My name's Sara Adams, and I discovered origami for myself during Christmas 2005. I've been hooked ever since. The intention of this site is to get you hooked, too. You've been warned! — Now go enjoy some instructional videos, pictures in the gallery, and all the rest of it. And most importantly, happy folding!

Making of Printer Paper

by Ilan Garibi, edited by Sara Adams


The new paper package cover featuring my elephant model (image and design of cover by Igal Feuerstein)

07:15. My alarm clock goes off. It's the start of an exciting day. I go over my checklist to make sure I am ready for this trip:

  • one camera, fully charged;
  • one framed tessellation, a gift for my host;
  • some paper samples, for the laboratory tests.

I'm all set!

Hadera Paper Mill

Today I am going to visit the Paper Mill at Hadera, Israel, a town 10 km south of my home. I had folded models for the new cover design of the copy paper packages. As a gift, I received an invitation to visit the mill. Three hours later, I am by the gate. My host, Shalom, greets me and presents me with the necessary security pass.

Hadera Paper Mill has several factories and employs 800 people in total. It is a huge place. I am going to see the white paper machine. "Machine" may be an understatement since the hangar that houses it is 350 meters (382 yards) long! The Machine itself is 200 meters (218 yards) long, 4 stories high and costs around 150 million Euros (approximately 217 million USD).

Printer Paper Review

6 June 2011 - 3:52pm — Ilan
Authored by Ilan Garibi and Gadi Vishne
Weight (gsm) Sizes Color Palette Texture Aging
50 up to and exceeding 120 (80 tested) A0-A7, B and C equivalents, ANSI. Many others Mainly white, but many colors smooth and dull A few years
Attributes:
Wear and Tear Memory Forgiveness Tensile Strength Bending Restistance
n/a 7 / 10 9 / 10 4 / 10 4 / 10
Model Suitability:
Classic Action Tess. Complex Modular 3D Wet Folding
7.5 / 10 7.5 / 10 6 / 10 5 / 10 6 / 10 6.5 / 10 n/a
Final score: 6 out of 10
Paper type: 
Printer Paper

Copy paper is cheap, it's available almost everywhere, and yet few consider it a "real" origami paper. We decided to review it not because of any special origami related properties, but simply because it's there! As such, it can be used as a benchmark with which to compare the other reviews and values of properties.

On a personal note: I got Harbin's book "Origami 1" in 1976 and back then no other paper types were available in my home town, or indeed in all of Israel! I had never seen kami or any other origami paper. The only paper I had was printer paper, so my whole origami collection was white as snow. For me it was the only origami paper for years.

Paper production


One of the drums used in the paper making process in Hadera Paper Mill, Israel

The process of making this paper is fundamental in understanding some of its properties. The pulp is ground, diluted with water, spread over a felt belt, pressed to drain the water, and then spread on a net to be dried and rolled. A more detailed description of this process is also published here, see The Making of Printer Paper.

Copy paper is made for office and home use. The main goal is to enable printing at high quality. Faxes, homework, and monthly reports all require the ink to seep into the paper just far enough. The ink should not blot, but we all want the printed letters to have sharp borders. Colors should stay true when printing pictures. In the USA alone 85 million tons of paper are used every year for this purpose. But is it worth folding?

Related images

as selected by Sara Adams

Recording the Video - What to Watch out For

31 May 2011 - 7:37am — Sara

The fourth article in my series on video diagramming is now online. This time it's all about preparing for the recording: http://www.origami-usa.org/thefold004_video_recording

Previous articles:

  1. Making Video Diagrams: A Comprehensive Guide http://www.origami-usa.org/thefold001_video_creation_guide
  2. Asking for Permission - the Why and How http://www.origami-usa.org/thefold002_video_diagramming_asking_for_permi...
  3. Preparing for the Recording - Materials and Insights http://www.origami-usa.org/thefold003_video_diagramming_materials_and_in...

Asking for Permission vs Being Asked

27 April 2011 - 1:25am — Sara

You will know that I am a strong supporter of asking for permission when presenting other's work. In particular, I always get permission from the designer (or the copyright holder e.g. when the designer has deceased) before I make available an instructional video. I also wrote an article for TheFold, which gives some insight into how I go about asking for permission - and how you can do so, too, if you are planning similar projects: http://www.origami-usa.org/thefold002_video_diagramming_asking_for_permi...