Printer for acetone transfer

[thughes]

I know this has been beaten to death so I apologize in advance, but it seems like the models change really fast. My old (probably 10 yr old) printer looks like it's finally gone belly up. All I ever do is acetone transfers and I just lay my drawing on the glass, reduce and print, so I don't need more features then the space shuttle. I've taken my bottle of acetone to office depot and tried several (a couple of them that evidently work for folks here) but all I get is a very vague outline. Anyway, just wondering if anyone has bought one recently that's worked well. Maybe it's time I go the transparency route.

Thanks
Todd

 

[tdelewis]

I would think that any laser printer would work. I use a Laser Jet Pro 1415 by HP. It works fine. Laser printers use a plastic powder, toner, that put on the paper by an electrical charge and then baked on. Acetone will dissolve the plastic leaving it on the metal. I accidently let a paper I had used for a transfer get on a plastic case. When I went to get the case the paper towel had dissolved part of the plastic and left a very unsightly mark.

I would think that any printer where you can increase the dpi would give better transfers. I suggest you go to the place where you plan to purchase the printer and have them print samples and take them home and see which transfers the best.

Let us know what your decision is.

 

[thughes]

Hi tdelewis, yeah that's what I thought. But I've taken my acetone bottle into a couple of different stores and evidently all laser printers are not created equal. It's very frustrating, and some of the big box stores don't have very many machines plugged in where you can make a test copy.

 

[Brant]

I may be very lucky, but I have never had any issues with HP laser printers. I have used at least 5 in the last 7 or 8 years, and all worked fine. Could it possibly be the paper, I used the cheapest I can find.

Brant

 

[T.G.III]

I had bought a Brother HL-2140 for the plumbing business, as the engraving thing became more prevalent I found that the general consensus was correct in that the factory Brother cartridge was not suitable for acetone transfers, upon replacing the drum with a re-fill drum and trying again, it worked, the local company is Rapid Refill and their re-fill recipe works.

 

[Sinterklaas]

I have a SAMSUNG M2026W for 75euro or so. It works with acetone transfer. It cant do color. I tape a piece of baking paper on a normal piece of paper. Then print on the baking paper. Then use acetone to transfer on to the metal.

 

[mitch]

Todd- are you trying to transfer to bare metal or are you applying damar varnish first?

 

[thughes]

Mitch, I just trans to bare metal with acetone and that's always worked fine.

 

[mitch]

I used to do it that way, but learned/developed a much better, sharper, clearer, more durable, technique with damar varnish. Done properly, it almost looks like the metal part went thru my printer.

 

[sam]

Canon printers that use the 120 toner cartridge should all produce sharp transfers with acetone.

 

[dcurrie911]

Hi Mitch. Can you provide details about your process?

Dan

 

[tdelewis]

I have used parchment paper and Prismacolor marker. It will transfer all of the toner on to the metal. I mostly use the acetone method though.

 

[mitch]

Hi Mitch. Can you provide details about your process?

Dan

please just do a site search. i've already tracked it down 2-3 times for others.