The original poster claimed she was having problems getting Press N
Peel Blue paper to stick to metal for an etching resist. Here is how
I use PnP Blue. I rarely have any problems:
Equipment: - Toner-based photo copier. You cannot use an ink jet
printer. Most laser printers should also work, but I’ve heard that
some of the newer Brother printers/copiers don’t. It may be something
to do with the toner formula. I use an old Sharp model AL1641CS. - A
clothing iron AND an electric griddle (both of mine are from a thrift
store and they are dedicated to this use). -Stove thermometer (from a
wood-burning stove store). It has a large bi-metal expansion coil and
a magent on the back). It registers up to way past the temp we need
here. It’s used to calibrate the iron and griddle. - A brayer, one of
those hard-rubber roller thingies that print artists use to roll
paper and ink flat. - Rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs. - Burnisher -
Second burnisher or large pair of blunt-tipped tweezers/tongs
Here is the procedure:- This is basic, but absolutely critical. Make
sure you have printed your image onto the DULL side of the PnP Blue
paper. That’s the side that has the blue waxy substance that
transfers to your metal. It just won’t work if you print onto the
shiny side. - Calibrate your iron and griddle. Use the thermometer’s
magnet to attach it flat on the heating surfaces of the iron and
griddle to calibrate what settings on your hot plate and griddle
correspond to the correct temp recommended by the maker of PnP Blue
(I forget what it is at the moment). I also use this thermometer for
calibrating my keum boo hot plate. You’ll only need to do this once
if you write the settings down and save the info. This is critical
because irons (and electric griddles) aren’t well-calibrated. Your
"cotton" setting, might be my “Rayon” setting.
Once you’ve calibrated, - Set the iron and griddle to heat to the
correct temperature. - Trim the PnP blue paper so it is slightly
smaller than the metal sheet. You want at least a millimeter or so of
metal all around the edges. If you don’t do this air/bubbles can
enter from the sides if you accidentally bump the edge of the PnP
paper that is extendeing beyone the metal. You can trim the metal
later if need be. - Made sure your metal (silver, copper, nickel,
stainless) is very clean and free of scratches. -Take a cottom swab
wetted with rubbing alcohol and swab a light layer of alcohol all
over the top surface of the metal (watching that no cotton fibers
come off onto the metal!). Do not use water in place of alcohol as it
will produce steam and you can trap steam/water bubbles under the PnP
film; alcohol volatilizes quickly enough that you shouldn’t have this
problem. -
Being careful not to touch the surface of the metal with your
fingers, touch one edge of the PnP Blue (DULL/printed side down) to
one edge of the metal and then carefully slide the rest of it down
with the other edge coming last. Center it. It should slide on the
wetted surface. - Place the brayer on the center of the PnP Blue and
quickly roll to one edge, go back to the middle and roll to the other
edge. This squeezes out excess alcohol and presses the PnP paper
smoothly into FLAT contact with the metal, removing any bubbles. -
Quickly (before all the alcohol evaporates) place the metal and PnP
Blue onto the pre-warmed griddle. Place a piece of copy paper or
paper towel over the metal (sometimes I forget to do this, but it
doesn’t seem to matter, so I’m not really sure how critical this is).
- Place the pre-heated iron on to the paper/metal. You don’t have to
press down; the weight of the iron is enough. You don’t have to move
the iron back and forth over the piece (It’s not a shirt) unless the
piece is larger than the iron can cover. In this case just move it
from time to time and increase the overall heating time. Time the
piece for the 2 (or is it 3? ) minutes recommended by the
manufacturer (a bit longer if you have to move the iron). -
At the end of the time lift the iron and copy paper and inspect the
PnP blue. The pattern should show dark blue through the plastic
surface. If any areas don’t show dark blue (i. e: light blue), use
the burnisher. Holding the piece down with a second burnisher or any
blunt object (because the metal is hot!), I briskly burnish all the
lines of the pattern until they show dark blue. Don’t burnish too
hard or too long or the waxy blue substance can smear under the
plastic. Because the griddle keeps the metal up to temperature, you
can continue to work the pattern even though the iron is removed.
Just don’t overwork it. When the pattern looks dark blue all over
(meaning the blue material has adhered to the metal), remove the
piece from the griddle with a pair of tweezers/tongs. -
Let it cool before trying to remove the PnP Blue paper. (If you do it
right away the waxy blue film can smear. )
After it’s cool, use a craft knife to gently lift a corner of the
paper. Pulling on the corner, gently peel the paper from the metal.
You can use a craft knife to remove any smears or unwanted blue. Or
use a fine tipped china marker to fill in any line work that is too
light. If you’ve followed the procedure carefully, it’s rare you’ll
need to do much (if any) of this touch-up, unless it’s a very large
piece. I have done very complicated patterns on pieces 8 x 8 inches
this way with only minor touch-up needed. I just had to move the
iron to cover all the piece and increase the heating time. And use
the burnisher to make sure all the lines are dark blue. I can keep
metal prepared this way for months before I etch, as long as nothing
abrasive rubs against the pattern I’ve created. I usually keep the
patterned metal in plastic baggies.
Good luck. If you continue to have problems, feel free to contact me
offline.
Denny Turner
