FSRCanada

FSRC Print Tek

FSRC Print Tek

By Shdwstr

 

Items required

 

1. Card stock or Tinfoil

2. Paper cutter or scissors

3. Scalpel or exacto knife

4. Several Jars, glasses etc. (To cover the Caps)

5. Alcohol

6. Ziplock baggies (if using cardstock)

7. A Sharpie Marker

P.O. Box 23045, Westgate Postal Outlet, Cambridge, Ontario, N1S 4Z6, Canada

Last updated

November 13, 2004

I will try to pretty this up with some pictures soon, but for now…

 

For most printing purposes, a glove box or flow hood is not really necessary, but they do assure a higher level of print quality.

 

Start by making sure your work area is clean, wash everything you can and wipe it down with alcohol. If your furnace is blowing hot air around, block the vent or shut the furnace off, then wait an hour or so for the air to settle, before you start. Your work/printing area can be anything from an empty sock drawer, a table top, or a multi drawer printing station. As long as it is CLEAN!

 

I prefer to prepare the material I’m printing on first.

If printing on card stock,  precut it to the size of ziplock bag it will go into, and to the size of cap your printing on it. A Portobello Cap is going to need a large card, where a Crimini requires a much smaller card and cap cover.

If printing on Foil, cut the foil into strips, making sure the strip is at least an inch or more wider than the caps you are printing. Wipe the foil off with alcohol and allow it to dry completely.

 

Sterilize your scalpel or exacto knife in your alcohol. Dry or burn the alcohol off, then cut the stem from the cap, as close to the cap as possible.

Place your caps (gills down of course) on your print stock and cover it with a suitable clean container. This can be anything from a baby food jar, for small caps, Styrofoam cups, or even a cereal bowl, for those large Portobello’s.

Close your drawer, turn the lights off, fire up the furnace and call it a day!

 

After patiently waiting 24 hrs, it’s time to turn the furnace back off and collect your prints. Find something pointed to pick up the caps. I prefer a dental pick (available at Radio Shack). You can also use a safety pin, sewing needle, or even a thumb tack. Whatever you use, sterilize with alcohol first. (You’ll see why)

Remove the covers and the caps, and wonder at the beauty of your prints.

 

I have found it to be a good practice to recover the print with the cap cover for a few hours to let it dry before bagging or folding up the foil. This is especially true with foil prints, as they can be quite wet at times.

 

Once the prints are dry, slip the cardstock print into its baggie and label the baggie with your Sharpie marker. If using foil, fold the foil print in half, then fold over the open 3 edges to seal it.  Label the foil with your Sharpie marker.

 

Be sure to label your prints.

 

By the way… if you get a really nice print from a cap… you might want to try reprinting the same cap again. You just might get a pleasant surprise after another 24hrs. (Now you know why I told you to sterilize the pointy pickup thingy.)

Don’t push your luck though, after 48 hours that cap is only good for drying out and saving, for your next fancy pot of soup.

 

The Final Step… Send a nice print donation to the FSRCanada.

 

After All… That is why you made the prints in the first place… Isn’t it?