[Cynnabar] Walnut Husk Ink

[Randy Asplund]

Hi Trish!

Too bad we didn't see this soon after it was published so we could  
ask her sources. Walnut makes a fun project, but despite her claiming  
it was used as an ink all through the middle ages, I have yet to find  
a single recipe or reference to it as ink. Wood stain, fabric dye,  
yeah, but not yet ink. Maybe they did, so I keep asking, but nobody  
else I've spoken with has seen it documented either.

Of course, a lot of us play with it anyway....  Its pretty, and makes  
just the same color as Bistre, which is a real medieval color made  
from burnt beech wood.

The gum arabic is very safe. It is a food ingredient. It is used in  
ink as a binder so the ink will stick to the page. Same thing  
watercolor paints use.  I think you can buy the crystals at an Indian  
food grocery store here in town. It is sold as "edible gum." If you  
go into an Arabic grocery store and ask for gum arabic, they try to  
sell you chewing gum. "Gum" just means it was the sap of a tree, in  
this case the acacia.

My only reservation about its use with a child is the intensely  
strong staining power. Just pounding the blackened hulls on my porch  
stained the concrete for a couple of years.

I boiled mine in a cast iron kettle. Run it through a sieve first to  
get the chunks out before you strain it through cloth. Regular cloth  
is better than cheese cloth for this. You need fine mesh, and cheese  
cloth isn't that.

RanthulfR



On Apr 20, 2010, at 12:44 PM, Trish wrote:

> I saw this ( http://quazen.com/recreation/crafts/how-to-make-walnut- 
> ink/ ) article on making Walnut Husk (Hull, whatever) ink.
> I just wanted to know if anyone in the barony has done this before  
> and what sort of results you've come up with.
>
> I have squirrels that like to litter my front yard with the things,  
> and I thought it would be a great project to do with CJ (he enjoyed  
> using the clean pasta sauce jars filled with husks as estimation  
> jars and counting them). I boiled some down yesterday and the  
> liquid I have (after straining it with cheesecloth and a coffee  
> filter) is very dark and does not let light through. The article  
> suggests just letting it sit for a month or so. I have seen another  
> article that suggests adding vinegar and gum arabic.
>
> Any suggestions would be welcome (but please consider I'm going to  
> let CJ, a 3 year old, "paint" with it as well so no overly toxic  
> suggestions please).
>
> ~Trish
> http://www.trishstuff.com
>
>
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Randy Asplund
www.RandyAsplund.com
Maker of Medieval books and
Illustrator of Science Fiction & Fantasy
(734) 663-0954
2101 S. Circle Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48103




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