Bobby Jones OUGD501
Making your own stock
Making your own stock Are you a designer who wants to create bespoke stock? Are you wanting to become more sustainable with your offcuts? Or are you simply looking for a rewarding project to do on a rainy day? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should try making your own stock. All you need is some recyclable paper, water, pan, screen, a blender and maybe a few other things.
What you will need? Some recycled paper - offcuts or newspaper Mixing bowl Large deep pan tray Liquid starch Blender 2 tea towels Towel Rolling pin Picture frame Pair of tights
Cut off one of the legs from the tights; this will act as the screen for your frame. Pull the tight over the frame and be careful not to rip the tight leg. Tie the excess of the tight securely, so the pulp will not find its way into the frame. Run a hot tap or boil the kettle if you fancy a cuppa. Do remember to pour the hot water into the mixing bowl.
Look here for tips during the individual processes.
Preparation
Step one Find your recyclable paper. Newspaper may be the easiest source to start with, but you can also use old print-outs, proof prints or offcuts just about any unwaxed paper product. Keep in mind that the colour of the papers you use. Remeber that the amount of dark ink on them will affect the “greyness” of your creation. Avoid using any glossy or shiny paper as it won’t work as well.
Alternatively, to avoid the ‘greyness’ it is possible to use vegetable oil food colouring.
1
Step two Try to remove impurities such as staples as thoroughly as possible. Tear the paper into small pieces. Don’t spend to much time on this step, but do break up the paper into smaller pieces, roughly one inch squared. Place the segments into the mixing bowl. Fill with warm water until the segments are covered and leave to soak for thirty to forty five minutes.
During this time you could make the screen for your frame.
2
Step three Turn the paper into pulp. Now that the recyclable paper is more wet and pliable, you can start the process of turning it into pulp. Blend the paper. Place all the stock into a blender until it’s about half full. Fill the blender with warm water. Run the blender on “slow” at first, then increase the speed until the pulp looks smooth and well-blended.
If you want to have whiter paper, half a cup of white vinegar can be added to the pulp mixture.
3
Step four Fill your large deep pan tray about halfway with water. The tray should be a little wider and longer than your frame and approximately the same shape. Add the pulp to the tray and stir. The amount of pulp you add to the water will determine the thickness of the stock, and while you want a dense suspension of pulp to fully cover your screen in the next steps, you don’t need to make the whole tub into sludge.
Experiment a bit. The thickness of can be changed from paper to cardboard depending on the amount of water added to the pulp. Have some fun with it.
4
Step five Remove any large clumps of paper. Try to pick out any clumps; the smoother and finer your mixture, the more uniform your end product will be. Seize the paper (optional). To seize the paper is to make it print friednly. For this you will need to stir 2 teaspoons of liquid starch into the pulp mix. The starch helps prevent ink from soaking into the paper fibres.
If you don’t add starch, the paper will be highly absorbent, and your ink will likely bleed quite easily. When making your next sheet, remember to add the liquid starch again, if wanting to print onto the surface.
5
Step six Immerse the frame in the mixture. Place your frame into the pulp, then level it while it is submerged. Lightly move it side-to-side until the pulp on top of the screen lies fairly uniformly flat. Lift the frame from the basin. Slowly lift up, until it is above the water. Drip-drain it over the basin. Wait until most of the water has drained from the pulp, and you’ll see the beginnings of a new piece of paper. If the paper is very thick, remove some of the pulp from the top. If it is too thin, add some more pulp and stir the mixture again.
Make sure to stir the mixture well again, to avioid an uneven stock. Even if if the initial stock is not to your liking.
6
Step seven After the water stops dripping (or nearly so), gently place the frame onto the towel, pulp side down. Take the tea towel in the frame on top of the pulp. Very gently press down to squeeze out excess water. Use the second tea towel to press out as much water as possible from the other side of the screen.
Do not rush this process. Let it drip dry for roughly ten to fifteen minutes. It will benefit in later steps.
7
Step eight Removing the paper from the frame. Once the paper is a little more dry, you can lift it from the screen. You can gently press out any bubbles and loose edges at this point by using the rolling pin, while a tea towel is on top of the frame. Gently lift the frame. The wet sheet of paper should remain on the fabric. If it sticks to the screen, you may have pulled too fast or not pressed out enough water.
If you do not have a rolling pin or the rolling pin is too big, you can fashion one out of the tea towels.
8
Step nine Set the paper out to dry. Take the piece of paper and lay it out to dry on a flat surface. Alternatively, you can speed up the drying process by using a hair dryer (on the low setting). Your stock can take a few days to dry, depending on the weight. After this your paper will be ready to do what you like with, congratulations and enjoy your own recycled paper.
Repeat the above steps to make additional sheets. Continue adding pulp and water to the basin as needed.
9