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Leather, Ink, and Miscellaneous: Copying

Or, for a small quantity, boil 1 ounces of thin logwood chips in 3 pints of water down to 1 pint, and when cold add 17 grains of yellow chromate of potash, stirring thoroughly. Do not add gum or acid. To prevent mold, add a few drops of bichloride of mercury. Copying Inks. - Copying inks are of the same composition as ordinary writing inks, but thicker. Gum, sugar, and other sticky ingredients are used in copying inks to keep them from soaking into the paper before it is brought in contact with the moist tissue paper of the copying press. The largest number of copies from one writing is obtained by means of a strong decoction of logwood extract with alum or chloride of aluminum, and by the use of sheets of tissue copying paper previously soaked in chromate of potash. A small amount of the logwood solution unites with the chromate salt in the tissue paper to form a black compound.

Or put 1 pound of powdered Aleppo galls in an earthen jar and cover with 2 gallons of rain water. Let stand 10 days. Add 4 ounces of clean copperas, 4 ounces of brown sugar, and 4 ounces of gum arabic dissolved with gentle heat in a little water. Put the whole in an iron kettle and boil down to 1 gallon. Or put 2 ounces of logwood extract, 4 ounces of sal soda, and 18 ounces of soft water in an earthen vessel, and set it in the oven until the solution becomes a deep red and the ingredients are all dissolved. Remove from the oven, and stir in 2 ounces of glycerin, 30 grains of yellow chromate of potash dissolved in a little water, and ounce of gum arabic dissolved in water. Strain through cheese cloth and boil down to one half with gentle heat.

Or add 1 teaspoonful of brown sugar to 1 pint of ordinary writing ink. To take a single copy from any of the above without a copying press, first let the ink dry, then moisten a sheet of tissue paper or unsized writing paper with water, but do not have it too wet. Lay it over the writing, and go over it with a warm flatiron.

MARKING INKS Marking Inks.-On account of the resistance it offers to acids and other chemicals, carbon, in the form of lampblack, is often used as the basis of marking inks. But carbon cannot be dissolved. Hence it must be held in suspension in some gummy or resinous liquid, and is not suitable for use with ordinary steel pens. Carbon marking inks are usually applied by means of a brush or a marking pen having a special point for this purpose. To make a carbon marking ink, boil 2 ounces of shellac and 2 ounces of baking soda in 1 quart of soft water until the shellac is dissolved.

Stir in fine lampblack to the proper consistency, and thin with water as desired.

Or dissolve 1 ounce of borax and 2 ounces of shellac in 1 quart of water with gentle heat. Add 1 ounce of mucilage, and stir in equal quantities of indigo and lampblack to the right color and consistency.

Or dissolve with gentle heat 25 grains of powdered copal in 3 ounces of oil of lavender. Add 2½ grains of lampblack and grain of indigo.

Used for marking glass bottles and other vessels containing chemical sub.. stances of a corrosive nature.

India Ink. -India or China ink is finely divided carbon mixed with a solution of gum arabic or glue, dried in wooden molds, and coated with animal wax. It is applied with a wet brush or by diluting a small quantit in water.

To test India ink, draw a number of lines of different thicknesses on a piece of drawing paper. When bone dry, apply water with a sponge. If the ink runs, it is of poor quality.

To make a substitute for India ink, boil an old kid glove in water until it forms a thick size, which when cool is of a jellylike consistency. Hold a cold plate in the flame of a candle, and while it is still warm mix the lampblack which adheres to the plate with the size thus obtained. This mixture has all the qualities of a firstclass India ink. This is a good dye with which to renovate black gloves that have become defaced.

Indelible Ink. - The old-fashioned nitrate-of-silver ink is still commonly used for marking linen and for similar purposes. To make an indelible ink, dissolve 1 ounce of nitrate of ilver in 24 ounces of liquid ammonia. Dissolve separately with gentle heat 14 ounces of gum arabic and 14 ounces of carbonate of soda crystals.

Mix the two solutions and let stand in a warm place. Add a few drops of solution of magenta.

Or dissolve 1 ounce of nitrate of silver in 4 ounces of distilled water.

Add strong liquid ammonia to dissolve the resulting sediment. Stir in ounce of gum arabic and ounce of sap green or powdered indigo.

The most convenient way to apply indelible inks to linen is to have a brass stencil cut with the family name or monogram. Lay this over the linen and with a soft brush apply the ink through the cut-out spaces. A little practice on a piece of old linen will enable anyone to do this work quickly and well. The above inks are ready to be applied.

Or another way of using marking inks is to first dip the linen in a solution called the mordant, and afterwards apply the ink, which then forms a chemical compound with the fibers of the fabric. To do this, first moisten the linen with a mordant composed of 2 ounces of baking soda and 1 ounce of gum arabic dissolved with gentle heat in 8 ounces of water. Dry with a warm flatiron, and apply an ink composed of 1 ounce of nitrate of silver, 14 ounces of distilled water, and 1 ounce of sap green. This must be applied with a quill pen, a gold pen, or a brush, as a steel pen will decompose the ink. - Black Stencil Ink. Rub to a smooth paste 4 ounces of lampblack and 8 ounces of Prussian blue with a little glycerin. Add 6 ounces of gum arabic dissolved with gentle heat in a small amount of water, and thin with glycerin to the right consistency.

Or dissolve 1 ounce of aniline blue in 1 pint of water, and apply with a sponge.

Or dissolve 1 ounce of asphaltum in 4 ounces of turpentine, stir in lampblack to color, and thin with turpentine as required.

COLORED INKS Colored Writing Inks.-Inks may be made of almost any color by the use of suitable dyestuffs. The variety and beauty of colored inks have been greatly increased by the discovery of the coal-tar products, known as aniline dyes. These are now in common use under various trade names.