How to Make Lamp Black Ink

Lamp black is the ingredient that makes the ink dark and permanent.

Lamp inks are small tables that have both a lamp and an ink container built into the support board. They were used in the 1800s and early 1900s. Lamp black can also describe a certain hue of black and a type of ink that can be made from some common items. Lamp black ink is permanent, which is valuable to users such as calligraphy writers because nonpermanent ink will bleed if the paper or parchment gets wet.

Things You'll Need

• Lamp ink table or board (optional)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon of gum arabic
• ½ cup of honey
• ½ teaspoon of lamp black (in a tube)
• Small bowl
• Whisk, fork or spoon

Instructions

1. Put one egg yolk, 1 teaspoon of gum arabic and 1/2 cup of honey in a small bowl.

2. Mix the ingredients well with a whisk, fork or spoon. Any of these utensils will work, but the separators in a whisk or fork tend to make those utensils work better than a spoon when mixing a powder or a thick substance with a liquid.

3. Add 1/2 teaspoon of lamp black until a thick paste is formed.

4. Store the paste in a sealable jar. The jar needs to be able to hold only as much as you want to store. All of the above ingredients make about 8 ounces of ink, so you want an 8-ounce sealable jar. Washed and dried third-stage baby food jars are ideal.

5. Add a bit of water to make it a fluid that you can use at your own pace. Start by mixing in well 1/8 teaspoon of water. Keep adding the same amount of water until the desired thickness is reached.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure any storage vessel you choose seals well. If not, the ink will dry out and possibly not return to the proper consistency.

• If it has been sitting for more than a couple of weeks, it is not worth saving and needs to be thrown out.

• Store the ink in a cool, dry and dark environment.

• Wear an apron or ratty clothes to ensure that no ink gets on your good clothing.

References

• Koa Hawaiian Wood Lamp Ink
• Formulas: Making Your Own Ink