Robin,
It does make sense that this transfer paper is coated with plastic and not wax. Your tests are reasonable. So if this really is polyethylene bonded to paper, why not find some poly sheets that are a bit thicker and print to it? I wonder if a piece of milk carton would work?
Rick
-----Original Message-----
From:
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com [mailto:
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Robin Whittle
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 2:21 AM
To:
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.comSubject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Toner transfer paper from Hong Kong - poor packaging
Please see this page:
http://www.firstpr.com.au/temp/toner-transfer-paper/which has photos. Below is the text.
The paper has a thin relatively soft, shiny coating. My guess is that it is polyethylene, since it melts, smokes and smells the same as a polyethylene bag when touched with a soldering iron (after I washed most of the paper away with water. Also, it softens a little with Shellite (lighter fluid).
I think this is the paper as used by Dave and documented in a PDF file by Rick Sparber at:
http://rick.sparber.org/electronics/el.htm Copper Etching with Laser Printed Artwork, by David Pickering
I wouldn't have thought that this material was suitable for laser printing. It is very shiny. I will try it at some stage on the least favourite of my Brother laser printers.
I wrote to the seller pointing him to the page and suggesting that they pack the sheets in a cardboard tube.
- Robin
The heat toner transfer paper from Hong Kong eBay seller
http://myworld.ebay.com/shcfstore is for sale at:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170900415631It is inexpensive at 10 sheets for USD$1.96 including shipping to most countries.
However the delivery was slow and the sheets arrived tightly bound in bubblewrap, with no mechanism to stop them being creased in transit.
I purchased these on the afternoon of Tuesday 2013-07-30 (Australian and Hong Kong time).
The China Post sticker was dated Sunday "2013.08.04.20". The customs declaration was simply "PC Tools" with no weight or value, so it is possible that Australian Customs X-rayed it to find out what was inside.
The package arrived here (a Melbourne suburb) on Wednesday 2013-08-21.
I have the sheets wrapped backwards around a tube now, in an attempt to straighten them enough that they might go through a laser printer.
Before I did this, I took some photos of the creases and overall shape of the paper.
I guess I will be able to get it to work, but I am not convinced that the delicate business of toner transfer from the drum to the coated paper, then then having this stay stay stable through the fuser roller, will work properly where the paper is not entirely flat. There are some creases.
Other sellers provide 50 sheet packs, which would presumably arrive without creases, such as:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/151102569238I searched eBay for the words: heat toner transfer paper
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