Adventures With The Cherub
Sunni's Learning Curve
Page 3
June 6, 2003 - I have set up papermaking in Jean Sinclair and Robert France's shed and we have begun to play. Jean and I had processed and cooked some over-winter field retted Stinging Nettle to try as our first batch of pulp.
I plugged in The Cherub and filled it with some water - too much probably - to see the water flow. There was no flowing.
So I figured if I added some pulp, swished it around and stuffed it from behind as recommended by Mark on Page 2, it would develop a flow. Jean and I took turns for about twenty minutes stirring and stuffing. Nope. No flow.
Reading back over Mark's directions on how to use The Cherub, it is possible we added too much water and, maybe too much fiber. It is also possible the fiber isn't cooked enough, even though we did a finger test to check for softness. We have set the nettle fiber out in the summer sun to rett some more in water in the pots for another ten days or so to see if that helps. Another surmisal is perhaps we haven't cut the fiber up small enough. The next time Jean and I get together we will be using friendlier fibers: cattail and over-winter field retted bulrush.
Here are links to three 15 second MPEG movies (with sound) I took of The Cherub after we emptied and cleaned it of fiber and refilled it with water.
Cherub001.mpg
(1.40Mb): Starting at the side where the fiber is supposed to feed into the roller and
bedplate then moving to the other end where the fiber should issue from.
Cherub002.mpg (1.40Mb): View from the issuing end
with a small stick of fiber and a piece of paper to judge water movement. Note there is no
water movement at all. The surface appears to show movement, but that is actually the
"rings" from the roller/bedplate motion.
Cherub003.mpg (1.40Mb): A bit dizzying view of The
Cherub just sitting there innocently.
Now for pictures of my little darling!
Since I'm stumped about The Cherub seemingly not working, I'm going to contact Mark Lander first and see if the malfunction is The Cherub or (more likely) operator error. So keep an eye out - more will be happening next week as Jean and I recommence our experiments with The Cherub and the local weeds.
June 9, 2003 - I have received an email from Mark after he viewed my videos. I have the roll cover on backwards!!! There's a little lip on it and I have that pointing toward the motor. Instead, I need to turn it around toward the main screw and tuck that little lip under the plate!! I need less fiber, too. AND!! I have too much water in it. So - as suspected - it looks like my work stoppage is due to operator error. Learning curves are SO fun. *eye roll* Now I must wait another week before I can go play with my Cherub again!! I shall take with me some blendered pulp so the Cherub and I can become more quickly acquainted with one another.
June 25, 2003 - Jean and I rehydrated some pulp I had cooked and dried last year. We played with the corn husk pulp. We lined the bottom of The Cherub with a single layer of rehydrated corn husk and then filled The Cherub up to where the water was just covering the bottom of the plate as Mark had directed us. It still wasn't working. So Jean added some more water and lo! "Houston, we have contact!" It took, almost to the second, a full ten minutes of swishing and CAREfully stuffing fiber into the roller before The Cherub started munching on her own and the pulp began moving. We had our doubts, but persevered as directed by Mark and we reached success. We ended up lowering the drum all the way down to effectively chew the corn hust. Due to time constraints we ended up removing the partially pulped corn husk and blendering it to get pulp for paper before I had to leave.
July 3, 2003 - Jean and I pulled several kinds of paper this week and successfully got The Cherub munching on the processed nettle. Here is a thirteen second movie clip of her munching merrily away: cherub004.mpg (1.20Mb) For our Cherub, we have found the water level has to be all the way up to the stitching along the top of the vat before she will circulate on her own. The nettle was particularly stubborn and took close to 30 minutes of assisted swishing before the woody parts were worked down small enough for the pulp to move freely. The roller is all the way down to achieve successful munching once the fiber is small enough to circulate on its own. If we have it a fraction of an inch up, the fiber just passes through and doesn't become smooth. Actually, I think Mark has the roller set so when the height-adjusting-screw is all the way up, the roller is at that tiny fraction of separation needed for optimal pulping because I don't hear more than a whisper of metal to metal. Next experiment will be poison hemlock sometime in August!
April 30, 2004 - I went to the Papermakers Yahoo Group's Western Gathering and dragged the Cherub with me. Julie Johnston of Portland, Oregon, brought her Lander two pound Critter. Mine was so cute next to hers. So very much smaller! Hers took two men to carry. I'm mine only takes a couple grunts, but I can carry it by myself. Julie and the gang were getting ready to beat some slightly undercooked hemp, so we cut some into tiny lengths for the Cherub to beat alongside. The findings were interesting. The Cherub fluffed the hemp faster than the Critter, but the Critter started munching on its own before the Cherub. We ran the beaters all through Friday afternoon, shutting them off for the night. They were started up again in the morning for a couple hours as well. Total time was - don't quote me, I'm approximating - about nine hours. The hemp from the Cherub was a little softer when they were both stopped.