Ink and clear coat

[Seph]

Last year I tried to make my friends some Christmas ornaments and was not happy with the way they came out. So I figured I would try again.

Last year I used an ultra fine point sharpie. Although the image looked decent it was not very durable, a light cleaning would damage it. I tried a Krylon clear coat on it and it completely erased the image. I went to the local art store to ask them and they didn't really seem to know what I was talking about. I bought 2 of the pens they recommended, but the ink runs too much while printing.

Does anyone know of an ink/clear coat combo that works well together?

[Dan Newman]

On 4 Nov 2013 , at 2:25 PM, Seph wrote:

> Last year I tried to make my friends some Christmas ornaments and was not
> happy with the way they came out. So I figured I would try again.
>
> Last year I used an ultra fine point sharpie. Although the image looked
> decent it was not very durable, a light cleaning would damage it. I tried a
> Krylon clear coat on it and it completely erased the image. I went to the
> local art store to ask them and they didn't really seem to know what I was
> talking about. I bought 2 of the pens they recommended, but the ink runs
> too much while printing.

Take a look at my eggbot prints in thingiverse (dnewman). I usually use
either technical pens loaded with Transmix Media inks, Copic Multiliner SP pens,
or Pigma Micron pens. I generally always apply 3 - 4 light coats of a satin
clear coat afterwards. The rare times I use alcohol based inks (e.g., Sharpies)
instead of pigmented inks, then I do not attempt to clear coat afterwards. Maybe
if you allow the sharpie ink to dry for 48+ hours you may have better luck? However,
you basically need to use an overcoat which won't dissolve and transport
the alcohol based ink if you're going to use sharpies. And nothing which is
durable and water clear comes to mind.

Dan

[Dan Newman]

> I bought 2 of the pens they recommended, but the ink runs
> too much while printing.

As to the running, there is an issue with some inks where if you wash the
eggs, you need to make sure they are good and dry otherwise there can be
a lot of ink bleeding. Chicken eggs are particularly troublesome this way.
I like to bath them in some warm water with a dilute amount of vinegar: the
vinegar actually etches/dissolves away a little of the outer surface and
helps the ink to take better to the egg. (Also seems to make the sizing
a little more consistent, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sizing . Mind you it
doesn't improve or reduce the sizing, just seems to make it more consistent.)

But, back to my point: if you are getting the egg surface wet, then you
definitely have to give it time to dry. Otherwise, you get blotchy printing
from the ink bleeding too much. I actually toss the eggs into a toaster
oven which was previously heated up: helps dry the eggs faster.

Dan

P.S. if you do use a little vinegar, don't leave the eggs in for very
long. Even 5 minutes is too long. The vinegar really does start
etching the shells.

P.P.S. I prefer to use duck eggs: stronger and less porous. You can
buy duck eggs on ebay.

[Seph]

Thanks Dan, I didn't except an answer so quickly!

Your eggs on Thingiverse look great, I have yet to get my print quality anywhere close to that. I am using glass balls for my prints though and any ink seems to take forever to dry on those.

I picked up a Pigma Micron pen at the art store today and just finished the first print. The print doesn't look too bad, I will give it a few days to dry and try hitting it with the clear coat and see what happens.