[Scriptoris] Skin Processing

[Lisa Baumer]

OK Here's a question?  What type of skin do you usually begin with?  What
weight?  Where can you obtain it?

El


For un-dyed skin I use the following process to ready it for scribal work.
-sand the skin front and back with medium sandpaper. Remove all hairs and
lumps.
-Bring a bucket of water to boil
-soak the sanded skin in the water till it reaches a uniform translucent
state
-while still wet, stitch the skin on 4 sides between stretcher bars. (use
uncolored mercerized cotton string for this.)
-once the skin is suspended between the bars, rub it firmly but gently on
both sides to stretch it and tighten the bars.
-allow to dry completely overnight. the cotton string will break away from
the bars in some places, and this is fine. You want it to break before the
skin tears.
-Repeat the entire process a minimum of 2 more times.
-Give the skin a final sanding with very fine sandpaper on both sides.
-Dust then rub down with talc.

    This process results in a thin and very flat page that does not warp
badly when worked with paints and inks. I use it to flatten out the rolled
skins that may be purchased commercially.
    Skins treated in this manner may also be stapled flat and taut to a
board to be inked and painted. The drawback to doing this is that they may
not be adjusted to compensate for additional buckling brought on by the
inking and painting process.  Dont use water heavy paints if you intend to
go this route.

Ari
---
Is there enough of God left, in the dust
between the stars, to dance up more
life than your fragile ego can stand?
Scribe_Ari at Lycos.com


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