Crafting Notebook Using Ancient Processes

Hi there ,I always wanted to make some thing from scratch which I did in this instructable.

Paper making is an ancient process, the first paper that was created was using a plant called papyrus. but later it started happening from tree barks, tree leaves , hay stack, rice straw and so on .In this instructable I will be using rice straws. Then after some thinking I didn't just wanted to make paper , so why not make a full note book. then I decided to do Batik printing on the book cover which originated in java in ancient times.

there by incorporating these two ancient processes I made notebook.

Tools for paper making:

two buckets

wooden pole

plastic vat

a pot for boiling

induction oven/ gas oven

blender

saw/ jigsaw

hammer

gun stapler

scissors

strainer

kitchen weigh machine

few bowls as needed

cotton sheet/ bed sheet (for placing moist paper)

sponge

Materials for paper making:

dried rice straws ( i used a full bucket )

okra (few 100 grams)

soda ash

few 2 inch nails

fiberglass mesh/ mosquito net ( 13"x11")

3/4 inch plywood (13"x8")

Tools for batik printing:

wax melter (I used a small pot and put it on stand and put a oil lamp under the pot to melt the wax)

some bowls that can hold 1L of water

masking tape

Materials for batik printing:

15"x12" cotton sheet

turmeric powder

grinded coffee

paraffin/ beeswax

Tools for book binding:

thick needle

g-clamps

PVA adhesive glue

two 1F wooden sticks

cutter

metal scale

Materials for book binding:

2mm thick grey board

4 ply thread

First I cut four 1"x11" plywood and four 1"x13" plywood. then placed one 1"x11" plywood at one end of the 13"x1" plywood perpendicularly so that 1" of the 13" plywood gets overlapped, marked the points on each of the plywood through which it will be joined and drill a hole through the points , then hammered a 2" nail through those holes. similarly I joined two another 11" and 13" plywood cutout. Then joined the two 13"-11" plywood assemblage so that the inner frame has 10" breadth and 12" length. the mould is done.(Refer image 1,2,3,4,5,6,7)

similarly I made another frame of the same dimension as the mould.((Refer image 8 )

Then I started attaching the 13"x11" fiberglass mesh from one side using a gun stapler. and like that the deckle is done.( use the stapler properly so that the tension of the mesh is even through out the frame.)(Refer image 9,10)

To make the pulp first I gathered the rice straw(about 2" cut rice straw) in a bucket. Then poured water into the bucket so that the rice straws could be submerged ,and with a wooden pole stirred the straws, I did this to clean the straws of any dirt, and left it for couple of minutes. After cleaning I put the straws in another bucket squeezing the excess water.(Refer image 1,2,3)

Then again I poured water in the second bucket submerging the rice straws. I put about 50-60 gm of soda ash in that mixture and left that mixture for about 24 hours like that. The soda ash is used to soften the straws for better handling.(Refer image 4,5,6 )

After soaking the straws for 24 hours I squeezed the water and put the moist straws in another bucket.(Refer image 7,8)( For me, after squeezing the excess water the moist rice straws weighed about 2 kg)

To further soften the rice straws, in a boiling pot I poured water and the moist straws and boiled it for about 2 hours.(I boiled it with 1 part water and 1 part rice straw ratio). Also put about 10 gm of soda ash into the mixture for 1L of water.( I used a small pot so to boil the 2kg straws I had to do it four times, so you should use a bigger pot and also use a cover )(Refer image 9,10,11 )

After boiling I squeezed out the excess water and started cutting the straws into finer length so its easy to blend in later step.(make sure the straws are soft enough before cutting so its easier and faster to cut, that's why I didn't cut it earlier.)(Refer image 12,13 )

Then I put the the finely cut and boiled rice straws into the blender .(1part straw with 1/2 part water)I blended it thoroughly ,gradually increasing the speed of the blender until it became a slurry pulp. Then gathered the slurry pulp in a big bowl.(Refer image 14,15,16)

Now I chopped some okras and boiled it for about an hour( few chopped okras in 1L water). After boiling it I extracted the gooey syrup produced by the okras ,which will be used as a formation aid for the paper.(Refer image 17,18,19)

Like that the pulp and the formation aid is ready to make paper.

First I prepared the vat and poured a lot of water into it, then poured the slurry straw pulp and the gooey okra syrup into it. And mixed it thoroughly using a wooden pole.( I poured 8 part water with 1 part pulp and 1 part formation aid)(Refer image )(In the image I used thick pvc sheet elevated by wooden frame as a vat cause my vat got damaged, so use a proper plastic vat which is easily available in store.)

Then holding the mould on top of the deckle I put it into the mixture and gently shaking the hand I brought out the mould-deckle from the mixture, there by producing a thin layer of pulp on the screen. Then I held the mould-deckle for few seconds so the excess water leaves.(By moving the the mould-deckle slightly try to create a layer of even thickness, and the more inside the mixture you put the deckle the thiker the layer of pulp becomes)

Now I slowly removed the mould from the deckle. And gently placed the deckle on a cotton sheet so that the thin layer of pulp sets on the sheet. Now I used a sponge to further soak the water out of the pulp. Lastly removed the deckle gently, there by producing a screen of pulp on the sheet.( soak as much water as you can using the sponge, the more water is out the faster it dries)

Just like that I made about 24 layers of pulp and distributed it on a cotton sheet , left it to dry for 24 hours.

After 24 hours it I gently pulled the sheet of paper from one side , so that it doesn't wrinkle I put all the dry sheets of paper in a stack and put a heavy weight on the stack. After leaving it for 12 hours I got some plain sheets of paper.( Do not pull the paper if it isn't dried enough or it will tear )

First I poured about 1L of water in a bowl and 20ml vinegar to it which will be used as a mordant so that the color dye sticks to the cloth sheet properly. In another bowl put 3 tbs of turmeric powder in 1L of water and mixed it.

Now I put the 15"x12" cloth sheet in the water-vinegar mix and stirred it using a wooden stick. Left it for couple of minutes then wringed out all the water and put the damp cloth sheet into the turmeric powder mix. Occasionally stirred the cloth with the wooden stick .left it for an hour in that mixture.

After an hour I pulled out the cloth, wringed out the water and left for drying.

After drying, I secured the cloth sheet on a board using masking tape and started drawing a easy pattern for batik printing.

Now I started applying melt wax as per the drawing using a paint brush.(Make sure while applying the wax the wax is spreading through one side to the opposite side or else it might not work)(you can also place the clothe sheet slightly elevated from the board while applying the wax so it doesn't stick to the board.)

Now to prepare the darker shade I boiled 1L of water with 5tbs of grinded coffee and left it to cool down a bit.

Then I gently folded the wax drawn cloth and submerged it into the warm coffee mixture. I left it submerged in it for 6 hours , occasionally stirring the cloth for an even shade.

After soaking it for 6 hours I pulled out the cloth and gently wringed out the excess dye.(The more time you leave it for the darker the shade will be, and also while wringing ,the wax cracks here and there through which the dark shade goes into, creating a unique batik pattern.)

After the dyed cloth is dried completely , to remove the wax from the the cloth ,I boiled some water in a big bowl and put the cloth in that hot water and stirred it using a stick. The wax melts in that hot water ,to further remove the wax I pulled out the cloth and using a toothbrush rubbed the cloth thoroughly. when all the wax is removed I left it for drying.(some amount of color may bleed while putting it into the hot water)

Like that the batik printing is done.

First I created three segments each consisting of 5 paper. Then bended each of the segments along the middle. Then using a thick needle created 5 holes as per the image in all the 3 segments. After this I put the 4ply thread through the needle and kept about 5F thread. Then using simple kettle stitch joined the three segments together.

Now I positioned two 1F sticks at the sewn side on both faces and using two g-clamps secured it there.

Then I applied some PVA glue on the sewn side and left it for drying.

Now I cut a 8.75"x5.5" grey board and placed it on the dried paper stack. then marked as per the dimension of the grey board. Then holding a metal scale along the marked lines on the paper i started cutting the paper.

Now cut some more grey boards as per the dimension in the image .place the cut outs as such the length is 1F . then held the cutouts in that position using masking tape.

Then I placed the dyed cloth on the grey board cut out assemblage as such the batik pattern is in the middle. Then using glue I pasted the clothe on the grey board cut outs. Also glued the extra cloth on the other face of the cut outs.

Now I applied some glue in the middle of the grey board first and placed the sewn stack of paper, then also applied more glue on the pages that will be sticked to the grey board-cloth assemblage. Finally the notebook is all done , I left some weights on the note book to give it a proper flat shape.

I really had fun crafting this notebook from scratch using the historical process of paper making and Batik printing. Hope you fine this instructable fun.