transfer paper for patterns

[herper62]

has anyone tried usinng tshirt transfer paper to print a pattern directly to the wood?? I contacted a couple of suppliers tech support depts and got a lot of dont knows and maybes. it would eliminate adhesive problems and tearing patterns. a regular iron would work fine. quess I should try once the shop is set up in the new garage.
Herper

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

I have not tried it nor probably never will. But I guess it is something to consider. Not sure how economical it would be. I have never seen the tee shirt operation but what happens to lettering does it have to be reversed or is done when you transfer the pattern to the paper?? Just thinking out loud. :confused:

[pops-shop]

Another thing that strikes me is the flatness of the wood.
How would you get the pattern off areas that are not cut????
With the amount of heat that the transfer takes would you run into problems on the wood itself???

Ditto on the wondering out loud (welllllllllllllll, writing softly :cool: )

[herper62]

good points. the wood would have to be flat, the paper peeled off when warm(some are cold peel which is nice). the papers work with a regular iron set to cotton and times vary from manufacturer. price is more then a copier page, but for intricate patterns it may be an option. the mirror images are computer controlled. time for the experiments to begin
Herper

[copperpenny]

I have not tried it on wood but I have read that you can photocopy your project, refersing the pattern. Put it face down on the wood then use a hot iron to transfer the information onto the wood. Let us know how it works

[herper62]

ok I finally tried tshirt transfer paper with a color pic onto 1/4 inch ash, using a hand iron. With practice and or a tshirt press this will transfer onto the wood and with a light sanding can be removed. I do not recommend this for every pattern, but complex patterns and photo puzzles do come to mind for use. Transfer paper can be bought in bulk from suppliers of photo gifts and can be applied with a hand held iron using care not to move the transfer. When I get more data I will post it
Herper

[wisconsinwoodch]

HI. wisconsin wood chuck here , I used the transfer paper to put names on my collecter train cars, the problem I had was that on hard wood the ink would show up realy good on the soft part but really lite on the hard grain part. Just not worth the time or trobble it takes to do it, so it looks good. just my thoughts. chuck :p :p :p

[JTTHECLOCKMAN]

Herper

I admire your determination. It does sound like an interesting aspect and when you do compile your data please do post it here. May have some merit for some here and is always good to see new ideas come through.

[jer71kil]

Herper

Reading this thread reminded me of an article in Patrick Spielman's "Home Workshop News" about 8-10 years ago. It described a tool called a "New Image Transfer Tool" which looked like a soldering iron with a brass disc for a tip. The process for using this tool was the same as described in COPPERPENNY'S post. The article suggested using tracing paper fed one sheet at a time through most copiers resulting in a faster image transfer. One of the examples given was a multicolored scene that was transferred to a pre-cut shape of wood and then a clock was added. It was pointed out that the only thing left was a protective coating.

Interesting concept.

Jerry
Keep the blades a-hummin!!!

[herper62]

I used to do the transfers to ceramic mugs, tshirts, mousepads, special coins, tiles etc so I have the toys to experiment with. The key for transfering to wood seems to be the pressure and time, more then the temp(350*) Paper that transfers the ink to the wood fibers rather then leaving a decal will work better, since the image will not peel. To remove unwanted image just lightly sand it off. While this is not for every project, highly detailed patterns, patterns that need to be on for a long period of time, or pics for jigsaw puzzles will be good uses. Hope this idea helps someone.
Herper