No one ink can meet all marking requirements.

What surface am I marking on? Is it Porous? Paper, cardboard, wood, cloth. Is it Non-Porous? - Photographs, Printed Circuit Boards, metals, plastics, mylars and glossy paper. These surfaces do not allow any absorption and require inks to dry through evaporation.

What color of ink do I need? Dye inks (Black, Blue, Red, Purple, Green) These ink colors are typically used for light colored backgrounds. Generally, these inks can be used with any type of industrial stamp pad (Stone, Opaque, Mark II). Dye colors are easier to work with and require less maintenance and tend to dry faster. Pigmented inks - Colors are White, Yellow, Orange and Silver. These inks are also known as opaque inks. These inks are thicker causing more buildup on your pads. Pigmented inks work best with the Mark II pad and opaque pads. It is recommended that you stay with dye inks whenever possible.

What am I expecting my ink to do? Does it need to withstand any solvents.? If so, what? What type of handling will the ink be exposed to? Will it be subjected to weather such as direct sun , rain or freezing temperatures? Your permanency factor is your most important decision. Remember, almost all inks can be removed if someone wants to remove the mark. We have fast drying inks that can handle 98% of our customers' requirements.

How fast do I need my ink to dry ? This is important. The slower the drying time the easier the ink is to work with and also maintain your stamp pad. For example, an ink that dries in 10 to 15 seconds will dry out in a stamp pad left open in about 20-30 minutes. An ink that dries in 30 to 4O seconds your pad can be left open for approximately 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours. If you use an ink that dries in 1-1 1/2 minutes the pad could be left open for 5-6 hours.
Please think about this carefully and give us the slowest time your application can handle.

Does my ink need to meet any Mil-I specifications? For commercial applications a mil spec is not generally used; however, if one is applicable it is usually TT-I-1795A. This spec specifies that the ink is fast drying and weather resistant for surfaces such as metals, glass, wood, rubber and cloth. For military applications MIL-I-33553 is generally used. This refers to a single or two component epoxy ink. This ink takes several hours to dry to the touch if air cured and needs 72 hours or high temperature heat to reach the permanent mil spec rating. Please also note that the useable life of the two part ink is approximately 3 hours after the components are mixed together.

sales@carolinastamp.com Date Last Modified: 9/3:/01