Ink Powder?

[k3eax]

I am new to this forum so please excuse if my posting seems naive or requests a readily available answer to a question previously asked.

 

My question: Is there available a powdered ink that just requires the addition of water? If so, what is the source.

 

  Al in Philadelphia

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

I know that at one point there was but I don't remember the brand (I never used it, so I don't know how good it was).  I think it was made in Australia or New Zealand (but don't quote me on that) and was shipped in powdered form because that was a less expensive option as far as packaging it up.  

My best suggestion is to try to use the search function for something like "powdered ink" and set the parameters for "all".  Because while I remember it being discussed I don't remember much beyond that.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Ted A]

It was made by Blackstone. But you will find quite a bit of experimentation with it in threads where the make is “Susemei.” The experimentation was done without initial disclosure of the maker.

 

There were some rather nice inks. If my recollection is correct there were issues with being able to control the mix of dyes and to keep the dye powders from separating during shipping. 

 

 

[kestrel]

The Susemei inks were quite nice, especially if you like tinkering with inks.  The colors were vibrant and the ones I tried were well-behaved.  Shipping of the packets was cheap because you didn't pay postage for water and glass or worry about breakage and storage of the packets was easy.  It was easy to vary the dilution to get different saturations and shading.  Mixing the powders could be rather messy and, due to separation of dye powders in an envelope, you had to mix an entire envelope at once.  One of the colors, green as I remember, had some variation and a few of the envelopes produced an amazing sheening ink.  I still have some mixed Susemei that I use on special occasions and one unopened packet of green that may be one of the "magic" ones. 

Blackstone later experimented with a thick paste that shipped in 1 mL syringes, a product that was less messy to mix, but there were apparently problems with those and they weren't available for long. 

I really miss the Blackstone inks, especially Daintree Green. 

[OCArt]

You might be interested in this article about the trench pens and Parker ink tablets of WWI.

[Ted A]

 

[inkstainedruth]

That's an interesting color, Ted A.  Do you know what the ink color is called?  And do you know if it's still commercially available?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mhguda]

I got something quite similar, called Thistle blue black, from Amberlea when some of us were experimenting with all these ink powders. My batch was good for about 100 mL, IIRC, and I still have a good bit of it. It's a very nice ink.

[Ted A]

Yes, it’s called Thistle Blue Black. Not at all sure why blue black as I don’t see the color. I also acquired it from Amberlea.  I think it was a vintage product. It or something similar might show up on eBay at various times. I may be wrong on the quantity that it made. Since you make the ink by mixing with water, you can vary the quantity.

[mizgeorge]

 

[BrassRatt]

Wow, that's a big quart!

[amberleadavis]

I still have some powdered inks and I pull them out on special occasions, I also have some that I mixed up back in the day.

 

If you want to have a fun and cheap experiment, grab an eyedropper pen, the Paas Easter Egg dye tablets and a dash of dish soap.

[amberleadavis]

@Stationery Fan has been experimenting with food colors. Perhaps SF will share some insights.