Handmade paper dried!

Finally the paper from the other day has dried and it came out with a really interesting, but nice, texture. The paper got a bit wavy during the drying process but I think its part of the charm really :P
The other image is a close up on the little logo I pressed into the paper whilst it was still wet so it's permanently debossed, which I also really like.

Success!

Handmade Paper

I've wanted to try making my own paper for a while now but never really had a reason to do it for. Now that it's the end of year, I thought it would be good to try making some to go as the cover for my portfolio. Hopefully they will turn out OK!

First, tear up scrap paper and soak in a tub of water.

When the paper has been soaked through, put it in a blender and blend it until it turns into pulp. (I added in a bit of plain flour under the suggestion of my friend)

Drain out the water through a sieve or if you have window screen that will work too!

I laid it out onto a piece of foil (for easier handling)

I patted the pulp down into a rectangle slightly smaller than I wanted, laid a piece of table cloth over it and sponged off the excess water, then got a glass bottle and rolled it out more flat and this will push the pulp to spread out more. 

WCFM Tour in Manchester - Burgess Beds

Just came back from a very exciting trip to Manchester visiting industrial factories in furniture making.
On the second day we went to visit Burgess Beds - handmade mattresses and beds manufacturer, we learnt a lot of things about mattresses that we never even thought of before, although we sleep on one for almost half our lives.

A sample of all the fillings inside a mattress - something we always see but never pay much attention to.

I was fascinated by this machine made specially to stitch the seam on mattresses. It was attached the a table with a track for the machine to go around the perimeter of the mattress laid onto the table.

The 'pom poms' used to string through all the layers within the mattress, to keep all the fillings inside in place.

Another special machine made just for the making of mattresses - to compress it to put the pom poms through.

Pocket strings - comes in a row(?!) so it springs open uncontrollably when you open it so be careful.

All the organic materials that goes into the mattress for different levels of firmness. (Never knew what actually goes into the mattress, always thought it would just be some sort of foam.)

And ending it with a very nice illustration in their showroom.

Rivea

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Experiment into Human Intimacy

Experiment looking into human comfort and intimacy. Our group decided to investigate how humans of different degrees of familiarity interact with each other.

Work in Progress: Intelligent Making 2

Now, how I ever managed to go all this time without using this machine I don't know, but I'm slowly discovering the wonders of the hidden gems in the workshop that we were not inducted on at the beginning.

At the first stage of assembly - I was overjoyed to see it starting to take shape, as I imagined...

... also expected the back of the head rest was really troublesome because it was the only part that I found difficult to imagine and calculate, as it curves around and bends upwards at the same time

After all the welding was done, it was time for some angle-grinding and on the dremel (both of which I have never used before) so it was a good learning experience! My chair is finally taking shape so it's getting a bit nerve-wrecking and exciting at the same time!