Reviews
Part of 5 things nobody tells you about ink testing methods
Building an Ink Testing Bench: Washable Surface, Fixed Light and Spill Tray
What an ink testing bench needs: a washable surface, fixed 5000 K light and camera, a spill tray, handling rules and improvised gear options.
Ink testing needs a bench rather than a desk. The difference is that a bench is expected to get wet, holds its light and its geometry constant between sessions, and can be wiped down without ceremony. None of that requires buying furniture. It requires deciding once where things go and then not moving them.
What to take away
- A washable, non-absorbent surface is the only non-negotiable item.
- Fix the light and the camera position, because those are the variables you will otherwise change without noticing.
- Keep water and ink on a tray, so a knock is a small event rather than a large one.
- Written handling rules matter more than equipment, even at kitchen-table scale.
What the bench needs
| Element | Why | Improvised version |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | Takes ink and water without staining | A white melamine closet shelf or a glass cutting board |
| Light | Keeps color and shadow identical | One 5000 K LED desk lamp instead of a window |
| Tray | Holds water and wet items together | A rimmed baking sheet or a plastic boot tray |
| Camera mount | Holds framing and distance steady | A phone stand, or tape marks for a tripod |
| Jars | Separates dirty rinse from clean | Two glass jam jars with paper labels |
| Wipes | Removes ink before it dries | A damp microfiber cloth and paper towel |
Bench elements and improvised versions
- Washable surfaceglass or chopping board
- Contained traybaking tray with lip
- Fixed lightone lamp, taped position
- Fixed capture pointmark for phone stand
- Absorbent lay-down areakitchen paper
- Waste jarjam jar with lid
Consistent geometry is the whole point
Fix your light and camera so comparison holds. FADGI's digital imaging framework exists because undefined imaging performance cannot be checked.
One 5000 K LED desk lamp on a straight arm does the job. Place it 12 to 15 inches from the sample, about 45 degrees off the page, on the same side every session.
Put the phone in a stand that holds the lens 10 to 12 inches above the surface, square to the page. Mark both positions with tape.
A warm bulb and a cool bulb photograph the same ink as two different inks.
A fixed camera position also keeps your photos consistent, which matters when you document and present fountain pen costs.
Handling rules are cheap and worth writing down
Institutional practice is to write handling rules down rather than rely on habit. Stanford keeps its chemical hygiene plan as a standing document. Household ink is not a laboratory hazard, but decide in advance what happens when something spills and write it on a card.
Ours is a 3 by 5 index card taped behind the tray. It reads:
Handling rules
- Nothing open within 6 inches of the bench edge.
- Rinse water goes in the jar, never the sink.
- Spills wiped within one minute, because dried ink on a light surface takes far longer.
Setting it up in twenty minutes
Start with a surface you can wipe. Three options are easy to buy: a 12 by 18 inch tempered glass panel cut at a glass shop, a white melamine closet shelf, or an HDPE cutting board.
Glass wipes clean and lies flat, but it is hard under the nib and chips at the edges. Melamine is cheap and light, and it swells if water reaches the particleboard core. HDPE is soft and non-absorbent, and pigment inks can leave a faint tint on it.
Set the tray at the center and mark the lamp and phone positions with tape. Put the rinse jar and waste jar at the back, behind the tray, so nothing lifts over open ink. Stack absorbent paper on one side and offcuts on the other. Then leave it alone.
The surface under a page changes writing too, which is covered in what to put under the page, and the testing procedure this bench serves is in what an ink test involves.
