a reinforced hard porous ink roll assembly and a method of making same . the ink roll assembly of the invention comprises a hard porous material suitable for inking , the improvement comprising a hard ink resistant material encompassing a substantial portion of the outside surface of the roll to provide reinforcement therefor . a method of making the roll of the invention is also provided in which the hard porous inking material is made by metering the polymeric material which is used to form said hard porous material into a mold in increments , and applying pressure to the mold and polymeric material at each increment . after the mold is filled with the polymeric material , the polymeric material is cured . the roll is cooled and a strip of the mold material is milled to expose a small portion of the hard porous inking material in a straight strip parallel to the longitudinal axis of the roll .