutting-board, to keep them steady while being worked.
I. Ironwork.—May be represented in either paper, tea-lead, thin sheet copper, or wire, depending on size 108and form; perhaps the easiest and best material for general purposes is tea-lead, i. e., the lead with which the tea chests are lined. ”

“ This Inkstand will be found invaluable in keeping the Ink always clear and fit for use in every climate. It is of a cylindrical form, with a gravitating action, adjusted so as to supply the Dipping Cup with Ink, which can be returned into the Cylinder when not in use. Economy, cleanliness, and usefulness are secured by it, and it cannot get out of order. ”

“ Marking and Scribing.—The carpenter's lead pencil is of a flat, oval section, sharpened to a chisel edge, which has a greater body of lead than a point, and lasts a reasonable time before requiring to be re-sharpened. The marking awl and the striking knife, shown in Fig. 2 as a combined tool, is used by joiners principally for scribing, or cutting-in, the shoulders of framing, etc. Greater accuracy can be attained and a sharper arris is left when sawing than when working to a pencil line. ”

“ A slight turn of the screw at each movement brings the knife forward. In cutting mill-boards which are very hard, the screw should be turned very little each time. If press and plough are in proper order, that part of the board which projects above the cheek of the press should be cut off, leaving the edges perfectly square and straight. If the edge of the press has been damaged, or is out of “truth,” a [128] cutting board may be used between the cheek of the press and the board to be cut, making a true edge for the knife to run on. ”

“ Being screwed tight with the pin, the workman then takes the plough with the right hand, by the head of the screw, and, placing it on the groove of the press, proceeds to cut the book, holding the other end of the screw firmly with the left hand, and causing the knife to advance gradually through the book by turning the screw gently as he cuts, which should be all one way,—viz.: as the arms are removed from the body. ”