So... can you shove a 5.25 floppy through a laser/LED printer?

[Alex Eisenhut]

After viewing this video

https://youtu.be/NEvowFxNEvw

I learned that there was such a thing as a Chromadisk. Of course I know this was printed *before* the whole folding and welding of the jacket.

So naturally I wonder about printing on a white or light gray jacketed 5.25" with a laser printer. Mine can print on thicker cardstock and has a straight paper path if I shove it in the rear (of the printer, of course.)

Anyone ever tried such foolishness?

[ataradov]

If you have a straight  path, it should be possible. They sell thin white plastic sheets for printing on laser printers. No idea of the type of the plastic though . And even simple transparent sheets for overhead displays are still a thing and printers have no issues with them.

There is no chance it would work with any mechanism that requires bending.   

The heat might be an issue too, but the plastic is quite thick, so it might not get to the actual disc in a short print time.

[Psi]

Just be careful putting plastic through a laser printer unless you're sure it's intended for laser printing.
I've seen what happens when you put a inkjet transparency sheets through a laser printer. It usually does not end well.
YMMV but sometimes it melts onto the rollers on its way through the fuser and makes one hell of a mess.

I'm not saying don't do it, just be aware of the risks.
A second-hand laser printer is cheap and a much better plan than trying it on the $20k office printer

[Haenk]

This will not work, the fuser is hot enough to melt plastic (toner is essential small particel plastic), so it will melt your toner *and* the floppy casing.

If you have a straight line printer to spare, it is possible to remove the fuser unit, so only the toner is attached to the casing, then iron it on with a piece of paper inbetween (so you don't mess up your iron).
The toner is only sticking by charge, so it is easily wiped away, aka destroying the print. Might be worth a try though.

But.

There are "flatbed printers with multisurface UV cured ink" readily availabe, which are widely used in the industry. These certainly will work on a floppy.

[Alex Eisenhut]

I'm more worried about the surface texture of a floppy disk jacket... do I risk it? I don't know. This is a cold weather rainy day project. I think I'll try ruining my printer later this year.

[tooki]

I don’t think it’s worth wasting a disk on. The chances of a good print result are just so small, and that’s before considering what will happen to the magnetic media, and possibly the printer itself.

IIRC, the actual magnetic disk (the cookie, it’s called) is made of PET film — the same plastic as beverage bottles. PET is quite sensitive to heat, and will warp at fuser temperatures.

[BrianHG]

Only silk-screen printing will work on an existing disk without damaging it.

[ataradov]

Only silk-screen printing will work on an existing disk without damaging it.

I can see laser etching working too. The graphics should not be too dense to avoid heat issues, but it should work.

[Alex Eisenhut]

I'm going to sulk in a corner now. 

[SiliconWizard]

This will not work, the fuser is hot enough to melt plastic (toner is essential small particel plastic), so it will melt your toner *and* the floppy casing.

Yes. And it does roll the printed sheet around a drum so the result would not be pretty for this either.
Then, the drum is charged electrostatically, not completely sure it wouldn't damage the magnetic surface somehow.

But given that it's likely to be too stiff to get around the drum and likely to melt inside the printer, this is thus likely to jam it and make a real mess requiring to at least change the drum afterwards.

[ataradov]

Yes. And it does roll the printed sheet around a drum so the result would not be pretty for this either.

There are printers with straight path option for heavy card stock. I'm not sure how straight it is in practice, it still may be a bit bendy.

[Alex Eisenhut]

No, it's a straight path through my printer if I use the rear feed and open the front. (Oops, it's the front that feeds, it poops out the back.) The inside of a floppy jacket is covered in special mouse fur, or a non-woven fabric liner. I think it will act as an insulator for the short amount of time the fuser hits the material. I doubt it will heat the entire disk through to the fuser temperature, it's just meant to fuse a molecule-thin film of toner.

I suppose I could just slice a disk apart and try printing on one piece of jacket first.

In any case I think the thickness of a floppy is too much for my printer according to the specs.

[SiliconWizard]

OK for the straight path, but for all the other points... I really fear this would just melt and make a huge mess inside your printer. Try it at your own risk.

[Haenk]

There are printers with straight path option for heavy card stock. I'm not sure how straight it is in practice, it still may be a bit bendy.

We have one (rather old-ish) OKI colour laser printer, that is suited to print on heavy cardboard. It transports in a straight line, no bending at alll.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Only silk-screen printing will work on an existing disk without damaging it.

or UV printing

[CatalinaWOW]

The real question isn't whether the printer will be damaged, but if the floppy will survive.  They are hard enough to get now that I wouldn't risk it if you need the floppy.  If you don't need it, why bother printing on it?

[nali]

Well a typical laser fuser temperature is in the order of 200C, and the fuser rollers exert a decent amount of pressure to transfer heat & squish the toner into the paper. My guess is a hot melt flop and cacked rollers.

[Alex Eisenhut]

So the work printer it is...

[Alex Eisenhut]

Boy I'm ridiculous, the answer was right on my desk, laser-printable water transfer decals. Well well well. I'll try it sometime.

[ataradov]

But that's not all that different from a regular transparent sticker.

[SiliconWizard]

Boy I'm ridiculous, the answer was right on my desk, laser-printable water transfer decals. Well well well. I'll try it sometime.

Well, I was assuming you really wanted to try direct printing for some reason.
If you were just looking for a solution to customize floppy disks with a similar aspect (at least if you don't look too close up), then yeah, adhesive transparent stickers would work. You can find sheets of them for laser printers. I didn't know the laser-printable decals, but it's a bit similar. Possibly it would make it less obvious than a transparent sticker, but also way less durable IMO.

[Alex Eisenhut]

I was just really enthused with the idea of the Chromadisk. Something that evaded my attention for like what, 38 years? And something I never  thought of, the idea of using the floppy jacket for art. 5.25" floppies were just this utilitarian black plastic square to load Commodore 64 software from.

A water transfer decal is not like a peelable sticker, it's much thinner and not glossy, but it isn't meant to go on that kind of rougher surface like a floppy jacket. It'll probably make a weird stippling or whatever when it dries.

"Well, I was assuming you really wanted to try direct printing for some reason."

Well yes, that's what I thought of first, since that's what a Chromadisk is, and I have a big dumb color laser printer right here.

It's just a child-like enthusiasm I have, you know? It's an obscure bit of techno trivia and it looks freakin great too.



I'm just not likely to get so close to the openings with a decal. I would have to protect the disk surface if I use the printer.

Besides, I have to head out now to the thrift stores and see if I can find some white floppy disks....

[SiliconWizard]

It was once a thing for CD-ROMs too.

[ataradov]

Printable labels for CDs are still made and sold - https://smile.amazon.com/Avery-Labels-White-Matte-Spine/dp/B00062LRNQ

There were also LightScribe CDs and writers that would print right on the CD surface, but the quality of that print was pretty low. And only in shades of gray.

[nali]

My Canon inkjet has a caddy for colour printing directly on to CDs. Mind you, I can't remember the last time I used a CD, let alone printed one.

[tooki]

Printable labels for CDs are still made and sold - https://smile.amazon.com/Avery-Labels-White-Matte-Spine/dp/B00062LRNQ

There were also LightScribe CDs and writers that would print right on the CD surface, but the quality of that print was pretty low. And only in shades of gray.

I think SiliconWizard is referring to direct inkjet-printable optical media. It's got a similar coating on it as inkjet overhead transparencies. These discs are still widely available. In the heyday of disc burning, many inkjet printers had the ability to print them, with a caddy (like nali explains) to hold the disc. There are still a handful of inkjets on the market today that can print discs.

Note that this was much less common in USA, where Epson held a patent on the idea, preventing any other brand from offering it. (I don't remember if HP or Brother made models with CD printing, but most Canon models at the time could, but the USA versions had the CD slot physically blocked off and disabled in firmware.) That patent has since expired, but too late for most people to care.

[Psi]

Also, magnets tend to stop being magnetic when they get over a specific temperature.
I have no idea what that temp is for the material used in floppydisks, but assuming you find a way to get it through the printer without melting you may erase the disk and need to refomat.

[Alex Eisenhut]

I solved the problem by buying a Chromadisk on ebay! The thing really is beautiful in person. I like it.