Self-printed decals on fused glass

MeadMoon · February 22, 2014, 12:05:51 PM

I have recently bought the Photo Fusing Decal Paper and booklet from Warm Glass and, like Gaynor in a thread from 2012, I also was very disappointed at paying so much for the booklet which is little more than a pamphlet. At the moment, with the special offer on the paper, the booklet costs a massive extra £26!

Anyway, that's not the point of this post

Has anyone else used decals that they have printed themselves on fused glass rather than beads? I went mad and bought a laser printer and have had some success with trying out different fusing schedules, but would like to know if there are any tips for editing/printing B&W photographs and the type/colour of glass to use as a backing. Warm Glass has several different white opal glasses for example; are some better than others for this application? My main interest is in using landscape photographs of the Lake District, but I am trying a few other things as well.

So far, all my attempts have been with the decal on top of two layers of glass, but has anyone tried capping a decal - presumably after tack firing to the bottom layer first. Will it lose less colour if capped than it does at a full fuse when on top?

As you can tell, I have loads of questions!

Barnacle Bay · February 22, 2014, 06:22:40 PM

Hi,
I won't be able to answer your questions as to printing your own decals and then fusing but think you may be interested in the following:

I looked at this paper yonks ago the same as you have bought, and thought it was very limited by only giving a serpia tone; I also looked at there printing offer but, for the cost of serpia it was a no.

I am getting all of my work reproduced in full colour by these guys: http://digitalceramics.com/shop/Digital%20Ceramic%20Transfer

They print full colour on a SRA3 and is an extra 15% larger print area than regular A3 size.

I would suggest you have a go with the paper you have, and let us know.

Cheers,

Lou
x

Angie · February 22, 2014, 08:35:10 PM

Lou, are these ceramic decals for kiln firing onto glass? There is no mention of it.

Barnacle Bay · February 22, 2014, 09:46:41 PM

Quote from: Angie on February 22, 2014, 08:35:10 PM
Lou, are these ceramic decals for kiln firing onto glass? There is no mention of it.

Yep they are

Just the same as any other decals, but fire lower. I have tried a few with very good results, though only fired on top and not in between.

Bailey Decals will also run one off prints - though have not asked for a price yet - same heat/method process

Glyn Burton · February 23, 2014, 10:52:39 AM

When I have made decals I used the screen printing method, printing with enamel onto gummed paper and then putting a layer of cover coat on top. This is a liquid plastic which dries to make the top layer of the transfer a bit like cling film with the image stuck to it, when it burns off the fumes are not very pleasant so I should imagine if it is trapped between layers of glass it would cause problems.
Bear in mind that I was making decals for ceramics some years ago so there may be some new super duper materials on the market now which dont have the save drawbacks but I am just too old to know about.

MeadMoon · February 23, 2014, 11:45:09 AM

Thank you Lou, I had a look at the page you suggested, but will experiment with what I have first. I am learning a lot from this!

Glyn Burton · February 23, 2014, 01:05:03 PM

Do you know the book Glass and Print by Kevin Petrie ? it may be worth a look, you can get it from Amazon uk.

MeadMoon · February 23, 2014, 03:01:20 PM

No, I've not heard of that and will check it out. Thank you Glyn.

Flyingcheesetoastie · February 23, 2014, 09:19:45 PM

I'll chip in my twopence worth too.....if you are working with flat glass, have you thought about screen-printing directly onto the glass instead of decals? That way you could use a variety of colours in both enamels and base glass rather than being restricted to white.

It also means you don't need to use oil based mediums for making decals that can be quite nasty burning off in the kiln.

(I use and sell on a range of ready mixed enamels too, if you wanted any information about them.)

MeadMoon · February 24, 2014, 09:49:59 AM

Hi Rachel,

I have no idea about how to make a screen or whether it would be viable in the space available here (my kitchen), or whether it's possible to get the detail needed for the landscape photos that I want to fuse, using the size of glass sheet that will fit into my SC2 kiln. Any online references to making screens would be welcome

At Art in Action the other year I bought a set of your ready mixed enamels but had problems with getting the firing temp. correct so that the yellow/red didn't burn, trying to encase them, and with glass compatability, so they are languishing in a box somewhere. I also discovered that I have virtually no talent for painting!

Barnacle Bay · February 24, 2014, 10:18:20 AM

I have been looking at this screen printing method - looks pretty good, but cannot find it or anything similar in the UK. Take a look at the you tube video lower down on the page:

http://ezscreenprint.com/

Pat from Canvey · February 24, 2014, 11:08:11 AM

Check out http://www.warmglass.com/screen_printing.htm
Modified to add, See also Rachel's post re Screen printing on Glass at
http://www.frit-happens.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=42130.0

Flyingcheesetoastie · February 24, 2014, 12:32:37 PM

Screen printing is easy and the equipment I use and teach with I started off with in my one bed flat before I built my studio. Detail wise you can get very fine lines and the deposit of ink on the glass is really the thickest and most even you can get.

Jane C ♫ · February 24, 2014, 09:55:17 PM

Yep I use the "print it yourself" decals. You do get some movement if you fire between layers of glass but they come out clean if you fire them on top.

I fire them at 700C.

If you want to decal between layers, fire your decal to the under layer first, then cap and fire again. You can take them to a higher temp once they are capped. If they go much above 700 uncapped then they fade.

Mmm sepia!

Oh, also it's a good idea to run a few blank prints through your printer first to warm it up a bit before you print your decal sheet. And remember to take the cover tissue off before putting in the printer!!!

PM if more questions

Oh you can always embellish with glassline pens if you want to (but don't put them directly under your decal, even if you pre-fire them first, as it won't stick properly as the glass surface will be bumpy)

MeadMoon · February 25, 2014, 08:51:12 AM

Thank you for all the screen printing refs, I'll schedule some reading for today

...and thank you, Jane, for the tips. I did a butterfly which was underlaid with pre-fired Glassline paints and just the tip of one wing was missing, but I thought that was because I'd had to move the decal to get it into the right place and it may have got dirty so didn't stick properly. The decal that I capped (after tack firing to 704) actually turned out to have the best detail so far.

So many things to try, I'll be happy for quite a while