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
Here is a the easiest method to interpret the roll numbers for your press. Above is a roll tag that follows the most commonly used roll identification system. You should be able to interpret almost any roll produced in North America. An explanation of how paper is made is here to help visualize the process. Most information on the tag above is self-explanatory. However notice the tag number and it's interpretation. VPB42F26122A VP - The company code. In this case the roll is produced by the Verso Paper Company in Maine. B - This is the particular mill used by Verso. They have a mill in Bucksport, Maine and the letter "B" identifies it. 4 - Machine code. Within the Buckport mill it is paper machine number four. 2 - The year of production. In this case 2012. F - The month of production. The letter A stands for January, B for February and so on. So in this case it's June. 26 - The day of the month the roll was produced. 12 - The re