Here is a link to the correct metal stamp ink, kindly provided by one of my customers : http://www.stampsdirect.co.uk/metal-stamp-ink-56-p.asp

I do not see any reason why Skywatcher's idea would not work.  Typewriter ribbon ink, I have found out, is actually based on castor oil.

typewriterman,
Thank you for the informative reply. I feel that I can now detremine if ink will be safe for my typewriters. I will be looking for the warning not use it on rubber stanps. The ink that I bought the other day was on the shelf next to ink that was labled Rubber Stamp Pad Ink. Usually, I am not much of an optomist but this time, I suppose I was hoping that a  blind hog had found an acorn.
KatLondon, yes, you are spot on.  I can remember that brand ink from 40 or so years ago and was hoping it would work. I recently aquired an Olympia SG3 with a couple of unused ribbons.They were dryed out and I am hoping to referbish them.
Thanks to all.
Tom

I have re-inked more ribbons than I care to remember albeit for dot matrix printers. I used Re-ink from Office 21 and just a few squirts from the can and it was job done. Don't know if they are still around but there are others. It would be a bit messy on a typewriter ribbon, having to unwind it and wait 24 hours before you can use it again though. Being bone idle I recently used WD40 on a typewriter ribbon which was the old quick fix but the results were not brilliant and it doesn't last for long. I would use the ink for the dot matrix printers and if you are really dedicated to re-inking, one of those machines which wind the ribbon through two rollers. For the really eccentric, I did see a simple one made from Meccano, if anyone remembers what that is. That was for typewriter ribbons and by turning the ribbon over you could do black and red. 

malole wrote:

Bit of hunting around, and I found this article on how to make your own typewriter ink.

An interesting article, which by the way was written in 1900. but I'd love to meet the person who thinks going through all of that to save $10 is a worthwhile exercise. I don't understand the need - unless it's for a non-traditional colour - why anyone woud consdier re-inking a ribbon when they're readily available and inexpensive (especially when compared to inks for computer printers).

I have been mucking about with bottles of metal stamp ink that I bought from Stamps Direct, from the link given by thetypewriterman above.
The ink is pretty gloopy, and does not seem to want to soak through the ribbon very easily at all (as the method was described in another thread on re-inking ribbons) if you just drop it onto the tightly wound up spool.
I found the most effective way to get this ink onto the ribbon was to :
> Put on your dosposable gloves! Spread out newspaper.
> find a thin kitchen sponge and blob some ink into the centre.
> pull the ribbon over the inky sponge, holding it down with a finger, winding onto spool as you go.
> smooth the ink out between two fingers over the ribbon if it seems very thick.
> over-inked parts can be wiped down with a cotton cloth.
Pretty messy, slightly time consuming, but satisfying. The ink bottles have a handy latex nozzle that limits the amount of ink coming out, so it's quite hard to have an inky accident. I dropped the open bottle at one point and a tiny smear came out.
The initial reason for doing this was to make a heavily inked ribbon ready for my large type machine, but this method of re-inking convinces me that it would be possible to make my own green and blue ribbons, or rainbow effect ribbons (jazzy ribbons are not available within the UK apart from purple). The amount of ink needed is quite minimal so I think it is actually quite cost-effective.