Ink skinning, ink in tubes
I thought I’d start a new topic as a follow-on to Winking Cat’s post about the Charbonnel inks. I use oil-based inks too (Handschy litho inks), and I seem to lose a lot of ink through skinning. I use an anti-skin spray plus a waxed-paper “ear.” I also coat the rim of the can with Vaseline. I’m wondering if it would be easier and even cost-effective to buy inks in smaller quantities in tubes. Has anyone tried oil-based inks in tubes, and if so, is there a problem with hardening? I know you can also fill your own tubes with ink. Has anyone tried this?
Thanks,
Barbara
I have tubes of Kelsey ink which are as good now as when first purchased; that being well over twenty-five years. And, prior to retiring from business, I filled cleaned toothpaste tubes with oil-based ink which to this day perform as fresh. For the hobby - or even small operation - letterpress printer, tubes are far less wasteful of oil ink. Some on this list might re-call when A.B. Dick (amongst others) sold tubed oil-base inks that were very popular with the smaller operations.Rubber-based inks largely eliminate waste but then, the pedestrian result of their dullness seems hardly worth the inking-up. A member on this list sells tubes of ink.
As forme mentions there is a member on this list who sells tubes of ink - his name is Dave Robison (DavRobison@aol.com) and I have to say he is fantastic. I bought several tubes of oil based ink from him a few months ago and the tubes are much easier to work with than my other inks in cans and easier to mix pantone colors with because you can squeeze out equal parts of each color for more accurate color matching. Dave is quite generous too (I’m convinced he gives more ink than other suppliers as the tubes I bought from Dave came much more fully filled than the same weight tube from another supplier) and very helpful too. I’m convinced ink in tubes is the way to go! ;o)
Thank you, Candy, for the kind words. I started putting ink into tubes simply as a way of sharing smaller amounts of ink (from too-large cans) among local letterpress friends, and it seems to be appreciated. Obviously, tubes of ink aren’t necessarily best for everyone nor every situation, but for many of us doing short runs on small presses using small amounts of ink, tubes do seem to work well.
Oil-base inks dry largely by oxidizing, so eliminating air contact, whether in a can or in a tube (easier), pretty much eliminates the ink waste due to skinning. As forme indicates, old inks can print just fine; I have some 50-year old ink that works quite well.
Filling your own tubes can be a bit messy if you’re not careful, but Dave Celani has a nice web page (www.davecelani.com/Ink) showing how he does it, and it gets easier with practice. If you have specific ink you want in tubes and absolutely don’t want to do it yourself, I’m sure we could figure something out.
Dave (the Ink in Tubes guy)
We cover the tops of the cans with Saran Wrap - not the microwavable kind.
I mix a lot of special inks for my work, and store the excess in tubes. It keeps well that way… and is a lot easier to work with than cans. The only messy part is getting the ink into the tubes.
I get my tubes from a local Art Supply house for ~$1 each.