I hope that I am questioning this correctly, but I need to learn to create a custom profile for "a" printer with capabilities for using bulk ink supply. The second half of the question is which printer to use. I'd prefer a older model, mostly to test an idea with.

Youll need a Spectrophotometer to profile the paper/ink combination..this is a device that will scan a printout of a test pattern to judge how far off it is from what it should look like.. If you were using a paper that already has been profiled, like Epsons papers youll still need to reprofile due to the ink being different than what it was profiled with (you seem to know this).

this is not a cheap piece of hardware..

http://www.xrite.com/product_overview.aspx?Industry=1&Segment=12&ID=678

here is one option, I believe this one comes with a Colorimeter to profile your monitor as well... (something that if you are profiling paper it is worth having for your monitor... makes 'soft proofing' something that can save money !)

If you have this equipment, in theory, you could profile any paper and any ink on any printer..

there might be some commercial services that offer a profiling service but I am not aware of any that arent a local 'mom and pop' type service..

which printer to use? I am no expert on that but I would suggest that going too old might leave you with poor quality prints or a printer that would not handle bulk ink feeds.. The somewhat old Epson 2200 might be a good bet if you can find one, this prints up to 13x19" if I recall, and has been known to accept bulk ink systems.. (having used this printer I can say the results were quite good on color and b/w) though, note that some of the higher end epson and other printers use 6 or 8 inks.. maybe not compatible with your needed bulk ink system.

I assume you are using photoshop.. Are you? If so, what version?

Chris I'm using version 7.