Laser Print Etching with PNP Blue

One-minute demo showing a laser printed computer design going on to brass plate and then being etched. Bill Ritchie is an artist and craftsman who makes etching presses for his etchings and etchings for his printing presses.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• etching
• press
• laser
• print
• PNP
• Blue
• printmaking
• Bill
• Ritchie
• making
• etchings

[sewingnutter]

THANKS so much. Your badges look amazing.....You say you use Silipaper now.....I'm an Aussie, so could you explain what it is!!

Thanks

[omemeralda]

I made up the name for "silicon-coated" paper (to be cute). Silipaper is that almost universal way of making backing-sheets for things like mailing labels and other pull-apart, self-adhering materials. NOTHING sticks to silicon, so when you print laser toner on it, it's going to transfer when you heat it up on a metal plate. Thanks for the good question!

[miajnorway]

wow!

[omemeralda]

Thanks, miajnorway! However, I don't use PNP anymore, I use laser transfer on "silipaper" (silicon coated paper left over from label paper). I still use the laminator, but I never use PNP blue any more. I'd take it off YouTube except for sentimental reasons, "HOW I USED TO ..."

PS Are you in Norway?

[auplantagenet]

excellent quick demo- very concise and direct.great photography too.what more could one want? Depth of etching will vary- so keep that in mind when timing your own projects using PNP blue-also a laminator is the best choice of application to sheet metals compared to ironing the PNP onto a substrate.

[omemeralda]

Thanks - I've actually found the silicon paper method to be better - fewer or no "Spotting". Yes, laminator is indispensible and I got one! Wow.

[halfwoodpress]

@BuckarooCoyote I have used as thick as 16 gauge and as thin as 24 gauge. I think 16 is about the maximum. BTW, I don't use PNP any more, it leaves holes and I could never figure out why. Besides, it's expensive compared to silicon coated paper, which is almost free. It comes with address labels, for example, and I'm experimenting with the backing from Contact Paper. I recommend the other videos on "silitransfer" etching.

[trygvie]

What gauge of sheet metal does the laminator machine allow?

[halfwoodpress]

@BuckarooCoyote  Hi - did I say I tack it on? I shouldn't have, because the laminator is so hot that anything like tape etc would melt. I don't tack it on - sorry about that. I just (1) warm the brass, but not too hot, maybe 150-200 degrees. The metal has to heat, so pre-heat it first. (2) I place the laser print/silicon paper face down on the brass. If it's too hot to handle, I rest it on a piece of wood until I can stand it; then dextrously insert the two in the slot to the rollers.

[BuckarooCoyote]

You say you tack it to your brass plate. What are you using to tack it on with to avoid the laminator from shifting the image off the brass?

[WorldofGlassCraft]

Heat Press !!!!!

[WorldofGlassCraft]

I am glad I found this video, thanks for the share. The size of your potential etch is limited by the width the kaminator can take . I was wondering if a Heat oress would do the same job as the laminator. Have you use this principle of larger items at all please?

[halfwoodpress]

@Geddiz - Yer right, there is no shifting. I run it through several times to be sure it heats the metal enough to stick. Actually I never use PNP any more 'cause it leaves mysterious holes in the solid areas I have to touch up with resists. Now I use laser print on silicon coated paper (silipaper) and that method is on YouTube, too, y'know. -B

[Geddiz]

Wow, never thought to use a laminator, I've been using a clothes iron! :D

Reckon a laminator gives a more consistant transfer and reduce the risk of the transfer paper shifting?

[terrybrake]

doesn't work on silver, another etchant is needed.

[terrybrake]

sewingnutter: I believe ferric chloride works only on the brass or copper, not silver. We used nitric acid in college. Not someting for home use, altho I did it until my supply ran out. Look for the electro etching methods on youtube or elsewhere