Introduction Printing ink is so much more than just the black stuff that you put on a page. It has been around for thousands of years, and it's been used in everything from newspaper presses to digital printers. As you can see, we're not talking about offset printing ink which is oil based. I want to have a little fun and talk about how you can make your own ink for your printer. At home! Ready? Ingredients You will need the following ingredients: Soot (5 tbsp) : This is as purest as it gest. You can make the soot yourself by holding a glass up to a flame. This will allow you to slowly accumulate the soot. Water (2 tbsp): For the base of your ink, use distilled water so that you don't introduce any impurities into the mix. Distilled water is also easier to clean up than tap water because there are no minerals or residue left behind from tap water. Alcohol (2 tbsp) (grain alcohol): This ingredient works as a preservative for your ink and allows it to last for several mo
Web press tension control can be a real source of grief. Thankfully pressmen have a few principles that can apply to almost any web offset printing press. Though there are exceptions the rule, I would like to share those principles that may help you to get control of web tension on your press. How Web Press Tension Works Though a web offset printing press prints on one continuous roll of paper, each part of the press is not running at the same speed. In order to maintain tension, each component has nip points that drive the web at different speeds in order to control web tension. These differences are marginal, but crucial for each part of the machine to be able to perform its function. The number is carefully calculated according to a reference. The Reference The speed of each part of the web press is referenced to the printing units. These are the most critical "nip points" on the press and everything else must work around them. Much care is taken so that the