I went online to do a little browsing for more information and people mention getting a 'Rocker'. Can you Blot without the use of a 'Rocker', if so, do you just merely lay the Blotter Sheet on top of the ink and hope/wish for the best? Would the Blotting Sheet absorb the ink on contact, without smearing. Thanks...
Dumb Question: How do you use Blotting Paper...
- Thread starter David John
- Start date
Rocker blotters can be nice desk accessories. Here are three that I have.
They are not necessary to use blotter paper, though. You can put the paper lightly over the area to be blotted, and lightly press from one side to the other. Or put a sheet in your notebook when you close it.
This video is not the one I thought I remembered. It's mostly about using blotter paper with a rocker, but it does briefly show using the paper without one at the end, about the last two minutes.
They are not necessary to use blotter paper, though. You can put the paper lightly over the area to be blotted, and lightly press from one side to the other. Or put a sheet in your notebook when you close it.
This video is not the one I thought I remembered. It's mostly about using blotter paper with a rocker, but it does briefly show using the paper without one at the end, about the last two minutes.
- Thread starter
- #3
Thanks for your reply. I can see the Rocker would be convenient but yet both methods, as you suggested would work. Thanks.
Nice video! Thanks!!
He sez "There may be some other uses out there for blotting paper."
Clearly he came of age after the '60s.
It also used to be the standard absorbent liner for sprouting beans in glass jars.
Clearly he came of age after the '60s.
"blotter acid": each small image would have some measured amount of LSD dropped onto it, and the dealer could cut it up into individual doses.
It also used to be the standard absorbent liner for sprouting beans in glass jars.
Last edited:
Mark:Rocker blotters can be nice desk accessories. Here are three that I have.
They are not necessary to use blotter paper, though. You can put the paper lightly over the area to be blotted, and lightly press from one side to the other. Or put a sheet in your notebook when you close it.
This video is not the one I thought I remembered. It's mostly about using blotter paper with a rocker, but it does briefly show using the paper without one at the end, about the last two minutes.
Not to get 'off-thread' (
BTW...nice and informational video...thanx for your support and for sharing.
Crickey, blotting paper. We used to carry it around in large packs when I was a kid a school as the FP's we had would leak at every available opportunity. Cheap and nasty types with cartridges in dark blue only.
Mark:Mark:
Not to get 'off-thread' (), but I was thinking of getting a blotter(s), as "nice desk accessories", but I wonder if I would ever use one seeing how I use Rhodia (lined), paper / notepad
BTW...nice and informational video...thanx for your support and for sharing.
"[Ink blotting] is like driving at night in the fog. You can only [write] as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way". E.L. Doctorow
Or could it be a issue about the quality of the ink
I bet one of those rubber sanding blocks would work, used upside down.
Instead of blotter paper there's always pounce.
From Wikipedia:
I think I've seen it used for blotting in movies set in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Instead of blotter paper there's always pounce.
From Wikipedia:
Pounce is a fine powder, most often made from powdered cuttlefish bone, that was used both to dry ink and to sprinkle on a rough writing surface to make it smooth enough for writing. This last was certainly needed if the paper came "unsized", that is, lacking the thin gelatinous material used to fill the surface of the paper and make it smooth enough for writing with a quill or a steel nib. It was also used to prepare the surface when drafting with Rapidiograph pens on mylar, a common drafting medium in the late twentieth century.
Although some people claim that pounce was never added afterwards to dry ink, this probably represents confusion between the two processes of preparing paper and drying the ink after writing. Experiment shows that using pounce does indeed smooth "unsized" paper but then does little or nothing to dry the ink after you have written on that prepared paper, and it is clearly the case that pouncing or sanding continued long after properly "sized" writing paper came into general use during the nineteenth century.
The pounce or sand is gently sprinkled all over the writing on the paper. When using a quill or a steel nib, and with inks that are made up to match those typically in use during the 18th or 19th centuries, and provided the pen has been used with the fine strokes typical of handwriting of that period, the handwriting will be sufficiently dry within 10 seconds to allow the paper to be folded without blotting. Gently vibrating the paper whilst the pounce or sand is on it ensures that little or no pounce or sand sticks to the handwriting and excess sand or pounce is shaken off before folding the paper.
In the 19th century the pounce pots or sanders often had a shallow dish round the top so that pounce or sand could be returned to the pot and reused. The process is very effective for quickly drying ink, and although blotting paper has been available since Tudor times, pounce or sand continued to be used throughout the nineteenth century because it was often cheaper.
Although some people claim that pounce was never added afterwards to dry ink, this probably represents confusion between the two processes of preparing paper and drying the ink after writing. Experiment shows that using pounce does indeed smooth "unsized" paper but then does little or nothing to dry the ink after you have written on that prepared paper, and it is clearly the case that pouncing or sanding continued long after properly "sized" writing paper came into general use during the nineteenth century.
The pounce or sand is gently sprinkled all over the writing on the paper. When using a quill or a steel nib, and with inks that are made up to match those typically in use during the 18th or 19th centuries, and provided the pen has been used with the fine strokes typical of handwriting of that period, the handwriting will be sufficiently dry within 10 seconds to allow the paper to be folded without blotting. Gently vibrating the paper whilst the pounce or sand is on it ensures that little or no pounce or sand sticks to the handwriting and excess sand or pounce is shaken off before folding the paper.
In the 19th century the pounce pots or sanders often had a shallow dish round the top so that pounce or sand could be returned to the pot and reused. The process is very effective for quickly drying ink, and although blotting paper has been available since Tudor times, pounce or sand continued to be used throughout the nineteenth century because it was often cheaper.
I think I've seen it used for blotting in movies set in the 18th and 19th centuries.
... here I thought a "blotter" was anything that made you "blotto".
but seriously folks, don't all bottles of Lamy ink come with blotter paper?
Impressive bottle design, but the ink itself never did it for me... begging forgiveness to all who love it in advance.
Paper goes in the plastic bottom
I too have seen them sprinkle the sandy stuff on paper in movies.
but seriously folks, don't all bottles of Lamy ink come with blotter paper?
Impressive bottle design, but the ink itself never did it for me... begging forgiveness to all who love it in advance.
Paper goes in the plastic bottom
I too have seen them sprinkle the sandy stuff on paper in movies.
That is more for wiping the nib after filling. A blotter is more for rocking over printed text without smearing it.
