Layout ink on a granite surface plate

[markjaffa]

Using a granite surface plate, I wish to scrape some steel to get it truly flat. I would prefer not to use the 3 plate method I have seen mentioned elsewhere, but I dont know whether the Engineers Ink will harm the surface plate or not. :?

Any ideas/comments on the suitability/compatibility of the ink to the plate?

Cheers :)

[.RC.]

You want some prussian blue...Repco sell it, Engineers blue I believe it is called...

In the US they use Dykem Hi-Spot which is far superior but unavailable here AFAIK..

[snowyskiesau]

RS Components (http://australia.rs-online.com/web/search/searchBrowseAction.html?method=retrieveTfg&binCount=1&Ne=4294960157&Ntt=dykem&Ntk=I18NAll&Nr=AND%28avl%3aau%2csearchDiscon_au%3aN%29&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&N=4294856246&Nty=1) stock Dykem Hi-Spot.
It's not cheap at nearly $20 for a 21 gram tube.

[Woodlee]

Good old GUD brand bearing blue is all Ive ever used .
Still got 6 or so tubes of it in the shed.Lasts for years .
The blue wont wreck your Granite plate ,just clean it after with some white spirit.

Kev.

[markjaffa]

Thanks everyone for your responses. :2tsup:

I have sourced a litre of Dymarks Engineers Layout Ink in blue for about $34 from memory. This wont be suitable for comparing to the surface plate? I am guessing it wont transfer, or that it dries to quick? :?

I was more concerned with issues in getting it on my granite surface plate - and Woodlee has alleviated those fears! :D

Keep em coming!

[Greg Q]

The ink won't stain your surface plate. You need either bearing blue (oil soluble) or a water soluble dye like Canode brand (which is sold by Dapra in the US.). The thing with layout dyes as you have already discovered is their quick drying time. True spotting media stays wet for much, much longer. The other factor is that in scraping you use the palm of your hand over the surface plate to ensure no contamination from dust etc. (the hand is sensitive to very minute particles...less than 0.001"). The traditional blue medium is a bitch to clean off your hands. Canode is water soluble, hence very easy clean-up.

I have used both and would never go back to oil-based media for scraping.

Another reason is that contrast media is easily obtained in Canode brand dyes...yellow works on both the red and blue primary dyes. In traditional spotting red lead was used-frowed upon now because of heavy metal toxicity.

Canode is available in yellow, red and blue.

Having said that, standard oil based bearing blue (Permatex as well as I'm sure many other brands) works just fine, but it is a pain clean from your hands.

BTW, apply the dye thinly enough to still see the pattern of the granite. 50 millionths of an inch is your target film thickness. If you desire finer you'll need to use metho and reverse print the contact pattern.

Greg

[jmk89]

The ink won't stain your surface plate. You need either bearing blue (oil soluble) or a water soluble dye like Canode brand (which is sold by Dapra in the US.). The thing with layout dyes as you have already discovered is their quick drying time. True spotting media stays wet for much, much longer. The other factor is that in scraping you use the palm of your hand over the surface plate to ensure no contamination from dust etc. (the hand is sensitive to very minute particles...less than 0.001"). The traditional blue medium is a bitch to clean off your hands. Canode is water soluble, hence very easy clean-up.

I have used both and would never go back to oil-based media for scraping.

Another reason is that contrast media is easily obtained in Canode brand dyes...yellow works on both the red and blue primary dyes. In traditional spotting red lead was used-frowed upon now because of heavy metal toxicity.

Canode is available in yellow, red and blue.

Having said that, standard oil based bearing blue (Permatex as well as I'm sure many other brands) works just fine, but it is a pain clean from your hands.

BTW, apply the dye thinly enough to still see the pattern of the granite. 50 millionths of an inch is your target film thickness. If you desire finer you'll need to use metho and reverse print the contact pattern.

Greg

Greg

I was wondering whether stamp pad ink (which is very slow drying and water soluble) such as Artline (http://www.pelikanartline.com.au/index.php?option=com_content_ex&view=category&layout=multi-view&id=423&Itemid=630)would work?

[bollie7]

I think there is a little bit of confusion here.

Layout blue, marking blue, what ever you want to call it, is for marking out.Not for scraping. Its supposed to dry quickly. Permanent felt tip marker is also good for small jobs.

Engineers blue, bearing blue, prussian blue, is used for checking surfaces during the scraping process.

They are two, quite different things. I don't know if using marking blue for scraping would be very successful at all.
If you want to do some scraping, buy the right stuff to start with, its not that expensive. Is it worth potentially stuffing up the scraping job just to save a few $. A small tube will last for a long time.

bollie7

[jb1248]

I bought some 'engineers blue' from this guy, worked out about $12.

Engineers Blue Micrometer Blue Marking 38 gram Tin. on eBid Australia (http://au.ebid.net/for-sale/engineers-blue-micrometer-blue-marking-38-gram-tin-26929720.htm)

Seems like good stuff to me.

I also bought some Prussian Blue oil paint from the local craft shop, it works OK but is a bit 'stickier'.

Cheers, James.

[markjaffa]

Welcome to the Forums James! Thanks for your reply mate. I had put this aside, but your response - and great price - has reminded me - very timely considering the exchange rate too. Cheers!

[jb1248]

No worries, I looked for a long time too before i found it. That link I posted seems to have died, but if you google for 'Stuarts Micrometer Blue' there are several online stores selling it, possibly even cheaper than what I paid!