Point me to some Bromoil Ink in the US?

M Carter · Sep 16, 2014

Needing some crayon black...

David Lewis is sold out until October; last I checked, B&S was out as well (and the ink I purchased from them last time was almost too stiff to pull a piece from, and dried solid after a few months sealed. I've heard from others that they're not the best source of ink - mine's a big black paperweight).

Googled for things like alt photo suppliers and litho suppliers, etc. Most search returns are from the UK.

Anyone have an idea of where to look? MUCHO appreciated folks!

cliveh · Sep 16, 2014

Have you thought about using lithographic ink? The process has many similarities with Bromoil?

M Carter · Sep 16, 2014

Well, I've been aware that Bromoil ink is just a specific litho ink, but it seems to come in pretty large batches (I assume for those who own a printing press?) I did try googling some of the terminology from older Bromoil articles and found this:

Senefelder's Crayon Black Litho Ink Graphic Chemical 1803c

...which I believe is the same stuff B&S sells. So perhaps the ink I got from them was the right ink but was very old or improperly stored? I had to sort of "tear off" a pea-sized chunk, kind of cutting it out of the can with a stiff palette knife, and it took a fair amount of linseed oil to get it workable. Now it's just a solid block of ink, like hard rubber.

Anyway, the link i found is in stock but $35.00 (no size stated), where B&S is about $10... so I assume it's like a quart or something??

Thanks though, hopefully I can find a more realistic size, or I'll bite the bullet. Or start doing 48" bromoils...

cliveh · Sep 16, 2014

M Carter said:
Well, I've been aware that Bromoil ink is just a specific litho ink, but it seems to come in pretty large batches (I assume for those who own a printing press?) I did try googling some of the terminology from older Bromoil articles and found this:

Senefelder's Crayon Black Litho Ink Graphic Chemical 1803c

...which I believe is the same stuff B&S sells. So perhaps the ink I got from them was the right ink but was very old or improperly stored? I had to sort of "tear off" a pea-sized chunk, kind of cutting it out of the can with a stiff palette knife, and it took a fair amount of linseed oil to get it workable. Now it's just a solid block of ink, like hard rubber.

Anyway, the link i found is in stock but $35.00 (no size stated), where B&S is about $10... so I assume it's like a quart or something??

Thanks though, hopefully I can find a more realistic size, or I'll bite the bullet. Or start doing 48" bromoils...

How much do you want,as I have a whole tin I will never use.

M Carter · Sep 16, 2014

Thanks Cliveh - my dried-up tin looks like it's maybe 4 to 8 ounces, seems like that would last some time - if it's not dried out I could use it!

PM me for details?

grezs · Sep 16, 2014

Have you tried or considered Daniel Smith lith inks? I've used them many years ago.

Gary

M Carter · Sep 16, 2014

Gary, I've only tried the B&S Senefelders as I'm fairly new to this. Sounds like in October I may be able to get a reasonable quantity from Mr. Lewis (of his "great for bromoil" custom secret ink) but I'll look into any leads, trying to avoid buying a huge amount of the stuff!

I've made some so-so to pretty good prints and my next step will likely be figure out the best print exposure for one image and make about a dozen matrices to practice on the same image... remove the variables, etc... and work on inking technique and try some various brushes. But from what I've experienced so far, a half dozen 11x14's barely put a dent in my supply, so a small amount should do.

Photo Engineer · Sep 16, 2014

Last time I was there, the Formulary had Bromoil inks in 4 colors including black.

PE

M Carter · Sep 16, 2014

I've dug all through their site and haven't seen any (though it's a little tough finding things there).

Searches on their site for "bromoil", "ink", "litho" and "black" don't turn it up, and it's not in their alt process section - in fact, "bromoil" only returns copper sulfate, nothing else.

Photo Engineer · Sep 17, 2014

Ask Sherry. There are a lot of unlisted items and these inks were there in 2009 and not moving. They are not in the catalog because they were obtained for a workshop and therefor unlisted.

PE

M Carter · Sep 17, 2014

I'll drop them a line... should I be concerned about 5+ year old ink after experiencing too-dry litho ink? Thanks!

Photo Engineer · Sep 17, 2014

I have no idea about the quality of the inks. They had a large tray filled with large plastic bottles from which they dispensed the smaller quantities. I lifted one up and it seemed to have good mobility.

PE

cliveh · Sep 17, 2014

M Carter said:
I'll drop them a line... should I be concerned about 5+ year old ink after experiencing too-dry litho ink? Thanks!

My lithographic ink is about 20 years old and it keeps for ever if not exposed to the air. If you have a tin of the stuff it will form a crust on the surface, but you just break through the crust to get at the usable ink beneath.

Point me to some Bromoil Ink in the US?

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