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Iron Gall Ink

en.wikipedia.org

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Re: Iron Gall Ink

#11

Post by seabass-labrax »

red369 wrote: post #5
Loughla wrote: post #2

I make this! (I got into making dyes for all natural tie-dye shirts) It's cool and relatively easy, but it will eat your paper. It's a cool novelty, but not for anything you want to store long term.

Interesting about it being destructive to the paper - the Wikipedia article seemed to describe old manuscripts lasting a long time with the ink. Is it that the paper we have now is less compatible? I'm guessing you might also be into paper, since you're into ink. Do you collect your own galls? The main reason I found iron gall ink fascinating, was that the ink is described as being common and widespread, but made fro…

> Is it that the paper we have now is less compatible?

The article describes how the oxidation, which causes the ink to darken, causes a reaction between tannic acid and these newly created ferric ions. Doesn't that neutralise the acidity? If so, perhaps it is a case of 'survivorship bias' in the old manuscripts which do survive, as they had just the right ratio of tannic acid to iron ions to completely neutralise, whereas the books written with ink containing not enough iron ions would be damaged and discarded.

Re: Iron Gall Ink

#12

Post by [deleted] »

red369 wrote: post #5
Loughla wrote: post #2

I make this! (I got into making dyes for all natural tie-dye shirts) It's cool and relatively easy, but it will eat your paper. It's a cool novelty, but not for anything you want to store long term.

Interesting about it being destructive to the paper - the Wikipedia article seemed to describe old manuscripts lasting a long time with the ink. Is it that the paper we have now is less compatible? I'm guessing you might also be into paper, since you're into ink. Do you collect your own galls? The main reason I found iron gall ink fascinating, was that the ink is described as being common and widespread, but made fro…

[deleted]

Re: Iron Gall Ink

#14

Post by seabass-labrax »

I wonder whether oak gall ink is vegan. The larvae of the gallflies (actually wasps) that grow in oak galls emerge as adults in early summer, according to the Wildlife Trust, leaving the gall mostly intact. Thus, theoretically, it should be possible to make oak gall ink without harming any animals. It would still be an animal product, but produced only from by-products of a wild animal. But then again, perhaps changes in the chemical composition of the gall throughout the larvae's development make such late-harvested galls unsuitable for ink production.

Re: Iron Gall Ink

#15

Post by grumblepeet »

seabass-labrax wrote: post #14

I wonder whether oak gall ink is vegan. The larvae of the gallflies (actually wasps) that grow in oak galls emerge as adults in early summer, according to the Wildlife Trust, leaving the gall mostly intact. Thus, theoretically, it should be possible to make oak gall ink without harming any animals. It would still be an animal product, but produced only from by-products of a wild animal. But then again, perhaps change…

You only choose the galls with the hole in the bottom that indicates that the wasp has eaten its way out and gone. It is pretty obvious which ones still have a wasp in them.

Re: Iron Gall Ink

#17

Post by _giorgio_ »

This company makes phenomenal Iron Gall Inks. The ink dries quite fast (I'm left handed, so that is important), shows very interesting shading properties and is super cheap.

I suggest you to try them. It's a nice experience.

https://www.rohrer-klingner.de/en/writing-ink/?lang=en

About the pens, you can find very nice fountain pens on aliexpress, starting from 4 USD including delivery. For example Jinhao X159, 9019 and 9016.

To have more shading, I suggest M nibs.

Re: Iron Gall Ink

#18

Post by adrian_b »

red369 wrote: post #5
Loughla wrote: post #2

I make this! (I got into making dyes for all natural tie-dye shirts) It's cool and relatively easy, but it will eat your paper. It's a cool novelty, but not for anything you want to store long term.

Interesting about it being destructive to the paper - the Wikipedia article seemed to describe old manuscripts lasting a long time with the ink. Is it that the paper we have now is less compatible? I'm guessing you might also be into paper, since you're into ink. Do you collect your own galls? The main reason I found iron gall ink fascinating, was that the ink is described as being common and widespread, but made fro…

As another poster already said, most old manuscripts were not written on paper, but on vellum or another kind of parchment (i.e. on leather), which has a very different chemical behavior from paper.

Paper was first used in Europe in the 11th century, by the Arabs. It has spread slowly during the next centuries, but it became really important only about the same time with printing.

Re: Iron Gall Ink

#20

Post by LeonidasXIV »

_giorgio_ wrote: post #17

This company makes phenomenal Iron Gall Inks. The ink dries quite fast (I'm left handed, so that is important), shows very interesting shading properties and is super cheap. I suggest you to try them. It's a nice experience. https://www.rohrer-klingner.de/en/writing-ink/?lang=en About the pens, you can find very nice fountain pens on aliexpress, starting from 4 USD including delivery. For example Jinhao X159, 9019 an…

Keep in mind that R&K only has two iron gall inks: Sallix and Ebony. The rest is normal inks, but of good quality for sure.

KWZ got started as a producer of iron gall inks but has branched out a bit since. But they still have a large range of colors of IG inks, potentially the largest: https://mountainofink.com/blog/kwz-ink

I have some of them, the gold one is a lot of fun as it darkens as you're writing.

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