Hectograph. Drawing, description

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Hectograph. Children's Science Lab

Children's Science Lab

This device had many names - autograph, multigraph, polygraph, shapirograf ... The most common - hectograph, which in Greek means - "I write a hundred times." According to the second edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, it was invented by the Russian inventor M.I. Alisov in 1869. The device he patented could produce up to 150 copies of a text or drawing. All the necessary materials for this could be freely bought at the pharmacy of any county town, and assembling it was as easy as shelling pears.

After the patent office, numerous underground circles of revolutionary propagandists were the first to appreciate the advantages of the hectograph. They printed on it not only leaflets and proclamations, but entire pamphlets. It was both cheaper than maintaining underground printing houses, and safer - if necessary, destroying the hectograph was a matter of minutes. The authorities came to their senses and introduced criminal liability for "illegal production and storage of hectographs without a permit." But the recipe was widely known in those distant times, and hectographs faithfully served the revolutionaries, especially the youth, until the February revolution.

In the first years of Soviet power, no one forbade hectographs, but then an article reappeared in the criminal code promising severe punishments for the manufacture, storage and use of multiplying equipment, including hectographs. And only recently, with the development of the democratization of our society, the ban was lifted, and we can tell you how to make this interesting device at home. Despite its more than a hundred years of age, the hectograph is useful to many today. For example, for publishing a school handwritten magazine or newspaper, printing invitation cards...

Hectograph (click to enlarge)

How was this device arranged, which twice in the last hundred years fell under the ban? Ridiculously simple. An ordinary cuvette made of metal or faience is slightly larger than a sheet of writing paper. It was filled with a gelatinous mass made from gelatin. An original written in ink was superimposed on its surface, rolled with a roller, and then removed. Most of the ink adhered to the surface of the mass. Then a blank sheet was superimposed on it, rolled with a roller - and the copy is ready. That's the whole multiplier technique!

But as you might guess, its secret is in the recipes of the gelatinous mass and special inks.

We offer a choice of two recipes for the preparation of hectographic mass.

The recipe is the first. Take 10 g of gelatin and 90 g of pure glycerin. Soak the gelatin in cold water and leave it there for several hours until it swells. Then mix it with glycerin and heat the mixture in a water bath or simply in a jar placed in a pot of water until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Never bring the mixture to a boil! Now you can pour the mixture into a cuvette or baking sheet. Pour the mixture in a small stream and from a minimum height, otherwise air bubbles form inside the mass, and this is already a marriage.

Recipe the second is more difficult, but the quality of the copies is better. Soak for a day in 1 liter of cold water 200 g of tile carpentry glue from bones. It is better to do this in a large old saucepan. Make sure that the glue does not break into separate pieces. During the swelling process, good wood glue will usually absorb five times its own weight in water. If after a day there is still some water left on the surface of the adhesive, remove it. Then pour 600 g of pure glycerin into the pan. Heat the resulting mixture in a water bath until its weight decreases to 1000 g. This process is long, but do not try to force it by putting the pan directly on the fire. Spoil everything!

When all excess moisture has evaporated, carefully pour the mixture from a low height into a tray or cuvette. Once dry, it should form a flat, smooth surface. If there are irregularities formed by air bubbles, do not worry. Things will get better. Pour a thin layer of cologne or ethyl alcohol on the surface and burn it. From the heat, the mass will melt for a short time, and the bubbles close to the surface will disappear.

Now let's move on to hectographic inks. The basis for them will be aqueous solutions of aniline dyes for fabrics. We offer a choice of several ways to prepare ink of different colors:

Black - 9 ml of water, 2 g of glycerin, 1,7 g of nigrosine.
Blue - 8 ml of water, 1 g of glycerin, 1 g of aniline blue.
Red - 7 ml of water, 7 g of glycerin, 1 g of fuchsin.

It is easy to experiment with recipes for other colors.

Working on a hectograph is not difficult, but it requires accuracy. First, a drawing or text is applied to a sheet of writing paper with a fountain pen, glass drawing pen or rapidograph. The inscribed side of the sheet is superimposed on the hectographic mass and rolled with a rubber roller. Be careful not to move the sheet. Then take it by the edge and carefully remove it. A clear imprint of the original remained on the surface of the mass, and you can proceed to replication. Similarly, carefully place a sheet of clean paper on the hectograph and roll it with a roller. The copy is ready.

Do not rush to throw away the spent hectographic mass. She will serve you again and again. Wash off the ink. To do this, prepare a mixture of 95 ml of water, 4 ml of glycerin and 1 ml of alcohol or cologne and soak a soft swab in it. With light pressure, carefully wipe the hectographic mass with a swab. And then straighten it out. As you already know. If the mass is no longer washed, melt it again in a water bath and pour it back into the cuvette.

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