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's a troubleshooting idea for ink that we came up with not too long ago. It is especially useful during summer months or in any hot or humid climate. You can find other ink troubleshooting advice here or check the menu on the left. But here is one that works to help with ink and water balance. In our experience, we lose ink and water balance when running at high speeds with high humidity. When trying to achieve a proper ink and water balance, we end up scumming on the plate while emulsifying in the roller train. The window becomes so narrow because the humidity bubble around the printing unit is adding to the water supply and back tracking into the fountain. When we do a measurement of our ink and water balance window, our result is zero. After an hour or so, or ink fountain is so waterlogged that the ink becomes useless. (This can also happen if you simply run too much water, but I assume you know what your doing and this is not the case). So here is the tr