Rubber based vs. Oil based Ink
I’m trying to decide what the pros and cons are to each type of ink before I make a commitment to one or the other by investing in a good set of inks. When I bought my press, I got 5 or so large tins of oil based ink. Trying to decide before I buy a few more colors if I want to stick with oil based, or make the switch to rubber based before I get too far in.
So, what type of ink do you use and why? What is your experience with the other type?
Thanks for any and all information. i assumed there’d already be a post on this, but couldn’t find any.
I don’t know if you saw this discussion or not on ink
http://www.briarpress.org/3326
Could be helpful though not exactly to your question.
I did see that! thanks! thought it was quite helpful. still wondering the advantages and disadvantages to both though before I figure out exactly what I want to buy.
What you buy should mostly be driven by what you are going to print. In the old days there was ink. It was oil base and the only kind ink manufacturers knew how to make. Then someone made latex paint and rubber base ink. They are not related, but some people like rubber base ink for the same kind of reasoning that they like latex paint.
Make your decision on what will be best for what you print, not whether you can leave the ink on the press for one or more nights.
Oil base ink dries mostly by oxidation on the surface of the paper and partly by absorbtion. Rubber base is the other way. Oil base prints well on most anything and certainly prints better on coated or gloss stocks than rubber.
Rubber base stays open better in the can. It will oxidize and harden, but much slower. Oil base forms a skin on the top in the can and that skin hardens. Just like oil paint. The skin must be pulled back with the ink knife to get at the still very good ink underneath. I have some oil base ink that is probably 30 years old. The purist would not use it. I do. I pull the skin back and it looks just like new to me.
Stationery printed with rubber base ink and then later run through a copier will not be nice. The heat of the fuser roller will melt the ink. Oil base ink that has dried for a couple of weeks (maybe less) is fine. There are inks that are made to work satisfactorily with stationery that is to be run through a copier.
The advantage of rubber base ink is that it stays open (wet) on the press for long periods of time, even overnight. The disadvantage is that it dries by absorbtion into the sheet, for the most part, so if the sheet is not absorbent (like some coated papers and plastics), it will dry very slowly if at all.
The advantage of oil base ink is that it will dry on most any surface. The disadvantage is that it will only stay wet on the press for a couple of hours (give or take).
I use oil base inks, because I never leave ink on the press for more than an hour or two.
If you use oil base ink and have it on the press for more than an hour or two, if you are printing all that time you are presumably continuing to use ink and add new ink. That being the case, much of the oldest ink which is on the press is being used up and replaced with new ink, so even oil base ink should be usable on the press for a longer period of time, as long as you are continuing to print.
perfect. thanks so much. I think I’ll just stick with oil in that case, since I have no desire to leave ink on the press overnight. Thanks again!