Saturday, March 12, 2011

Hand-made corn paper (5) - Dissolving and Stirring (Charging) the pulp in water

For this step we need a large plastic tub filled with cold water. I add two handfuls of pulp into the water and stir the pulp. A frame with wire screen and a deckle are dipped into the water-pulp solution (slurry) to form the sheets.


A recommend Chapter 3 of the book "Making Your Own Paper: An Introduction to Creative Paper-making" by Marianne Saddington for easy to follow instructions on how to make a mold and a deckle. Chapter 7, Project 10, includes a recipe for making cornhusk paper. The book also includes instructions for projects on how to make a press for drying paper sheets.

For an instructional video on how to "charge" the pulp into the vat by Gretchen Sherberhorn (?) from Pyramid Atlantic follow this link: "Make Paper - Preparing the Vat with Pulp."