Category Archives: Paper Mould Making

Following are some dimensions for deckle joints. I make two ‘weights’ of deckles; ‘light’ and ‘standard’ (which correspond to ‘light’ and ‘standard’ moulds). I have long felt that small moulds tend to be overbuilt and have recently ‘slimmed down’ the wooden parts of those smaller than about 16″ x 20″. These joints are based onContinue reading “#36 Deckle Joint Dimensions”

Rounding the Outside Edges First the corners are sawed off at 45 degree angles. This can be done on the table saw using this overhanging fence. This roughing stage is finished. The lower deckle has been partially rounded over with a router. One more fine cut will take off the last rough saw marks. ThisContinue reading “#41 Shaping the Deckle Part 1”

The clamps can be removed after a few hours, leaving hardened globs of epoxy here and there. But the epoxy stays sticky for a while so is best to let it cure overnight before removing the excess. This can be cleaned up with a coarse file or with a chisel. A chisel works best onContinue reading “#40 More Deckle Details”

Applying paste wax to the outside of the parts makes it a little easier to remove the excess epoxy that squeezes out. The parts should be pushed up tight to keep the paste wax from getting into the joints. The deckle parts fit together in a rotating pattern so they have to be assembled inContinue reading “#39 Gluing the Deckle”

A deckle serves as a ‘fence’ to ‘corral’ a rectangle of pulp as it is deposited on the wires of a mould. In order for the edges of the paper to have neat ‘deckle edges’ the inner rim of the deckle is given a special shape, composed of very subtle convex curves on the twoContinue reading “#38 Deckle Rim Curvature”

The joints have been finished and now the four parts can be put together to form a rectangular ‘frame’. But the parts still need to be adjusted in a couple of ways to fit the mould before the joints are glued. In this post the the parts will be trimmed to create a small gapContinue reading “#37 Fitting the Deckle to the Mould”

This is the last of four posts describing this way of shaping a traditional deckle joint. At the end of the previous post we left the joint at the stage shown at the back. Cutting away the part labeled “A” has made it possible for both tenons to slide partway into the joint but theContinue reading “#35 Deckle Joinery: Tenon End, Part 3”

The end of the last post left us with two tenons ready to be fitted into spaces left in the other half of the deckle joint. Both tenons were cut to the correct thickness and now both need to be trimmed to width. The simpler lower tenon is the first to be fitted. It onlyContinue reading “#34 Deckle Joinery: Tenon End Part 2”

The next three posts will show how the other half of the deckle joint is made. This half of the joint takes longer so the process is broken into segments. One side of a saw cut establishes the bottom surface of the sliding dovetail; making it the right thickness to slide into the dovetail groove.Continue reading “#33 Deckle Joinery: Tenon End, Part 1”

I will now try to explain the making of a traditional British deckle joint; mimicking the form but using non-traditional methods. Its elaborate form must have evolved from the necessity of creating deckles that could stand the abuse of being ‘slapped’ onto moulds hundreds of times a day while being constantly in an out ofContinue reading “#32 Deckle Joinery: the Mortise Side”