Laser Printer Toner Transfer With Kitchen Parchment Paper and a Laminator

A search of the Internet will turn up countless articles and videos about how to transfer toner from a laser printer to either bare metal or plastic. Some of these methods use specialized material. That bothers me. Others, like using acetone, took me a lot of time to develop the skill to get good results. That bothers me too.

My quest, which has gone on for about 2 years, was to come up with a method requiring minimum skill and commonly found equipment. All materials must be low cost and easily found or bought.

I don't think the procedure offered here takes a lot of skill but only others can verify that.

Materials include Kitchen Parchment Paper which costs around $3 for 50 square feet. You will also need an Elmer's Glue stick which comes in a two pack for $3. Equipment includes a laser printer and a plastic pouch laminator.

If you are interested, please see

https://rick.sparber.org/TonerTransfer.pdf

Your comments are welcome. All of us are smarter than any one of us.


Thanks,

Rick

Interesting.
Those making PCBs by etching will find this useful. I make them by milling now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyfoale

Interesting.
Those making PCBs by etching will find this useful. I make them by milling now.

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Tony,

Do you have a router tied to the side of your mill head in order to get the higher RPMs?

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rgsparber

Tony,

Do you have a router tied to the side of your mill head in order to get the higher RPMs?

Rick

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Not a router but a high speed spindle, runs at 24,000 rpm. In fact I am right now preparing a new post about this subject.
Here are a couple of pix.

Attachment 28066 Attachment 28067 Attachment 28068

In the past I have made PCBs by etching, by drilling holes from a simple drill jig and using the holes as references to draw tracks by hand with a "resist" pen, before etching.
That is messy and now that I have a CNC mill I prefer making tracks with isolation milling. This will be clear in the upcoming post.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyfoale

Not a router but a high speed spindle, runs at 24,000 rpm. In fact I am right now preparing a new post about this subject.
Here are a couple of pix.

Attachment 28066 Attachment 28067 Attachment 28068

In the past I have made PCBs by etching, by drilling holes from a simple drill jig and using the holes as references to draw tracks by hand with a "resist" pen, before etching.
That is messy and now that I have a CNC mill I prefer making tracks with isolation milling. This will be clear in the upcoming post.

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Is it air or water cooled?

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rgsparber

Is it air or water cooled?

Rick

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Air cooled 2.2 kw. I only wanted one for things like PCBs, small engraving, internal grinding on a lathe and getting a decent speed on small milling cutters for aluminium so aircooled was quite adequate, without the extra complication. I monitor the current and it has never exceeded 25% of rated and only ever gets lute warm.
I am planning on using it for a high speed sensitive drill.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyfoale

Air cooled 2.2 kw. I only wanted one for things like PCBs, small engraving, internal grinding on a lathe and getting a decent speed on small milling cutters for aluminium so aircooled was quite adequate, without the extra complication. I monitor the current and it has never exceeded 25% of rated and only ever gets lute warm.
I am planning on using it for a high speed sensitive drill.

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Where did you buy it? Looks like a valuable addition to my CNC mill.

Thanks,

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rgsparber

Where did you buy it? Looks like a valuable addition to my CNC mill.

Thanks,

Rick

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I got mine off the Spanish eBay. It is usual to buy a spindle and VFD package like this one
https://www.ebay.es/itm/UK-2-2KW-ER2...6Y19:rk:3:pf:0

However, I bought mine separately because I wanted a more powerful VFD to drive the 5 hp main motor on my mill. http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/h...idgeport-56661
Currently if I switch between the main spindle and the high speed one then I have to reprogramme the VFD to change between 0 - 60 Hz and 130 - 400 Hz. It only take a few minutes but it is an inconvenience, VFD prices have come down and I'll probably buy a smaller one dedicated to the high speed spindle (probably when I finish writing this).

Even with a 6000 rpm machine the surface speed is too low for small cutters in Aluminium so the high speed spindle is a great addition and I am pleased with it. Because it is clamped to the quill of the mill the Z motion is as normal, manual or CNC controlled. It is important to make a rigid clamp. I have seen some on the net that I regard as too flexible. My quill motion is reduced by the thickness of the clamp bracket but that is a small price to pay.

Before getting this electric spindle I occasionally used a high speed pneumatic turbine, shown next, but that bogged down under load too easily.

Attachment 28107 Click thumbnail for full size image.

Here are pix of each type on the lathe.

Attachment 28108 Attachment 28109

Tony,

Very helpful!

My RF-30 CNC mill is set up to always run at 5,000 RPM with a 1/4” end mill except when drilling. Is there much call for running less than 24,000 RPMS with this high speed spindle?

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rgsparber

Tony,
My RF-30 CNC mill is set up to always run at 5,000 RPM with a 1/4” end mill except when drilling. Is there much call for running less than 24,000 RPMS with this high speed spindle?

Rick

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I mostly run around 22,000 rpm because it is noticeably quieter. In general it is reasonably quiet though, quieter than I expected. Depending on use I do sometimes run it as low as 12,000 rpm.
Being air-cooled by internal fan it is not advised to run below 1/3 of max due to reduced cooling but that needs to be balanced against the load on it. I programme my VFD to a minimum of 133 Hz, so my range of frequencies is 133 to 400 Hz so I can't run it too slow in a thoughtless moment.

If your question is based on the idea of dispensing with the VFD and running on a non-adjustable power source I should mention that as well as being high speed they also need to be fed on a high frequency 3 phase source. The stock VFDs also convert from 1 ph 50/60 Hz 220 v source to 3 phase with voltage programmable up to around 240 v and frequency 0 to 400 Hz. Max safe current is programmable up to the capacity of the VFD and you have programme control over acceleration and braking. There are well over 100 parameters that can be set but in practice 10 should cover most needs, voltage, freq range, max current and acceleration values. If you buy the spindle/VFD package then the VFD will likely come setup for your spindle although the acceleration and braking parameters will be very conservative, resulting in excessive runup and rundown times. From memory I think that I have those values around 8 times more aggressive than stock. If you go too far then it will either not run up to speed or in braking it will simple go into coast mode and let friction and windage do the braking.
BTW the manuals are very (that should be VERY) badly translated and very difficult to figure out. Hence there is a lot of info on the net in plain English, unfortunately the helpful intent of the authors is spoilt by dangerous incorrect info. resulting in many burnt out motors.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tonyfoale

I mostly run around 22,000 rpm because it is noticeably quieter. In general it is reasonably quiet though, quieter than I expected. Depending on use I do sometimes run it as low as 12,000 rpm.
Being air-cooled by internal fan it is not advised to run below 1/3 of max due to reduced cooling but that needs to be balanced against the load on it. I programme my VFD to a minimum of 133 Hz, so my range of frequencies is 133 to 400 Hz so I can't run it too slow in a thoughtless moment.

If your question is based on the idea of dispensing with the VFD and running on a non-adjustable power source I should mention that as well as being high speed they also need to be fed on a high frequency 3 phase source. The stock VFDs also convert from 1 ph 50/60 Hz 220 v source to 3 phase with voltage programmable up to around 240 v and frequency 0 to 400 Hz. Max safe current is programmable up to the capacity of the VFD and you have programme control over acceleration and braking. There are well over 100 parameters that can be set but in practice 10 should cover most needs, voltage, freq range, max current and acceleration values. If you buy the spindle/VFD package then the VFD will likely come setup for your spindle although the acceleration and braking parameters will be very conservative, resulting in excessive runup and rundown times. From memory I think that I have those values around 8 times more aggressive than stock. If you go too far then it will either not run up to speed or in braking it will simple go into coast mode and let friction and windage do the braking.
BTW the manuals are very (that should be VERY) badly translated and very difficult to figure out. Hence there is a lot of info on the net in plain English, unfortunately the helpful intent of the authors is spoilt by dangerous incorrect info. resulting in many burnt out motors.

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Tony,

Geat advice all the way around. Thanks!

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rgsparber

A search of the Internet will turn up countless articles and videos about how to transfer toner from a laser printer to either bare metal or plastic. ....snipped some

My quest, which has gone on for about 2 years, was to come up with a method requiring minimum skill and commonly found equipment. All materials must be low cost and easily found or bought.

......snipped more

If you are interested, please see

https://rick.sparber.org/TonerTransfer.pdf

Your comments are welcome. All of us are smarter than any one of us.

Thanks,

Rick

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Nice job Rick, Good write up. I have not tried it yet, but it is indeed interesting!!

Thanks

John

Thanks Rick! We've added your Toner Transfer Method to our Miscellaneous category, as well as to your builder page: Rick's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-toner-transfer-method"><img src="http://www.homemadetools.net/uploads/220955/homemade-toner-transfer-method.jpeg"/></a></div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-toner-transfer-method">Toner Transfer Method</a> <span> by <a href="/builder/Rick+Sparber">Rick Sparber</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/printing">printing</a></div> </div> </div> </div>

Tony,

Some people drill circuit boards just a few times a year so will have trouble justifying the cost of a vacuum pump. Have you any experience with temporarily gluing FR4 down on MDF for drilling?

Thanks,

Rick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rgsparber

Tony,

Some people drill circuit boards just a few times a year so will have trouble justifying the cost of a vacuum pump. Have you any experience with temporarily gluing FR4 down on MDF for drilling?

Thanks,

Rick

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No experience with that but it should work fine. For drilling the boards do not have to sit as flat they would for milling.