How do you thin rubber based ink?

You can use tack reducer. A little can go a long way. Depending on your weather you can also might try putting some on a work surface and knead it with an ink knife for a while which might warm it up and it will begin thin on its own. Cold ink is stiff and has poor tack, which causes it not like to print well, it can’t stick to the plate or paper correctly. Depending on which brand of ink go to the brand web site an there should be guides for ink operating conditions and work around it.

You can always mix in a bit of varnish to thin it. If you don’t have standard ink varnish, you can use boiled linseed oil, added a drop at a time. A little bit goes a long way. This will change the drying characteristics, but rubber based inks don’t dry quickly anyway.

You also can use transparent white, but that will also dilute the pigment and make a slight difference in the printed strength of the color.

John Henry
Cedar Creek Press