dopapier wrote:

I haven't tried it but it is referred to in the article I wrote about the 1600 pandas -
Click the tab 'articles' and you will find it there.

Basically, it helps if you have a very warm, dry atmosphere.  Remember that the drying process would process a lot of moisture.
DavidO

Thanks for pointing the way; it was an interesting read.

Last edited by Pachyrhinosaurus (2016-03-27 14:47:35)

One interesting thing about that Sermel video was the cardboard she was using.  I've never seen any cardboard that coarse.  They said it was recycled, but I wonder if they have it "processed" that way deliberately. It seemed to absorb water very quickly -- more quickly than the two kinds of cardboard that I have used:  the corrugated kind and the "cereal box" type.

Has anyone seen anything like she was using?

Sue

It's cardboard -- thick enough to have some substance, thin enough to mold to the curves.

Look at the 0:55 minute mark. It looks like rather coarsely chopped paper, formed just for the purpose.

Sue

That's what I thought!  It looks like recycled cardboard, but I've never seen anything like it. Of course, I may not be looking in the right places...

Sue

Thanks for clearing that up Jim! 😉

While it was raining yesterday (keeping me out of the garden), I tried a quick little experiment based on the video that Pachyrhinosaurus provided for us. I had never used cardboard for what I made in the past, just layers of paper. Cardboard could be a timesaver and make a piece stronger.

I had saved a few pieces of "cereal box cardboard". Everyone in the U.S. knows what I mean, but I'm not sure about other places. It's thin, non-corrugated cardboard. I ripped off a piece about 4x9" (102x229mm).

I put an inch or so of warm tapwater into the sink and added a few drops of dish detergent to break the surface tension (to help the cardboard absorb water faster), and let it sit for 10 minutes or so.

Then I pulled it out and looked at it. It was wet.  8-)  I didn't know if the printed surface would affect the experiment, so I peeled it off (much easier when wet). Then I dropped the cardboard back into the water for another 5 minutes while I answered the phone.

Continuing, I lifted the cardboard from the water and let it drain for about 10 seconds. Then I laid it in the bottom of a small saucepan and up the sides a bit (more on one side than the other) to see how it fit the curves. 

I pressed it down firmly.  It formed wrinkles at the tighter curves, which was expected.  I pressed them down with the top of my fingernail, but there were still noticeable lumps. 

I lifted one fold and used an Exacto knife to cut into the fold so I could overlap one edge over the other. Blades don't cut wet cardboard -- they just tear it crosswise. I pressed that one down back into its lump and lifted the other side.  This one I just tore, which worked far better. Then I laid the two 'flaps' down, one on top of the other. I didn't remove anything.  I pressed it down, then burnished it with the top of my fingernail.  MUCH BETTER.  Much flatter, esp in comparison with the folded lump on the other side.

When it dried completely, it still looked good. There was still a slight lump, but not nearly as bad as the fold on the other edge.

This could work very well, esp inside of a mold. I think it could even do well on the outside of a simple form (a large plastic egg, for example). As long as you never laid one 'lump' over another, the surface should remain relatively smooth.

Using it on the outside of a form, you would also have the option of tearing away bits of the overlapping pieces so you would have a perfectly flat surface, which would be ideal.  Even if you tore away a bit too much and the spot was a bit thin, it would be covered by the next layer of cardboard.  Just be sure when you add the next layer of cardboard that you lay the new pieces to cover the seams of the previous layer, for strength. Creating one seam on top of another (running in the same direction) would be guaranteed to create a weak spot.

If your project was fairly small, you may not want more than one layer of cardboard, so you could add a few or several layers of regular paper strips to strengthen it.

This short, one-step experiment was just to find out how pliable and adaptable thin cardboard would be.  I didn't use any glue, which would be necessary for a real project.

I did like the results, and will be trying it again on a real project.

Sue

It might work all right if he doesn't try to cover the entire mold at once, or do it too thickly.  I would try covering half with enough layers to keep it stable and let it dry, and then cover the over half. Then I woudl joint the two halves and start adding layers.