PAPER MACHE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 37, 13 February 1937, Page 11 (Supplement)

PAPER MACHE

HERE is an old Japanese craft which you will find very absorbing, ami as it requires no special tools you will he able, with a little patience, to turn out very useful articles at little cost. It is best to begin mnking something that has a simple shape, such as a bowl. You will require first a basin to be used as a mould ; this' should be one without Muting and which does not curve inwards at the top. Then you will want some fairly ?tout brown wrapping paper, the porous kind, not the sort with a shiny surface. Sugar bags are even better if you can get enough of them, and newspaper is also good, but takes much longer to work up. A pot of paste (not too thick), a tin of cellulose enamel and a paint brush, a sheet of tissue paper and a sheet of No. 1 sandpaper complete your equipment. This is how to make a papier maclie bowl: — Turn the mould upside down nnd smear it with lard or vaseline. Cover the whole with the sheet of tissue paper (you will see the reason for this later), and dab it with a piece of rag to make sure it is sticking evenly everywhere. Now tear the brown paper into strips of various lengths shaped something like the one shown. Do not cut out the strips with scissors, because you want a ragged edge. Tnke up one of the longest of the strips by the pointed end and dip it

in the paste, run it through your lingers to remove any surplus moisture, and lay it on the mould with the point at the centre of the bottom and the other end reaching towards

the rim. Paste another strip beside the first, overlapping the first strip very slightly, and proceed in this way, using the shorter pieces to fill in any spaces, until you have covered the mould once. , Now take a copying ink pencil nnrl make a continuous line right round the bowl over the paper- strips, but be careful not to press too hard or you will dislodge them. TJie object

of doing this is to sliow you where the first layer is, so as to avoid an unequal thickness. Proceed to put

on another layer in the same way, dabbing gently from time to time with the cloth.

When you have put on four layers ?ct the work aside for 24 hours to dry, and then stand the bowl up the right way and trim the rim with scissors, cutting the "paper level with the to]> of the basin. Three more layers should now be added and dried as before, and when you have 10 or 12 layers and the whole is thoroughly dry and the edge trimmed neatly, the mould is removed. To do this requires some care, but if you slip an old thin table knife between the mould and the paper -and gently loosen it, you will find that the papier innche bowl slips * off quite easily, thanks to the lard or vaseline. The next step is to finish off the rim by covering it with small uneven pieces of newspaper (sec diagram), and then when the whole is perfectly dry and hard, it should be rubbed down with the sandpaper to get an even surface. After this the bowl should have a coat of paste inside and out. Now comes the decorating. If you propose to use two colours choose- contrasting ones such as red and black, or blue and yellow. Enamel the ins!<ie first and then turn the bowl over and finish the outside. In an hour your bowl will be dry and hard, and, if you like, you can give it a second coat of enamel. It will then hold water, if you want it to.