New to origami

[GreyGeese]

I have been folding for about 2 weeks. It can be rewarding if I get past the frustration part. I am starting with John Montroll's "Origami for Beginners" kit. I am currently on the bird book, and I really don't believe that it is for beginners!
My biggest issue is paper thickness. Several steps in, many layers have built up. I find it impossible to fold all the layers at once into small details (such as feet) or thick features (such as crimps.) How do you experts deal with this? Is really thin paper available?
Getting things to line up perfectly (especially sharp points) is also an issue, but will hopefully improve with practice.

Thanks.

[rayphoenix1080]

Hey! Welcome to the wonderful world of folding!! lol! Yeah, really thin folding paper is out there, and I don' tknow what paper, if any, came with your kit. You can go to your local craft store and they have precut squares of differnt colors, patterns, and thicknesses. Or you could try one of these sites:

http://www.fineartstore.com/cgistore/st ... &ida=12626

http://www.origami-usa.org/thesource/agora.cgi

http://kimscrane.com/catalog/

There are MANY others, these are just my personal favorites. If you want to find more, you can just search for them online. Good luck!

[GreyGeese]

Thanks. The kit came with Dover's house-brand of paper. Seems pretty good, but a bit small. I bought larger sheets from a brand called "Fold-Ems" and it is thicker.
Thin paper won't completely solve the problem, though. Any tips for getting neat folds through a lot of layers? (Especially crimps, which triple the thickness?)

[TheRealChris]

Hello GreyGeese, welcome to the forum

ray, what makes you think, that GreyGeese is living in the USA? this is an international board, so we first need to know if GreyGeese is from Japan, India, Uruguay or wherever

Instead of using thinner paper, you could also use larger sheets.

we have a really interesting thread about exactly that theme
viewtopic.php?t=49

[GreyGeese]

Yes, I am in the US. As I said, the tradeoff I ran into was the larger sheets being thicker. Your link showed a preference for foil, so I may try that. Are 10" squares considered large? (those are the largest I have seen to buy through the links above.)
Right now, the hardest thing for me is being persistent and not giving up. Enough people love origami to convince me that I can get good at it, but these early learning stages are tough!

[rayphoenix1080]

yeah, persistance will pay off, so don't give up. Foil is fine to fold with, but check the thread that TheRealChris suggested. You'll find that foil has some disadvnatages as well as advantages, but then again, so do all papers. So look there and see what paper suits you best.

[origami_8]

The paper that comes with the kit is really nice and thin, there are also foil papers included. I really thought on buying a second kit when I saw the paper. So I can only second the others that larger paper and precise folds will help.

[GreyGeese]

I do think the supplied paper is thin enough, but for a newbie like me it is too small for some of the models. I have ended up ordering larger sheets of several types (Dover included) to experiment with. Hopefully, one of them will turn out to be a favorite.
As for precise folds, I do fold slowly and carefully, but things still don't always line up just right. Presumably, that is just a matter of practice.
(One of the most difficult things is making a fold that ends at an existing vertex. If I am off in one direction, the paper crumples. If I am off in the opposite direction, the paper tears.)
I have ordered a few books. Hopefully at least one will fall in-between "Easy Origami" and the other two books in the kit. To me, it seems like a big jump.

[GreyGeese]

I am continuing to make progress, and now I have a few new questions for you experts:
1)Do you precrease everything, or do you let the creases for some of the easier folds (eg reverse fold) form on their own?
2)When a mountain fold needs to be converted to a valley fold (in a petal fold, eg), do you "help it along" by pinching the crease, or should it happen on its own?
3)Do you have any tips/tricks for working with small details such as toes, especially when many layers are involved?

[Jonnycakes]

1) If the fold is important to the fundamental structure of the model, precreasing is generally the way to go. If it is a shaping fold, though, generally precreasing isn't necessary. You will start to get the hang of it as you fold more.
2) Definitely help it along by pinching it. Folds don't just magically reverse themselves when they need to be As you get more experienced you will develop your own little methods of performing certain folds-there is no prescribed formula as to exactly how to do every fold, but there are easier and there are harder ways of doing them-you will find them out on your own soon enough if you keep folding.
3) It takes a good feel for the paper to work with small details by hand. Don't expect them to be perfect-small details are very hard. You can also use tweezers or a toothpick if you feel the need, but, in my experience, they generally aren't necessary. I try not to use tools like that unless I'm doing something REALLY small (i.e. small details on dollar bill folds).

Good luck and happy folding!

[GreyGeese]

Good luck and happy folding!

Thank you. I have spent way too much money already ordering books and paper. It is worth it to me, though, because I can already see that this is going to be an endlessly fascinating and involving hobby. (In fact, at the moment, it is taking precedence over all my other hobbies.)
The best newbie book I have tried so far is Montroll's "Teach Yourself Origami". I like it much better than his "Easy Origami" because it explains how to do each type of fold, rather than just showing examples. The questions aked above are ones he does not address.
Your help is appreciated. Sometimes, origami can be intimidating. (I still have managed a double rabbit ear that I am entirely satisfied with.)