What printer to buy for homemade ink?

[empty]

I'm going to try making my own ink. I expect a lot of problems since it will be low quality, but what desktop printer will I have the least trouble from for this purpose? I would like something that is easy to obtain in a U.S. chain store, and does not clog to often. I would prefer a printer that I can buy empty virgin cartridges for.

Are there any desktop printers that can print spot colors?

 

[Hendo]

Bic makes one...LOL

 

[canonfodder]

Perhaps you should be applauded for your bravery. You better stick with Canon printers if you are making dye inks.

If you are wishing to save lots of money compared to the prices of OEM ink, I think that you should know that a high quality and consistent refill ink may only cost you 5 cents per 8" X 10" photo printed on glossy photo paper. That is 5 cents for the ink and around 13 cents for very good glossy photo paper. Only 18 cents per 8" X 10" is a real bargain and there is no compromise on the quality obtained.

Check others, but at least check out Image Specialists ink sold by PrecisionColors store on eBay and Kirkland glossy photo paper sold by Costco stores.

 

[empty]

Not trying to save money, just make my own color effect. I plan to take the black cartridge out and replace it with the cart filled with my own ink. I won't be using the color cartridge, just printing my my single homemade color.

 

[fotofreek]

With canon printers if you leave the color carts out you wll burn out the printhead nozzles for those colors. If your ink ph or viscosity is off the same thing may happen. Some Canon printers have a dye based black and pigment based black. pigment based inks (or any home brew with any particulate matter in it) will clog the dye-based ink nozzles very quickly. Conversely, dye based inks used in the pigment based carts are a problem. We may scoff at the R&D that goes into making inks and complain about the cost, but there is considerable thought that goes into manufacturing inkijet inks.

Best of luck on making inks that will even function in these printers in a reasonable way. That is not a sarcastic remark - I would really like to see someone succeed in making some home brew inks. I would appreciate your reporting back on this project.

 

[NoWaste]

Hi Empty, The printhead is one component that will likely be affected by the content in your ink. In most cases, the dye ink is about 60% to 80% water. They are water based. The rest of the element are also in liquid form, making almost 95% liquid or more. I do not think that the viscosity make much different with most ink having 95% or more liquid.

It may be good to have a simple printer that uses cartridge with printhead so that if the printhead fail, you can just change them with a new cartridge. Otherwise printhead in the printer may be too costly to replace.
Get one that also uses "starter" cartridge, normal comes with lesser ink at a lower price,, in case you need to change the cartridge.

Also if it is possible, get a printer that uses printhead with lesser holes. Printhead with more holes (nozzles) are normally more complicated, higher price and are mend for higher quality printing but may have problem with your experimental ink.

Good luck. I am quiet sure that your experiment will be sucessful.

 

[pharmacist]

Nowaste: the other liquids are ethylene glycol, isopropyl alcohol, glycerin, preservatives, distilled water and the soluble dye to make the ink.

 

[Smile]

You can try to use pixma 1800 it uses integrated cartridge and printhead system. If you damage print head you just replace the cartridge. You can try to get empty cartridges on internet or your local refill company.