Today in my History of the Book class we made paper. :) A local guy, Rob Buchart, runs his own fine-book press and makes the paper and so he showed us how it’s done. He took the fibers (shredded rags beaten to a pulp, basically) and stirred them into a vat of cold water, then took a mold (a rectangular wooden frame with horizontal and vertical metal lines to provide structure) and put the deckle (an empty wooden frame) on top of it. Dipping it into the vat and pulling it back out again, he gently shook it in a few directions to help the pulp settle on the mold and drain it. Off to the side he had some felt rectangles, and he took one, sprayed it with some water to dampen it, removed the deckle from the mold, and then pressed the mold onto the felt in a rolling motion to release the paper onto the felt. And then he covered it with another piece of felt to let it dry. We all got to do it, and on Thursday the professor will bring our paper to class. Mmm. :) Someday, when I have a more permanent residence, I want to start a printing press in my garage and make my own paper and everything else (or at least as much as possible). The only problem is money. It’s always money. ~sigh~ :)
[tags]paper, bookmaking, books[/tags]