(1) The tanners of Munich manufacture an inking-ball, made especially
for printing, of sheepskin, such as I could not obtain in other places,
like London, Offenbach, and Vienna. It is not white like alum-dressed
leather, but yellowish, and the oil has not been completely washed out.
I have had dogskin and thin calfskin worked in the same way and have
found them even better, because of their greater durability. If a roller
is covered with this leather, so that the side that was hairy comes
outermost (not innermost as many do), it develops a decided property of
taking-on color, probably because of its smoothness and elasticity. This
aids much in spreading the color uniformly over the stone. The property
is increased if the roller is dampened slightly before being inked; but
on the contrary, if the stone is kept too wet, the constant moisture
will gradually prepare the roller, so to speak, and it will take less
color and let it go quickly, thus inking the stone badly.
If a roller has been used a long time, it loses its elasticity and
softness and becomes useless for fine work. Still worse is a roller that
has hardened from the drying of the ink. It is surprising to see what a
difference it makes if one has worked for a time with a poor roller and
then replaces it with a good one. It is almost impossible to believe
that the new impressions come from the same stone. I am inclined,
therefore, to believe that the quality of the ink-roller has more effect
on good impressions of crayon and fine pen work than even the quality of
the printing-color.
As stated, it is well to change rollers frequently, and it is wise to
clean them with linseed oil or butter after use to keep them soft and
tender. In working on crayon designs of superior value I advise the use
of new rollers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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