More experiments with aluminum

[kaelaria]

Oooooh I'm jealous, I wish my Z3100 did those!!  Gorgeous!!!

[Damir]

But you can - I printed on aluminium on z3100, works perfectly!!

[artbot]

one other suggestion...  is to first etch the aluminum then print.

i've been doing inkjet printing on aluminum for the past 10 years.  and i really like the etched/then printed look.

here's an example.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alldredge/sets/72157624455497140/show/

[neile]

Interesting. What do you use to do the etching?

Neil

[framah]

Ok, Alan... I HAVE to ask.. how do you do it?
I hit your link and was astounded with your stuff!!

How thick is the sheet of alum and how deep is the etching and of course, how do you etch it in the first place?
This will go thru a 9900?
Do you coat them after printing?

So many questions...

[davidh202]

Not an easy task! Correct me if I'm wrong but...
I believe the etching process as seen in the samples would require either a photochemical resist applied first,  then
'exposed and developed' to expose the substrate, or a printed resist, (possibly done in stages), acid etched, cleaned,and subsequently printed.

Wonderful work Alan !!!!

[artbot]

some if it is proprietary.  but can be done in many different ways.  i have a mimaki 160sp and have developed an ink that i can print directly to the aluminum as a resist.  resists come in all sizes.  as far as etching, good old hydrogen peroxide and hyrdrochloric acid.  i hope to some day build a giant electrolytic system.  you can go through a lot of acid etching large sheets.  

yes on the will thick aluminum fit in an epson.  actually i just raised my heads to 4mm (2.38mm max printable because of the pinch rollers).  no coating because it's solvent.  although waterbased with coating looks much better.  so not missing much on the solvent ink.