Question: Printing on Ceramics??

[AWHIZ]

I have a client who's wanting to make a small quantity of plates, cups, etc.

I was doing some research and found these sites:
Ceramic transfers made easy - DIY Life
Ceramics transfers tutorial

It says I need to use vitrifying ink? Anybody familiar with this stuff or have experience printing / transferring to ceramics?

[Andymac]

vitrifying=ceramic ink, it fires on in a kiln.

I didn't look at the link, but the transfers are basically like waterslides, Brittain paper, ceramic inks.

print through 230-300 mesh. ONce dry, they slide off, brush out with a tissue to get rid of air bubbles, then in the kiln.

fire temp depending on the recommended temps for the ink.

[AWHIZ]

Nice! Thanks.

[erin.oconnor]

I had a student print with colored slip and colored terra sig onto newsprint, and transfer the image to un-fired ceramic pieces, much like you stick on those temporary tattoos for kiddies... just wet the newsprint and burnish it slightly and peel off the newsprint. Gotta remember to print the image in reverse since you flip it to transfer and it seemed necessary to wet the screen prior to printing the slip/terra sig. Both can be thickened with corn syrup and corn starch to get ink consistency. This method is likely not ideal for super detailed images, due to the transfer process, but produces a very nice result and is easy to reproduce. Does rely a bit more on a reasonable knowledge of ceramics materials though.

[ImJustRickG]

Andy, is there ANYTHING you don't know?

[kim_a]

How to make flashdryers from microwaves, other than that I think it is very unlikely... =)

The German ink manufacturer we bought from last year made ceramic inks, I always assumed they were printed onto the items themselves before firing for some reason =p Now that I think of it, that does sound crazy and complicated, if at all possible.

[JOHNPERRY]

You can also use an air dry epoxy and screen it directly onto the stoneware. I used to manage a company where we did all types of glassware, wine glasses, coffee mugs, tumblers, coasters. They were directly printed onto the glassware and fired at 1100. But when we did stainless steel or crystal we used epoxy. I believe the product was Maribu Inks.

[kim_a]

Marabu was the german supplier I mentioned as well...

[steve w]

I knew a guy who printed glazes onto wet clay and then fired them