Textured stone coated metal printing

Aluminum print with textured stone finish

In 2011 we have added a new "One on One" alternative media printing workshop to our schedule. I would like to take a few minutes and show you one of the exciting projects we work on here.  I have quite a few images from the south west United States and wanted something a little unusual to set them off. The textured stone finish available in several colors gives that   unique desert southwest sandy look.
I am starting with .028 aluminum that I had custom cut from  10 foot sheets.  A very cost effective way to print metal if you are doing more then just a few prints. After scuffing the metal with 320 grit sandpaper it was ready to receive the first coat of Rust-Oleum "Stone Textured" finish.

Raw aluminum sheet ready for textured stone coating.


The first coating is a nice primer and after drying for 15 minutes is ready for the final heavy topcoat.

Aluminum coated with 2 coats of Rust-Oleum textured stone

After the second coating of textured stone was applied.  I left it dry for 2 hours just to make sure the surface was dry enough to accept the Inkaid print receptor coating.

Applying 3 coats of Inkaid over stone textured metal.



The Inkaid is a slow drying receptor coating that enables injet printing on any surface coated with it.
It normally takes overnight for proper drying between coats. I have several portable electric heaters set up to reduce the total drying time to a half day. For most of my metal prints 2 coats is sufficient. In this case I used 3 because of the rough texture. 
Printed through the front feed of my Epson 3800. Came out pretty sharp looking and am anxious to try another.