Hand Tool Chat, Tonight 9:30 p.m. E.D.T. (GMT-5)

I can't make it but...

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA

>I'd realy like to hear about the Japaning process your talking about...

Re: faux, I said faux!

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>It's not jappaning. It's just a way to make the plane look like the japanning is complete and new, without doing any damage to what remains of the real japanning, and it's completely reversible, if you ever want to restore the plane to its original, as found, condition. Apply shellac with a good dose of black, alcohol soluable, aniline dye. Nice and shiny for your ebay photos :^). When you want to remove it, just wipe it off with some more alcohol.

Re: faux, I said faux!

David Barnett - SW Florida

>That pretty much is India ink, although lampblack or burnt wool was a bit more common. These days, laser toner and shellac does the trick nicely, but nothing's more convincing than black dopping wax.

Re: faux, I said faux!

Dave Thompson

>Ohh I like that.... laser toner and shellac that is. Have you tried that or are you just kidding. I wouldn't have to order some black analine dye.

For that matter, I had been planning to get some black analine dye to try adding to some epoxy to fill some knots. I wonder if laser toner would work for that.... hmmm. nasty mess though...laser toner is.

Re: faux, I said faux!

Dan Donaldson

>The powdered toner only sticks to people and clothes, plus it can jump 6 feet to get you ;-)

Re: faux, I said faux!

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>I haven't used laser toner, per se, to color epoxy, but have used black vegetable pigment. It's just as messy, and works very well. Powdered tempera paint works, too. Gougeon Bros. report that many powdered pigments are compatible with epoxy. I bought the black pigment from them.

I suspect toner might not work as well. In addition to the pigments, which may be iron oxide, lamp black or another dye, it contains styrene/acrylates copolymer and may contain wax or another component that acts like wax. I have no idea whether the copolymer is soluble in either epoxy component, but if so, it will make a mess. Wax is often used as a releasing agent for epoxy, and may adversely affect the bond. The pigments should be less expensive that the toner, if only you know where to find them.

It is easy enough to try, assuming you have an available source of toner. Just mix up some in with the end of your next pot of resin and hardener, smear it on a scrap, and leave it overnight. It's easy enough to test it for strength and bond after it has cured, if it cures.

Safety hazard?

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>I had the impression that laser toner wasn't the safest of black compounds in its uncured state. ??

Not too bad, actually... and oh so useful, ...

David Barnett - SW Florida

>...although I wouldn't recommend inhaling it. It's a flammable dust, of course. As for eating it, you pretty much can (at least the NCR stuff). It's mostly carbon with a little iron in a tasty styrene resin binder. It often contains (guess what)... black aniline (so-called) dye, too. I've used toner for all sorts of esoteric uses in graphics; engraving, scrimshanding, previewing niello, goldsmithing, et al. Handy stuff. I will grant you, some of the early toners were rather unsavory. Mixes nicely with various gums; arabic, tragacanth, varnishes such as Damar. A tolerable pounce for leatherwork to fresco. Nice for epoxy inlay. Good pitch colorant. Great with shellac and/or asphaltum for a PC board etch resist. Makes a fine negative ground for engraving layout when mixed with muttonfat. I could go on. It wouldn't take much, heh. And don't get me started on muttonfat. Oh the wonders of muttonfat!

I kid you not.

David Barnett - SW Florida

>It works better than you might think, but that's because most of it contains a hefty amount of carbon black with some iron and resin binders for fusing. See my note to Bill H. below for more. Oh... and you can use plain old black RIT dye, although you might wanna pestle it a bit finer. Obviously, you should test but I've found almost any pigment will work with shellac and the various art resins. Epoxy's quite another story (fun with heat and chemistry), but many pigments will work, although results can sometimes surprise one.

True.

David Barnett - SW Florida

>Moisture from an atomizer is a big help in preventing one from looking like Mr. Bones or Mr. Tambro.