notepads

[sawdustus]

I am in the process of making some notepads to sell at a show on Dec. 3rd. Since they need no finish, cutting them won't interfere with the good smells of Thanksgiving. I will post some pictures later today or tomorrow when I get a chance.

The basic technique is borrowed from John Polhemus and Tom Zieg articles but with my twists. I cut the paper to size on my bandsaw, then tape the bundle together with low tack blue tape and put two thick coats of padding compound on one end. I then pick off 2 bundles of 50 sheets, wrap them tightly, tightly tape some 1/16 plywood to the top and bottom areas I will be cutting, and put the pattern on the wood. I use either a #2 or 2/0 skip tooth blade to cut the pattern. I then cut some brown paper board to size, and attach it to the back of each pad with more padding compound.

george

[sawdustus]

notepads update

Here are the pictures of the process I use. Did I forget to say drill access holes? OK, drill access holes. The shopping list is 3 x 8 and the notepad is 5 1/2 x 8. The font is boulder.

george


paper cutting 1.jpgpaper cutting 2.jpgpaper cutting 3.jpg

paper cutting 4.jpgpaper cutting 5.jpgpaper cutting 6.jpg

[Cutting Cathy]

Wow those are really cool George!! I have scrolled note pads, but never made them! I think that would be a much cheaper route than buyer the note pads. What is padding compound and do you have to "paint" it on every single page? Thanks for sharing!

[sawdustus]

Cathy, yes it is much much cheaper to make your own pads. Padding compound is a thick water soluble suspension that dries clear, although I believe it comes in colors also. I get it from a local paper supplier here in Northern NJ called Paper Mart. A quart cost me less than $20 and it will make pads out of more than a case of paper. In his CWWC article in the Holiday 2006 issue, John Polhemus provides a source for padding compound in Maryland which is still in business but more expensive than my local Paper Mart. I also get my paper from what Paper Mart calls the skid. This is the odd stuff that they have left over from large orders and unsold trials. It generally costs me less than $2/ ream for 8 12 x 11 and a little more for larger sizes. All the pink or blue was cut from a single 11 x 17 ream of that color. It was more expensive at about $5 or $6. I was able to get 2 - 5 1/2 x 8, 2 - 4 x 6 and 1 - 4 x 11 stacks from each 11 x 17 ream.

In my case I cut entire reams as wrapped from the paper supplier, into the sizes I wanted, but you can make them with any number of sheets you want. It may be possible to get your paper supplier or a local printer to cut the reams of paper to the sizes you want for a nominal fee. Bring them a sample of what you do with the pads as an incentive. I left the wrapping in place when I cut the reams and then taped them tightly together to make my bundles of paper. I left one end untaped and uncovered , then used a foam brush to put a thick coat of the padding compound on the uncovered end. Let it dry for an hour or two and put on another thick coat. When it is completely dry you can put on the wood and pattern and cut away to your hearts content.

What I did with the 500 sheet thick bundles was to count out 50 sheets and put a small removable label to hold them together. I can easily cut 100 sheets ( 2 note pads) along with the top and bottom pieces of 1/16 ply with a #2 ST blade. I tried 3 pads worth late this afternoon and it worked but was much slower and I won't do it again especially for sharp cornered of detailed patterns with thin cutouts.

When I am done cutting, I tape a piece of brown cardboard or shirt board cut to the size of the pad to the bottom side and reapply two more coats of the padding compound to hold it in place.

Sorry for being so longwinded. Hope this helps.

george

[lkbraa]

George,
That is a great project!!! I used to work in a lit'l mom n pop printshop years ago...and cannot tell ya how many notepads and padding compound we went thru - lol! Wish I would have had a scrollsaw back then, I could of cashed in on all those scraps! Back in those days most of the padding compoound was that awful red, it is nice that they came out with the clear. In regards to the cardboard used as a backer, if you do not have any that you can recylce you can also buy 'chipboard' from the paper suppliers along with the padding compound.

Thanx for sharing such a fun project!

[sawdustus]

Kim... ChipBoard...so that's the name of the stuff. Thanks, I will ask them if they have it and also what they would charge to cut the paper for me (once I use up the present supply that I have cut to size...enough for 200 or so pads). I really don't like the band saw edges I get but my only other choice is an 18 inch paper cutter and 5-10 sheets at a time.

george

[Rolf]

Great stuff George, Thanks

[lkbraa]

George, no problem...glad I could help somewhat. I hear ya bout cutting a few sheets at a time....a very long and tideous process! You might be able to take all your pads into them at once and they will give them a nice clean edge and trim them out for a minimal fee. The cutter we used was actually pretty dang sweet...if I remember correctly it would cut atleast a ream (500 sheets) at a time like the paper was butter! Plus it could take off the most minimal sliver from the sides. With technologies these days, they probably have a lot bigger and more powerful ones than we had in our shop 20+ years ago.

To minimize cutting fees (and bandsaw cutting on your part) you could arrange several patterns onto one sheet...i.e. 2-3 designs across the top, leaving allowance for trimming. Stack cut your design, then collate the pads together...for example 25 sheets of paper, chipboard, 25 sheets of paper, chipboard, etc...until you reach the thickness their cutter can handle. Jog them all up as straight and flush as possible (paying special attention to the top), pad them all together...then when you take the pads back just draw your lines of where you want them cut on your top sheet. This way they are only making about five cuts instead of three for each individual pad. Once you have them all cut to size, you can use a clean putty knife and seperate the individual pads from the stack. I hope that makes sense!

Design suggestion....I noticed at the last festival I did people were pet crazy!!!! 100,000+ people there and over half of them brought their dogs - go figure! Any whoos...maybe a simple silhoutte of a dog or cat or a couple paw prints would probably sell too...just a suggestion.

Wish you the best of luck on your $ale$...they should fly out of your booth!

[sawdustus]

Kim, thanks for the ideas, especially the one about the pets. That one is a distinct possibility.

I currently lay out the pad sizes I want to cut from each ream before removing the wrapping and pad the entire ream at once after it is cut. Perhaps I could open each ream, pad it where I want it and then have my supplier cut it to size for me. I have to check with them. I then count out the sheets for each pad (50) and remove two pads worth to cut a design into with a #2 skip tooth blade after I tape on a top and bottom piece of 1/16 ply to prevent tearout. Although I can, and have done it, I don't feel comfortable cutting a packet of three pads with that small a blade. I'm not sure I could get all the cuttings lined up again if I cut them before padding the packets.

george

[lkbraa]

Glad I could give ya some ideas George! I did not think about having to re-jog the sheets and making sure the cut-outs are all lined up per pad...hmmm! You're right it does make sense to pad and then scroll saw.

I am not good at explaining...so I thought I would attach an example of what I meant about cutting several designs (on a full 8-1/2" x 11" sheet). This could work the same way you do it, just do not cut the individual pads apart on your bandsaw and letting the printer/supplier cut them requiring only two cuts (with the layout attached) instead of having to trim out three sides per individual pad. You could then stack the entire ream up with the chipboard backers inserted, apply another thin coat of padding compound, so they can whack the whole stack at once - lol! If you like the patterns, feel free to use them...I just did them as an example. I might actually give 'em a try myself, thanx for the inspiration!

[sawdustus]

Kim, thank you so much for the patterns,I love them, especially the chicken scratch since it echoes my handwriting perfectly. I was going to look for some kitten and puppy outlines this morning to cut but you saved me the trouble, and I will cut some of your patterns today. Since I have already padded up a bunch of 5 1/2 x 8 pads (one cut/ream = 2 sets of pads/ream) I took the liberty of enlarging your patterns 140% mainly to make chicken scratch more stable after it is cut. The others look to be just fine as you drew them.

Once again, thank you for the patterns. Have you thought of posting them to the pattern vault or trying to get them printed in the magazine?

george

[lkbraa]

Kewl George...I was hoping they would go to good use! I liked the Chicken Scratch one too...the fun part is that you do not have to be too careful with the font, as it is made to be a lit'l scratchy - lol!

After reading your reply (and my earlier post) I realized that I did not really come across to clear on what I was saying about eliminating bandsaw cutting and minimizing trim out cost at the printer/supplier. So, I figured visual aid would help...so I just whipped them up as an example...but glad they are something you can use! Anyone is more than welcome to use them and adapt them to whatever projects they may be working on. I never thought about sending them to the pattern vault...good suggestion!

In regards to submitting to the magazine, I just hit Shannon and her team up with about a dozen or so article/project suggestions...I warned her that she needed to get a cup of coffee before she started my email - lol! They are having their meeting in the near future so hopefully they will decide to include atleast one of them in an upcoming issue <fingers and toes crossed>!

Thanx again George, and have fun...please share photos when you finish.

[wood-n-things]

I'll try to remember to move em to the vault one of these days...

[sawdustus]

Kim's patterns done

Kim, here are your patterns that I cut into 5 1/2 x 8" pads of 50 sheets each. I am also including a picture of how I clamped a dozen pads and backers together in order to put 2 thick coats of padding compound on all of them at once. Thanks again for the patterns and suggestions for speeding up the padding process.

I will also post pictures of your designs and other pads I have cut in the general scroll forum for everyone to see. But that is for another day.

george

padding the backs.jpgwoof, meow, scratch.jpg

[lkbraa]

Boy George, you didn't waste any time on those...they look great!!! Thanx for posting the picts. Glad I could help out some and home you sell out!