Part 75

«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.

Nigrosin is a term applied to several compounds of the same series which differ in solubility. In the place of these compounds it is probable that a mixture would answer to produce black as suggested by Hans Wilder for making writing ink. His formula for the mixture is:

II.—Methyl violet 3 parts Bengal green 5 parts Bismarck green 4 parts

A quantity of this mixture should be taken equivalent to the amount of nigrosin directed. These colors are freely soluble in water, and yield a deep greenish-black solution.

The aniline compound known as brilliant green answers in place of Bengal green. As to the permanency of color of this or any aniline ink, no guarantee is offered. There are comparatively few coloring substances that can be considered permanent even in a qualified sense. Among these, charcoal takes a foremost place. Lampblack remains indefinitely unaltered. This, ground very finely with glycerine, would yield an ink which would perhaps prove serviceable in stamping; but it would be liable to rub off to a greater extent than soluble colors which penetrate the paper more or less. Perhaps castor oil would prove a better vehicle for insoluble coloring matters. Almost any aniline color may be substituted for nigrosin in the foregoing formula, and blue, green, red, purple, and other inks obtained. Insoluble pigments might also be made to answer as suggested for lampblack.

The following is said to be a cushion that will give color permanently. It consists of a box filled with an elastic composition, saturated with a suitable color. The cushion fulfils its purpose for years without being renewed, always contains sufficient moisture, which is drawn from the atmosphere, and continues to act as a color stamp cushion so long as a remnant of the mass or composition remains in the box or receptacle. This cushion or pad is too soft to be self-supporting, but should be held in a low, flat pan, and have a permanent cloth cover.

III.—The composition consists preferably of 1 part gelatin, 1 part water, 6 parts glycerine, and 6 parts coloring matter. A suitable black color can be {411} made from the following materials: One part gelatin glue, 3 parts lampblack, aniline black, or a suitable quantity of logwood extract, 10 parts of glycerine, 1 part absolute alcohol, 2 parts water, 1 part Venetian soap, 1⁠/⁠5 part salicylic acid. For red, blue, or violet: One part gelatin glue, 2 parts aniline of desired color, 1 part absolute alcohol, 10 parts glycerine, I part Venetian soap, and 1⁠/⁠5 part salicylic acid.

The following are additional recipes used for this purpose:

IV.—Mix and dissolve 2 to 4 drachms aniline violet, 15 ounces alcohol, 15 ounces glycerine. The solution is poured on the cushion and rubbed in with a brush. The general method of preparing the pad is to swell the gelatin with cold water, then boil and add the glycerine, etc.

V.—Mix well 16 pounds of hot linseed oil, 3 ounces of powdered indigo, or a like quantity of Berlin blue, and 8 pounds of lampblack. For ordinary sign-stamping an ink without the indigo might be used. By substituting ultramarine or Prussian blue for the lampblack, a blue “ink” or paint would result.

«Inks for Hand Stamps.»—As an excipient for oily inks, a mixture of castor oil and crude oleic acid, in parts varying according to the coloring material used, is admirable. The following are examples:

_Black._—Oil soluble nigrosin and crude oleic acid in equal parts. Add 7 to 8 parts of castor oil.

_Red._—Oil soluble aniline red, 2 parts; crude oleic acid, 3 parts; castor oil, from 30 to 60 parts, according to the intensity of color desired.

_Red._—Dissolve 1⁠/⁠4 ounce of carmine in 2 ounces strong water of ammonia, and add 1 drachm of glycerine and 3⁠/⁠4 ounce dextrin.

_Blue._—Rub 1 ounce Prussian blue with enough water to make a perfectly smooth paste; then add 1 ounce dextrin, incorporate it well, and finally add sufficient water to bring it to the proper consistency.

_Blue._—Oil soluble aniline blue, 1 part; crude oleic acid, 2 parts; castor oil, 30 to 32 parts.

_Violet._—Alcohol, 15 ounces; glycerine, 15 ounces; aniline violet, 2 to 4 drachms. Mix, dissolve, pour the solution on the cushion, and dab on with a brush.

«Color Stamps for Rough Paper.»—It has hitherto been impossible to get a satisfactory application for printing with rubber stamps on rough paper. Fatty vehicles are necessary for such paper, and they injure the India rubber. It is said, however, that if the rubber is first soaked in a solution of glue, and then in one of tannin, or bichromate of potash, it becomes impervious to the oils or fats. Gum arabic can be substituted for the glue.

«Indelible Hand-Stamp Ink.»—

I.—Copper sulphate 20 parts Aniline chlorate 20 parts

Rub up separately to a fine powder, then carefully mix, and add 10 parts of dextrin and incorporate. Add 5 parts of glycerine and rub up, adding water, a little at a time, until a homogeneous viscid mass is obtained. An aniline color is produced in the material, which boiling does not destroy.

II.—Sodium carbonate 22 parts Glycerine 85 parts Gum arabic, in powder 20 parts Silver nitrate 11 parts Ammonia water 20 parts Venetian turpentine 10 parts

Triturate the carbonate of sodium, gum arabic, and glycerine together. In a separate flask dissolve the silver nitrate in the ammonia water, mix the solution with the triturate, and heat to boiling, when the turpentine is to be added, with constant stirring. After stamping, expose to the sunlight or use a hot iron. The quantity of glycerine may be varied to suit circumstances.

«White Stamping Ink for Embroidery.»—

Zinc white 2 drachms Mucilage 1 drachm Water 6 drachms

Triturate the zinc white with a small quantity of water till quite smooth, then add the mucilage and the remainder of the water.

«STENCIL INKS.»

I.—Dissolve 1 ounce of gum arabic in 6 ounces water, and strain. This is the mucilage. For _Black Color_ use drop black, powdered, and ground with the mucilage to extreme fineness; for _Blue_, ultramarine is used in the same manner; for _Green_, emerald green; for _White_, flake white; for _Red_, vermilion, lake, or carmine; for _Yellow_, chrome yellow. When ground too thick they are thinned {412} with a little water. Apply with a small brush.

II.—Triturate together 1 pint pine soot and 2 pints Prussian blue with a little glycerine, then add 3 pints gum arabic and sufficient glycerine to form a thin paste.

«Blue Stencil Inks.»—The basis of the stencil inks commonly used varies to some extent, some preferring a mixture of pigments with oils, and others a watery shellac basis. The basis:

I.—Shellac 2 ounces Borax 1 1⁠/⁠2 ounces Water 10 ounces

Boil together until 10 ounces of solution is obtained. The coloring:

Prussian blue 1 ounce China clay 1⁠/⁠2 ounce Powdered acacia 1⁠/⁠2 ounce

Mix thoroughly and gradually incorporate the shellac solution.

II.—Prussian blue 2 ounces Lampblack 1 ounce Gum arabic 3 ounces Glycerine, sufficient.

Triturate together the dry powders and then make into a suitable paste with glycerine.

«Indelible Stencil Inks.»—I.—Varnish such as is used for ordinary printing ink, 1 pound; black sulphuret of mercury, 1 pound; nitrate of silver, 1 ounce; sulphate of iron, 1 ounce; lampblack, 2 tablespoonfuls. Grind all well together; thin with spirits turpentine as desired.

II.—Sulphate of manganese, 2 parts; lampblack, 1 part; sugar, 4 parts; all in fine powder and triturated to a paste in a little water.

III.—Nitrate of silver, 1⁠/⁠4 ounce; water, 3⁠/⁠4 ounce. Dissolve, add as much of the strongest liquor of ammonia as will dissolve the precipitate formed on its first addition. Then add of mucilage, 1 1⁠/⁠2 drachms, and a little sap green, syrup of buckthorn, or finely powdered indigo, to color. This turns black on being held near the fire, or touched with a hot iron.

«SYMPATHETIC INKS:»

Table of Substances Used in Making Sympathetic Inks.—

For writing and for bringing out the writing:

Cobalt chloride, heat.

Cobalt acetate and a little saltpeter, heat.

Cobalt chloride and nickel chloride mixed, heat.

Nitric acid, heat.

Sulphuric acid, heat.

Sodium chloride, heat.

Saltpeter, heat.

Copper sulphate and ammonium chloride, heat.

Silver nitrate, sunlight.

Gold trichloride, sunlight.

Ferric sulphate, infusion of gallnuts or ferrocyanide of potassium.

Copper sulphate, ferrocyanide of potassium.

Lead vinegar, hydrogen sulphide.

Mercuric nitrate, hydrogen sulphide.

Starch water, tincture of iodine or iodine vapors.

Cobalt nitrate, oxalic acid.

Fowler’s solution, copper nitrate.

Soda lye or sodium carbonate, phenolphthaleine.

A sympathetic ink is one that is invisible when written, but which can be made visible by some treatment. Common milk can be used for writing, and exposure to strong heat will scorch and render the dried milk characters visible.

The following inks are developed by exposure to the action of reagents:

I.—Upon writing with a very clear solution of starch on paper that contains but little sizing, and submitting the dry characters to the vapor of iodine (or passing over them a weak solution of potassium iodide), the writing becomes blue, and disappears under the action of a solution of hyposulphite of soda (1 in 1,000).

II.—Characters written with a weak solution of the soluble chloride of platinum or iridium become black when the paper is submitted to mercurial vapor. This ink may be used for marking linen, as it is indelible.

III.—Sulphate of copper in very dilute solution will produce an invisible writing, which may be turned light blue by vapors of ammonia.

IV.—Soluble compounds of antimony will become red by hydrogen sulphide vapor.

V.—Soluble compounds of arsenic and of peroxide of tin will become yellow by the same vapor.

VI.—An acid solution of iron chloride is diluted until the writing is invisible when dry. This writing has the property of becoming red by sulphocyanide vapors (arising from the action of sulphuric acid on potassium sulphocyanide in a long-necked flask), and it disappears {413} by ammonia, and may alternately be made to appear and disappear by these two vapors.

VII.—Write with a solution of paraffine in benzol. When the solvent has evaporated, the paraffine is invisible, but becomes visible on being dusted with lampblack or powdered graphite or smoking over a candle flame.

VIII.—Dissolve 1 part of a lead salt, 0.1 part of uranium acetate, and the same quantity of bismuth citrate in 100 parts of water. Then add, drop by drop, a solution of sal ammoniac until the whole becomes transparent. Afterwards, mix with a few drops of gum arabic. To reveal the characters traced with this ink, expose them to the fumes of sulphuric acid, which turns them immediately to a dark brown. The characters fade away in a few minutes, but can be renewed by a slight washing with very dilute nitric acid.

«TYPEWRITER RIBBON INKS.»

I.—Take vaseline (petrolatum) of high boiling point, melt it on a water bath or slow fire, and incorporate by constant stirring as much lamp or powdered drop black as it will take up without becoming granular. If the vaseline remains in excess, the print is liable to have a greasy outline; if the color is in excess, the print will not be clear. Remove the mixture from the fire, and while it is cooling mix equal parts of petroleum, benzine, and rectified oil of turpentine, in which dissolve the fatty ink, introduced in small portions, by constant agitation. The volatile solvents should be in such quantity that the fluid ink is of the consistence of fresh oil paint. One secret of success lies in the proper application of the ink to the ribbon. Wind the ribbon on a piece of cardboard, spread on a table several layers of newspaper, then unwind the ribbon in such lengths as may be most convenient, and lay it flat on the paper. Apply the ink, after agitation, by means of a soft brush, and rub it well into the interstices of the ribbon with a toothbrush. Hardly any ink should remain visible on the surface. For colored inks use Prussian blue, red lead, etc., and especially the aniline colors.

II.—Aniline black 1⁠/⁠2 ounce Pure alcohol 15 ounces Concentrated glycerine 15 ounces

Dissolve the aniline black in the alcohol, and add the glycerine. Ink as before. The aniline inks containing glycerine are copying inks.

III.—Alcohol 2 ounces Aniline color 1⁠/⁠4 ounce Water 2 ounces Glycerine 4 ounces

Dissolve the aniline in the alcohol and add the water and glycerine.

IV.—Castor oil 2 ounces Cassia oil 1⁠/⁠2 ounce Carbolic acid 1⁠/⁠2 ounce

Warm them together and add 1 ounce of aniline color. Indelible typewriter inks may be made by using lampblack in place of the aniline, mixing it with soft petrolatum and dissolving the cooled mass in a mixture of equal parts of benzine and turpentine.

«COLORING AGENTS:»

Red.—

I.—Bordeaux red, O. S. 15 parts Aniline red, O. S. 15 parts Crude oleic acid 45 parts Castor oil enough to make 1,000 parts

Rub the colors up with the oleic acid, add the oil, warming the whole to 100° to 110° F. (not higher), under constant stirring. If the color is not sufficiently intense for your purposes, rub up a trifle more of it with oleic acid, and add it to the ink. By a little experimentation you can get an ink exactly to your desire in the matter.

Blue-Black.—

II.—Aniline black, O. S. 5 parts Oleic acid, crude 5 parts Castor oil, quantity sufficient to 100 parts.

Violet.—

III.—Aniline violet, O. S. 3 parts Crude oleic acid 5 parts Castor oil, quantity sufficient to 100 parts.

The penetration of the ink may be increased _ad libitum_ by the addition of a few drops of absolute alcohol, or, better, of benzol.

«Reinking.»—For reinking ribbons use the following recipe for black: One ounce aniline black; 15 ounces pure grain alcohol; 15 ounces concentrated glycerine. Dissolve the aniline black in the alcohol and then add the glycerine. For blue use Prussian blue, and for red use red lead instead of the aniline black. This ink is also good for rubber stamp pads. {414}

«WRITING INKS.»

The common writing fluids depend mostly upon galls, logwood, or aniline for coloring. There are literally thousands of formulas. A few of the most reliable have been gathered together here:

I.—Aleppo galls (well bruised), 4 ounces; clean soft water, I quart; macerate in a clean corked bottle for 10 days or a fortnight or longer, with frequent agitation; then add of gum arabic (dissolved in a wineglassful of water), 1 1⁠/⁠2 ounces; lump sugar, 1⁠/⁠2 ounce. Mix well, and afterwards further add of sulphate of iron (green copperas crushed small), 1 1⁠/⁠2 ounces. Agitate occasionally for 2 or 3 days, when the ink may be decanted for use, but is better if the whole is left to digest together for 2 or 3 weeks. When time is an object, the whole of the ingredients may at once be put into a bottle, and the latter agitated daily until the ink is made; and boiling water instead of cold water may be employed. Product, 1 quart of excellent ink, writing pale at first, but soon turning intensely black.

II.—Aleppo galls (bruised), 12 pounds; soft water, 6 gallons. Boil in a copper vessel for 1 hour, adding more water to make up for the portion lost by evaporation; strain, and again boil the galls with water, 4 gallons, for 1⁠/⁠2 hour; strain off the liquor, and boil a third time with water, 2 1⁠/⁠2 gallons, and strain. Mix the several liquors, and while still hot add of green copperas (coarsely powdered), 4 1⁠/⁠2 pounds; gum arabic (bruised small), 4 pounds. Agitate until dissolved, and after defecation strain through a hair sieve, and keep in a bunged cask for use. Product, 12 gallons.

III.—Aleppo galls (bruised), 14 pounds; gum, 5 pounds. Put them in a small cask, and add boiling soft water, 15 gallons. Allow the whole to macerate, with frequent agitation, for a fortnight, then further add of green copperas, 5 pounds, dissolved in water, 7 pints. Again mix well, and agitate the whole once daily for 2 or 3 weeks. Product, 15 gallons.

«Brown Ink.»—I.—To make brown ink, use for coloring a strong decoction of catechu; the shade may be varied by the cautious addition of a little weak solution of bichromate of potash.

II.—A strong decoction of logwood, with a very little bichromate of potash.

«Blue Ink.»—To make blue ink, substitute for the black coloring sulphate of indigo and dilute it with water till it produces the required color.

«Anticorrosive or Asiatic Ink.»—I.—Galls, 4 pounds; logwood, 2 pounds; pomegranate peel, 2 pounds; soft water, 5 gallons. Boil as usual; then add to the strained, decanted cold liquor, 1 pound of gum arabic, lump sugar or sugar candy, 1⁠/⁠4 pound; dissolved in water, 3 pints. Product, 4 1⁠/⁠2 gallons. Writes pale, but flows well from the pen, and soon darkens.

II.—Bruised galls, 14 pounds; gum, 5 pounds. Put them in a small cask, and add of boiling water, 15 gallons. Allow the whole to macerate, with frequent agitation, for 2 weeks, then further add green copperas, 5 pounds, dissolved in 7 pints water. Again mix well, and agitate the whole daily for 2 or 3 weeks.

«Blue-Black Ink.»—Blue Aleppo galls (free from insect perforations), 4 1⁠/⁠2 ounces; bruised cloves, 1 drachm; cold water, 40 ounces; purified sulphate of iron, 1 1⁠/⁠2 ounces; pure sulphuric acid (by measure), 35 minims; sulphate of indigo (in the form of a paste), which should be neutral, or nearly so, 1 ounce. The weights used are avoirdupois, and the measures apothecaries’. Place the galls, then bruised with the cloves, in a 50-ounce bottle, pour upon them the water, and digest, often daily shaking for a fortnight. Then filter through paper in another 50-ounce bottle. Get out also the refuse galls, and wring out of it the remaining liquid through a strong, clean linen or cotton cloth, into the filter, in order that as little as possible may be lost. Next put in the iron, dissolve completely, and filter through paper. Then the acid, and agitate briskly. Lastly, the indigo, and thoroughly mix by shaking. Pass the whole through paper; just filter out of one bottle into another until the operation is finished.

NOTE.—No gum or sugar is proper and on no account must the acid be omitted. When intended for copying, 5 1⁠/⁠2 ounces of galls is the quantity. On the large scale this fine ink is made by percolation.

«Colored Inks.»—Inks of various colors may be made from a strong decoction of the ingredients used in dyeing, mixed with a little alum or other substance used as a mordant, and gum arabic. Any of the ordinary water-color cakes employed in drawing diffused through water may also be used for colored ink. {415}

«COPYING INK.»

This is usually prepared by adding a little sugar to ordinary black ink, which for this purpose should be very rich in color, and preferably made galls prepared by heat. Writing executed with this ink may be copied within the space of 5 or 6 hours, by passing it through a copying press in contact with thin, unsized paper, slightly damped, enclosed between 2 sheets of thick oiled or waxed paper, when a reversed transcript will be obtained, which will read in proper order when the back of the copy is turned upwards. In the absence of a press a copy may be taken, when the ink is good and the writing very recent, by rolling the sheets, duly arranged on a ruler, over the surface of a flat, smooth table, employing as much force as possible, and avoiding any slipping or crumbling of the paper. Another method is to pass a warm flatiron over the paper laid upon the writing. The following proportions are employed: