More on transferring a design

vanknife

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Bear in mind I am new to this and still searching

Let me share n little experiment on transferring an image to steel and or any object to be engraved.

I have read and tried various methods of transferring an image or design, what worked for me up to now was the laser printer with heat rollers dislodged and on paper. It is however difficult to place the designs on a knife bolster and get it right on both sides. Here it comes, printing on transparent sheet I tried every thing I read about soap treatment, sharpies etc. and it did not work for me, and then I tried something out of desperation and it works for me. I covered the coarse side of the transparent with a green whiteboard marker and then printed the design on that and “whala” it works I transferred the design to a practice plate with no problem. I used the same print about three times and still get a clear and crisp transfer.

I would like to know if it works for anybody else.

Cheers

“VAN’
 
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Tira

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Wow! I'll have to try that. Did only the print transfer - no marker? Or did both transfer to the metal? Thanks for sharing your observations. It saves everyone time and frustration to see what has already been tried and, in this case, what has worked. :)
 

vanknife

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Good day Tira,
only the print transfer to the the surface what i forgot to say is that the surface was treated with china white, and the print was done with a HP Photosmart printer.
 

monk

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after all the fiddlin around, and spending serious grocery money on all kind of crazy stuff : hp printer- print onto laser transparency. this image will transfer with nominal burnish pressure, very fine lines. total detail. you would want a spritz of fixatiff, though. if you do it on the sharpie, you don't need fixatiff. the lines are easier to see wo the sharpie though.
 

monk

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zernike, is that your first name- or last? all i do is create my design in corel to the size i want it and reverse it. i send it to the printer on laser transparency sheet. i use 3-m brand. when it prints i have to wait a bit, as the ink comes out quite wet. once you know it's dry, tape in place and burnish ! just be real careful, as the lines will rub off if not protected with a fixatiff spray. this works even on glass for me. saves me a truckload of time. i use an hp inkjet printer. if you have questions feel free to e-mail me direct . this trick alone is worth all the time i've spent on the forum.
monk45@verizon.net
 

vanknife

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Zernike,

I was so glad i got this to work for me that i did not do a good wrightup on this, Sorry.
I only covered the transperant with the white board marker on the coarse side and placed the transperant in the printer so that it will print on top of the white board marker ink. The object to be engraved was then treated with chinese white. I then placed the transperant on the place and burnished it with my nail to transfer to the chinese white, i tried this three times and it still had enough inc to perform well on three trials.

I hope this works for You as i know as a beginner how frustrating it is to get the right stuff to work for me.
I did not hear from anybody else if this is working for them or not, I guess they are all busy engraving LOL.

Monk thanks for Your input i will try that as well

Cheers

"VAN"
 

gtsport

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OK, let me see if I have this right. First, you coat the working surface of what you want to engrave with Chinese white, or Sharpie marker. Next you take an overhead transparency sheet that is made for a LASER printer and you apply dry erase marker to the rough side of the sheet and then put it into an INK JET printer and print your design. When the ink is dry, you place the artwork over the item you wish to engrave, burnish it down, and only the ink transfers. Finally, apply a fixative or be really careful not to smear the ink. Is that all there is to it? Also, does this transfer the color inks in the ink jet, or just the black ink?

Thanks,

Joe Paonessa
 

monk

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you're close, but not quite there. the sharpie marker color is applied to the area on the object that will receive the transfer. or--- instead, you could use chinese white for better visual contrast.. i have also found that at least with my hp printer i need only print onto the transparency, let the ink dry, and it will burnish onto most any material including glass. burnishing onto the sharpie colored area, just assures the design wont rub off. for some reason the ink locks onto the sharpie color and is rather durable. e-mail me if you like
monk45@verizon.net for better info on this. also this seems to be for black ink only. in any event, i've not tried color. no need to.
 

vanknife

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Joe,

It works exactly as Monk has explained the only thing for me is that the sharpie is not working for exepting the transfer that is why i am sticking with the Chinese white to treat the object to be engraved.

Cheers
"VAN"
 

monk

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i've tried to enter a foto here, but it seems that doesn't go that way anymore. in the gallery if you want, is a foto of a transfer i made onto argentium silver. hp inkjet printed onto3-m transparency sheet. no sharpie, chemicals, or anything else. the transfer was very fine line, in spite of what the foto looks like. the foto is in miscl. named "transfer".
 

jmcutting

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One issue I have found with the transfer process is that with the Sharpie I have to wipe off the excess sharpie before it dries to get a clean transfer. I basically color the plate then take a clean cloth and wipe it once. Then when I go to transfer from 3M Transparency I get a very clean detailed transfer...

-justin
 

vanknife

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I will have to give the 3M transparency a try as the ones i am using is from some office supply store and being in Saudi Arabia there is not a lot to chose from. When i am back in South Africa i will surely try the 3M transparency. it looks like the trick is in the 3M transparency.

Cheers

"VAN"
 

jmcutting

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Van,

I don't know what it is but I tried some transparencies I got from OfficeMax and didn't work at all... Once I got the 3M sheets it worked like a dream! You could probably order them off of Amazon or something too?

-justin
 

jmcutting

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With the Sharpie... my images will smudge a little but for the most part keeps a very clean image even while lightly grazing it from time to time.

-justin
 

jmcutting

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are you printing on the rough or smooth side? You want to be sure and print on the rough side of the transparency.

-justin
 

vanknife

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I print on the rough side after it has been coated with a whiteboard marker. I have tried this now a couple of times and it works perfect every time.

The Transparency's i am using is Highland brand Made in Italy

Cheers

"VAN"
 

vanknife

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Hi Zernike,
I am glad it is working for You.I am sure there is others that has also tried and learned something just as i did with this exercise,

"Keep up your bright swords as the dew may rust them"
Author unknown

Cheers

"VAN"
 

monk

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i did find a problem arizing with this method. if the printed sheet is let to sit around too many days ( not sure how many) the transfer will not take place. i think you would want to use the transfer sheet within 1-2 days for best results. it seems each additional day i wait to make the transfer, a little less of the ink will transfer onto the object to be engraved.
 

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