Talk:Thermofax

Origins
I'm looking at the assertion that the process was introduced by 3M in the "late forties."

The first occurrence of the word "thermofax" in The New York Times is in 1951: "New Duplicating Device," September 29, 1951, p. 32. In its entirety, the article reads:
 * A new duplicating device and paper, trade-marked "ThermoFax," were announced yesterday by the Magna-Crest Corporation, 730 Fifth Avenue. The new device uses a controlled beam of heat to copy black-and-white originals directly.

The relation to 3M is unclear... it certainly sounds like the same process, and the use of the phrase "black-and-white" is telling (since a limitation of the Thermofax process was its dependence on carbon, so that only black ink--and not necessarily every black ink--copied).

This reference says "The first important [thermal imaging system] was the Thermofax systems of the 3M Co., due to C. E. Miller and B. L Clark in 1953, based on methylene blue and mercuric stearate dispersed in ethyl cellulose. The process was superseded at 3M by the use of silver behenate..."

Dpbsmith (talk) 01:14, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Tattoo artists
There is a claim about Tattoo artists, here, but the big question is what are they using Thermofax for and why, and this question is not answered, can someone add it pls Pernambuco 04:49, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Thermofaxs are used by tattoo artists to create stencils of images and then transfer the stencil to the human body with a solution namely "Detol" and then this transfer is used as the pattern for the tattoo artists. added by Paul Grimard, Extreme Airbrushing and Tattoo —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.64.127.195 (talk) 23:47, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Some more Thermo-Fax History
My Father is D. G. Kimble, the late Dr. Miller's project partner in the invention of the machine to use the "Thermo-Fax" paper in the copy process. 3M should have patents on file with a list of the names of the team for verification. I can state with certainty that 3M had been working on the device and the paper for some time before the product was marketed. The Magna-Crest Corporation mentioned above was most likely an early distributor or marketing partner to 3M and nothing more.

Mentioning Thermo-Fax and Dr. Miller without mentioning D. G. Kimble, the inventor of the printer itself, is absurd. Dr. Miller was a brilliant Chemist and close family friend. We mourned his passing and still miss him. But without Dad's machine, 3M would have had nothing to market.

Bykrmom (talk) 17:55, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

Thermofax spirit masters
Seems that a very popular use for both thermofax and spirit master machines is not well described here, and not at all on the spirit duplicator page. I remember them well in elementary school (1960's) and used them as a TA in the 1980's. Given a carbon based ink print, commonly those produced through xerographic copiers, one could quickly make a master for a spirit duplicator that would print about 100 copies. (They get lighter as the number increases, but in any case convenient numbers for a classroom of kids.) Many student workbooks had appropriate carbon based inks, otherwise xerographic copies of published materials could be used. The result was much cheaper than the same number of copies done on xerographic copiers, though in light purple ink. (Unlike normal spirit masters, I only ever saw these in purple.) Gah4 (talk) 03:47, 14 September 2015 (UTC)

James Bond
I believe that James uses a type of Thermo-fax copier to duplicate documents in an early movie after having the machine decode a safe combination lock. The required gear was heavy enough that they used a crane to bring it into the office.

Combination Safecracker-Copying Machine, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Reflex Copying Machines

Idyllic press (talk) 13:45, 19 July 2021 (UTC)