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 I've heard over the years that buying even the least expensive ballpoint
pens will add up to spending more money than using ink and a fountain pen or a dipping pen. I decided that I could, at least, write my personal letters with a dipping pen and ink. (My fountain pens need repair.) I
priced the ink for dipping pens. It's more expensive than fountain pen ink. Dipping pen ink needs to be thicker, and so it's found in art supply
shops and the Calligraphy sections at hobby stores. I'd read a couple of places that liquid bluing was used widely as ink for personal letter writing
during the Depression, and the Civil War. I've been using Mrs. Stewart's right out of the bottle, and also have
added some carbon black. Next time I have a coupon, I'll get some gum arabic and put a few drops of that into
the recipe. I have not yet tested for sunlight or water fading. I'm guessing that the gum arabic will help keep the
color and the ink on the paper. So far, I have found the bluing to flow smoothly, with no drips or blobs. I'm using
Leonardt writing nibs and standard typing paper. Anyone else have experience with bluing as ink? Or with other
easy-to-come-up with inks? I don't plan to make historical inks as they are time consuming and to me, too labor
intensive. I don't need historical authenticity. A bottle of Mrs. Stewart's is eight ounces and costs four dollars. A
one-ounce bottle of Calligraphy ink can cost $4.00. I use the tiny jam jars from hotels, which I've collected from
various sources, and small condiment jars. The tiny jam jars are my favorites. I may try some strong black tea. But, that'll wait till I buy some very inexpensive tea, and the gum arabic.
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