The Origami Forum

Hi to everyone. I'm new on this forum, and I know it's not that kind to start with questions, but I really need some help (and by the way forgive me for my bad english).

I have to write an essay about origami, and I would like to add some informations about the chemical-physical aspects of it: structure of the paper and paper fibers, how the water modifies the chemical structure...and so on.
Could you please refere me to some articles, books, or documentation on the argument? I already tried taking advance of my dear friend the search engine, but seem to be unable to find anything. So I'm totally in your hands.

Thanks a lot,
Carlo

http://www.langorigami.com/
This website may have some things,but I'm not sure.

Thank you very much, but still this isn't quite what I was searching for. It will be anyway useful for an eventual mathematical section of the essay, since Lang has written a lot about origami constructions.

You might try searching for "paper making" . Also, you could search for information from Michael Lafosse, because he considered to the the best Origami papermaker.

Search for all of the different types of paper commonly used in Origami, then search for each one. There are probably a hundred types but only about 10 common types, such as Kami (lots of info on that one), Elephant hide, mulberry paper, Koso (sp?), and so on. Then, look up "sizing."

Some of the folks more in-tune with paper, may have have search terms...

- Hank Simon

Minor correction: the water reacting with the sizing agent in the paper is not a chemical reaction, it is a physical one. The methylcellulose just dissolves in the water

Hank Simon, according to Hepburn's system of transliteration, it is "Kozo".

Best regardings,

Anderson.

Frumious is right-sizing is essentially a water-soluble glue. When a piece of paper is wetted (if it is sized), its sizing will dissolve. When it dries, the sizing dries as well, holding the paper in its new shape. Methylcellulose (or carboxymethylcellulose (sp?)) is used to surface-size papers that were not made with a sizing agent, making them wet-foldable.

FrumiousBandersnatch wrote:Minor correction: the water reacting with the sizing agent in the paper is not a chemical reaction, it is a physical one. The methylcellulose just dissolves in the water

Jonnycakes wrote:Frumious is right-sizing is essentially a water-soluble glue. When a piece of paper is wetted (if it is sized), its sizing will dissolve. When it dries, the sizing dries as well, holding the paper in its new shape. Methylcellulose (or carboxymethylcellulose (sp?)) is used to surface-size papers that were not made with a sizing agent, making them wet-foldable

Thanks a lot, I now have a lot of material to work on. First thing next morning (here in Italy it's 11pm), I'll do some search on sizing processes, and methylcellulose. Thanks for the correction, too: I thought it was a process involving the fibers or something like that.[/quote]

You'll want to look into hydrogen bonding - that's essentially what holds the paper fibers together. Adding sizing agents like MC enhances the bonding between the fibers, and helps hold it in shape when dry.

Here's a good resource on the papermaking process:
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~hubbe/MiniEncy.htm

Again, thank you very much. The hydrogen bond also allows me to link the essay to our official chemical studies. And the page you suggested me, well that's just perfect!