New invention allows printer to operate using a butane and propane torch.
Übergizmo reports on the new method of inkjet printing using fire, with the introduction of a graphic butane and propane torch printer.
The FireWriter 1.0 inkjet printer is “built with Processing and Arduino” and is made from a “hacked inkjet printer controller via an Arduino Uno”. It utilises a Dremel torch which has a butane and propane mix, with the flame’s precision, duration and strength being manually controlled in real-time through a pitch. According to the article, there is also an “added calibration model built using an optical sensor”.
The FireWriter is the creation of Lucien Langton of ECAL, the University of Art and Design Lausanne, who has posted a video demonstrating the printer’s use. The device is able to print horizontally in black and white, “pixel for pixel”, with the user being required to hold it against the surface to be printed on and “guide it line by line through the calibrated wheels”.
Despite the butane and propane mixture burning at around 1,200 degrees centigrade, the device is capable of printing on walls, plastic, wood and fabric without setting them alight.