I watched a video on a technique used to wood burn an image on to cork. The means used was to print a black image of the desired figure (mirror imaged) and transfer it to the cork before doing the wood burning with a soldering iron. The guy in the video used "methylated spirits" to soak the image on paper after taping it to the cork handle. So far I have tried the following:

Isopropyl alcohol, Denatured alcohol, Acetone, Wife's nail polish remover, Loc-Tite cyanocrylate glue remover and Lift Off marker eraser. Nothing worked. The ink from my printer must be made of hardened unobtanium. Or maybe it's the paper? Has anyone been successful with this technique?

Thanks,
Brian



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/22/2017 09:22AM by Brian Bowers.

how about old school transfer with carbon paper from the craft store ??

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

Even mediocre cork for handles costs a fortune these days. I would not burn it very deeply - and double check spelling!

Ink jet printer images are water solvent, not many other solutions. I use the method Matthew mentioned, "carbon paper" and I use a medical cauterizing pen (very fine point) to burn the image. Works great, not deep and my clients love it when I can put their name or an image on the cork.

Brian,
What type of printer are you using? Ink Jet, Laser, or something else?

It's your ink. When I would buy the expensive name brand ink for my printer, I could transfer the images very easily. Now that I buy the cheap off brand ink, I cannot do it. I print my images from the printer at work now. Works great.

I have done this 2 ways. The first is just tape the paper to the surface and burn thru the paper. The contour of the surface will sometimes be a problem. Practice on something first. The second is a bit more complicated. You need to print the image in reverse on paper. Then run a copy on a laser copy machine. Tape the copy on the surface and use a clothing iron to transfer the image.

My local Library has a laser copy printer machine, You don't need a library card, Just a pocketful of change. Call yours as I'm sure they're all different.

As usual on this forum, lot's of great tips. I had to "do an audible" last night as this is a Christmas gift for my daughter who lives in Seattle (and I'm in Michigan). She's wanted a Tenkara rod for the past several years. I finally found a place that sold Tenkara blanks, but the one I wanted (12', 6:4) was back-ordered and I received it late so I had to hustle on the build.

I wanted to burn the Japanese Kanji characters for "Father" and "Daughter" on the handle. I had lot's of miscellaneous cork pieces laying around so I practiced on them. I ended up free-handing it after using a pencil to do the outlines on the cork, then used the iron. I had a pretty small tip on hand and the results ended up pretty good, considering (thanks to the practice sessions). If I were to do it again though for a paying customer, I would use one of the methods above.

Next time I'll try both the Laser printer and carbon paper. My printer is an HP OfficeJet, which I believe is an Inkjet. I used the ink that came wit the printer.

Thanks again,
Brian

I've had success with a matte gel transfer on to cork (Google it and you will find quite a few YouTube videos). Essentially, all you do is brush on matte gel (available in the art supply dept. at craft stores) on the cork and then you apply a printed image (either ink jet or laser printing works) on top of the gel. Once it is dry, you moisten the paper and rub the paper off, leaving the inked image on the cork. Then you can use your wood burner to trace the image where the ink is. One thing to keep in mind is that you will eventually need to rub off the dried matte gel. I've found that this works best with top quality cork with few pits, or wood (if you've turned your own handle using some wood). If the cork has a lot of filler, trying to rub the dried matte gel off will also remove some of the cork filler. Also keep in mind that cork is more temperamental than wood when it comes to wood burning.

you will do a better job with a wood burning iron an not a solder iron # 1 Heat control , # 2 size of tip as I see it , could be wrong

William Sidney
AK

Haven’t tried it myself, but there is a YouTube video on a wood carvers channel. They use wax paper or freezer paper with a ink jet. Then can rub the ink into your surface. Do not use laser jet. Could melt the wax and cause damage to the printer. The Matt glue looks like a good option also.

Test for yourself, but use caution. I haven’t done this so can’t gaurentee no issues to the printer.