Handmade vs machine made unryu

leung_wwy · Post by **leung_wwy** » January 17th, 2011, 11:03 am

Hi just wondering - how can I tell if unryshu is handmade or machine made?

I bought some unryushi from a shop in Sydney but the colours are horridly vivid and the paper is feel a bit thick.

I also bought some unryushi from Singapore a few months back and they were almost see through, very thin with even vertical (or horizontal, depending which side you take) patterns on it. The vertical patterns are not too visible but you can definitely see them as if the wet pulp was lay out on a try with vertical lines and dried.

it would be good if someone can tell me if one is handmade and one is machine made.
thanks!

FrumiousBandersnatch · January 17th, 2011, 6:06 pm

I'm fairly certain that all unryushi is by definition hand made. I think if it was to be made by machine, the fibers would line up, forming a grain much the way standard printer paper does. Am I correct here, everyone else?

Post by **origami_8** » January 17th, 2011, 6:18 pm

The vertical lines you describe sound like if it is machine made paper. Machine made paper is pressed between two big rolls. This forces the fibres more into the milling direction. That's the reason machine made paper folds easier in one direction than the other. Hand made paper on the other side is usually made as single sheets that are pressed individually. Therefore the fibres have no preferred direction and the sheet folds equally in both directions.
So if you want to know whether it is machine made paper or not you can try to bend the paper in both directions and look if it goes easier in one direction than the other. This of course is no 100% accurate test but it is as good as you can know without having a proof.

FrumiousBandersnatch · January 17th, 2011, 6:21 pm

those vertical lines are formed sometimes by the mold, the screen on which the pulp is caught and formed into a sheet.

orislater · Post by **orislater** » January 17th, 2011, 6:54 pm

yeah i have tiny lines like that on my origamido

FrumiousBandersnatch · January 17th, 2011, 6:59 pm

Yup, because it's made with a mold and deckle

orislater · Post by **orislater** » January 17th, 2011, 7:01 pm

i wonder if machine made origamido would be crap?

FrumiousBandersnatch · January 17th, 2011, 7:17 pm

From what I understand, it likely would. The mold and deckle process, along with the hand mixing of the fibers, etc allow the different strands of abaca (and sometimes hemp) to intertwine , which is what gives the paper it's strength.