Fredrick Paget on sun 22 dec 02
This is interesting.
Anyone wondering how to get cotton fiber:
Hand made paper artists buy a sheet stock of cotton fiber from their
papermaking suppliers. It looks like thick soft white blotter paper and
consists of cotton fiber. It blunges up into a pulp very easily.
The other way to do it is to beat the hell out of wet cotton rags for a
couple of hours in a papermaking machine such as the Hollander beater.
.......
>I agree Fibre content in the clay is a must...
>Ask your supplier to go with pure cotton rag.
>It will *eliminate* the bad smell.
>The beauty is the strands are all 4-6 mm long
>and when properly blended with no clumping
>it adds a strength that is simply..amazing.
>When you tear/snap the clay wet or dry..
>the ragged edge reveals the fibres in alignment
>They act as threads sewing, knitting everything together.
>With some crushed grog to act as anchor.
>As you mention greater physical possibilities in form are realized.
.........
>Bvcuma
From Fred Paget, Marin County, California, USA
BVCuma on mon 23 dec 02
Anyone wondering how to get cotton fiber:
Hand made paper artists buy a sheet stock of cotton fiber from their
papermaking suppliers.
_________________
Hi Fred,
In India small industry handmade paper factories are common.
They get the cotton from the garment industry waste
that comes in the form of cotton t-shirt type material...
White in colour only.
Though you can get tan colour "raw" unbleached loose fill "sheets"
at upholstry suppliers too...but this is not so good for clay additions,
as it contains bits of plant hard material and has longer fibers
that do not break up so well..
Anyway,
back at the factory..
they machine shred then process it in vats with agitators etc.
When the material is completely reduced to pulp,
they make sheets with hand operated loom type (kinda) equipment
that efficiently form various types of paper sheet
that are stacked and weighted down till dry..
then cut and processed into numerous products..
from marble coloured or flower containing decorative styles,
to art paper of different texture and size .. loose sheets or in book form,
stationaries and other miscellaneous items.
Very interesting to take a walk around and see the works in process.
Bvcuma
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