PnP Blue discovery

[bean]

I doubt this is new information, but at least it's new to me.

If you're using some PNP to do transfers, save the sheet. After you do you first transfer, wipe the sheet down with Acetone until the blue coating is gone. Now you have a piece of transparency which you can use for another run

Worked like a charm!

[bean]

PS, if you wipe that sheet down again after your second transfer, you might be able to do one more with the same sheet.

[Slade]

Nice tips

[Mark Hammer]

This would suggest that one doesn't even need PnP, and that if you simply scored some clear acetate sheets (which are FAR more widely available than PnP), you'd be in good shape.

Somehow, that doesn't seem plausible to me.  Why even HAVE Pnp, then?  My understanding is that the toner needs something to grip for purposes of printing, and needs something that peels off the backing, for purposes of transfer.  It may be that there IS some sort of transparent layer which remains, and the blue stuff is simply the part of the layer that is visible to us.

I'm certainly not questioning that it was possible for YOU to do.  What I am desiring of more information and reasoning on, is how the physics and chemsitry of it might work, and whether it might be possible, but necessarily substandard because of the missing emulsion layer.

[Ronsonic]

A lot of people do use just toner transfer without PnP. My understanding is that the blue stuff helps transfer off of the backing and increases the effectiveness of the toner. So, yeah, it would work, but maybe not as well.

[John Lyons]

A lot of people do use just toner transfer without PnP. My understanding is that the blue stuff helps transfer off of the backing and increases the effectiveness of the toner. So, yeah, it would work, but maybe not as well.

That is my understanding as well.

[jimmybjj]

slightly off topic but... I found when using kodak photo paper and I leave the iron on for 4 or 5 mintues I don't have to "soak" the board at all, it peels off just like pnp does, no scrubbing, straight to the etchant bath.

[Gordo]

slightly off topic but... I found when using kodak photo paper and I leave the iron on for 4 or 5 mintues I don't have to "soak" the board at all, it peels off just like pnp does, no scrubbing, straight to the etchant bath.

I've been having a heck of a time finding photo paper to replace the Staples stock I was using (and has since changed).  What's the name/part # on the Kodak?  The closest I've got to date is some HP paper that requires only a short soaking.

[bean]

slightly off topic but... I found when using kodak photo paper and I leave the iron on for 4 or 5 mintues I don't have to "soak" the board at all, it peels off just like pnp does, no scrubbing, straight to the etchant bath.

I've been having a heck of a time finding photo paper to replace the Staples stock I was using (and has since changed).  What's the name/part # on the Kodak?  The closest I've got to date is some HP paper that requires only a short soaking.

I've had moderate luck with this:
http://www.dollartree.com/arts-crafts/paper-pads/4X6-Photo-Paper/209c234c234p294222/index.pro?method=search

It transfers easily, but doesn't fuse that well. You have to be pretty gentle peeling off the paper.

Also,
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=85111.0
Although further use of the Sterling paper has shown that the transfers don't some out quite as consistently as I'd like. Some fuzzy traces and some perfect traces.

I also recently tried 3M transparency, but it did not work well. It requires too much heat and pressure to easily transfer.

The acetate sheet from the PnP transferred faster than any of them. It worked really well.

[John Lyons]

Well then there you go. If it works then that's all there is to it.
Cool stuff Brian. I guess if you are gentle with the sheets it will last a while.
By the way. Which Sterling Digital surface did you use? Glossy matte etc?
I just ordered a sample pack so I guess I'll see soon enough...

[bean]

John,

I ordered the one I linked to:
http://www.ajandspaper.com/sterling-ultra-digital6.html

Which appears to be Gloss text. It works okay, but is not too reliable for full sheets. Smaller portions seem to work better...maybe the amount of surface area to be heated has some influence on its effectiveness for the transfer.

I have a ton of the stuff, so if anyone wants a few sheets I'd be happy to mail some out at cost.

One note on the PnP: after it's used the first time, the acetate can be somewhat damaged (scratches, etc), so it may not be the most effective transfer medium for re-use. But, if you are like me and your printer likes to eat PnP, you can at least wipe the stuff down with Acetone and re-use it that way. I finally figured out that I can get a full sheet through my printer if I tape it to a regular sheet of A4 printer paper by putting tape around the top and bottom edges 

[Ronsonic]

My experience has been that PnP doesn't work as well after it has gone through the heat cycle of the printer. So if I've got a small board to do, I'll cut out a piece and tape it to paper and run that through.