Making large sheets of paper
Megan Page is showing the full frame for the sheet of paper. This frame is made out of 2×4 wood with silkscreen material.
Place the frame off the floor.
Megan is illustrating the slimy nature of formation agent.
This bucket hold several gallons of abaca pulp.
Abaca pulp is added to the 5 gallon pail of formation agent.
Water is added to fill the pail and mix the pulp.
Add water until the pail is full.
A spray hose is used to dampen the screen.
Megan secures the screen while Jim pours the pulp and formation agent onto the screen. Pour the solution as quickly as possible, without spilling it over the edge of the frame.
Quickly pick up the frame and rock the pulp slurry from side to side so that the pulp is distributed evenly over the frame.
The rocking may take a few minutes to allow the water to drain from the frame.
Once all of the water has drained, the wet frame can be set on supports.
In this case, we placed the wet sheet and frame on two large trash cans.
Take the shop vac and begin to suck water from the under side of the frame. The attachment is placed on the silk screen material.
The shop vac attachment must be moved all over the sheet to remove as much water as possible.
Continue moving the attachment all over.
The sheet should be left to dry for a day or two.
Once the sheet is dry, it must be carefully removed from the screen.
Carefully remove the entire sheet from the screen.
Students inspect a dry sheet
