As a reenactor, I have recently made a transition in my level of "professionalism". I have begun seeking out period sources much more than I ever did, and I've increased my efforts to recreate period materials, ande develop period methods. Any time I brown ground beef, for pasta sauce, chili, etc., I pour off the grease into a wooden bowl, which I set in the refrigerator. The next day, I pry out the hardened disc of tallow, scrape the gelating off the bottom, (I haven't found a use for the gelatin, yet) and put the tallow in a ziplock bag in the freezer. I now have at least a pound, possibly two, and I hope to make blackball, to blacken my shoes and boots. I also have ten pounds, each, of brine-cured Salt Beef and Salt Pork in ziplocks in the bottom drawers of my fridge, (I use a lot of ziplocks!) in hopes of carrying some on a multi-day trek somewhere out in Western Maryland, soon.
My most recent 'substance project' is black walnut ink. A neighbor, who uses walnuts from her trees for various recipes, allowed me to gather the rotted remains of the hulls from the pile where she dumps them. (Next year, I may offer to help her husk the walnuts, and take them fresh, so they're easier to manage) I have 3 or 4 gallons of blackened, rotten husks, ready for rendering.
I did an online search for instructions, but I haven't found a great deal. I'm taking what I did find, and experimenting as I go. Here is the method I have developed for creating the walnut-husk-solution-concentrate that I hope will form a good basis for ink:
I have three pots ready; a cast-iron pot for the initial boiling, (the iron is supposed to darken the ink, making it black, rather than dark brown. A handful of rusted nails will produce the same result, if you don't have cast iron) a saucepan for the next stage, and a large stockpot sitting in a sinkful of cold water for cooling. I also have a spoon or ladle at the ready, oven mitts and pot holders, and a ready supply of paper towels for mopping up spills. A number of empty jars will contain the cooled concentrate when I'm done.
First, I filled the iron pot with walnut husks, then added enoguh water to cover. I recommend leaving space for boiling, or else you'll spend half your time mopping up overflow. I brought the husks to a hard boil, spooning off some of the liquid into the saucepan, as it threatened to boil over, When the husks had boiled down to where ther was very little liquid left, I poured the liquid off into the saucepan, and added fresh water to the husks, which I then put back on to boil. I brought the saucepan to a hard boil, until it almost boiled over. I then pured the liquid into the stockpot, to cool. Once it was cool, I poured it off into empty pepperoncini jars. I repeated the process with the fresh water I had put into the iron pot. In the end, I had about 40 ounces of an almost black liquid, which tended to cling a bit to the bottom of the stockpot, before running off into the jars. I suspect that this liquid will be sufficient to serve as a base for my final ink, but first I'll see what I can find out about mordants and binders, etc. (From what I've read, I may need vinegar and Gum Arabic) I also intend to try mixing a bit with 'wood prime' (50-50 linseed oil and turpentine) to create a wood stain. I'll post the results of the next steps here. Any thoughts or advice are most welcome!
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