paper-making

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Waste…not! (2)

May 4, 2010 Shawn P. Wilbur
Not every batch of paper is a victory. If I get two good sheets out of this morning’s batch, I’ll consider myself lucky. But every attempt is a step towards competence in a new set of skills—and a commitment to a different way of thinking about the resources around me. Both are of some importance in the current situation. I left corporate bookselling at the point when the shift in culture transformed the job into something that I—a 25+ year veteran in the field—felt I was not competent to do—and could not see any point in becoming skilled at. There […]
Uncategorized

Waste…not!

May 3, 2010 Shawn P. Wilbur
I made a trip to the homebrewing store to pick up some calcium carbonate the other day, and over the weekend I made my first batches of paper with fiber entirely derived from junk mail, dryer lint, and whatever I could scrape off the countertop from the last couple of batches. The result was a simple, but rather pretty paper, with quite a bit of “confetti” effect from bits that didn’t blend down as smooth as the rest. The sheets are acid-free and take ink without smudging. As it turns out, I was even able to feed a sheet through […]
Contr'un

DIY Paper: Blending blue jeans, and other thorny details

April 17, 2010 Shawn P. Wilbur
There’s been quite a bit of interest in this project, so here’s an update: So far, so good. After just a couple of tries I’m getting sheets of paper attractive enough to start thinking about doing some binding with them. I’m doing simple “blender paper,” starting with fiber I know is acid- and lignin-free. Having built the mold by stretching window-screen over a cheap wooden frame, with a matching frame for a deckle, it’s really just a matter of blending bits of fiber-source down to the constituent fibers, mixing the mash with water in a tub, dipping out a sheet, […]
Contr'un

DIY: Paper

April 13, 2010 Shawn P. Wilbur
As part of the process of developing my workflow for Corvus, I’ve been trying to find the best way to handle the fairly considerable amount of scrap paper which is generated by the publishing process. Printing errors, test printings, failed experiments, unused corners and ends–all of this stuff piles up, and there is a lot more of it as I start to experiment with handbinding and with formats other than the 8.5×5.5 pamphlet. I’m fortunate to have very good recycling options here, so presumably nothing need go to waste. But an awful lot of what is piling up in the […]