URGENT: What's available at local stores that's similar to (offset) printers ink?

[Zsolt Paul]

:confused:I often use Van Sons "CML oil base plus" printers ink for color filling marble, granite or glass. I believe this is a type of offset printing ink. I am in a pinch and need to find some locally. I can't find anything on AC Moore's or MIchael's website that might be comparable. There is also a Pearl Paint around here. Does anyone know what is similar to the printer's ink that I could easily get my hands on? Thanks!

[Robert Walters]

I don't know of anything like offset printing ink on the retail side.

You might google for a local offset printer in your area.
http://www.minutemanpress.com/locations/us/ny

Walk in with a couple of empty containers and ask if you could buy a glob or so of a few colors.
They probably have colors they've used for a one-time job and might sell the whole can.
Not like you need very much at all for just color filling =)


Just curious...
How are you applying the ink color fill? Squeegee?

[Zsolt Paul]

Thanks for the idea Robert. This stuff is VERY thick and cannot be squeegeed off. You have to rub it / buff it off with a cloth. When you can get a deep enough engraving, you are better off with thinner materials that can be squegeed off. However, for shallower jobs into glass or granite, I find it to be much more opaque and brilliant than paint.

[Bill Cunningham]

Call VanSon and ask them for the name of the distributor in your area. If you find them, then ask them who they sell to in your area, and then ask them if you can buy a bit..

[Jeff Belany]

Check out Valley Litho online. They have any inks you might need. Used them a lot in my printing days. I have used the ink but I find an oil paint is much easier. I rub it in and leave in set for awhile, then wipe off most of the color (but not clean) and then leave it sit overnight. I find that by letting it sit overnight I get a better look than if I wipe it off sooner. Just my experience.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Zsolt Paul]

Call VanSon and ask them for the name of the distributor in your area. If you find them, then ask them who they sell to in your area, and then ask them if you can buy a bit..

Great idea, the joke is, their local distributor's phone just keeps ringing, no one picks up. sigh.... sometimes the simplest things become the biggest.....

[Zsolt Paul]

In the end I did find an offset printer nearby who had just the right color laying around and just gave it to me. There are still some nice foks around!

Jeff, thanks for the details in your tip about the drying time. Do you do this in glass, stone or acrylic or all of the above? For large and wide text, do you grayscale to about 70% gray then halftone to get some space between the dots, or do you just try to get as much depth as possible and fill it up? I guess that would work in acrylic but not so much in granite or glass.

[Robert Walters]

I stopped by a paper house today.

They had a 9lb can of white ink "on sale" for $27. They let me open the can and I tried a bit.

Sadly, the reason it was on sale was that it was sitting on the shelf for a very long time and the pigments were separating and had a beige tint to it.

Alternatively, the big orange borg (Home Depot) has oil-based enamel paint primarily in one gallon cans for $30, and half-pint cans for $5 that seemed to work really well on granite.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202041175/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

You might want to try it as an alternative to offset printers ink.
If I can find a cheap can off offset ink, I'll still try it at least once =)