Transfer Printed Images To Wood: A Tutorial

[lwarteman]

Much easier to do this with Golden Matte Fluid Medium, cost about $8.

[TheParafins]

be aware the acetone is a reducer, which means it can take all toxic elements and reduce them into your blood and lungs or through your fingers. always wear gloves and a respirator.

[infinity69able]

You killed that spot of grass!

[MadeByMarzipan]

@infinity69able Ha, I was about to mow it anyway :)

[xLunarxEclipsx]

will nail polish remover work just as well for this?

[MadeByMarzipan]

@xLunarxEclipsx No, it won't-- and I tried it! Nail polish remover isn't pure acetone, so it isn't strong enough.

[cw3849]

Can you use a regular brayer to rub the image out?

[MadeByMarzipan]

@cw3849 Sure, if you have one, it will work just fine :)

[xzerpolix]

I've being use a gel medium and modpodge, but my biggest problem is I don't get all the paper off the wood so it ends up looking and pulling pretty bad. Besides trying this; should I not sand the wood before I do the transfer?

[MadeByMarzipan]

@xzerpolix I had that same problem when I tried that technique, it was frustrating! I like the acetone because it doesn't disintegrate the paper, it makes it kind of waxy... the ink floats off without sticking to the paper. I didn't need to sand the wood when doing the acetone technique.

[rhblakeman]

I work on laser printers for a living and while I use my printers for many things including printed circuit board masks I never thought of this, very clever. I am very familiar with acetone and a couple of cautions - VERY FLAMMABLE and VERY DANGEROUS to breathe. An organic solvent mask is a good investment. Do it outdoors, this stuff flashes (catches fire) super easy. One thing I wonder if you;ve tried - color laser prints. The toner is plastic like the black, it might do the same transfer.

[rhblakeman]

BTW you can use heat from an iron to transfer to the wood as well.

[MadeByMarzipan]

@rhblakeman I tried that technique as well-- it wasn't as fast or thorough. I tried about a dozen transfer techniques altogether to see which was easiest, and this was the one that seemed to work best.

[rhblakeman]

@MadeByMarzipan Nice part about your acetone technique is it looks hand drawn though you have to be very careful of flame and ventilation as I mentioned, I watched another video on heat to wood with color laser transfer and it appears color does work and with your acetone method it might also be a good system. Soon as I have a bit of time I might try your acetone method with color laser prints. Lots of possibilities for custom crafts here...

[rhblakeman]

One thing I forgot and remembered when you mentioned library - a person without a laser printer can print on their inkjet then use a laser type copier like they would have at work or a local library as they are toner based too. Copy the inkjet print and use the copy (from the copier) to do the transfer.

[MadeByMarzipan]

@rhblakeman Thanks for your expert tips! I've never tried color laser prints, that would be an interesting experiment.

[cetanefreek]

great info! I'll be using this to put a pattern on wood to do wire inlay. much faster and easier than trying to freehand it, thanks!

[BeyondBracelets]

This is quite clever. I do pyrography/wood burning since I love decorated wood, this seems like a really awesome alternative to something that looks similar minus the depth and what not created by the burning. Nice tutorial. =D

[MadeByMarzipan]

@BeyondBracelets I love the look of burned wood too, but this is great for large surfaces. Also, it would be helpful to transfer a design to a piece of wood that you could then trace with a burning tool.

[1dandiesmom]

Wow! that is soooo coll..something else I want to try...

TFS

WEndy