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
What do they look like? Calender cuts are relatively small wrinkles, usually 5 to 8 centimeters long that run at a slight angle to the grain direction of the paper. These wrinkles are compressed to the point that they make an actual cut in the paper. However not all calender cuts actually cut the paper. How do they happen? As the paper is being made, it passes through the paper making machine and loses moisture. Near the end of the machine, when it is almost complete, it passes through what is called a super calendering process. Calendering means that the paper is squeezed through a series of steel rollers to make it the proper caliper and basis weight. The pressure is so great that any imperfections can cause cuts in the paper. If the paper has a poor profile before entering this squeeze, excess paper will crease when it passes the nip point. Foreign objects like fibers or hairs can cause hair cuts. But a calender cut is not a foreign object. It is a wrinkle. The pressure is