Living Green

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

littlepitcher — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:23:47 GMT

I was required to write with a fountain pen in elementary school, back when dinosaurs ruled the earth. My granddad's business used ball-point pens, and I got into trouble more than once for telling the teachers that they were backward and too cheap to let us have the good stuff.

Blots, smears, and little ink-stained wretched hands. Now that arthritis is freezing up my right hand, I find that a rollerball gives me more control over left-handed writing. I can make blots with a Bic, as well as the fountain pen. That's versatility!

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

haverwench — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 14:31:33 GMT

I really like the idea of writing with a fountain pen, but sadly, I just can't get the hang of it. People who use them (like my sister-in-law) keep telling me that they're perfectly easy to use and don't leave blots all over the page--but they do when I use them. :-J So in the long run, I probably waste less ink and paper by using a roller-ball.

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

gayla50 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:59:18 GMT

my DHis a surveyor ... not to many years ago he drew with India Ink I used to do the lettering on a plat for him now every thing from the computer. We still have the India ink set,, every so often he'll hand draw againg .. for our anniversary he drew our family place its beautiful ,

I filled in our family tree by hand it a lovely way to write

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

Cinnamonhuskies — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:12:55 GMT

We did that one year as a homeschool project...i think we used blueberries for the ink, it worked great!

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

littlepitcher — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:51:37 GMT

Poke berry ink will fade in sunlight and does not age well. You might try indigo.

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

cheapChic — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:21:17 GMT

Dipping pens and ink wells hmmm is this my old art class yup it is??!!!???? I flunked the class because yup my spelling sucked even back then but me I didn't want any part of fancey writing Mom said she did that when she was 5 years old she didn't go to school like us here in the states she was home taught at home the schools were stil being built after the war so mom knew all her letters and spell her name at an early age and when they were bomed at another house they had to go to the basement under the buildings and Oma would read to mom and my aunt or Oma friend did that helps the kids kinda get distrated from the boms and so ilsa taught mom how to write at four befor the war ended then the fancey pen dipping inks well

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

Cuppycake — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:11:26 GMT

I've used Poke as an ink since I was little. I would go to my grandma's and pick the berries and crush them up to write on tree bark. Now I crush them up, add salt and vinegar to help preserve it, and thicken it. They stain, but it makes a beautiful color. As long as you don't eat them, you'll be fine ;) Hope this helped!

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

shelliajean2 — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:53:20 GMT

My most beloved birthday gift from my DH was a Waterman fountain pen he gave me 15 years ago. I don't use it as much as I used to but I this post has inspired me to put a new ink cartridge in it and write a few letters this week. I've always used the fountain pen cartridges because I can get it in so many different colors. I love to use colored ink when I write. I've never made my own ink but do know that the dipping and India ink can be rather pricey because DS#1 had me get him some to use for a art project he was working on and I was surprised how much it was at the craft store.

Shellia

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

Lynnea Berr — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:59:38 GMT

No experience with this but have read that the berries of Poke were also used as an ink -- I think it was considered a "poor man's" India ink. However, since these have no known antidote, I would be careful about using them! Perhaps ink making with these contributed to the shorter lives of our ancestors?

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

Gran — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:52:25 GMT

Edey, I'm not willing to test that recipe on my pen nibs. Sounds interesting, though. Tim, if you get to experimenting with making your own ink, will you post what your results are?

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

timzagain — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:59:34 GMT

Thanks for starting this thread. I'd retired my fountain pen for a while - you've inspired me to use it again

I am a bit of a pen snob. I was introduced to fountain pens when I was 11 years old. Fountain pens were mandatory at our secondary school. My school mates all hated using fountain pens but for me, it was love at first sight (or should I say, first write). Now that I am a SAHM, I've been toting around cheap ballpoint pens in my handbag. UGH!

I don't use the ink cartridges - it is cheaper and green to buy the fountain pen ink in the bottle. For the occasions when a fountain pen is not feasible, I will happily borrow a ballpoint pen. If money were no object, I'd buy myself a MontBlanc

My mother had a dipping pen years ago. DH has been dying to buy me a handblown glass dipping pen to feed my pen fetish. I cannot offer any insight on your ink experiments. Please let me know how they turn out!

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

Edey — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:37:06 GMT

One of the historical recipes for ink that I've seen is soaking iron nails in very strong tea for a couple of days. There is some chemical reaction between the tannic acid in the tea and the iron. Could that be combined with the bluing to make a stronger ink?

Edey

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

Joyous — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:59:03 GMT

If it helps you find it, the tea I'm thinking of is sold as the generic alternative to Lipton for iced tea. I've used it to dye shoelaces before.

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

Gran — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:45:06 GMT

Joyous, thanks for your kind post. I'll go to the dollar store or Walmart and get the cheapest tea offered and make a strong batch to test. I so enjoy writing with good pens. When I needed to buy refills for my Parker ballpoint pens and found that the refills were scratchy, and the ink flowed as inconsistently as a cheap pen, and at $2.50 - $4.50 a refill, I thought it was time to rethink enjoyable writing. Writing with a good pen is a rewarding experience. It's especially so when I know I'm being thrifty at the same time.

Re: Old-fashioned letter writing: dipping pens and home-made ink

Joyous — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 13:39:40 GMT

Gran, I think that's really creative and beautiful! I don't have to buy my own ball-points since they're given away so freely by local businesses.

I can buy 100 bags of generic black tea for $0.99. Are you looking for cheaper than that?