How To Make Iron Gall Ink

[lectraplayer]

I'm about to be experimenting with iron gall ink, and I have so many questions relates to so many aspects of it. To start off, most recipes call for vinegar to dissolve the ferrous iron in.

 

1) Does it have to be acetic acid or would citric acid based "waste" cola work without tampering with the reaction?

 

2) What is the best gall to use? While I keep seeing oak galls being used, does one gall work better than another or can I mix and match?

 

3) Once I start to get a suitable formula, what would I be able to do to make the formula fountain pen friendly? Can I add sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to my gall brew to control acidity withoout tampering with the reaction?

 

4) While I intend to keep my mixes seperate while not in use and mix the ink as needed, how long can I expect the finished ink to be useful after mixing?

 

4) while I intend to

[fiberdrunk]

I've never used vinegar or any of the things you mentioned, but I've posted a few different iron gall ink recipes here on FPN that you can try. I always try to make the most permanent and stable inks I can, so I don't do a lot of extra experimentation, but pretty much stay with the basics of (1) a gallotannic source (aleppo oak galls or other oak galls, or even pomegranate peels, fermented for 2 months), (2) iron sulfate (I use Hi-Yield, which you can find in the fertilizer section of a gardening or home improvement store), (3) powdered gum arabic and (4) distilled water.

 

Aleppo (blue) galls from the middle east are considered the Rolls Royce of oak galls, having any where from 50-70% tannic acid; other oak galls may have only 20%; pomegranate rinds have about 28%. Fermenting these plant products for 1-2 months will help convert most of the tannic acid to gallotannic acid, which is what you want (it makes the darkest and most stable ink). Not all tannin sources are of high enough quality for ink-making. Some will produce a greenish gray or a dark gray ink that quickly browns (I've tried using acorns and this was the result). Aleppo galls make a nice bluish black. I've been impressed with the oak apples from California that I've tried-- they've made a nice black or dark gray ink. If you've got oak trees near you, look for galls this fall and winter and use the CA Live Oak recipe below for them as a starting point.

 

The other factor is, where the aleppo gall is considered the gold standard of inks, you want a ratio of 3 parts aleppo galls to 2 parts iron sulfate for the most permanent and stable ink. If you're using something that is lower in gallotannic acid, then you'll have to make adjustments to obtain that same ratio. The first two recipes below have been adjusted to compensate for the lower gallotannic amounts:

• California Live Oak Iron Gall
• Pomegranate Iron Gall
• Sir Isaac Newton's Iron Gall Recipe (uses beer instead of distilled water)
• Jane Austen Iron Gall Ink Recipe (also uses beer instead of distilled water)

 

I recommend reading David Carvalho's 40 Centuries of Ink, and The Iron Gall Ink website (formerly called the Ink Corrosion Website). Also, check out the Open-Ink wiki,, a wiki for ink makers. Please share your experiments there.

 

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

 

eta: I've been able to use the CA Live Oak and Pomegranate recipes safely in certain fountain pens. Read my articles on Open-Ink called "Principles for Stability & Longevity of Iron Gall Inks"; and "Fountain Pens You Can Use with Old Iron Gall Ink Recipes."

Edited July 31, 2013 by fiberdrunk

[scri be]

Hi

whatever you do, just let the ink sit in a bottle for a few months, the sediment and iron that may fail to dissolve will fall to the bottom and will separate, this will happen in your pen if you do not wait! and it may cause skipping and worse.

 

I usually do it very simply, 10% galls (crushed) soaked in water, leave for 2 months, run through a strainer,

add less than 5% iron sulphate, boil, wait a few days, and run through a strainer

and finally if you want to thicken it, add up to 5% gum arabic.

store and wait for the sediment to fall to the bottom of the bottle!

Edited August 26, 2013 by scri be

[fiberdrunk]

A well-balanced ink will not drop sediment after a few months-- that's usually a sign that the ink didn't have the correct ratio of ingredients to begin with, or the ingredients were of poor quality. I have iron gall inks that are over 3 years old that have not yet dropped sediment. I will throw them out when they do because they are no longer archival at that point.

 

IAMPETH has an article for "refreshening" exhausted iron gall inks. I have not tried this and don't know if it will render the ink archival again, but it's one way to save an ink: ‘Freshening up’ Iron Gall Type Inks

 

(eta: one thing about the article: he uses a metal strainer to strain his ink... I'd use a fine mesh plastic, myself. A stainless steel mesh might be ok, but why risk another chemical reaction that won't be good for your ink?)

Edited August 26, 2013 by fiberdrunk

[scri be]

ok

A well-balanced ink will not drop sediment after a few months-- that's usually a sign that the ink didn't have the correct ratio of ingredients to begin with, or the ingredients were of poor quality. I have iron gall inks that are over 3 years old that have not yet dropped sediment. I will throw them out when they do because they are no longer archival at that point.

 

IAMPETH has an article for "refreshening" exhausted iron gall inks. I have not tried this and don't know if it will render the ink archival again, but it's one way to save an ink: ‘Freshening up’ Iron Gall Type Inks

 

(eta: one thing about the article: he uses a metal strainer to strain his ink... I'd use a fine mesh plastic, myself. A stainless steel mesh might be ok, but why risk another chemical reaction that won't be good for your ink?)

that is interesting,

yes after the initial few months, it will remain safe, so your 3 year old ink is ok.

 

if you leave your ink open for a day in a small container, without a lid, and pour it out will you not have any thickened ink at the bottom?

 

my understanding was the the iron is constantly reacting to the gallic/tannic acid and this creates a new black sludge from the iron (this happens mainly from oxidation)

perhaps this does not happen with less iron, or if you don't heat the ink? I don't know

I have a hard time dissolving iron too! I wait after dissolving it in hot water and see iron at the bottom of the container a day later.

 

about a strainer, I use a coffee strainer of the paper types, or a cloth handkerchief over a funnel.

Edited August 26, 2013 by scri be

[fiberdrunk]

I don't keep the lids off my ink for any longer than I have to so I haven't seen any of this sediment. I tend to work from small "working bottles" and keep the bulk of my ink sealed in full bottles, to minimize oxidation. I've actually thought about storing my ink in containers with "floating lids" or collapsible bottles, of the type used in photography darkrooms to minimize oxygen exposure of the chemistry. We'd have very long lasting iron gall inks indeed if we could adapt our ink bottles, and let the oxidation happen on the page rather than prematurely.

 

Collapsible photography chemistry bottles (you squeeze them down to eliminate any air in the bottle):

 

http://www.adorama.com/images/100x100/DKBAEQ.jpg

 

 

Inkjet printer refill bottles, for smaller quantities (possible solution?):

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/30ml-Squeeze-Jet-Bottles-Bellows-Plastic-Medicine-Printer-Ink-Craft-Paint-100ct-/00/s/MjEyWDE0NA==/$(KGrHqFHJCMFCg!yGd)eBQ)mO-nWh!~~60_35.JPG

 

 

For iron sulfate, I use Hi-Yield Copperas, which I found at my local Ace Hardware. A small bag goes a long way. It dissolves quite easily (I tend to stir it in right after I've cooked the fermented and strained tallogallic acid liquid, so it tends to be warm or even hot, now that I think about it). What I've found to be more difficult is the gum arabic-- the gluey blobs usually take until overnight to dissolve. What kind of iron are you using?

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41fz0Cxp1aL._SY300_.jpg

[scri be]

I think I'm using the same iron, it's light green, does dissolves quickly, but I did experiment with it, I dissolved iron in water only, left overnight, and there were lots of little iron particles that had accumulated at the bottom of the sealed jar, I found that interesting and disturbing, since I had thought it to have dissolved.

The gum, yes it does take a day, and there is no quicker way, but it does dissolve very well eventually!

 

I like your idea of collapsable chemistry bottles, I would like to try that, would an amber or tinted vacuumed glass be better? or perhaps something used in winemaking,

 

 

Also if you don't allow oxidation are your inks faint in color, when put to paper initially? I find that annoying as I can't really see what I'm writing or what to expect of it,

Edited August 27, 2013 by scri be

[fiberdrunk]

I like your idea of collapsable chemistry bottles, I would like to try that, would an amber or tinted vacuumed glass be better? or perhaps something used in winemaking,

 

 

Also if you don't allow oxidation are your inks faint in color, when put to paper initially? I find that annoying as I can't really see what I'm writing or what to expect of it,

 

Yes, I prefer amber glass bottles, myself. What did you have in mind for winemaking? That could be an interesting idea...

 

Yes, my ink does tend to go down rather pale initially, but it usually turns dark as it dries (how dark depends on the paper). I always liked this about it, though. It's like magic, watching that transformation.

[scri be]

the wine making bottles I have seen the type with airlock seals, I'm not sure about how they work.

 

when I write with a quill I will like the consistency thick and glossy black, this is achieved through gum and oxidation,

for fountain pens that will never work. so could we only use fresh pale ink? or is there a way of making fresh ink an intense black?

 

If you boil a little ink in the microwave do you see a skin form on the top?

[inkstainedruth]

This thread has gotten me thinking.

A few years ago my husband and some friends were trying to smelt iron (long story, but suffice it to say it was one of those "experimental archeology" things). In order not to get lots of gunk like sulpher, we ended up buying several hundred pounds of high-grade ferrous oxide (yes, basically we were buying rust -- think magnatite) from a place that sells it in our area. Normally the place sells it by the truckload (it's used to line smokestacks as scrubbers to reduce emissions) and the guy thought we were nuts. Or suspicious that we were making illegal fireworks! Not cheap to buy in that small a quantity (yeah, the idea of 100 lbs being a small quantity is kinda mind-boggling, but not when you consider economies of scale...)

and the guy jacked up the price on us a couple of times, but still.

I don't know if there's any of that left of the ferrous oxide at this point (they did several runs over the course of a couple of years) but I'm wondering if that stuff would work for IG inks.... The place is roughly an hour from where I live, and IIRC there are a number of antiques shops in the area -- some of which sometimes have pens, so I could kill two birds with one stone....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[scri be]

yes it probably would work, once I used an old steel knife cutting some galls & noticed it turned black.

but iron sulfate is readily available as moss killer and not expensive either.

 

If you do pick galls, try to get there before they are riddled with holes or full of larvae from other predators!

Edited August 27, 2013 by scri be

[fiberdrunk]

 

 

when I write with a quill I will like the consistency thick and glossy black, this is achieved through gum and oxidation,

for fountain pens that will never work. so could we only use fresh pale ink? or is there a way of making fresh ink an intense black?

 

If you boil a little ink in the microwave do you see a skin form on the top?

 

Actually, some of my iron gall ink recipes (such as the CA Live Oak, pomegranate iron gall and Dr. Stark recipes) I have used in fountain pens. I've been using the CA Live Oak in a Parker Vector since spring, using it to diagram sentences. It does go down pale but darkens to a dark gray quickly enough. The Stark recipe seems to be black no matter what, but then it uses aleppo galls and those are considered the best. This pale feature is why many ink makers historically added logwood (for black) or indigo (for blue) to the iron gall mixture so that there was a strong color from the outset. The problem with adding these additional dyes is that it compromises the ink's longevity, especially logwood. I'm most concerned about archival considerations when I make an ink, so I don't personally use these other dyes. If longevity is not your thing, then you can certainly try them. Most ink makers have.

 

I'm not sure I want to sacrifice any of my ink and microwave it just to see if it forms a skin on top-- what would be the purpose of that, I wonder? I seem to remember when I've cooked down black walnuts, a skin does form on top. But then, that is another process all together-- the black walnut husks are cooked down repeatedly for the dye. The only cooking I do with an iron gall ink is just enough to stop the fermentation process. No skin then.

Edited August 27, 2013 by fiberdrunk

[fiberdrunk]

This thread has gotten me thinking.

A few years ago my husband and some friends were trying to smelt iron (long story, but suffice it to say it was one of those "experimental archeology" things). In order not to get lots of gunk like sulpher, we ended up buying several hundred pounds of high-grade ferrous oxide (yes, basically we were buying rust -- think magnatite) from a place that sells it in our area. Normally the place sells it by the truckload (it's used to line smokestacks as scrubbers to reduce emissions) and the guy thought we were nuts. Or suspicious that we were making illegal fireworks! Not cheap to buy in that small a quantity (yeah, the idea of 100 lbs being a small quantity is kinda mind-boggling, but not when you consider economies of scale...)

and the guy jacked up the price on us a couple of times, but still.

I don't know if there's any of that left of the ferrous oxide at this point (they did several runs over the course of a couple of years) but I'm wondering if that stuff would work for IG inks.... The place is roughly an hour from where I live, and IIRC there are a number of antiques shops in the area -- some of which sometimes have pens, so I could kill two birds with one stone....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Yes, I'm sure. Historically, I wouldn't doubt this was what was used-- the raw stuff! I'll bet it'll make a super ink.

[fiberdrunk]

yes it probably would work, once I used an old steel knife cutting some galls & noticed it turned black.

but iron sulfate is readily available as moss killer and not expensive either.

 

Different metals truly do effect it. When I use the Jane Austen iron gall recipe with Speedball dip nibs, there is a definite chemical reaction and I get a very black ink as a result-- but the nib also tarnishes, and the ink is also compromised in the bottle. You can use this to effect to gain a blacker ink, but really, when it comes to iron gall inks, it's better to use glass pens, feather quills or gold-plated nibs (maybe stainless steel... the verdict is still out on that one-- the metal doesn't tarnish, but I'm still not sure if the ink in the bottle is affected). I had a fountain pen that had this effect, too, a Jinhao 360. The metal in that nib makes the ink so black it is almost paint-like. It's really quite amazing and I liked how it wrote. Unfortunately, it tends to clog when put down overnight and has to be flushed to get it going again the next day. But it works great for one writing session, anyway.

[fiberdrunk]

By the way, different papers will cause iron gall ink to darken faster, too. It seems the more acidic a paper is, the faster the affect. 100% cotton rag (such as Strathmore) tends to be slow, but after a few days the writing is good and black. Sugarcane papers are faster than cotton in my experience. There are so many considerations when it comes to how iron gall ink behaves, from the ink itself and what went into it, to the type of pen (metal or otherwise) to the paper.

[fiberdrunk]

Oh, one more thing. Check out the Open-Ink wiki, started by members here on FPN. I've written a few articles for it under "old ink recipes". If you make some ink, please share your results and spread the knowledge.

[scri be]

 

Different metals truly do effect It's really quite amazing and I liked how it wrote. Unfortunately, it tends to clog when put down overnight and has to be flushed to get it going again the next day. But it works great for one writing session, anyway.

 

Exactly this is what I want an answer too! how to have an intense black that will not clog!

in other words stop oxidation effects continuing after its initial exposure and after the ink is black, to find a way to halt the chemical reactions and control the ink to stop it clogging.

 

It seems that once the reaction has taken effect there is no turning back, that's why it is archival, but at the same time I think the reaction continues causing a transformation of liquid ink into clogging and hard mass, this transformation will transform faster if oxidised & therefore the fresh ink when put to paper transformes into this substance, and is archival, but this also seems to transform slowly even prior to being written with, which is why it clogs your fountain pen, and will create a sediment of some kind, which isn't and will not become liquid ink!

 

I have always seen some form of thicker substance at the bottom of any container with iron gall, try even flushing your iron gall ink filled pen into a cup of water and come back later to see a small thicker milky area at the bottom,

so never mix iron gall ink in an inkwell!

 

What I'm trying to establish from the above and from the skin formed when heated (this skin also occurs to a lesser degree, if the ink is left open lidded), and what I hope to find a solution to, is that it seems the chemical reaction that causes the ink to blacken is also slowly transforming the ink into a solid black matter, perhaps this only happens to some degree and at a certain point the liquid part will remain liquid it could also have to do with the incorrect ratio, but I remain skeptical and unsure.

Edited August 28, 2013 by scri be

[slcsnowdrops]

I apologize if this has been answered. I searched and could not find it.

 

If you do not have access to oak galls and use pure tannic acid powder/extract instead, what kind of adjustments should be made to the iron gall recipe? I am assuming I would need less of the pure tannic acid than I would of crushed galls (since the galls are not 100% tannic acid). Or is that assumption incorrect? I have made some very nice ink using pure tannic acid, but I still wonder how it might be affecting properties of the ink.

[fiberdrunk]

I apologize if this has been answered. I searched and could not find it.

 

If you do not have access to oak galls and use pure tannic acid powder/extract instead, what kind of adjustments should be made to the iron gall recipe? I am assuming I would need less of the pure tannic acid than I would of crushed galls (since the galls are not 100% tannic acid). Or is that assumption incorrect? I have made some very nice ink using pure tannic acid, but I still wonder how it might be affecting properties of the ink.

 

I've only ever extracted from plants, so I'm not sure what the amounts would be. Pharmacist here on FPN makes ink with pure chemicals. Maybe he will chime in here.

 

There is a recipe on page 54 of the January 1935 issue of Popular Science that is the government standard ink recipe:

 

11.7 g tannic acid

3.8 g gallic acid

15 g iron sulfate

3 cc hydrochloric acid

1 g carbolic acid

3.5 g china-blue aniline dye (water-soluable)

1000 cc distilled water

 

This can give you a good starting place. I believe Pharmisist bases his Urkundentinte off this (or close to it), only he optimizes it for fountain pens (I believe by using half the amount of water-- but double check with him). Hope this helps.

 

eta: You'll find a lot of comments/recipes by Pharmacist in this thread, starting with page 3.

Edited September 19, 2013 by fiberdrunk

[slcsnowdrops]

Thank you so much, Fiberdrunk! I appreciate the information, and I will definitely try out that recipe from Popular Science.