Black Permanent Ink 1/2 tsp lamp black (which you can buy or can make by holding a plate

over a candle and collecting the soot or from collecting other char) 1 egg yolk 1 tsp gum arabic 1/2 cup honey Mix together the egg yolk, gum arabic, and honey. Stir in the lamp black. This will produce a thick paste which you can store in a sealed container. To use the ink, mix this paste with a small amount of water to achieve the desired consistency. Brown Ink 4 teaspoons loose tea or 4-5 teabags 1 teaspoon gum arabic 1/2 cup boiling water Pour the boiling water over the tea. Allow the tea to steep for about 15 minutes. Squeeze as much tea (tannin) as possible from the tea or teabags. Stir in the gum arabic. Strain the ink and allow it to cool before bottling it. Prussian Blue Ink Prussian Blue pigment (sometimes sold as laundry bluing) water Mix the pigment into the water to achieve a rich blue ink. Unless you happen to have a calligraphy pen, the easiest way to use these inks is with a homemade quill or a paintbrush. If you have recipes for inks you would like to share, feel free to post them. Black Ink: There are several ways to make black ink. Here's an easy one: take one egg yolk, teaspoon lamp black, cup honey and one teaspoon gum arabic. Lamp black is available commercially or you can make it yourself by holding a plate or any receptacle over a lit candle - it will take some time to collect half a teaspoon though. Mix all of the ingredients to make a thick paste and add enough water to this paste to dilute it so that it flows easily as a fluid. Gall-Iron Ink: This method was the most frequently used method before synthetic chemicals came into use for ink manufacture. The one drawback of gall-iron ink is that it is very corrosive to steel and you should ensure that the implements you use while making or using this ink are not made of steel. You will require tannic acid, distilled water (wine or vinegar can be substituted), galls, solid gum arabic, and iron sulfate.The quantities required are 35 grams of tannic acid, 0.5 oz of gum arabic, 21 oz of iron sulfate, 8 oz of distilled water and galls. These can be gathered from woody areas where they can be found as circular growths on twigs or leaves typically around insect larvae on the tree or plant; tannic acid can be squeezed out of tea bags steeped in boiling water. Crush and grind the galls to a fine powder, add water and let the solution ferment for about three days. Strain the solution after three days, add the iron sulfate and let the solution stand again for four days. At the end of this period, mix in the gum arabic and ensure it is fully dissolved. The ink is now ready for

use and can be stored, but not in anything made of steel. Brown Ink: Youll need one teaspoon of gum arabic, a few teabags or a couple of tablespoons of loose leaf tea (more if you want a deeper color), and half a cup of boiling water. Pour the water over the tea bags or loose tea which is placed in a large bowl, add the gum arabic and allow it to steep for about 15-20 minutes. Crush the tea leaves with a spoon to extract as much tea essence as possible and strain into a clean bowl. The liquid must be cooled before being bottled for storage and use. Other types of ink: You can also make ink with some interesting components such as indigo dye, walnuts, different types of dark berries, lemon juice, etc. For making invisible ink, simply write with a pen filled with lemon juice. Once it's dry, hold the paper over an open flame to heat it and your writing with invisible ink will appear! Indigo dye mixed with water will give you a deep Prussian blue ink. To make walnut ink, crush shells of walnuts into a fine water, mix with water and heat on a medium flame for about thirty minutes. Allow the solution to cool and stand overnight; the next day, strain the solution and add some vinegar. Your walnut ink is now ready for use. To prepare ink from any dark berries, crush them and strain to extract the juice. Add some vinegar and salt mix well and store. Make Ink From Berries 1Buy some fresh raspberries (1 cup) or thaw out a 12 oz. package of frozen raspberries. 2Get out a glass or metal bowl. Don't use plastic because the berry juice will stain it permanently. Put your strainer over the bowl. Put the raspberries in the strainer and squeeze all of the juice out, leaving the pulp in the strainer. Typewriters,Fax Machines,Tapes & Label Printers. Buy & Save Now! 3Add 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar. If you have ever dyed Easter eggs you know that vinegar helps keep the color in the dye you mixed with water. The same concept applies here. Mix together the berry juice and the vinegar. 4Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Salt is used as a preservative. If you are going to use your ink more than one day you will need the salt to keep it preserved. Mix together all 3 ingredients. 5Pour your ink in to a baby food jar and close the lid. Your ink is now ready for you whenever you need it. Make Invisible Ink 6Combine 5 tablespoons of water with 5 tablespoons of baking soda in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. 7Dip a paintbrush in to your water and baking soda mixture and write a message on a piece of paper. 8Pour some grape juice over your picture and your message will be revealed.

Materials

13 Walnuts (Juglans major variety) Rusted Cast Iron Pot Wooden Spoon

Process

Collect nuts from a walnut tree. Ones that have already fallen and started to oxidize are fine. Place nuts in pot Cover with water Simmered for 8 hours then soaked for another 16. (Water turned dark brown within 15 minutes.) Strained through a sieve to remove large pieces of husk and the nuts. Reduced the liquid in half. Added 1TSP Vinegar, 1TBS Gum Arabic

13 Arizona Walnuts (Juglans Toss in a cast-iron pot and cover with major) water.

Stew not quite at boiling, for 8-24 hours.

Strain out the solids.

Results

This batch yielded a dark brown ink that could only be distinguished from the blue-black oak gall ink by performing a side-by-side comparison on paper. As with other ferrogallic inks, this walnut ink darkens slightly as it oxidizes on the page, and the thicker strokes hold a deeper color than do the fine hairlines.