More Pâper Mâché on the Column - Part 39

 I am back from my vacation and once I caught up on everything that needed to be done, I started working on the carousel again.  When I left off last blog post, I had added the top and bottom pieces of the carousel and had covered them with tape.  This week I have been working on covering those areas with paper mâché.  I know readers are tired of seeing the same picture, but this is a photo of the column with four layers of paper mâché on it. I still have two to go.

The first layers top and bottom were added by the regular strip method of applying paper mâché.  It took a long time and is partly why I did not finish all the layers this week.  After that, I decided to work smarter not harder and figured out a different way to add the paper mâché layers.  

Anyone that works with paper mâché will tell you that the first layer is the hardest one to get on because it has more difficulty adhering to the surface.  That was one of my reasons for wanting the first layer to be done it strips.  Working in small pieces made it easier to get each strip pasted down well.  

As I blogged in an earlier post, I had originally planned to have the top and bottoms of the column added as trim pieces that were not connected to the main column.  I changed my mind midstream on that because the ring of the column did not have a large enough gluing area for when it is attached to the platform.  By attaching the trim to the column, it gives a much larger gluing area.

To speed up the process, I decided that using large circles of newsprint would be the quickest way to get this piece finished.  I used a compass to draw circles that were larger than the column.  I folded the circle of paper in half and then in quarters so that I would have some reference lines to find the center of the circle.  I snipped a small line with scissors to have a starting point.

At this point I want to digress for a minute to tell you about my method for keeping my work surface clean while working on paper mâché pieces of this size.  As you can see from the photos, I have my work surface covered with plastic to protect the table.  At this point I placed a piece of Press and Seal over the plastic where I was working.  (Press and Seal has a waxy coating on one side that allows it to be pressed down firmly to stay in place.) I lay the circle down on the Press and Seal area and spread paper mâché paste on one side.  Then I flipped it over and spread paste on the other side.  Then I covered the top, rim, and part of the side of the column inside and out with paste.  After that, I gently lifted my pasted circle of paper and centered it on the column. 

(When I finished with pasting the circles on the Press and Seal, I can just pull up the plastic, fold it up and throw it away.  My work surface is still nice and clean and does not have any of the little flour paste pieces that flake and get everywhere as the paste dries.  Getting rid of the paste leftovers quickly means the work surface stays clear and is less of a mess to clean up before the painting begins.)

Once the circle was centered on the column, I used more paste to smooth the circle onto the column.  When that was firmly attached, I used a pair of old scissors (do not use good scissors for this) to cut along the reference lines I had folded into the paper up to the edge of the column.  The little snips I had made in the center made it easy to find the reference lines under all the paste.  So, I cut the lines all the way to the edge of the column, then folded the triangular pieces down onto the inside of the column and made sure they were pasted down well.  The inside was not as neat as the outside and has a few wrinkles, but no one will ever see it.

Next, I burnished the paper to the rim of the trim pieces using more paste to make sure that the rim was secured well.  At this point the circle still spread beyond the base of the trim.  I used scissors to make small cuts around the paper circle so that I could fold in small pieces of the edge to the underneath side of the trim and down the side of column.   I wish I had taken a picture of that step.  This explanation is not great.  I guess the best I could compare it to would be to use a sewing term.  In garment sewing, they tell you to trim the seam and clip the curves using small cuts on the edge of the fabric to allow the fabric to bend around a curve.  That is what I am trying to explain here.

I suppose people that work with paper mâché are wondering why I used scissors rather than tearing the paper.  Most people know that scissors will leave a hard edge on the project while tearing creates a deckled edge that does not leave a hard edge.  In this case, the paper circle was very moist from having the paste put on while lying on the table and then being worked around the inside, upper edge and rim.  When I tried to tear it, the paper started coming apart and little pieces were being pulled off.  The cuts will only show on the underside of the rim.  Most people will not be examining the carousel that closely and will never see them.  If I find I cannot live with the hard edges, I will cover over them with a torn piece of paper so that they will not show.

Anyway, two more layers of paper mâché to go on the trim and one more layer on the column go and this portion will be finished.  The edges of the column trim are a little lumpy.  It will need some sanding before it is primed.  

People sometimes wonder why everyone says to use six layers of paper mâché.  One reason for that is because if you are sanding and hit a layer where there is a bubble under the surface, or a large lump that needs to be sanded down to flat, that you have enough layers to do that without sanding down to the original surface.  It also has to do with weight bearing in some cases.  If the piece is not strong enough, it could crush when weight is added.  Also, if you are cutting a piece off a mold, you have to have enough layers that the pieces will not curl.  Three layers and the cut pieces will curl inward and be really difficult to work with.  Four layers and they will curl and have to be pried back into shape to glue the parts together.  (Scroll back to my pumpkin blogs to see more on this.)  At six layers, the pieces will curl less and hold their shape.  It makes it much easier to glue the edges together.  Hope that is informative for those new to paper mâché.

So that is about it for this week.  Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next blog post.

Next Step for the Carousel - Part 38

I am sorry that I have no new carousel pictures this week.   I have added a couple of forest pictures though.  My husband and I decided to take an impromptu vacation.  We had planned to go to the mountains over the Memorial Day weekend, but the weather report was calling for such bad weather that we decided to reschedule it.  When the weather cleared and the forecast was nice, we decided to jump on it and just pick up and go.  That did not leave me any time to work on the carousel this week.  So the project is still where I left off last week.

 

 So, still six layers of paper mâché to go on the central column.  I will need to decorate it before it is installed on the platform.  I guess that means another trip to my local craft store.  

I have two visions for the decoration of the central column, and I have not yet settled on which one to use.  One idea is to have some Johnny Cake faces and mirrors framed with small scroll work to reflect the animals.  The other idea is to paint some type of forest scene on it.

Both ideas have some problems. Since the column is round, any mirrors would have to be fairly narrow or else they will not fit on the surface well.  I did not have that problem on my last carousel because it had a square central column.  Commercial scroll work pieces may be too large to fit flat on the column, but I could custom make the pieces to fit using paper mâché clay.  It really comes down to what is available and how much work I want to put into the project.  Sooner or later I need to get this thing put together.

 My idea for the forest scene would be something like these pictures I took while up in the mountains.  My main problem is the painting of it.  Although my painting skills have improved somewhat, I am not sure I could paint it well enough.  While I am beyond painting trees that look like lollypops, I am not sure I could do it well enough that it would not be a distraction from the animals.  

I suppose a third option would be to just decoratively paint it with stars and scrolls.  It might be the easiest thing to do.  It might be less distracting than anything else. 

The column will be glued to the platform and will rotate as the carousel turns.  Anything that is behind an animal is going to be behind it permanently.  I would prefer the mirrors if I can get them to fit on the column.  They would reflect the far side of the animal.  

I suppose that if I made a backing out of clay that was rounded enough to fit column, but had a flat surface on the front I could glue the mirror to that.  Hmmm.... I may have to experiment with that. In any case, the worst that can happen is that I have to get another oatmeal box and start over on that part of the project.

Some people may wonder why I don't have more of a plan before I start.  I just prefer to work free form and create what strikes me at the moment.  Working spontaneously allows me to bring forth a better project that working from some set in stone plan.  There are some parts of the project that must be exactly placed, such as the bumps that will make the animals go up and down, but in other places I can just play.  Imagining and playing are the best part of the project for me.  

 The photo below shows the ram.  I think he came out well.

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next bog post.

Paper Mâché Carousel - More on Creating the Column - Part 37

This week I have been working more on creating the central column.  I wanted to have some trim on the top and base of the column to give it some more gluing area and to cover the join between the base and ceiling platforms.  I went through a couple of changes on how I wanted to make it, but I think this change will make it work better.  At first, I envisioned the trim pieces as a separate piece, but I think it will work better as something made as an integral part of the column.  It will give me more gluing area when I attach it to the base.

I will show another picture of the column in a minute in a different photo.  But, for now, I will start with making the trim pieces.  I started by tracing around the column on a piece of cardboard.  That would be the inner circle.  

It is hard to see in the picture, but I made some registration marks on the inner circle and corresponding marks on the column.  These will make it easier to make it fit on the column.  Slight variations in the thickness of the paper mâché layers, and slight cutting errors make it harder to match up the column and trim without the registration marks.

I measured the diameter of the inner circle and marked the center.  Then I used a compass to draw the outer circle.  The registration marks were then transferred to the inside of the outer circle.  Then I cut out the inner circle and outer circle with a sharp craft knife.  

I made four of these circles.  The cardboard was not thick enough in a single layer, of I used two circles taped together to form a single layer to make it as thick as I wanted.  The registration marks were remarked on each layer of the tape.

In the upper portion of this photo, the base of the column is shown with the first set of rings taped to it.  

The column and rings matched up easily when using the registration marks.  The column of the cylinder was made using a repurposed oatmeal container.  Scroll back to previous posts to see that being covered in paper mâché.  If you cannot scroll back, you can go to this blog's URL which is folkartbycaroljones.blogspot.com  

So here is the column with both sets of the trim attached.  Each end is double taped to make prevent water infiltration into the cardboard from the paper mâché paste.  I always double tape because I have had some unfortunate experiences in previous projects when the paste was too moist and the carboard soaked it up.  

The angle used when taking the photo makes it look as if the top trim is larger than the base.  That is just a property of the photo.  The trim pieces are actually the same size top and bottom.

There are a couple of places that are not exactly in the round due to small cutting errors.  They can be built up later with layers of paper mâché strips.  The areas are so small that it was not worth the effort of cutting out two more circles.  When the carousel is finished, it won't even be noticeable.

I just added a picture of the carousel that I took when I was testing the rotating mechanism.  It gives you an idea of what I am shooting for with the central column.  

This coming week I will be working on the paper mâché layers that will make the trim a permanent part of the column.  Maybe I will have a chance to at least get the primer coat on it.

Anyway, that is my stopping point for this week.  I am getting very excited.  Now that I have all the major pieces ready, I can start decorating and painting the animals.  I want to add saddles, bridles, flowers, and ribbons to the animals using paper mâché clay.  I will probably be making the clay myself, so stay tuned for more information on that part of the project.  

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next blog post.

Paper Mâché Carousel - Priming Continues

 There is not a lot to report this week.  I have been priming the plywood discs that make up the base, floor, and ceiling of the carousel.  Most of the discs are primed, with the exception of the top of the ceiling layer.  I have not yet determined how the top of the carousel will be decorated so I am holding off on that piece.

The only other disc that looks anything other than painted solid white is the layer that the animals will be on.  The center of this disc has a circular layer that is not painted like the rest.  I forgot that I needed to keep that layer clear in the center for now.  I painted it on the first coat and had to go back and sand that area to get some of the primer off.  I will need to sand a little more but decided that I would do that later.

The reason for keeping the center clear is that the central column will be glued in there.  This portion of the central column is mainly decorative.  The actual support for the roof will be inside the column.  I will blog more about that in another paragraph.  

At this point the center circle is larger than the column.  I have also accounted for the trim that will be glued around the column.  The area is still larger than what I expect the column and trim to occupy, but I wanted to leave plenty of room for gluing.  I will have to go back in and paint in the rest of the primer once the column is in place.

This is the central column as it is right now.  It is covered by three layers of paper mâché on the inside, and five layers on the outside.  It is very strong.  It could hold up the ceiling on its own, but I need a wooden piece on the inside that can be screwed into the base and ceiling to keep them rotating as one unit.  There will be a separate blog post on that when I get that far.  

For now, my plan is to build the trim onto the base of the column.  It will be made of cardboard and paper mâché.  It will be permanently attached on the base.  It needs to be attached with glue and paper mâché before it is primed and painted.

The top will also have trim, but at this time my plan is to attach the trim to the ceiling and just have the column fit into it rather than trying to glue it to the column.  That will help when it comes time to put it together and if I should ever need to take it apart again.  

Why would I want to take it apart again?  Who knows.  Maybe the rotating platform fails and needs to be replaced.  Or maybe I need to ship it somewhere and it will travel more safely if it is packed as flatly as possible and reassembled elsewhere.  If I had to transport it, my main concern would be for the dowels that the animals will be mounted on.  They are only a quarter inch (6.35 mm) thick.  I am concerned that a mishandled package could give it such a jolt that it could crack the dowels.  Maybe I am worrying over nothing, but I would hate to go to all this much work and have something break it.  The dowels could be replaced but it would be a lot of work to do that.

Anyway, that is where I left off on working on the project this week.  Look for the next blog post on next Monday or Tuesday.

Paper Mâché Carousel - Central Column and First Primer Coat - Part 35

The old saying is that something taking a long time is like watching paint dry.  Basically, I have been doing just that this week; watching paint dry and watching paper mâché dry.

I have been adding layers of paper mâché to the central column.  From the standpoint of a picture, it does not look as if much has changed from last week to this week.  However, if you were to see it in person it would look much thicker this week.  I now have two layers of paper mâché on the inside and three layers on the outside.  

I still need to add at least one more layer to the inside, and two more layers to the outside.  Although this piece will not be bearing the total weight of the roof, I still want it to be plenty strong.  I do not want the weight of the roof to deform the cylinder.

Each layer has taken about forty-five minutes to an hour to apply.  It does not look as if it should take that long for each layer, but part of it has to do with the difficulty factor.  This is a tall cylinder and trying to work on it was hampered by my being so short that I had to either stand up to see into it or hold it on a slant, which then wanted to roll.  

The time for each layer also included the prep time for tearing the paper to the correct size and prepping the flour paste.  If the paper is the correct size, it will be easier to smooth it onto the project without a lot of wrinkles.  Fewer wrinkles mean less sanding and fewer defects in the finished piece.

I find that making the flour paste mixture works best if given a few minutes to hydrate.  I stir it constantly during that time to get rid of any flour lumps.  That way I have a very few lumps in it and that cuts down on sanding time later in the project.  Sanding is my least favorite part of the process.

While waiting for the paper mâché to dry, I started to add the first coat of primer to the underside of one of the plywood bases. Clearly it needs a second coat.  

I am using Gesso as a primer.  All of the pieces will be painted with acrylic paints, so I decided to use a primer that I knew was compatible with the paints.  

So that is all the progress for this week.  It does not look like a lot of work, but really it was about four hours across multiple days.  At times like these, I just remind myself not to get frustrated with how slow the process can be sometimes.  When that happens, I just have to tell myself to focus on the next step.  As long as I just make the next step, I will be closer to finishing this project.  

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next update.

Next Step on the Carousel - Main Supports - Lining for Electrical Opening - Part 34

 I am reposting the picture of the carousel from last week because some readers may have missed it because the blog post was late.  Somehow, I managed to not hit the publish button.  I did not notice it until I signed on the blog on Thursday.  There are also more pictures after that to show what I have been working on this week.

I had just finished running my first test of the carousel with all the animals on it.  The test was to make sure the animals would all go up and down as planned and stay on the track.  It passed.  Nothing is screwed down or glued on yet, so things look a little out of kilter after the test.  Scroll back for the previous post for more details or folkartbycaroljones.blogspot.com  

Now, on with the next steps that I worked on this week.

I began the paper mâché work on the oatmeal box that is the center support.  I removed the top and bottom from the oatmeal box and covered it with two layers of masking tape.

Yesterday I added the first layer of paper mâché to it.  Even using longer strips of newspaper, it took better than an hour to get it covered inside and out.  I will be putting on more layers, but it may take me a couple of weeks to get this part completed.

Once the cylinder has all of its layers of paper mâché, it will be painted and decorated.  I will be blogging more about that later.

Although the cylinder is strong enough to hold up the top platform on its own, this is not actually the main support for the carousel.  It is only decorative.  The central support column will be something else, but I will blog more on that later when I install it.

This is the underside of the bottom platform of the carousel.  I had my husband drill a hole through the platform so I could run the electrical cord for the rotating platform that turn the other two platforms. The plywood is pretty rough, and I was concerned that in time it might damage the insulation on the wiring.  I used some wool felt and lined the hole top and bottom.

I lined the top of the platform in the same way, then added an extra round piece of felt on top of that.  When I run the cord through it, I will probably cover that section of the cord with some electrical tape.

The platform in the center is where the rotating platform will sit.  Regular readers may remember from a previous post that my rotating platform was about a half an inch (1.27 cm) shorter than the humps that make the animals go up and down.  Adding the platform was my fix for that problem.

This is about all that happened this week.  Check back on Monday or Tuesday for the next post.  

First Full Setup of Carousel with all Animals - Part 33

Readers, I apologize for the late post.  Apparently, I never hit the publish button.   I did not see it until I signed on this morning.  

Regular readers may recall that I ran into some problems with the carousel last week.  After I downsized the platform for the carousel, one of the animals was causing a problem because it was too long.  The cat had a long fully extended tail.  It was brushing against the nose of the animal behind it.  I substituted the rabbit for the cat and that worked out without further trouble.  I really wanted to use the cat but sometimes on a project you have to make a change in direction in order for things to work.

Last week was a busy week for me and I really did not have any time to work on the project until this past weekend.  I was able to get some time to dry fit the whole carousel.  

Nothing is glued in at this point.  It was just a trial to make sure that everything was going to work as planned.  This was the first full test run with all the animals on it.  I was pleased that the animals all stayed on track and went up and down nicely.  

The photo makes it look like the poles are not straight up and down.  They are in real life, but since nothing is glued in place, yet the platforms tended to shift during the test.  I was in a rush, so I did not stop to true up the platforms before I took the pictures.

The next step on the carousel still has to do with the bottom section of the platform.  The motorized platform that will turn the middle and top platforms is electrical, not battery operated.  I did not want to have to take the carousel apart every time the battery needed changing.  The cord for the platform needs to come up from below the carousel.  I did not want to have the hole drilled for the cord earlier on because I needed to make sure where the sensor would face so that the remote could turn it on easily.  

The hole for the plug will be one inch (2.5 cm) in diameter.  I need half an inch (1.27 cm) in diameter for the plug to be able to clear the hole.  I need the extra space because I plan to line the hole with felt to keep the plywood from wearing on the cord.  I may also wrap that part of the cord with a little electrical tape for extra insulation.

This photo shows the rabbit and the ram.  

You can see the dowels extending above the top platform.  I have not cut off the extra length on them yet.  They might be only a little higher than the knobs on top or I might leave them slightly extended and put some pennants on top that will go up and down as the animals move around the platform.  The plans for the decorations for the carousel are subject to change.

I have a cautionary tale on one thing about the carousel.  The knobs that served as the feet of the platform and on the top platform have very little surface area for gluing. They are spherical, so there is only a small amount of surface touching whatever it is sitting on.  The ones on the top platform have even less space after they were drilled so the dowel could go through them.  I have had to go back a couple of times and reglue some of them.  

I think I have fixed that problem once and for all.  I used some Liquid Nails and troweled it in with a flexible painter's knife and really pushed it into the crevices and up the sides of the spheres.  The top ones may need a little sanding.

If I were to do it over again, I would probably go with some square blocks or flat circles rather than the spheres.  The spheres are more decorative but harder to work with overall.

The animal behind this horse is the rabbit.  The ears are pointing in different directions.  At the moment it looks a little weird, but the painting detail will make it more recognizable.

The next step after drilling and lining the hole for the electrical connection is to start to work on the central pillar.  The outer layer will be the oatmeal box covered in paper mâché and painted.  Even as an empty box it is strong enough to support the top platform, but it will also have some inner reinforcement.  I will be blogging on that in a later post.  

Once those tasks are completed, I will be onto the finishing the floor of carousel and painting the base and ceiling of the other two platforms.  Then I can get on to decorating and painting the animals.  That is what I am really looking forward to doing.  But this whole thing is a process.  The platforms need to be ready before I can go further.

Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next blog post.