Antique Japan Ink

[YokePenCo]

I just released the first batch of my Small Batch Historic Ink Series and have about 15 bottles left. I have about 75 antique recipes and will be doing other recipes in the future with all of them being 100 + year old. My plan is to make a different antique recipe every 3 months or so. It's something I always wanted to do but couldn't justify the cost of materials for the recipes for just myself.

The first batch is an antique recipe for Japan Ink. This is not a sumi, but an iron gall recipe. In an old magazine I read someone suggesting it for reproduction work as it goes on very black. You can see reviews and samples of writing at the below link.

http://www.yokepencompany.com/collections/accessories/products/japanink

Unfortunately the international shipping isn't as cheap as I would like, but it is the best I could do at $18.00. Some countries will be a couple dollars cheaper and I always refund the difference on the ink if it is less expensive.

[schin]

This will be the coolest project ever!!!! I am always so curious to see what the old penmen use.

[AnasaziWrites]

This Japan ink is really fine.
I did a little comparison between the Japan ink and my go to ink--McCaffery's Penman's Ink (Black).

Both the inks are new (despite the aged appearance of the McCaffery's bottle, I refilled it from the master bottle with fresh ink), used the same nib, paper, and, of course, the penman, if I may use the term, were the same.

The Japan ink is actually blacker, which can be seen on the finest hairlines--see the first of the slanted straight lines.
The Japan ink is also absolutely flat, whereas the McCaffery's has a very slight shine to it. This is just noticeable on the swells. I would imagine the difference would be more noticeable with larger letters and with broad brush /point strokes. The Japan ink looks, to my eye, almost like stick ink used in Japanese calligraphy.

They seem to be equally water resistant. I smeared the c in these lines with water--it had no apparent effect, so good for envelopes.

Definitely recommend this ink. Perhaps you could make another batch?