Transferring Printed Plans to Wood - Heat Method

colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
Transferring Printed Plans to Wood - Heat Method
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?278-From-The-Plans-To-The-Wood

I work with balsa and plywood a lot. So there comes the need to copy a detailed pattern to a piece of wood, and drawing it isn't enough. There is a good method using laser printed plans and thinner to transfer the toner (powdered ink in laser printers) to the wood, however a lot of thinner is used, which is not good neither for my lungs, or the environment, or my economy.​

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?278-From-The-Plans-To-The-Wood

I came up with the idea to use heat - the original means of fastening toner to paper - to dissolve the toner onto the wood. I would use a clothes iron for this.

These are the results. The process works, I tried several different techniques, and the one that works the best is first heating up the paper in place, it will stick lightly, then using the edge of the iron slowly wiggle over the paper to get the toner over to the wood. It takes practice to get it right.

While it's a nice method, I think I'll stick to thinner for now.

These are the requirements needed to get it right:

- don't move the paper
- get pressure on the paper
- get heat on the paper
- use high-contrast prints
- don't burn your hands or the wood.

Pictures

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Best result, you can see the dots (pixels) from the print. Vector prints don't have dots like that.

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colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
Looks good, but I am still happy we have got a laser cutter / engraver at school:)

KoekieMonster

Ah, you and your laser cutter... You should cut out a flitetest logo! And make two nice desk ornaments! (One with the letters, one with the holes)
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
To do the toner heat transfer method you want to change the usual density settings of your laser printer to max so there is a very thick layer of toner to transfer. This is a process used as a step to make printed circuit boards as well.

Thurmond
 

colorex

Rotor Riot!
Mentor
To do the toner heat transfer method you want to change the usual density settings of your laser printer to max so there is a very thick layer of toner to transfer. This is a process used as a step to make printed circuit boards as well.

Thurmond

- use high-contrast prints

Said that, in a different way :) On photo-copying machines it's called Contrast.
 

rebel951

New member
on 0ff are inversersed

hello i m new here i have a chinease laser engraver , i had a 500mv laser on , now i bought a 15w , it have it own power supply , so a made a brige to connec it on my board , but now when a press on it goes off and off go on , to engrave ... i got the opposite ... like the black where the laser sould engrave it does not engrave , the white where the laser should be off it engrave i try benbox , laser cad , gbrl but only benbox work as software
 
Last edited:

rebel951

New member
hello i m new here i have a chinease laser engraver , i had a 500mv laser on , now i bought a 15w , it have it own power supply , so a made a brige to connec it on my board , but now when a press on it goes off and off go on , to engrave ... i got the opposite ... like the black where the laser sould engrave it does not engrave , the white where the laser should be off it engrave i try benbox , laser cad , gbrl but only benbox work as software