There is 1 message in this issue.

 Topics in today's digest:

      1. Adhering stencils to glass.
           From: "Paul Stevenson" <p.stevenson@virgin.net>


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Message: 1
   Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 21:38:11 -0000
   From: "Paul Stevenson" <p.stevenson@virgin.net>
Subject: Adhering stencils to glass.

Does anyone remember those good old tissue stencils?  You used a sugar glue
to adhere the stencil to the glass.  When the glue had dried, the glue
reduced itself to its original crystalline form, so that when you blasted
it, the sugar broke down easily under the action of the abrasive and left an
open area that was easily blasted.

Nowadays I use the Rayzist product because of the shorter image-to-glass
time and cleaner process.  I've been experimenting with various adhesives to
adhere the stencil to the surface of the glass.  These have been spray
(aerosol) adhesives.

Pallette spray
>>>>>>>>>
I've tried screenprinter's pallette spray.  This is used to hold the fabric
(T-shirt) in place on the pallette whilst printing.  The adhesive is water
based (so it doesn't stain the shirt).

The only thing is, when it's sprayed on the glass, it 'balls' up because of
the surface tension.  So when the stencil is laid on top of it, the tiny
'globs' of adhesive dry out and form hard spots in the open areas of the
stencil.

The hard spots then resist the action of the abrasive, leaving witness marks
in the etched open areas when the surface is washed off after blasting.

3M spray adhesives
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I've also tried some of the 3M spray adhesive products, like photo-mount and
display-mount.  I would use these products otherwise for fixing up temporary
graphics for say, an exhibition.

These adhesives stick great, no problems adhering the stencil to the glass.
Lay the stencil emulsion-side up, give it a light spray and wait a minute
for it to 'go off', before placing it on the surface of the glass.

The adhesive is very forgiving and allows some time to manouver it into
position.  Leave it for a while to 'set' and then burnish with a squeegee.

The disadvantage with this adhesive is that because it is solvent based,
stencil removal has to be done with nail-varnish remover.  Residues stay in
some of the finer detailed areas and I get the evil eye for using up all
their manicure stuff!

>>>>>>>
Go make a cup of tea before the second half  :)
>>>>>>>

So I've been thinking, what else could I use to stick the stencil to the
glass with?

A temporary glue, but it has to stick good.  Has to clean off with water.

When I'm gilding I use a water-based size for gilding on glass; I flood the
area so that the gold is pulled in by the capilliary action.  I doubt these
stencils could handle being soaked like that.

Seems like I'll have to go back to the old sugar glue.

What do you use, and why?

Paul Stevenson

>Engraving
>Gilding
>Signs

Inside leg: 31"