Rain kept me indoors all day, so one of my projects was to see if I could transfer pencil drawings and ink pen drawings. After several failures I did find a method that works that is very simple using hair spray.
First, wipe down the metal to be engraved with a solvent to get it absolutely clean. Then spray the metal with a very light coat of hair spray and let it completely dry. Next, lay the pencil or pen drawing face down on the metal and slightly dampen the backside with saliva or water. Dampen only enough that the drawing appears on the back side. Immediately peel the paper away, leaving the transferred image on the metal.
A couple of points are worth mentioning. If the damp paper sits on the metal too long it will stick to the metal, messing up the transfer. Also, to transfer pencil drawings, they cannot be too lightly drawn. Additionally, different ink pens seem to transfer differently. (See the pics. The pens and pencil point to transferred scrolls drawn with each. Also, forgive the hastily drawn scrolls which are not my best work!)
I hope some of you will refine this technique. It will never replace a good laser transfer, but in a pinch it might work better than trying to draw directly on the metal.
First, wipe down the metal to be engraved with a solvent to get it absolutely clean. Then spray the metal with a very light coat of hair spray and let it completely dry. Next, lay the pencil or pen drawing face down on the metal and slightly dampen the backside with saliva or water. Dampen only enough that the drawing appears on the back side. Immediately peel the paper away, leaving the transferred image on the metal.
A couple of points are worth mentioning. If the damp paper sits on the metal too long it will stick to the metal, messing up the transfer. Also, to transfer pencil drawings, they cannot be too lightly drawn. Additionally, different ink pens seem to transfer differently. (See the pics. The pens and pencil point to transferred scrolls drawn with each. Also, forgive the hastily drawn scrolls which are not my best work!)
I hope some of you will refine this technique. It will never replace a good laser transfer, but in a pinch it might work better than trying to draw directly on the metal.
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