Homemade U.s. Government Standard Iron Gall Ink

[Chemist]

Look that shading! this is the ink without dye in a pilot parallel 6.0 mm.

 

http://i59.tinypic.com/jpkg7a.jpg

 

 

That really is an impressive ink, and some very nice calligraphy! It looks a lot like some old manuscripts I've seen. Have you made any with the dye in it, or are you choosing to use the ink without dye?

[Husar]

Yes, I've made with the dye ink (indigocarmine) but only for testing the precipitation. The colour is very close to it. Soon I will show you with more colours.

[fiberdrunk]

Look that shading! this is the ink without dye in a pilot parallel 6.0 mm.

 

http://i59.tinypic.com/jpkg7a.jpg

 

 

Really gorgeous calligraphy and ink! Gosh, you really don't need the dye when it turns out this well! (By the way, aren't those Pilot Parallel pens awesome?!)

Edited September 23, 2014 by fiberdrunk

[Husar]

Pilot Parallel pen is awesome. I am really happy with it, having 1.5, 2.4, 3.8 and 6.0 mm. 1.5 is scratchy but I have another italic pen. The dye is needed to see what you are writing but this is a very good ink. Oh, and I have tested in water (ok!), alcohol (ok!), acetone (ok!), and in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). I can tell you than the peroxide make this to the ink:

http://i60.tinypic.com/308h474.jpghttp://i62.tinypic.com/2jdqkd4.jpg

[Chemist]

Pilot Parallel pen is awesome. I am really happy with it, having 1.5, 2.4, 3.8 and 6.0 mm. 1.5 is scratchy but I have another italic pen. The dye is needed to see what you are writing but this is a very good ink. Oh, and I have tested in water (ok!), alcohol (ok!), acetone (ok!), and in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). I can tell you than the peroxide make this to the ink:

 

http://i60.tinypic.com/308h474.jpghttp://i62.tinypic.com/2jdqkd4.jpg

 

 

Because hydrogen peroxide decomposes naturally to form water and oxygen, the part of air which makes the ink darken, this could be what the ink may (may) look like in many years due to the ageing of the ink being accelerated by the oxygen. I could be wrong, but this does resemble some older samples of iron gall inks.

[Husar]

Oh yes, the old manuscripts have brown letters. Chemist, did you warm the solution of gallic and tannic acids? I warm the solution putting the flask in another bigger flask with hot water.

[Chemist]

Oh yes, the old manuscripts have brown letters. Chemist, did you warm the solution of gallic and tannic acids? I warm the solution putting the flask in another bigger flask with hot water.

 

I didn't, but I threw out that batch mainly because it literally looked like I was making cheese. If I ever get that again, then I'll give that a try, as that would make sense. Thanks for the advice!

[Chemist]

Does anybody know if it would it be possible to make a crossover of this recipe with the traditional 90 grams of crushed oak galls and 30 grams of iron sulphate with half a litre of water (please do correct me if this is too strong or too weak for fountain pen use). To this (from this recipe), sulphuric/hydrochloric acid, an aniline dye and a disinfectant such as salicylic acid would be added. Would this work, and if so, would it be safe for fountain pen use?

[fiberdrunk]

Does anybody know if it would it be possible to make a crossover of this recipe with the traditional 90 grams of crushed oak galls and 30 grams of iron sulphate with half a litre of water (please do correct me if this is too strong or too weak for fountain pen use). To this (from this recipe), sulphuric/hydrochloric acid, an aniline dye and a disinfectant such as salicylic acid would be added. Would this work, and if so, would it be safe for fountain pen use?

 

I'd just follow my CA Live Oak recipe... it's been adjusted for the correct ratio between ingredients and it requires fewer chemicals. You'll have to experiment with the amount of analine dye, but I'd start with 2 grams and adjust from there.

 

eta: the CA Live Oak recipe does have gum arabic in it, but it's a fairly low amount and I have been able to use it in Parker Vectors, many Pilot pens (Parallel, Metropolitan, 78G) and the Rotring ArtPen. Only use it in fountain pens that have a nib feed that can be taken apart easily for cleaning.

Edited September 24, 2014 by fiberdrunk

[Chemist]

As I can't seem to be able to find any reasonably priced source of the gallic acid found in this recipe, does anybody here know if I could simply remove the gallic acid from the recipe and use just tannic acid instead of a mixture of the two? I know the ink will be lighter and greyer than if it had gallic acid in it, but I'd like to know how much so (if anybody knows), and if there would be enough of a change to make the ink noticeably less usable, or just less visible as it goes on the page?

[fiberdrunk]

As I can't seem to be able to find any reasonably priced source of the gallic acid found in this recipe, does anybody here know if I could simply remove the gallic acid from the recipe and use just tannic acid instead of a mixture of the two? I know the ink will be lighter and greyer than if it had gallic acid in it, but I'd like to know how much so (if anybody knows), and if there would be enough of a change to make the ink noticeably less usable, or just less visible as it goes on the page?

 

I was hoping somebody might chime in. I don't really know the answer. All I can say is try it out, with a really small batch and see how it goes.

 

I remember reading somewhere on FPN that you can use yeast to ferment tannic acid so that some of it will turn into gallic acid. I have no idea how much yeast that would require, or what kind of yeast (or maybe you can just let powdered tannic acid ferment naturally in water without adding a specified yeast, like you would if you were using oak galls or pomegranate.)

Edited September 29, 2014 by fiberdrunk

[dcwaites]

I mentioned elsewhere that I have made ink using stewed tea leaves and steel wool. I assume that the tea leaves would only produce tannins. The result I got was a thin (because I didn't boil it down) but definitely black ink.

[Husar]

It is a few quantity of gallic acid, but in the Aleppo galls it is more. Chemist, can you get the gallic and tannic acid from a chemical store in England?

[fiberdrunk]

It is a few quantity of gallic acid, but in the Aleppo galls it is more. Chemist, can you get the gallic and tannic acid from a chemical store in England?

 

Sometimes you can find it on eBay, too.

[Husar]

I know a chinese seller for the tannic and gallic acid. Like 10 USD for tannic (100g) and 20 USD for gallic (100g). Fiberdrunk, where did you get your china aniline blue?

[Husar]

http://www.ebay.com/usr/yaolihong2013 (not affiliated)

[fiberdrunk]

I know a chinese seller for the tannic and gallic acid. Like 10 USD for tannic (100g) and 20 USD for gallic (100g). Fiberdrunk, where did you get your china aniline blue?

 

Kremer Pigmente carries indigotine and tannin. They also have nigrosin and logwood, if you prefer a black ink over a blue one (I'm not sure about nigrosin, but logwood is not archival, though it has been used historically in many iron gall ink recipes). The indigotine is extremely expensive, so I'd love to find another supplier. Kremer Pigmente serves the U.S. and Europe (click on the flag of choice near the top of the page to see the website in your language and in your currency). Sorry, they don't have gallic acid, though. But they have many pigments for artists (unfortunately, not the aniline ones we need for ink. I use the indigotine.)

[Chemist]

It is a few quantity of gallic acid, but in the Aleppo galls it is more. Chemist, can you get the gallic and tannic acid from a chemical store in England?

 

I can find the tannic acid from various sources, including the one which you posted the link for. I cannot, however, seem to be able to find any source at all that does not require me to buy the gallic acid in bulk. If anybody has a link for gallic acid, would you be so kind as to post it here?

[fiberdrunk]

 

I can find the tannic acid from various sources, including the one which you posted the link for. I cannot, however, seem to be able to find any source at all that does not require me to buy the gallic acid in bulk. If anybody has a link for gallic acid, would you be so kind as to post it here?

 

Elemental Scientific sells gallic acid in 1 ounce and 4 ounce size. They appear to ship worldwide, too. If you add items to the cart, you can calculate shipping, to see if it's cost prohibitive or not. This is where I buy my chemicals from, apart from the dye.

Edited September 30, 2014 by fiberdrunk

[Husar]

I bought indigotine in 2 USD for 10 g. Price of gold!