The Origami Forum

I know very very little about professional paper for origami, like the type sold in Nicolas Terry's shops. I'm particularly interested in thickish papers, over 75 g/m2, and bigish as well, over 30 x 30 cm (12 x 12 in). They are very appropiate for containers, which I think is my favorite type of models.

That's why I have a couple of questions regarding the papers Nicolas offers in his shops:

There's a discovery pack for thick papers: http://www.origami-shop.com/en/pack-dis ... 8_683.html

1. What dimensions do the sheets in the pack have? How many papers are there in total?

2. Are any of them duo-color?

3. Which of the shops' thick papers would you recommend me and why?

There's a type a paper I have which is my favorite. It's thickish, I'd say like 110 g/m2. What I love about it is that, despite its thickness, it's very easy to fold and it doesn't wear down from folding or manipulating (in the case of using it in action models for example). Know what I mean?

4. Do those shops have papers that correspond to that description?


Help me out guys !

If you click on the item in your link, you get the following description:

Selection of our best origami papers from 110 to 116 gsm
Color subject to availability / exclusive "Origami-shop" product.
- 5 x Elephant Hide papers 20x20 cm (7.9"x7.9")
- 5 x Rhino Hide papers 24x24 cm (9.5"x9.5")
- 5 x Lizard Hide papers 24x24 cm (9.5"x9.5")
- 5 x Grainy 24x24 cm (9.5"x9.5")
- 1 x Yohishi marron x 24x24 cm (9.5"x9.5")

Oh... I didn't know. It's a pity they're so small.

Gerardo wrote:Oh... I didn't know. It's a pity they're so small.

Probably the reason they're so small is that the pack is for trying out each paper, to see what type of models each would suit. As for which paper you should use, i would recommend elephant hide - it is smooth, strong, and holds its shape well. It's main downside is that it has a rather small color palette. However, I have not actually tried the grainy or yoshisho matron papers, but to my knowledge elephant hide would suit your purposes best

I see . How flexible is elephant hide? Do you need to first score when dry folding or does it fold easily with just your hands?

Also, what 90 g/m2 do both shops offer?

If you take the 110gsm elephant hide it is easily possible to fold it with your hands, although a bone folder helps. It is a good paper for wet folding and also takes all kinds of paint really good. The paper itself looks a little bit marbled. It is a very good folding paper for models that benefit from its stiffness. It is also a paper that can take a lot of wear. My partner has a folded card case out of elephant hide that lasts a good two years when used on a daily basis, then I need to fold him a new one. Initially there was a big variety of vivid colours available in huge sizes. But some years ago they reduced the palette to only a few earth tones and light blue. It also gets increasingly harder to get the big sheets.

Regarding the 90gsm paper, on the right side of origami-shop is a multi criteria search, there you can choose the weight you want and get fitting results.
But the only way to find out whether a paper fits your needs is to try it. Therefore I would really recommend you to order the discovery packs and just try those papers. You might be surprised about the differences. Don't rely on others experiences. Just because someone likes a paper doesn't mean that someone else has to feel the same and vice versa. Different models need different paper and the discovery pack gives you the unique opportunity to try a big array of papers without having to buy a whole pack of it. The papers in the discovery pack might not be as big as you like them, but they are big enough to get a feeling for the paper and see whether you like them or not. If you found a paper you like, you can still order it in a bigger size.

If you want to learn more about different kinds of paper, I recommend that you read Ilan Garibi's paper reviews on OrigamiUSA. He has reviewed more than 20 kinds of paper and these articles have helped me a lot. Here is the first one and it's about Elephant Hide: https://origamiusa.org/thefold/article/ ... phant-hide

However, I agree with origami_8 that there is no replacement for trying out different papers yourself. It's very hard to convey some properties in writing which you easily recognize when you hold the paper in your hands. There are also matters of personal preference, so you just have to try using the paper in order to learn if you like it or not.

Thanks guys!

For now, I've asked a friend if he has a little of elephant hide that I can try out. I also checked out Ilan's review on the paper. WOW, he really says a lot of positive things about it. I see now that that paper comes from a single brand... it's a lot more exclusive than what I thought .

mkosmul wrote:If you want to learn more about different kinds of paper, I recommend that you read Ilan Garibi's paper reviews on OrigamiUSA. He has reviewed more than 20 kinds of paper and these articles have helped me a lot. Here is the first one and it's about Elephant Hide: https://origamiusa.org/thefold/article/ ... phant-hide.

Also go to the happy folding reviews: http://www.happyfolding.com/paper-reviews_introduction

There are 29 papers reviewed here and most of them are for different papers than the ones reviewed at
OrigamiUSA

Awesome!... I didn't know that .

Actually now that I look again there are 29 paper reviews on both sites for pretty much the same papers.
Its just that the page I had bookmarked on the first site only shows a small selection of all the papers reviewed.

If you prefer to read these reviews in OrigamiUSA formatting (the reviews themselves are the same on both sites as far as I see), you can use the "paper" tag in the menu on the left: https://origamiusa.org/thefold/keywords/278

Now I get it. Thank you guys!