3 ms·

I remember when I was at school about 15 years ago there were printers that used wax(?) blocks, that were just put into it, not sure how it worked exactly.

fractallyte 4y ago
Xerox Phaser printers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Phaser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Phaser) used wax „solid ink“ blocks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_ink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_ink) Advantages: waterproof print; very clean; easy to change ink blocks; maintenance was mainly just emptying a tray containing small amounts of waste wax (biodegradable) Disadvantages: when offline, the printer still used power to keep the wax in a liquid state, otherwise a cold start could take a while; colors were occasionally not as vibrant as regular laser printers
- bombcar 4y ago
  We had a tektronix with blocks - and that one had to be kept off except for very specific times, because if left on it would stay warm and over a week or two drain all the wax out of it into the waste tank.
- _carbyau_ 4y ago
  I had to support one of these. I thought the colours were quite good but had nothing to compare with. Main disadvantage was the smell when it was warmed up. It had to be kept in a ventilated separate room.
  - fractallyte 4y ago
    Yes, I forgot about the smell. Definitely a downside... It smells like slightly burnt, melted wax. Very much like a candle, including the smoke...!
denton-scratch 4y ago
Tektronix did a range of printers that used wax. They used rolls of wax sheet. They produced fantastic output, but the rolls of wax were really expensive. And if you put a coffee mug down on a printout, they got stuck together. I think they were meant for one-off proofs of image-heavy marketing material. The colours were intense and vibrant, in a way that no colour laser or ink-jet ever is. Also, the wax stood a bit proud of the paper, giving an embossed look. But they weren't very permanent - if you folded the printout you'd damage the image; you could even scratch the wax off with a fingernail. These were expensive printers.

fractallyte 4y ago

Xerox Phaser printers (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Phaser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Phaser) used wax „solid ink“ blocks (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_ink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_ink) Advantages: waterproof print; very clean; easy to change ink blocks; maintenance was mainly just emptying a tray containing small amounts of waste wax (biodegradable) Disadvantages: when offline, the printer still used power to keep the wax in a liquid state, otherwise a cold start could take a while; colors were occasionally not as vibrant as regular laser printers

bombcar 4y ago
We had a tektronix with blocks - and that one had to be kept off except for very specific times, because if left on it would stay warm and over a week or two drain all the wax out of it into the waste tank.
_carbyau_ 4y ago
I had to support one of these. I thought the colours were quite good but had nothing to compare with. Main disadvantage was the smell when it was warmed up. It had to be kept in a ventilated separate room.
- fractallyte 4y ago
  Yes, I forgot about the smell. Definitely a downside... It smells like slightly burnt, melted wax. Very much like a candle, including the smoke...!

denton-scratch 4y ago

Tektronix did a range of printers that used wax. They used rolls of wax sheet. They produced fantastic output, but the rolls of wax were really expensive. And if you put a coffee mug down on a printout, they got stuck together. I think they were meant for one-off proofs of image-heavy marketing material. The colours were intense and vibrant, in a way that no colour laser or ink-jet ever is. Also, the wax stood a bit proud of the paper, giving an embossed look. But they weren't very permanent - if you folded the printout you'd damage the image; you could even scratch the wax off with a fingernail. These were expensive printers.