Casting Gummy Bear Rollers
OK…. I realize that most of you guys are going to think the entire idea to be crazy, but this last week I cast- up a set of rollers for my Kelsey 3 x 5….. using GUMMY BEARS as the composition…. and the dang things print pretty good!
The idea came to me after spending several days working with old composition roller formulas from “Moore’s Universal Assistant” from the 1880’s. Apparently the hide-glue of yester-year is different than that of today, because I failed miserably. To make matters worse, I smoked up the kitchen so badly that I’ve been banished to the basement for all futher roller-making experiments.
As luck would have it, on last Friday I happened to leave a bag of Gummy Bears in my car all day while at work. When I started to go home, I discovered that they had melted into one large Gummy Ameoba. Not being deterred by such things, I started to eat it anyway… and found that once cooled to room temperature it was about the same hardness as a Composition Roller.
Even my limited intellect could grasp the signifcance of this, so I went to Walmart, bought $10 worth of Gummy candy, melted them in a double boiler, and cast them into rollers. I found if you cook them for a few minutes, the resulting rollers are a bit harder.
They are rather odd looking…. being 4 different colors all swirled together, but they work like a charm! Of course you can’t use them with water-based ink, and need to make sure you don’t leave them on the ink-plate…. just like any composition rollers. BUT hey, for $10, they put down as good an ink coverage as anything I’ve used on a Kelsey. ( I don’t think i’m going to cast any for a C&P, though. )
So there you have it…. Gummy-Bear Rollers for a 3x5 press. It might sound crazy, but it does indeed work.
:-) You can’t beat printers when it comes to resourcefulness and ingenuity. ~Barbara
This is the best thing I have heard in a long time. I wonder if you could print with an edible ink and just eat the rollers off the cores when you are done? Maybe not, but I still like the thought of it.
B
I didn’t consider the edibility of the rollers later! Wow… what a concept. I will admit that I ate the off-cuts after I trimmed the rollers to length. I figured the small amount of rust from the cores wouldn’t kill me. I probably need the iron anyway!
Your serendipitous moment saw (re)discovery of a common formula used in many a country shop during the latter part of the 19th Century. Gummy Bears contain those ingredients as well although proportions likely differ (hopefully!). A reason the candy worked was the addition of gum arabic to the mix of sugar, glycerine, and water. A touch of alum - as preservative - held the mice at bay. Not often used for press rollers because of pressure and heat problems, proofing brayers were well-suited for such material. You are to be congratulated for such asute observations and turning a messy mush into a useful material.
As for your difficulties with the hide-glue formula, try adding some grain alcohol to the initial swell water; it aids greatly in amalgamating sugars.
Forme- thanks for the tip. I’ll try that. One of the problems I had was the intial hydration of the glue… so that might solve the problem. One recipe in “Moore’s” calls for 1/2 shot of Rye. After working with the formula for a few days, I was assuming that the Rye was not to be added to the Composition, but rather to ease your disposition after the goo went lumpy.
Letterpress + Gummy bears = Two of my favorite things!
You are brilliant!
I know I’d just pull them off the press and eat them like a corndog!
Daniel Morris
The Arm Letterpress
Brooklyn, NY
Daniel,
If that’s your style you’d want to melt these into rollers:
http://www.oldtimecandy.com/images/candypix-original/gummi-dog-burger.jp...
Ingeneous.
Please tell what you used for a mold/form and how you centered the core. Were you able to cast the roller to the same diameter as the trucks?
inky
Inky…. that’s the easy part. Since the trucks are simple steel wheels, I used them as the ends of the mold. For the mold itself, I rolled drafting vellum, which is a thin but strong paper, into a tube the same diameter as the trucks. The trick is to paste the leading edge of the paper so that there is no loose flap inside. Then I used a few layers of tape to keep everything together. Apparently, Gummy bears do not sitck to drafting vellum, since the paper pealed right off. I suppose you could also use thin acetate, or metal.
To pour, you slip out the top truck, pour in the goop and then slip the truck back in. The only trouble you’ll have is getting it in without crimping the edge of the paper. I botched one roller that way. You have to be careful. If I were going to make a lot of rollers, I’d make a tapered wooden “truck” to prevent this problem.
The end result did have a tiny seam line where the paper overlaps….. but that is easy to fix by rolling the roller over a warm (not hot ) pancake griddle for 1/2 a second or so. The end result is a nicely round and centered roller, the same diameter as the trucks.
Over the week-end, I also cast a brayer and a set of rollers for a K. Star 7 x 10….. and they turned out fine.
Winking Cat have you thought of gummybearr ink balls
James
James- I haven’t tried GummyBear Ink balls. I made a nice leather covered ball for my Hand-press that works very well….. so I didn’t see the need for a gummy version.
winking cat press
Thank you for the prompt reply on the mold. That too is simple and ingeneous.
inky
What does one use to wash up gummy bear rollers? The solvents don’t affect the gummy? Your simple (simply brilliant?) mold method makes me want to try my hand at casting rollers too (possibly something more traditional than gummy, though)!
Gilly- that is a very good question, and something I should have mentioned in my original posting.
Gummy Rollers are water soluble, just like any other composition roller. Therefore you cannot use any solvent that contains water. This includes many of the low VOC and “enviromentally friendly” press washes now on the market.
What I use is plain old mineral spirits. The rollers seem to be totally unaffected by it…. and they wash up well. Crisco also works, as does corn oil, soy oil, lamp oil, and/or kerosene.
winking:
What a great experiment! I have been (successfully but somewhat expensivley) casting rollers into under-the-sink drainpipes for my 6x10 Kelsey for a few months, but getting real hide glue and even glycerine has been a problem. I will be running out to Target tomorrow to get my supply of gummy bears. If my multi-coloured rollers hold up in this northern climate (Minnesota) , I’ll be happier than lark! I’ll let you know! Cheers!
- Denis
OK….. after using Gummy Rollers for a while, I’ve discovered a drawback to them: Mice like ‘em!
I’ve seen a field mouse or two outside my shop for years but didn’t think they ever got inside, and I’ve always left them alone. They are kind of cute with big ears, unlike rats who are mean and ugly. BUT this “live and let live” mouse policy might have to come to an end since they’ve crossed the fine line that is the threshhold of “annoying”.
I’ve only had one mouse attack so far, and it was apparently by a little guy, but he did some serious damage to one of my 3x5 rollers, gnawing a large hole right in the middle of it. It’ll have to be recast.
Right now, I’m debating the possible cures to this problem. I could either A- add something like alum to the mix to make it unpalatible for Mr. Mouse… or B- I can go after Mr Mouse and let him be an example to the rest of the rodent community. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
You might try just storing your rollers inside of a mouse cage. Keep them out instead of in! Add a humane trap along one outside edge and you then have the option of “relocating” the little pests to a less urban setting.
One final note about Gummy rollers- they work best on small presses like a 3x 5 or a 5x8. I’ve made numerous sets for all size presses in the last few months, and found that I like the smaller ones best. My 6 x 10 (1.25 dia) rollers did not turn out so well. Once you get larger than about 3/4” in diameter, the composition is too soft to stay round… they tend to go lumpy after a few hundred impressions. With smaller ones, this does not seem to happen.
winking cat — amazing! can you please (please) post a photo? I’m so curious to see what they look like.
Oh my!!!!
Costco sells a really big bag of Gummy Bears I think for around $5.00.
Has anyone tried the stuff dentists/orthodontists use to make an impression of your teeth? I think its a powder they add water or something to, then it turns rubbery very quickly.
Thank you for posting about the gummi bear rollers. I will probably try this.
I bought a really clean Kelsey 3x5 to have some fun with and make myself some unique business cards. Well, I didn’t realize that rollers would cost me another 150-200 bucks, and my plans have stopped in their tracks.
I still need type and ink but this could get me started.
P.S.
Just want to add that I appreciate that NA & Tarheel are around and offer their support, I just can’t afford much right now.
WOW! Amazing. While I had heard stories of printers casting their own rollers a hundred years ago and had a great conversation with my friend Lou this week about how he makes his own rubber rollers, this gummi-bear solution is certainly one for the books!
Keep us posted on how these rollers hold up. And keep creating out-of-the-box solutions… No wonder that cat keeps winking… ;)
-Alan