Purely for the Experiment of It!

Can you tell which "paper" I made, and which was made by wasps??

When I decided I was going to make paper, and before I even started the blogging process, I got all excited about making paper from anything "cellulose-y", i.e. of plant origin. Sooooooo, I blended up some almonds skins left over from my homemade almond milk and some garlic and onion skin. For good experimental measure I threw in the pith from a lemon rind.

See if you can tell which of the above is the Haide-made and which is the Wasp-made :)

UPDATE!!

These tricky wasps use protein to help bond their paper and make it waterproof!! Watch this AskNature Nugget video I found on YouTube...! Aha! I think I am going to have to do that next using a little Knox gelatine powder :)

Paper Making - Part II

Slurry Continued!!

So I have blended 3 batches of slurry and filled a large Rubbermaid container to the half way point, and my Mo-eckle is at the ready! I dip.... and lift.... and voila!! Uniform layer of fibres await paperhood! I am excited :) It looks pretty good!

Then things start to fall apart... literally!!

If you watched the Chancery Paper Making video I posted, you will be familiar with the process of transferring the paper from the mold onto specially made felt batts by the "coucher". They invert the mold over the bat and starting at one edge and pressing down with an even pressure roll the mold in a continuous motion which transfers the paper layer to the batt.   

I soon discovered that my all-in-one design was somewhat problematic when trying to emulate the motion of the workers in the video. The inside edge of the deckle acts a bit like velcro and hangs on to the paper fibres laying next to it and won't let go, even when I tried to free it with a finger or the tip of a butter knife. Too, being able to ensure even contact with the felt batt is hampered unless it is lined up PERFECTLY within the Mo-eckle's cutout. I also noticed that while the layer was uniform, it was overly thin and fibres had clung to the screen itself; I am now thinking that I over blended the slurry... 

Sigh! I will have to have another go with a coarser mix and see if that doesn't help; I now realize that with over 2000 years of paper making advice available to me, maybe a little less innovation, and a little more discipline on my part is in order here.