I’m teaching a class in basic paper-making on July 20th at the maker space, it’ll be making pulp with the contents of my shredder. I’ve mentioned previously that I’ve done classes like this before.

Once I did a demo for another organization using flowers and herbs embedded in the pulp itself. That was very successful. Papermaking is easy to do, particularly if you have a paper shredder. Turning the shreds into pulp is a great way to prevent identity theft.

Run your shreds through a blender, scoop the pulp up with a specialty frame and press out the excess water with a few weighted objects. Once it dries, random letters may appear, but there’s no way to piece together anything with usable information. I’ve seen tv shows and movies where they painstakingly piece together shredded documents, but the reality is, it would take an incredible number of hours to gain useful information.

I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it’s unlikely for regular people to have their shredded documents pieced back together when there are easier ways of recovering data from computers and phones. But movies and television featuring criminals and spies would be less exciting to watch.

So – now that I’ve wandered off track — I have two sessions planned for paper-making, about a month apart. I have a brand new press to try. I’ve been using a wooden press I acquired many years ago. It’s just two pieces of wood with carriage bolts on the corners that get screwed down. The wet pulp is not particularly good for the bare wood. I also have two bamboo cutting boards that I stack bricks on to use as a press. The bamboo is less prone to the water damage, but still not ideal.

I almost had a 12-ton hydraulic press, but I couldn’t figure out where I would store it at the maker space. It would have been free, but by the time I figured a place for it, it had been sold. It might have been overkill for making paper. It certainly would have flattened it.

So far no one has signed up for the classes. Monday, I’m taking samples and items made from handmade papers to show what can be done. I hope that helps. Otherwise, the classes will be cancelled.