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The Process of Making Paper
Paper on which people could print books or jot notes has not always been around. Before paper, people wrote on stone, clay, metal, parchment, and papyrus. It was only about 105 A.D. when the invention of paper came to be. A man named Ts’ai Lun in
After Ts’ai Lun discovered the method for making paper, knowledge of this process spread to Japan and Korea, to North Africa, and then into Europe through Spain. From Europe, the process of papermaking spread to the
You can still make paper the “old-fashioned way.” This activity walks you through the process of making paper by hand.
Materials: Two tubs large enough to fit frame and deckle
Water
Blender
Colored napkins torn into small pieces
Wool papermaking felts (you can substitute couching paper or dish towels)
Frame and Deckle (available for purchase online or can be made following the directions provided)
1) There are some main steps in the papermaking process. First of all, pulp is necessary to make paper. Plant material, known as cellulose, is a necessary ingredient in pulp. This material must first be cut into small pieces and cooked in water and chemicals to break down the fibers. Then, the material is washed and bleached so that the paper will be bright white. Now the material is called “half-stuff” because it needs to go through another round of beating and washing before it can be diluted with water to create pulp suitable for papermaking.
2) In order to create your own pulp you can start with napkins (colored napkins make fun paper). Tear or cut them up into small pieces. Fill the pitcher of an old blender 2/3 full with water. Add a hand-full or two of napkin pieces and blend for about one minute. Pour the pulp into one of the tubs. You will need to repeat this step until you have enough pulp for dipping the frame and deckle.
3) After stirring the pulp, hold the frame and deckle together as a sandwich – back to back – with the deckle facing upward. Dip down into the pulp with a scooping motion, gathering the pulp on the screen. Bring the frame and deckle up out of the pulp and hold it over the tub so that water can drain off of the fibers and through the screen. Remove the deckle, leaving the paper on the frame.
4) The next step in the process is couching (pronounced “kooch-ing”). Couching is pressing the paper to get as much water out of it as possible. In couching, the paper on the frame is flipped over and pressed against a piece of wet wool felt on a slanted table. The water runs off the table and into a tub to drain. You can couch on a flat table, but be sure to keep an empty tub under the edges to catch the water. After couching, lift the screen off of the paper and place another piece of felt on top of it. You can continue to layer paper and felt alternately until you have created a stack.
5) Now it is time to press the paper further. Pressing the paper removes even more water, and helps the pulp to stick together in sheets of paper. A paper maker would create a stack of six quires (or 144 pieces), and then squeeze the stack in a huge press. You can accomplish the same effect by putting a sheet of plastic over your stack of paper and then piling heavy books on top. You will want to be sure to have a tub to catch water dripping away from the paper.
6) The paper maker would then remove the felts and press the paper once again. You will not have enough pieces of paper to complete this step. Let each student carefully peel his or her piece of paper off the stack. Place each sheet of paper on a paper towel and allow it to dry flat. It should be dry after 24 hours or so.
7) The paper maker also added sizing to dry paper. He dipped the dry paper into a glue-like substance and then dried it out again. The glue fills the spaces between the cotton fibers, sealing the paper and preventing it from absorbing ink. Since your paper is not sized, you will want to write on it only with ballpoint pen, crayons, or pencils.
8) After your class completes their papermaking activity, you may want to hold a think-aloud discussion about the process. What did the students learn about the papermaking process? What are the important steps in papermaking? What other materials could be used to make pulp? (Remember the Richmond Mill bough straw and rags.) What were the paper napkins made from in the first place? (Wood pulp)
How to make a frame and deckle:
You can make your frame and deckle out of two old picture frames of the same size. Though any size frame will work, a 5"x7" or 8"x10" is the easiest to work with. Remove the glass and backing from both frames. Stretch a fiberglass or plastic screen (available at hardware stores) tightly over the one of the frames. Attach the screen to the back of the frame with a staple gun. The second frame will be used as the "deckle" which makes the sheet of paper the desired size and gives it straight edges. (This information is taken from http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/paper2.html.)
