[sdiy] US Industrial Silk Screener Recommendations

[Tony Rolando]

David G. Dixon wrote:
>> I've used the Toner Transfer method to make some very nice DIY
>> faceplates. I follow the same steps as one would for making PCB, except
>> that I transfer to the aluminum and then do not etch, instead I spray a
>> couple coats of lacquer over the printing. The results are sharp (if
>> your laser printer is nice) and have last many years (some of my panels
>> are over 5 yrs old and still look great).
>>
>> With the aluminum it helps to hit it with a very fine sand paper to
>> remove oxidization before the toner transfer.
>>     
>
> Tony, are you using PnP Blue, or photo paper, or DecalPro dextrin-coated
> paper, or what?  Did you have to practice to get transferred graphics of
> uniform thickness?
>
>
>   

I've used all of the above, and I found that the inkjet photo paper 
worked best. You use a laser printer, but put the inkjet glossy photo 
paper through, and the toner from the laser printer does not bond too 
well to the glossy inkjet paper. I found that you must do all steps 
immediately, so have the aluminum prepped before you print the graphic. 
While the graphic was printing I would usually warm-up the aluminum with 
a clothing iron set to the highest temp, and NO steam. Make sure there 
is no water in the iron. When the graphic was printed, I'd cut it to 
size, and then very carefully lay it on top of the faceplate (which was 
cut to size as well). Since the faceplate is already warmed, it is 
important to get the paper on right the first time. It is tricky, and 
perhaps you could have the metal cold, but I thought I was getting 
better results by pre-heating the metal. The good thing about 
pre-heating is that once the paper is down, it sticks in place, and the 
graphic is less likely to smudge while you "iron-on" the toner. Once 
you've ironed the paper to the metal for a while, you drop the metal, 
with paper sticking to it, into a warm, soapy water bath, and let the 
paper peel away. You can help it, but be careful because you can also 
damage the printing if you try to peel it off too fast. After you get 
the paper off, you'll want to lightly sand the entire faceplate to clean 
up the graphic, where bits of the paper might still be sticking. Once it 
dries, I'd hit it with 3 coats of automotive grade lacquer and then, 
finally, enjoy. It is a lot of work! Another thing I have done for 
single or short run faceplates is to etch copper clad, just like toner 
transfer. FR4 is pretty durable for faceplate.

T