IT lawyer, fountain pen enthusiast, and blogger Tom Hall is back this morning with a post on making iron gall ink.
Where does ink come from?
From the Woolworth’s store, of course. Back right corner, bottom shelf, left hand side. Buy a bottle of Skrip for 87 cents and ride the faithful triceratops home. But that was when felt tipped pens were new and roller balls and gel pens were unheard of. Today the triceratops is out to pasture, Woolworth’s are gone and not even the art store in my little town carries pen ink. I grew so frustrated a couple years ago that I started researching how to make my own. I wanted to make a knock-out hot pink. I like gaudy colors that leap from the page.
There are lots of recipes on the Internet, but I quickly discovered a difficulty. I am not a chemist; most of what I found was beyond me. A good friend is a chemist, but when I asked him for help, he merely laughed and explained that I lacked the necessary equipment. I am still wondering whether he meant lab gear or smarts. Undaunted, I reasoned that ink predates modern industrial chemistry, so I did more research and discovered iron gall ink.
According to various Web sites, iron gall ink was the principal ink used in Europe from the 12th to the 19th Centuries. It is still prized by artists. Wikipedia offers a fine article. I was intrigued because the ink is relatively simple to make, produces a striking, permanent, black and gathering the raw materials required a trip to the woods. Plus, preparing the ink would permit me to play mad scientist for an afternoon.
