TONER DECALS

Design Fired Decal

These decals could not be easier to make. Your design is transferred onto a special type of decal paper with a toner containing iron oxide and fired onto your enamel. This “works” when the toner contains sufficient iron oxide. The iron oxide colors the enamel a sepia color, like an old time photo. Apple black and white laser printers, Hewlett Packard black and white laser printers and Canon personal copiers have toners that work well. The toners in NEC and Brother laser printers do NOT work. Neither do ink jet printers. For other printers and copiers check the manufacturers Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the amount of iron oxide in the toner. Traditional decal paper is made with a layer of paper and a layer of gum. A cover coat of clear plastic is added after the design. This cover coat keeps the design intact when it is removed from the paper. The problem with this system is that #1 the cover coat is hard to spread evenly, and #2 it is quite stinky and toxic. The special decal paper used for this project has a layer of cover coat already applied. Get this decal paper from Bel Decal at www.beldecal.com. Be sure to get the 8 ½” X 11” clear laser paper. Don’t get the white paper – the white does not burn off in the kiln! While supplies last I am selling the clear paper for $1.00 per sheet. See it on the Garage Sale page. Materials Needed:A copy machine or laser printer (the toner must have a high percentage of iron oxide)A pre-enameled piece (white wall board and heavier coated steel work very well but your own light

colored, pre-enameled piece is fine too)A design (draw one, use a photograph, or use a copyright-free design)A dish of warm water (a saucer, a lid or a bowl)A piece of pre-coated decal paper (Bel Decal clear laser paper) A facial tissue (for blotting)A brayer or a squeegee (or a rolling pin or a credit card)Firing apparatus (a firing rack and a trivet or piece of mica or firing cloth)

Directions:1. Prepare your design. It’s best if it is black and white. If it is in color, you can scan it and convert it to black and white with an imaging program.2. Place your design on the glass of a copy machine or “choose” it to print to a laser printer from your computer.3 Place a piece of Bel decal laser paper in the appropriate drawer or single sheet feed slot of the copy machine or laser printer. Insert it so that the design will print on the shiny side of the paper. 4. Print. Let the ink set for 5 minutes. 5. Cut out around the decal leaving about a 1/8” border of decal paper around the design.6. Clean the enameled piece until water sheets off. Dry it.7. Slip the decal into a saucer of warm water. Use distilled water if your tap water has any minerals in it. The decal will curl up and then flatten out. At that point the decal will begin to separate from the backing paper and be ready to remove from the water while still on the paper. (Picture #1) 8. Center the decal on the enamel. Hold one edge of the decal stationary while sliding the paper

9. Cover the decal with a facial tissue and roll over, or squeegee over, the tissue until the decal is smooth and no more water oozes out. (Picture #3)

#1 #2 #310. Place the decaled piece (Picture #4) on a trivet, mica, or firing cloth and then onto a firing rack. Dry the decal for about 30 minutes in the air or 10 minutes under a desk lamp. You can also use a fan to speed up the drying. But don’t use a heat lamp or hairdryer. Drying too fast can cause bubbles to form. And don’t touch the design or it may smear. 11. Optional: place the piece in a cold kiln allowing for some ventilation. If the kiln has peepholes, leave these open and leave the kiln door slightly ajar. Bring the kiln up to ≈ 800°F. on low. The cover coat will turn brown. When it has turned from brown to white, remove the piece and hold it in a draft free place. You can skip this step but the dark areas of the decal will break up a bit. Break up may occur anyway. This is the trade-off for having the cover coat under, rather than over the design where it would burn off more easily. (Pictures #5 & #6)12. Bring the kiln up to temperature and fire ≈ 3 minutes at ≈ 1500º F.

#4 #5 No burn out #6 Slow burnout

13. Add painting enamel or enamel watercolors if desired. Dry and fire. (Picture #7)

#7

Toner decal from photo Toner decal from copyright-free image

NOTE: Another option for making toner decals is to use traditional decal paper but instead of brushing on a cover coat, spray over the designed decal paper with a clear acrylic spray e.g. Krylon clear acrylic gloss spray. Spray on several thin coats, drying between coats, until the paper is glossy when dry.