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Does anyone have any tricks on how to transfer complicated glass pattern to kiln shelf? I have it all arranged on a computer generated geometric paper pattern, but now getting it arranged on the shelf without the aid of the printed pattern is the problem. Take a photo maybe? Gotta be a better way. I guess I could put the paper on the kiln shelf and then slide the paper out. (sort of like the waiter pulling the table cloth) but that would cause some shifting.
jim

Try printing it on thinfire

It's a CAD design. Can you run thinfire through a printer?
jim

Probably depends on your printer's sensitivity. Try printing out a smaller design on an 8-1/2 X 11 piece and see if it jams or not.

Do you have a lighttbox? Maybe you can trace the pattern onto the shelf paper using your laser print out.

We've had good luck printing on thinfire with our Laser printer.

If that doesn't work, you could also use an Artograph. It's a device that any art school or art student should be familiar with. Basically, it projects the drawing onto a surface, which could be the wall, the floor, or a kiln shelf. We have one, but we're in North Carolina. If there's an art school near you, you may be able to find someone that could lend you theirs.

pantograph ????

I'd be tempted to draw it on the shelf with Saral graphite wax-free transfer paper. Don't know how much that would visually contaminate though.

Thanks everyone. I let you know what worked.
jim

I must be missing something here--why don't you just use plain old paper? It burns out completely between 500-600F (actually, remember Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451?). Unless the energy of combustion is powerful enough to move the glass (not likely, since you're going to have at least 6mm of glass weighting down all parts of the paper), it should be pretty straightforward.

I'd use thinner paper, the cheapest I could find because it's less likely to have clay coatings or other things that could leave a residue. There might be a fine ash underneath the finished glass, but unless the glass is moving it shouldn't trap the ash. Just set the paper on the shelf, arrange your glass, and go.

Whether you print on thinfire or regular paper, you will want to think about what you're printing WITH. Iron-rich laser toner is used in printing decals precisely because it leaves a mark on the glass. I'm not sure if any of the inkjet inks will leave a mark, never really tried it. I'd make a few tests first to get the processes and workflow down before spending time on the actual project.

Get it on the shelf on top of the paper, dam the perimeter, and pull the paper out.

I have printed 1/32" 970 fiber paper in an inkjet printer. It worked fine. Thinfire should work too.

Bert Weiss wrote:Get it on the shelf on top of the paper, dam the perimeter, and pull the paper out.

I have printed 1/32" 970 fiber paper in an inkjet printer. It worked fine. Thinfire should work too.

DO NOT print regular fiber paper in an inkjet or laser printer unless you just don't care about the printer, or you're willing to clean out the residue regularly. Modern printers are notoriously persnickety about paper crumbs, and regular fiber paper just isn't that tightly compressed. It's liable to shed. And unless the paper is polished it's going to be so absorbent that ink from an inkjet printer is likely to spread. That's not an issue for most prints, but if this is a high-tolerance CAD print the ink could bleed enough to make precision placement difficult.

Thinfire is polished and probably less of a problem..but if your printer puts paper through rollers that flip the paper upside down for printing, thinfire is also brittle enough to also cause some shedding/cracking problems.

Again, why not just use regular paper?

Hmm...burn the paper. The thought did cross my mind but it seemed too easy I guess. I'll do a test and let you know.
jim

Test went fine. Used some standard white printer paper with printed 1/4" solid black lines. Fired to 1500 degrees x 30 minutes. Small amount of ash residue stuck to glass. It mostly scratched right off. Had to sandblast off a couple spots which could also have been kiln wash. Small price to pay for time saved arranging glass. No ink left on glass. Works for me.
Thanks again guys

This is what I like about this board, you learn something new every time you visit.
Bob

jjeakle wrote:Test went fine. Used some standard white printer paper with printed 1/4" solid black lines. Fired to 1500 degrees x 30 minutes. Small amount of ash residue stuck to glass. It mostly scratched right off. Had to sandblast off a couple spots which could also have been kiln wash. Small price to pay for time saved arranging glass. No ink left on glass. Works for me.
Thanks again guys

If it's inkjet printer paper it may have a coating designed to trap and hold the ink. If the coating is clay or something inorganic, it's more likely to leave residue. The best paper is usually cheap newsprint, although it's also more absorptive so the ink won't be as precise.

To test your inks
print on normal printing paper.
Lit the paper i the air.
Look thr script, if it is visible when the paper turns to ash, the ink will stau in the kiln, too.