I need a special glue

Another thing I have done for making woodgrain decals is;

Print a reversed ink jet image on thin decal paper like Microscale's.
When ink is dry, give it a whiff coat of Krylon clear to seal it.
Give it a coat of acrylic paint. Let it dry
Put the decal painted side down, soak the backing paper thoroughly and
lift it off.
You look through the decal film to see your image correctly printed
against the color you painted.

For wood, I then sprayed on colored lacquer toners to get the color I
wanted.

I can use this method instead of the transfer method by giving my paint
coat an additional layer of the polymer emulsion. Large thin decals can
be hard to handle and have to be made thicker.

But, I want to add the transfer method when I update the DIY Photo
finish webpage.

Stewart




Stewart Schooley wrote:

Pat,

I am concerned with doing large sections of a radio or auto dashboard.
Transfering a full color image has to work perfectly every time or no
one will be interested in it. My method of gainlines only over a
basecoat of color means that if there are small problem areas, the
same base coat can be used to touch up color and a fine brush could
touch up the lines.

The people who restore dashboards for $2,000.00 do a lot of handwork
touchup in their work.

Do you think that Lazertran will do a perfect job every time doing 11"
x 17" prints? Can't I do the same thing Lazestran does with polymer
emulsion medium? Are there any problems with handling and applying a
11" x 17" decal.

By the way, the thinnest and strongest decals I have made were ink jet
prints on Canon High-Resolution paper. Gave the print one even coat of
clear polyurethane and when dry, removed the paper. Best news of all
is that this paper leaves a white film on the back after the paper is
removed. It doesn't add to the thickness of the decal and makes the
decal opaque.

Stewart

Pat Kight wrote:

Stewart Schooley wrote:

Di,

I can see it would help a lot if this group knew what I was doing.
One note about the Canon color copier. If any of you try this, use
the laser paper from a black and white copier in the color machine.
It is thinner and removes easier.

I use polyurethane to make a super thin and super strong decal from
an image printed on Canon High Resolution ink jet paper.

Here is the information;


I am working on transferring color images from a Canon color copier
to another surface. Currently I am using a pure polymer emulsion
sold in art supply stores as the glue. Here's my proceedure;

Brush the glue onto a surface with a brush.
Put the color print face down into the wet glue.
Smooth it out with your fingers and wipe off excess coming from the
edges with a rag. Wipe away from the paper.
Roll it with the little wood wheel used to roll wallpaper seams.
Let it dry a few hours.
Remove the paper using water, bleach and a small fairly stiff
natural bristle brush. Soak it good, keep it wet and use the brush
to loosen and brush away the wet pulp.

The image will be reversed so you have to print a reversed image to
transfer.

The glue I am using works well but occasionally I have a few small
missing spots. I am looking for something better.

Do any of you know of a glue that is easily spreadable, dries clear,
is thick enough so that it doesn't soak into the paper, is super
strong, and of course, cheap to buy?

BTW, for black only prints, get your print from a black and white
laser copier. For a quick and dirty testof this method, paint
something with any latex or acrylic paint you have, even old house
paint. Put any black and white laser print face down on the wet
paint and follow the steps above.



You know, there's a medium designed for this very job, and the
process of producing the transfers is a whole lot easier than you
describe.

Are you familiar with Lazertran? It's an artist-quality transfer
medium which works with Canon (and certain other other) color laser
copiers to produce a standard waterslip decal which can be adhered to
almost any surface - paper, glass, wood, metal, fabric, plaster, even
dimensional surfaces. Great stuff, and it provides a crisp, clear.
Take a look at

http://www.lazertran.com/

(I'm not affiliated with the company, I'm just one heck of a
satisfied customer).

Stewart Schooley wrote:

I am concerned with doing large sections of a radio or auto dashboard.
Transfering a full color image has to work perfectly every time or no one
will be interested in it. My method of gainlines only over a basecoat of
color
means that if there are small problem areas, the same base coat can be used
to touch up color and a fine brush could touch up the lines.

You could do exactly the same thing with Lazertran - I've seen some
wonderful work done using black-only decals over painted base colors. And
you can paint on top of it just fine once it's dry.

Do you think that Lazertran will do a perfect job every time doing 11" x
17" prints?

The prints are as perfect as photocopying can make them. This is a fine-art
medium, and the professional artists who use it wouldn't settle for less.

Can't I do the same thing Lazestran does with polymer
emulsion medium?

Possibly, but it's bound to be more labor intensive and, I would think,
prone to cracking, unevenness of coating and other errors. If you're good
at doing it your way, then by all means continue, but I wonder how easy it
will be to pass your skill on to others.

Are there any problems with handling and applying a
11" x 17" decal.

It might be, but there's nothing saying you have to make a single decal out
of the entire sheet. I often use one sheet to make a number of different
images. If you choose to make a continuous 11 x 17 pattern, the decal can
be cut into manageable pieces and tiled together on the working surface so
that the pattern matches perfectly. It isn't even difficult, with a little
practice, since you apply the decal wet and it can easily be slid around
on the surface to get the right pattern match. One thing I like about it is
that you can use a heat gun or blow dryer, after squeegeeing out the water
and any small bubbles, and the decal will conform to the slightest curve,
dip or dent in the surface to which you're applying it. I've seen plaster
eggs covered with the stuff - not a wrinkle to be seen.

By the way, the thinnest and strongest decals I have made were ink jet
prints on Canon High-Resolution paper. Gave the print one even coat of
clear polyurethane and when dry, removed the paper. Best news of all is
that this paper leaves a white film on the back after the paper is
removed. It doesn't add to the thickness of the decal and makes the
decal opaque.

Lazerjet does have an inkjet decal medium which results in an opaque
background, if that's what you're after, with no coating required.

You might order a sample pack and fool around with it, but really, it was
just a suggestion for an alternate approach.

--
Pat Kight

In article , says...


http://pages.cthome.net/ptf/photofin/photoFinish.html

I recall having discussions with you here
in the past, and am familiar with your web
site from that exchange. You may have seen
my pages too. My craft work is on the
"3-D Art Objects" page.

http://www.zianet.com/jaxart

In any event, I'm really not conversant on
faux finishes since it's not my
field of interest. I got into this thread
to try and help with the "I need a special
glue" question - and it's digressed from
there to faux finishes, etc.

Pat ,

You make a convincing case for Lazertran and I certainly appreciate the
information. I checked Michaels and Dick Blick and they don't carry it.
At this point, I am not going to order Lazertran, but I do plan to try
their ink jet decal paper later.

Right now I have painted boards ready for me to apply large images. I
will be using Minwax's Polycrylic, Liquitex's Gloss Medium and Varnish,
and Liquitex's Gel Medium. This time I will allow them to dry for four
days. Last week I squeezed a gob of Gel Medium out and it took four days
to fully harden. Apparently, a long curing time is necessary for all
polymer emulsions.

There is one other thing I should make you aware of. From past
experience, I know that radio guys are tecnical types and are scared off
by anything that sounds like art work. If the Minwax Polycrylic works as
well as the polymer emulsions, they will be more willing to try it
because they can buy it in a hardware store and that is familiar to
them. Art materials are not familiar to them.

I'll come back to this thread next week with a report on my larger tests.

Stewart








Pat Kight wrote:

Stewart Schooley wrote:

I am concerned with doing large sections of a radio or auto
dashboard. Transfering a full color image has to work perfectly every
time or no one

will be interested in it. My method of gainlines only over a basecoat
of color
means that if there are small problem areas, the same base coat can
be used
to touch up color and a fine brush could touch up the lines.

You could do exactly the same thing with Lazertran - I've seen some
wonderful work done using black-only decals over painted base colors.
And you can paint on top of it just fine once it's dry.

Do you think that Lazertran will do a perfect job every time doing
11" x 17" prints?


The prints are as perfect as photocopying can make them. This is a
fine-art medium, and the professional artists who use it wouldn't
settle for less.

Can't I do the same thing Lazestran does with polymer emulsion medium?


Possibly, but it's bound to be more labor intensive and, I would
think, prone to cracking, unevenness of coating and other errors. If
you're good at doing it your way, then by all means continue, but I
wonder how easy it will be to pass your skill on to others.

Are there any problems with handling and applying a 11" x 17" decal.


It might be, but there's nothing saying you have to make a single
decal out of the entire sheet. I often use one sheet to make a number
of different images. If you choose to make a continuous 11 x 17
pattern, the decal can be cut into manageable pieces and tiled
together on the working surface so that the pattern matches perfectly.
It isn't even difficult, with a little practice, since you apply the
decal wet and it can easily be slid around on the surface to get the
right pattern match. One thing I like about it is that you can use a
heat gun or blow dryer, after squeegeeing out the water and any small
bubbles, and the decal will conform to the slightest curve, dip or
dent in the surface to which you're applying it. I've seen plaster
eggs covered with the stuff - not a wrinkle to be seen.

By the way, the thinnest and strongest decals I have made were ink
jet prints on Canon High-Resolution paper. Gave the print one even
coat of clear polyurethane and when dry, removed the paper. Best news
of all is that this paper leaves a white film on the back after the
paper is removed. It doesn't add to the thickness of the decal and
makes the decal opaque.


Lazerjet does have an inkjet decal medium which results in an opaque
background, if that's what you're after, with no coating required.

You might order a sample pack and fool around with it, but really, it
was just a suggestion for an alternate approach.

Di,

I remember Jaxart, but didn't remember your name. Nothing personal, I'll
soon be 73 and I have a lot of "senior moments".

Posting here has resulted in more than I expected . Pat's info about
Lazertran told me about something I had never heard about before.

About 5 years ago I refinished a radio cabinet for my son. That's when I
found radio newsgroups and forums and learned about the problems they
had fixing the old woodgrain photofinish. I decide that with my
background in art I could help them. It has been a lot of fun and, as
you know, any artist would appreciate the opportunity to explore new
materials and challenges. I don't make a dime on it , but it is
rewarding when someone e-mails me with a success story using my
information.

Stewart



Di Monbak wrote:

In article , says...




http://pages.cthome.net/ptf/photofin/photoFinish.html



I recall having discussions with you here
in the past, and am familiar with your web
site from that exchange. You may have seen
my pages too. My craft work is on the
"3-D Art Objects" page.

http://www.zianet.com/jaxart

In any event, I'm really not conversant on
faux finishes since it's not my
field of interest. I got into this thread
to try and help with the "I need a special
glue" question - and it's digressed from
there to faux finishes, etc.

In article , says...


Right now I have painted boards ready for me to apply large images. I
will be using Minwax's Polycrylic, Liquitex's Gloss Medium and Varnish,
and Liquitex's Gel Medium.

I'll jump in here and say that all of them
are, as far as I know, the same product
as the Rhoplex we were discussing. What makes
the difference is the modifiers some manufacturers
use to instill particular properties to their
acrylic formulations - gelling agents, retarders,
UV filtering, etc.

I buy the Minwax Polycrylic
by the gallon at Home Depot as it works much
better for me as a "varnish" than some of the
"artist grade" acrylic varnishes which sell for
a much higher price simply because they are
sold in "art stores."

Di Monbak wrote:

In article , says...

Right now I have painted boards ready for me to apply large images. I
will be using Minwax's Polycrylic, Liquitex's Gloss Medium and Varnish,

I'll jump in here and say that all of them
are, as far as I know, the same product
as the Rhoplex we were discussing. What makes
the difference is the modifiers some manufacturers
use to instill particular properties to their
acrylic formulations - gelling agents, retarders,
UV filtering, etc.

I buy the Minwax Polycrylic
by the gallon at Home Depot as it works much
better for me as a "varnish" than some of the
"artist grade" acrylic varnishes which sell for
a much higher price simply because they are
sold in "art stores."

That's a good rule of thumb for art supplies in general. I almost always
hit the hardware store before I hit the craft store when I'm looking for
finishes, adhesives, solvents, paintbrushes, fasteners, etc.

A real eye-opener, glue-wise, came when I learned that the popular silicon
craft glue, E-6000 is the same glue, made by the same manufacturer, as the
"GOOP" line ... and that a tube of "Crafters GOOP" costs at least a buck
more than a same-sized tube of "Hardware GOOP" ... yet, according to the
manufacturer, they are the exact same adhesive.

I just wish the really good, old-fashioned hardware stores around here
hadn't all been run out of business by the big box stores. I miss buying
screws and nails from opened bins from guys who actually knew the
merchandise they were selling.

--
Pat Kight

In article , says...


I just wish the really good, old-fashioned hardware stores around here
hadn't all been run out of business by the big box stores. I miss buying
screws and nails from opened bins from guys who actually knew the
merchandise they were selling.

--
Pat Kight


At the moment I enjoy the best of both worlds.
So far I still have True Value and Ace Hardware
stores in my small town. But they may well be
threatened by last summer's opening of two majors
about 50 miles (an hour's drive) away. OTOH,
I welcomed the "big boxes" because I have been
able to buy the things I needed for renovation
projects on my home that are not available from
the hardware stores. In the past I had to take
what was offered at the local "lumber yard" or
wait forever on special orders - and then take
what was delivered, sight unseen oftentimes.

OTOH, when I returned to Home Depot last fall
for a second load of the red bricks I was
using on a project, they were out of them and
it was 2 months before they received more and
I was only half way through with my project
at the time. GRRRRR!!!