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Leather, Ink, and Miscellaneous: Cover

Cover from dust and let stand over night. To use this pad, write with the above ink, let the ink dry, and moisten the pad slightly with water by means of a brush. When the pad is nearly dry, lay the writing, face down, on the pad, rubbing it down gently with a soft cloth. Let it stand a minute or more according to the number of copies required, remove the paper, and the pad is ready to print from. Use for this purpose soft unsized paper. Lay the paper on the pad, smoothing it with a cloth or roller, and remove immediately. Continue to take copies until the ink is exhausted. Then wash the pad with cold water and a sponge to remove the surplus ink. When dry, it is ready to be used again as before.

Rubber-stamp Ink. - Inking pads for rubber stamps may be re-inked by means of aniline dyes of suitable color mixed to the consistency of thin cream with glycerin.

Metal-label Ink. - Dissolve 1 ounce of copper in 10 ounces of nitric acid, and thin with 10 ounces of water.

Or mix 2 ounces of powdered sulphate of copper, 1 ounce of powdered sal ammoniac, and 4 ounces of acetic acid. Stir in lampblack or other pigment of any color desired.

Or dissolve equal quantities of verdigris and sal ammoniac in water, and add lampblack or other pigment to color. Mix the ingredients in earthenware with wooden paddles, as they will corrode metals. They are suitable for writing on steel, tin plate, or sheet zinc.

Mix 1 ounce of muriatic acid and ounce of nitric acid. Cover the metal surface with beeswax, and when cold, write on it with any sharp-pointed instrument that will cut through to the wax. Apply the mixture with a small brush or feather, and let it lie for a few minutes according to the depth of etching desired. Then rinse off the wax and acid in hot water.

Either of the acids alone will cut iron or steel, but the mixture is required for gold or silver. After rinsing off the acids, apply a little sweet oil or olive oil. The smoothness of the etching will depend upon the cleanness with which the wax is cut and removed from the metal in each letter. Hence a sharp-edged tool is the best.

LEATHER, INK, AND MISCELLANEOUS CARE OF INK To Prevent Mold in Ink. -The addition of a little alcohol or a few drops of any essential oil or a few cloves will prevent mold.

Or add a few drops of salicylic acid or corrosive sublimate or carbolic acid, but do not add metallic acids to inks containing aniline dyes.

To Prevent Ink from Thickening. -As inks thicken by the evaporation of the liquids with which they are diluted, the only way to protect them is to keep them covered from the air.

Hence the use of inkstands with tapering funnels of glass or hard rubber is advisable. If the ink becomes too thick to write smoothly, or if, when a bottle has been exhausted, a residue of black sediment is left, it may be diluted with clear water or a small quantity of strong black coffee strained through silk or linen.

To Keep Ink from Freezing. The addition of a small quantity of alcohol acts as a preventive. To Restore Faded Ink. - Writing which has become partially illegible on account of age may be restored by applying carefully to the paper an infusion of galls, or a solution of prussiate of potash slightly acidulated with dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid.

These substances have the property of turning iron-gall inks black.