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Scrimshaw Ink

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OldJoe212

36 Cal.
Joined
Dec 3, 2013
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Been doing BP since the mid 70's but just decided to do some scratchin' on my horns. What seems to be the preferred ink? India, stamp pad, or something else. What is PC?
 
ok - i'll admit it, but please don't turn me in to the HC/PC police ”¦ I use a felt tip marker and then carefully scrape away any over runs.

tried india ink and a fine tip brush, but had to scrape anyway.

does that make me a rotten person?
 
The book where I learned scrimshaw suggested drawing your lines with a soft lead pencil then spraying the horn surface with Krylon clear artist finish. The design could be cut/scratched through the finish, the water-based India ink applied and the excess removed with a damp paper towel (the ink would not penetrate the untouched finish). Once done, steel wool removes the Krylon spray and a beeswax coating protects the ink. This is sounds like a lot less work than scraping the entire horn after scrimshawing to remove excess ink.
 
I did try the same thing in one spot. It seemed to work pretty good. BTW, I think I saw somewhere that Sharpies were invented in the early 1600's, so that would make them PC.
 
A variant to the krylon/steel wool that has worked pretty well for me is water-based, clear hair spray which, while protecting your drawn image from handling smears and minimizing even water-based ink overrun, wipes off easily with a wet cloth without loss of detail.
 
:doh: plain old hairspray ”¦ why didn't I think of that?

perhaps I am not only a bad person, but a dumb one ”¦ perhaps my kids are right and i'm beyond help.

oh, well, at least my stock dog likes me.

of course he does: i'm the one with the dog food
 
I was pondering the same question just yesterday and thought shellac would be a good choice. On the other hand, perhaps they used nothing and went with the natural look...
 
Elnathan said:
I wonder what they used back in the day...shellac?

I hold a lump of beeswax in my hand till warmed and a little soft. Then I rub it real thoroughly over the entire horn. Buff it real hard with a soft rag to further warm and "seat" the wax and yer done. Waterproof and easy. Dunno if it's HC or not, but I bet I'm close. Works good too, which makes me think I'm not the first one to do it by a few centuries or so.
 
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