I want to start doing calligraphy again , i have , somewhere , some pens and i can make quil pens , but ink was going to be the problem . I know you can just buy it , but you have to have the money blah blah blah , so thought make it .
One recipe said use lamp black , egg yolk , honey , gum arabic and water .
Well i scraped the soot off the kettle , (lamp black) added a bit of honey and water and had a go with that . I didn't have gum arabic and wasn't going to waste an egg , but the mix worked fine . Real usable ink , very clear , sharp letters , no bleed , and very dark , jet black in fact .
So i shall store all the soot off the kettle from now on .