Rocking Ink Blotter for Fountain Pen

Not long ago I rediscovered a couple of fountain pens in my desk drawer. I cleaned them, filled them with ink, and found they still work fine. On most paper the ink dries almost immediately, but on some papers it takes a while. I remember from my old school days that often we would have to use a blotter to keep fountain pen ink from smearing, so I scanned the internet to see if ink blotters were still available.

The good news was that you can still buy a rocking ink blotter. The bad news was that the cheaper ones ($10-$20 range) have terrible reviews (too bumpy, fall apart, terrible finish, etc.). Some specialty shops offer nicer ones, but they are more in the price range of $30-$80.

So, I decided to make my own.

Supplies needed were:

• scrap wood
• small bolt & nut
• wood cabinet knob
• sandpaper
• stain & varnish
• wood glue
• epoxy glue
• blotting paper

Tools used were:

• drill & bit
• bandsaw
• electric sander (optional)

You can make the rocker piece any dimension that suits you, but I settled on one that is 4" long (measuring the curvature). This size would take care of my needs and be easy to store.

I made the rocker first. I used a sandwitch of pine and oak glued together with wood glue, just because I had some small pieces in my scrap pile. I wanted a width of 1.75 inches, and the scraps I had just happened to equal this thickness. I marked my paper pattern onto the wood, cut it to shape on the bandsaw, then sanded it where it would rock back and forth smoothly.

The top piece I cut from a piece of pine 1/4 inch thick. It is sized to fit on top of the rocker.

Before going further, a bolt needs to be inserted into the top of the rocker, and a corresponding hole drilled into the top piece. I threaded a hole in the rocker, and added a little epoxy to make sure it wouldn't loosen.

At this point I made sure all surfaces were sanded smooth, then stained and varnished each piece.

I drilled out the hole in the wooden knob so that I could press fit a nut in it. Before inserting the nut, I added a thin coat of epoxy to retain the nut and let it cure.

Trim your blotting paper to fit the curve of the bottom piece, leaving about 1/2 inch to fold over and tape to the top, as shown in the photos.

SIDE NOTE ON BLOTTING PAPER: I couldn't find blotting paper locally, but you can order it from several places on the internet, although it's sort of expensive for what it is. Or, you can do what I did. Paper coffee filters make for good blotting paper. I flattened a coffee filter, folded it in half (so I could get double thickness) and cut it to fit.

Assemble the pieces as shown in the photos, and you are done!

To use the blotter, simply rock it back and forth on any ink that is not fully dry and it will absorb the excess. The blotting paper lasts a long time, and when it needs replacing simply unscrew the knob and replace it.

This is a very easy project and can be done for pennies.