A pal of mine just turned me on to this process whereby you can transfer a copied image onto a piece clean,smooth metal. It's very handy for laying out images onto your workpiece for reposse type layouts or in my case for Zipmax work.....
First, your copies can not be made on a bubble jet printer, it must be a laser printer that only uses black toner. I had to go to Staples to do mine.
Second, clean the metal, tape the image FACE DOWN on the metal pour on some acetone, rub the paper with a clean cloth or paper towel firmly till the acetone all evaporates and bida bing! The toner ink transfers to the metal and is very tough, you have to rub it hard with Scotch Brite to remove it. Clear, bold lines work the best but as in the case of the face image you can touch it up if the lines aren't crisp enough......Images of faces can be programed in reverse so they appear correctly if need be.

Very cool process.

You can also use an electric iron or a laminator instead of acetone - this is how the homebrew PCB guys mark up boards prior to etching (and get resolutions of fractions of a millimetre). Google toner transfer for more info

You can also use an electric iron or a laminator instead of acetone - this is how the homebrew PCB guys mark up boards prior to etching (and get resolutions of fractions of a millimetre). Google toner transfer for more info

Thanks Dan and welcome to IFI,I'm gonna Google asap! I Kinda like the buzz form the acetone but it dries my hands out something fierce...... :D

hey mac - good idea - i have used this to transfer images to canvas and paper and you can get some good effects, did not think it would "stick' to metal. nice one. i like the buzz too... ;)

Toner is a great resist for salt water etching. I use it to decorate up my old tobacco tins.

Great idea. Thanks for sharing.

I am gonna give this a try tomorrow! Thanks 

Dave

I've seen youtube videos of similar process used by knifemakers to put their makers mark on knives.

Welcome aboard Dan, glad to have you. If you put your general location i the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance.

 

I've used the heat transfer of mirror image prints before. black toner in a laser printer, mirror image and it's ready to transfer to whatever with an iron. Heck, in the days of perm press it's the only practical use I have for an iron, unless it's beaning an intruder.

 

I've never tried acetone and not really interested, too hard on my hide, I proved that working in a rubber plant a couple years.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Toner is a great resist for salt water etching. I use it to decorate up my old tobacco tins.

 

Will it resist electro-etching with salt water? I imagine if it did then you'd have to be careful not to overheat the area.

Will it resist electro-etching with salt water? I imagine if it did then you'd have to be careful not to overheat the area.

 

It should but don't Quote me on it. A little test piece ought to answer better than I can, then if you tell us how it worked we can quote YOU. <grin>

 

Frosty The Lucky.

It should but don't Quote me on it. A little test piece ought to answer better than I can, then if you tell us how it worked we can quote YOU. <grin>

 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

I shall, I shall.

yes, will resist salt wateretching.  In fact can be done with a napkin saturated with the salt solution and a 9 volt battery.  Heat is not really a concern most of the time.  "Toner" is actually a  plastic melting around 350f (up to 425 for some brands), similar to "glue sticks"which are low temp plastics(150 to 250f range). Neither has any adhesive at all.   Just warm enough it will stick like honey, too hot and it's pure liquid and you will lose definition.   

yes, will resist salt wateretching.  In fact can be done with a napkin saturated with the salt solution and a 9 volt battery.  Heat is not really a concern most of the time.  "Toner" is actually a  plastic melting around 350f (up to 425 for some brands), similar to "glue sticks"which are low temp plastics(150 to 250f range). Neither has any adhesive at all.   Just warm enough it will stick like honey, too hot and it's pure liquid and you will lose definition.   

 

Awesome. I just worked up some templates last night to get printed, so I will definitely be trying this.

 

I was approached by the AACB editor to write an article on etching. I don't have a vast knowledge of the subject, so I was planning on doing it from the aspect of having a shoe-string budget and making your own equipment. Shoe-string budgets are something I am very familiar with. This will fit in perfectly.

E'llo Broom,

 

You are just up the Road from me bout two hours . Welcome to come by if you are in my area just give me a shout ahead of time .

That would be awesome Robert! I'll definitely hit you up sometime soon when I have a little more free time. Thanks!

No Problem Brother Broom

Alright...I give...What am I doing wrong? I have two different types of printouts, one from a laser printer and one from a laser copier, both of which are from Staples. Neither one is transferring to my metal, period. I have tried acetone (lots of it), a hot iron (highest setting), a large, wide tipped soldering iron (hotter than the iron), and a micro butane torch (held at a distance of ~1-2"). I have tried using both paper towels and a cotton shirt with the acetone, both of which I rubbed very hard with. I also tried using the smooth, butt end of an aluminum bodied Exacto knife. The soldering iron and torch both browned the paper, but didn't burn it because I moved them around evenly. Neither of them even affected the toner on the paper. The acetone partially erased the toner from the paper and transferred something black to the metal, but it wiped right off, and it wasn't even a light version of my template.

 

So...What is going on? Why won't it transfer? What should I do differently?

what kind of paper did you use, I use shiny pages out of a magazine.