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Historic Iron Gall Black Ink
Historic Iron Gall Black Ink
Historic Iron Gall ink, 1 oz. or 4 oz.
Designed for Dip Pen and Quill
Our Iron gall ink is made by using a fermentation method to yield a blacker and smoother ink, with proper proportions of iron salts and tannic and gallic acids, while still using only medieval ingredients and techniques. This formula has been developed over the last 17 years through research, testing, and chemical calculations. Although it works well on paper, it is tuned specifically for parchment so that it will soak in slightly and chemically bond to the animal skin to create a long lasting, waterproof ink.
This ink typically goes on dark gray and darkens to a pitch black as you write with it. The darkening process can continue for up to a week and typically the ink will be water proof after that same week has passed. This is the same formula and ink that our scribe and illuminator uses for all of his text and line drawing.
Our historic inks are formulated using period recipes and analysis of period inks. These inks are designed for use with genuine quills and dip pens, NOT fountain pens, as they will not work correctly in fountain pens, and will either corrode or clog (or both) the inner workings of a fountain pen.
As these are made using historic recipes and techniques there will be some variation between each batch; however, the flow of every batch of ink is tuned by hand to give proper behavior from a quill.
Each of our historic inks come in a 1 oz bottle with a screw-top lid that has been dipped in wax to give it a more authentic style.
