shai

the active ingredient in bleach is sodium hypochlorite (lye). i don't think it would have any purpose as an additive. i do know that it is notoriously unstable, and if you mix it with certain chemicals (ammonia, aluminum compounds) it can fulminate (create chlorine gas), and that's enough of a reason not to try it. one thing you could do with bleach is put it in an old, cleaned out paint pen and experiment with it...i made some cool t-shirts this way. i guess you could get up on awnings....dark wood...seems interesting, but i'll leave it to someone else to try out.

i have garvey and marsh.....pm me.

^and stay away from etch, it's wrong, wrong, wrong...if you HAVE to do it, only on multinational corporate headquarters... never on small businesses. it's a great way to get into the legal system...

i just put bleach in my washer...brightens my whites.

Candy ink is an ink as i stated before that has very strong staining power it starts staining the second it is applied to any surface. The ink by nature tends to evaporate when outside of its original container so if you have it USE IT! I can recall a time when i had a mini OTR full of it, I left it sitting in the back of my closet while waiting to sell it to somebody and wheni went to retrieve it two weeks later it was empty. Because it is an insider secret most people dont know about it and as such cannot give you correct info on the matter. Ill try to get some pictures of it in action sometime soon. Quoted post [/b] is there anyway to tweak candy ink to get it to be more weathrproof/lightfast? i used it back in the bushopper days...way before i knew of anything besides that and pilot. i love the colors, but watching your tags fade over a period of days is frustrating, you know. i know where there's a ton of it (i'm pretty sure you know the spot, too, i think) but i've passed on it in favor of garvey recently- it runs forever and it stains just as well, but there's only two colors. pm me if you want, i've been meaning to ask you about this...also, can it be used as a tint for rolmark? my guess is that it would work.

it's one thing to hear about it... it's another thing entirely to see it done- it's pretty awesome. there's also the tupperware pen, too- that's insanity, it's like a drippy foot-wide chisel tip. i have a flick of a white truck with a twist tag done with one of these- i'll look for it after work.

man, that's some flashback shit. i think i made one of these in the 8th grade...didn't work out...reverted to magnums and cheap cans. now, who's gonna break out with the vhs pen tip? will it be me? i'll bet no one's heard of these steez yet...stay tuned. i might just make one to prove that it can be done.

that crossed my mind, too. most euro inks i've seen are alcohol based, which look good but are not long-lasting outdoors. however, these guys seem to know what they're talking about....my only concern would be quality control, i.e. knowing if they had it formulated and professionally made or if it was whipped up in a bucket in someone's back yard...with some good batches and some not so good. if i get it i'll post up a little review on it....does anyone know if grog can this be bought in the states (domestically)? let me know.

the cheapest way to get up permanently- find some alkyd paint. sometimes, paint/hardware store have mistints they sell dirt cheap- sometimes. second best is a hi-hide outdoor enamel. once you have some paint, get a water bottle with a closable top. any squeeze bottle will do, really. pour some into the bottle, and put the cap back on. squeeze the bottle and see how fast it comes out. slower- more control. faster- dries sooner. anyway, this can be used for sidewalk tags, and if you hold the bottle 90 degrees to a surface, it's a kind of messy, drippy paint pen. the cool thing about alkyd is that it turns to plastic as it dries...and lasts a really long time. you may not dig it at first, but as you get the hang of it you'll adapt tags to the medium- cursive and scrolls are fun this way. if you want to make a big tag, use the same paint. go find an old broom or a mop, and use it as a brush- don't skimp on the paint, be ghetto fabulous. streets and intersections are fun this way but the tag never dries before cars obliterate it. have fun, and don't worry about what everyone else thinks. if they ask, tell 'em you're in art school and this is your pollock period.... that'll shut them up.

^the best hand cleaner i've ever used was made by phil wood- it's made specifically for bike shops. it's totally nontoxic and doesn't dry out your hands. it gets 95% of the crap off of them, too. find it at http://www.performancebike.com. it's $6 for a 16 oz. tub, and is easily worth twice that. my broke ass uses a two step process- first, i put vegetable oil on my hands and scrub them. then, i use some boraxo and dish soap to wash off the crud. it's an 8 out of 10...the phil stuff even removes stains- 9 out of ten. damn, i'm buying some tomorrow.....

i thought he was referring to a stock ink....i have a blend that i don't feel ready to share here yet. that blend does sound pretty strong, though....i don't really understand the purpose of adding brake fluid. i've done it myself, and didn't notice any change for better or worse- toner does flatten ink out well, though. plus, i can't get corio in the states. i've heard it's similar to montana ink. i've seen some weird shit online but most of the sites that carry stuff i've never heard of (and therefore would like to try ) are in swedish or italian, and since i'm a dumb american, i can't read them and google won't translate some of them. i am planning to get some grog, though. if it's what it claims to be, i may stock it, but i need to see it to believe it. and, yeah, copper mesh? what's the story?

^or, i forgot...any oil will work for oil based mediums- linseed would be my first choice...art stores have it. in theory, you could use olive, vegetable or mineral (baby) oil. i've never tried it, but....you're better off with thinner or spirits of some kind. if it's the health problems that concern you, use common sense- gloves and ventilation are two precautions you can take. try to find out what your medium is made with, and use alike or similar solvents. and, use a little bit at a time and test it to see if it gets streaky- if it does, add more paint or ink. it just takes practice and patience, you'll get it.

what do you recommend? i'd like to try some of THAT...i use garvey based on ten years of experience, and i like garvey for the effects... it does different things on different surfaces. plus, i don't know anyone else who makes a purple ink that's permanent. seriously, if you have something better, i want to know about it.

mine would always come out brown or green...how did you get grey?

[attachmentid=20655] hey spade, i got your pm, and it's here....and, to anyone else who's interested in garvey, pm me. operators are standing by....

very true. i often think that people want to put me in a box since i post here, but it seems prejudical to do so. i realize a lot of the folks who post here are younger than me, and don't have the ability to see the world the way i do, and that's all well and good. however, thanks to the times that life has handed me my ass on a plate, i don't have the luxury of idealism as much as i used to. a lot of my views come from having been there- i've lived on the streets before- spent three years of my life there. but, while the circumstances that got me there were beyond my control at the time, i took advantage of my freedom, and accepted the liabilities. i got to travel, and learned a lot from it. i agree that there are a lot of people who need help out there, and don't know, or want to know, how to better their situation...and, there's a lot of people who have a victim mentality who seem to think the world owes them something. i feel for the ones who are truly helpless, and, if i can, i'll buy them some food or give them clothes to help them out. however, i also see kids who embrace living on the street as some romantic ideal or something, i don't know...and, they have this strange concept that hanging out on the sidewalk and looking cool entitles them to whatever change i have in my pocket. this is wrong, and, sometimes, if they press the issue, i tell them, "hey, i was once where you were. but, i didn't panhandle, and i never made anyone feel guilty for what was ultimately my choice....so, why are you doing it to me? if you want to get off the streets, i'll tell you how..." and, that usually ends the conversation. that's where i come from on that point- not far from what you've said before.

that's about it, my man....unless it's water-based, then water will work. sorry.

^yeah, that's true...most of the trains i see in my area are 53's, hence my advice. the 48's do have a floor but are hot, hot, HOT! the security in my area is fierce, due to it being adjacent to the fourth largest port in the country. the golden rule is, BE DISCREET, especially in or near major cities/hubs. i've been sweated in emeryville just taking photos recently. my take on this is that, yeah, i might be trespassing, but the workers here don't want to see anyone besides workers or railcops poking around...i do all my loitering on sundays now...there's less train traffic, but there's also less potential to be seen- the turnover in the yard is high, so i rarely see the same car twice. kabar, that sounds like a good little trip. i just saw this thread recently, and was a little surprised to find something like this on 12 oz. i was wondering, how did you find your way here? it's refreshing to hear someone who feels the same way that i do. i feel like a lot of kids just bitch about the system, but they don't realize that they NEED the system...they should try visiting other countries, where not only will The Man keep you down, he'll probably kill you witout a second thought...he'll also take your tax money, and pretend the infrastructure doesn't need their help...it was kind of shocking for me to see shantytowns for the first time- it made me think about how all my privledged "peers" in the states would talk about killing cops, but who would they call if their house was being broken into? that's right...it's really easy to talk about these things in an abstract way, but they always applied their middle class ideology to things like graff or smoking weed, without realizing those were personal choices they made. no one ever put a gun to my head, and said, "smoke this," or "write that there..." i've always taken responsibility for my choices, and accepted the fact that there would be consequences if i was caught. i never displaced accountabiltity to some vague entitity that i felt was oppressing me. the way i see it, is that you can exist as an outlaw in this society, as long as it's not causing hardship to your fellow man. however, this isn't the fifties, and a lot of activities that were okay then are being legislated against, and will most likely get harder as time goes on...i consider myself fairly conservative, more in the libertarian sense as opposed to the dingbats who are "running" the show right now. that means i thing the government should be less involved in the activities of the individual, and more concern with making sure the trains are runnng on time and everyone wants for nothing. unfortunately, we seem to be geting further and further from this vision and closer to a vision that is light years away from what the founding fathers had in mind....just that it's not a king anymore, it's enron, and worldcom, and mobil getting paid. anyway, that's enough....i thought you might like to know that there's at least one person here who shares some of your worldview. sometimes, i get fed up with what i read here- it seems like aggresive ignorance, and a lot of people who mindlessly toe the line as far as prevailing sentiment goes. but, as long as you stick to your guns, and stick around and try to be informative, i'll do the same. thanks.

i just remembered...you can make a pilot drip- pour a few drops of xylene and a lot of ink into the body. the catch is, you have to store it with the tip up or the ink will dump out, and the pen will dry out faster. fuck it, use a flow pen or a mop if drips are what you want...it's a lot easier.

hey, flip, check your pm's.

he's right...gentian violet by itself is safe, it's the additives you need to look out for. and, unless your name is grimace, or want to answer a lot of dumb questions, keep it off your skin.

that's when it's in solution. they use phenol/ethanol as a solvent for gentian violet, and yes, it's really bad for you...but, it's also really good for ink, too- some of my favorite ink is phenol based. i would just wear dishwashing gloves, that will do fine. gentian violet is also available as a reagent in powder form- check chemical supply stores, especially ones that specialize in biology.

[attachmentid=20572] just made a new batch of mops...made a flourescent yellow opaque color today. never seen anything like it...to the guy who wanted garvey, pm me- i wouldn't put brake fluid in it, it stains fine on its own. if you ever get it on your hands, it will take at least a week for it to fade. i'm gonna finish my bottle and try some of the new ish out...

i think i know this one...IM's (intermodal) or DS (doublestack) trains are a lot more common these days due to several factors. i believe the main reason is convenience, since loading a flat car merely requires a container crane, thus saving on labor....at least where i live (near the port of oakland). i'm sure security plays into this somehow, as well. as far as riding them, not many of them have floors, but i've heard of people doing it...i wouldn't try it since there are still plenty of boxcars out there....besides, IM trains are usually hotshots, and you could end up a lot further from where you planned to be. boxcars are common on GM trains (general manifest, i.e, mixed use trains) and tend to be local as well. good luck.

new ink? they also make oil based sharpies now- they aren't bad- one blew up in my hand saturday and my hand's still red. ha ha, red-handed! oh, i kill me.