"Inkjet" painting

Jun 22, 2006 6 Replies
C

I'm painting some pretty simple patterns (stripes & bars) on 2x6 planks, but I'm doing a lot of them (planks, that is), and the masking tape/paint brush routine is a real bootleneck.



Late last night (actually, about 2 am this morning), while waiting for paint to dry, in an altered state-of-conciousness (sleep deprivation), I found myself wishing I had a giant inkjet printer to speed things up.



Seems Simple Enough! - Right? I can' be the first person who ever had this idea. But Google hasn't turned up anything enlightening - maybe I'm not using the right keywords.



So - Anyone here ever heard of an inkjet technology (or something similar) suitable for applying latex paint to wood?



TIA Charlie Mulks


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L

I doubt inkjet technology would work with latex paint. That said, wood veneer has been available for some time that is intended to be run through an inkjet printer.

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M

Common technology for quite a few years in sign painting. A friend did some software development for such a system years ago. Not inkjet, really (i.e. it doesn't use rapid heating to cause the ink to explosively boil onto the surface) but more-or-less conventional spray nozzles.

Mike

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G

An inkjet is a tiny spray gun.

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Z

Gee Whiz - That sounds like you only need a stencil to lay on the board then paint, or better yet spray paint. Move to the next board etc.

Make the stencil out of plastic of some kind and it could last almost forever. Easy to line up to one edge.

Jack

Charles Mulks wrote:

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L

Charles Mulks wrote: > I'm painting some pretty simple patterns (stripes & bars) on 2x6 planks, > but I'm doing a lot of them (planks, that is), and the masking tape/paint > brush routine is a real bootleneck.

AB Dick licensed the ink jet technology years ago for high speed printing of labels, bar codes, etc.

Uses very specialized inks, not paint.

Lew

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M

Precisely. A sheet of mylar, an xacto knife, a little patience (well - there goes that idea...), and presto!

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