Pattern transfer question

[Gabby]

Been talking to a young man a little about wood burning since my saw is in mothballs for the winter.
He told me about printing the pattern reversed then put the pattern face down on the wood then applying heat to make the ink go onto the board.
Has anyone heard of doing that and or tried it?

If it works it sure would save a bunch of time and tape!
Gabby

[Mainewoods]

Gabby, that only works if you're using a laser printer.  The toner in a laser printer is adhered to the paper using heat.  Then if you lay the paper on the wood and apply heat to it, some (not all, but enough to make the pattern clear) of the toner will adhere to the wood.  Works best with lighter colored woods.  Will not work if using an ink jet printer.  Although....most standard inks aren't water proof, so, maybe, if you were to mist the front of the paper with water, you might be able to get a good amount of ink to transfer to the wood.  An immediate downside to this, if it even worked, would be the amount of ink transferred.  If too much ink got transferred, it would likely seep into the wood, meaning you'd have to do a LOT of sanding to get it off after cutting.  I don't know, might be worth a try!

[BilltheDiver]

Gabby...More & more I rely on the paper with the self adhesive back.  Yes it is more expensive, but it is more convenient and you are not as committed.  In other words it is repositionable.  If you aren't happy with where you put it, you can take it up and apply again.  I think I would still use the tape regardless for the lubrication.

I realize this doesn't apply to transferring for pyrography, sorry.

[tux_linux]

naa, you need the tape. You'll have burned cuts when not using tape. Check this: Comparison with and without tape

[Russ C]

Gabby is talking about Pyrography(wood burning) the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks, not Scroll Sawing. Glen is right about it only works if you're using a laser printer to transfer the pattern. 

[Gabby]

Well thanks I guess?
That's a bummer he didn't mention using a lazer printer, when we posted each other. I'll have to ask him.
I've been playing with the idea of doing some pyrography while the saw is in storage. Having the ink soak into the wood probably wouldn't matter since I would be burning right over it. I was going to try it using fine lines and that would have been ok I think for cutting.
Thanks for the responses guys.
Gabby