Damage to temper- toner to blade transfer

T

Tll6

Joined
May 14, 2016
Messages
70
Hey guys

I am attempting to etch a knife blade with the toner transfer method. I know there are two main ways, iron and acetone. I tried acetone a few times but the toner seems to keep leaking into the empty spaces and filling the letters I am trying to etch. The iron transfer works great but I am worried about messing up the temper. The blade gets too hot to touch, and when I go to rub off the paper under water the water actually sizzles when it touches the hot metal

I am practicing on a spare kitchen knife I don't use, but I am worried about actually doing it to the actual knife I want to etch. Is there any possibility of damaging the temper of the blade? So far I have seen no color change in the practice blade. The real knife has aus-8 steel

Thanks guys
 
wrong place.
Don't think it will hurt it,AUS8 should take 400 deg F before hurting the temper.
 
Oops sorry about that

Thanks!

I'm getting a lot of shadow around the letters. Does anyone have any advice for that?
 
I just looked up temperatures for irons. I used the linen setting as per a few instructional videos I watched, and I have found that on the linen setting the temperature is around 445 degrees farenheight. Is this going to be a problem as far as the heat treat is concerned?

EDIT: false alarm. I just looked up the max temperature of my iron and it only goes up to 382f. Hopefully that is low enough
 
Last edited:
This toner transfer method you are referring to, is this where you print the design to paper using a laser printer, then transfer the toner to blade with heat. Then using a chemical (or normal electro-chem etch like with a personalizer tool) to etch the exposed metal, then wash toner off with acetone leaving the etched logo/letters? Do you then black in the letters?

I've used this toner transfer method for making PCB boards.

Ken H>
 
Yes, the toner acts as a resist to the electric etch process. A 9volt battery supplies current and strips off exposed metal from the knife. After cleaning off the resist the now depressed letters can be paint filled for contrast
 
Thanks, that's what I was thinking - I'll have to remember that for some "one-off" etches rather than making a stencil just for them.

Ken H>
 
I researched this early on. It sounded like a royal pain in the butt. For a one off, maybe. For a standard logo, go with a etch stencil from one of the stencil makers recommended on here. (Ernie Grospitch (sp?), Tustech, etc.)
 
Oh, I agree totally Kevin - for a standard logo used many times, nothing beats a stencil. That's what I use, sometimes even for one off's I'll make a stencil. BUT - for those one-offs, seems like the toner transfer might be worth trying. I did a LOTS of PCB (Printed Circuit Boards) using that method and you can get some real fine detail with the method.

Ken H>
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top