Method for making Gu Mo

1. In ancient times, ink was made by hand, and the main processes were smoke refining, blending, making, air drying and gold lacquer.

2. Flue gas refining: smoke is extracted from pine branches or oil by incomplete combustion to obtain pine smoke and oil fume respectively. When burning, the temperature, air inlet and air outlet should be strictly controlled, and the smoke collection time should be mastered to ensure the blackness, fineness, oil content and ash content of flue gas.

3. Blending: firstly, boil the glue with slow fire, add the pigment raw materials and the added raw materials, fully stir and mash evenly. It is said that the mixture must be hammered to "100,000 pestles" repeatedly, so that the tobacco and binder can reach a fine and uniform degree and be made into a blank.

4. Production: the blank is rolled into seamless ink fruit according to specifications, pressed into an ink mold to form various shapes, and exquisite decorative patterns and characters are printed on the ink surface.

5. Drying: After the ink is formed, it should be dried. There are three methods: tiling, ashing and hanging. In the early stage of drying, the ink should be constantly turned over, so that the ink body that naturally arches and flattens during drying can recover itself. The temperature and humidity of ink drying environment should be strictly controlled. Strong wind, direct sunlight and excessive drying will all lead to uneven precipitation of water in ink, resulting in broken cracks. In addition, if the temperature is too high, it will make the ink moldy and affect the quality of the ink.

6. Gold tracing: After the ink is dried, the pattern on the surface of the ink should be painted with gold and added with color. Generally speaking, gold and silver are the main colors, hence the name gold painting. The gold coating should be bright, neat and uniform in color. The role of gold tracing is not only beautiful, but also sealing, which can keep the ink moist.