During Chen's apprenticeship and in Ta-yu's early years, lampblack ink was his primary product. One obtains the lampblack used in this ink by burning a wick in a pot of tung oil. When the oil has burned away, the lampblack is scraped from the inner surface of a steel lid or a funnel-like steel shade.
隨師學藝及至自設墨廠初期，陳嘉德以製作「油煙墨」為主：將易燃的燭心，放入裝滿桐油的鍋裡燃燒，鍋上蓋好鐵蓋或漏斗形的鐵罩，等到燭心燃燒成的媒炱（黑灰）黏附在鐵罩上時，再把它刮下，就成了製墨原料。