preparing and dying paper with methylcellulose...what to use

[phillipcurl]

ok, so what do you guys use to dye and prepare paper with MC?
for a long, long while now I have been using a plastic tray and a pingpong table, but neither work very good...
recently i bought a large sheet of plastic, but it rolls up and it frustrating as hell to use.

so, what do you guys use as a surface?
preferably a cheap solution...all the money i make in my job now is going towards school

i was thinking plexiglass or the plastic stuff you put under a office chair...but those are both rather expensive, are they not?

[GWB origami]

tadashimori uses a glass table as a surface.

[theorigamist]

I used to use a sheet of glass (it broke while moving, and I still haven't gotten around to buying a new one). You can buy them at most hardware stores, and you can usually get them cut to the size you want. Mine was approximately 32" x 32" to fit a small folding table that I used it on, and I think it cost around $30. I don't know of any surface that works as well as glass.

[phillipcurl]

32x32 is still a bit small for the size of paper i use.
i may have to trim it so it will fit on there.
I will try and find one sometime soon, once i make some money. thanks guys.

[theorigamist]

At most hardware stores, they usually can cut the glass to whatever size you ask for. I asked for that size to fit my table, and I mentioned it only to give you an idea of the cost per size. (I assume it scales a bit more than linearly.)

[phillipcurl]

oh, alright so i'm guessing that its a little less than $1 for each inch then...
seems reasonable. until I get some money, i'll keep using my handy sheet of plastic, though, annoying as it may be.

[JumPurge]

I use a wax coated tin foil. It's good for a long time. I don't recall having to cycle through them too often. Last time I had to pull out more/new sheets was when they tore or something... It was half a year ago in Sept. I threw an old batch out.

[fncll]

I use the plastic plexiglass like sheet from a blank poster frame...much less expensive than plexiglas and it works like a charm! Not sure how large they get though...

[Joe the white]

A bit of an old topic, but I purchased some plastic cutting boards from a dollar store and they are pretty handy. They do roll a bit at the ends, but it isn't much, and they have a hole punched in one end so they can be hung on the wall. Its nice for making a batch of paper when you have limited space.

[marvz]

I first tried doing it on a silicone baking sheet and it turned out well but of course the size of the sheet is not that enough for me to work with much larger size of paper. So I have to find another spot for much larger papers to work on. Then I tried working it on a line of spare/unused granite tiles I gathered from our basement. (Took it out just for folding ) Luckily, we have bigger size of tiles that only needs about 6 to 8 to fit with the area and with the paper. It's also as good as glass because its surface is smooth.

[mummykicks]

You can buy an acrylic/plexiglass/lexan sheet from just about any hardware store that works very well for this. Or a flat sheet of plywoodthat you've waterproofed with polyeurothane. Glass works well, but it is heavy and fragile. Plastic won't break. Usually you can get it up to 4' x 8' sizes. 1/8" thick is enough, but you'll need to have it supported (a decent table will do) under most of it. 1/4" will be a bit heavy, but stiffer.
a 36" square piece of 1/8" acrylic should be under $50...

[fncll]

If price is an issue, I got a 40" by 32" poster frame for the plastic sheet for $19 with a coupon they have all the time at a Michael's craft shop. Plexiglass works very well (better as far as stiffness) but was significantly more expensive. But it does come in much larger sizes!

[phillipcurl]

i found something amazing for this...i bought it at Blick's for like $5.

its kinda like a thick, translucent plastic. i can't remeber the name for the life of me, but i have been using it to dye and size paper for a few months now.

[Origamidi]

I use a glass table. It's very easy to clean andyoucan treat bigger papers too.

[zlzlzlzl]

I use a ~90 cm x 60 cm mirror. It works fine.

I went around hardware stores in town looking for large glass sheets a while ago, but everything was either too expensive or too unwieldy. The mirror only ran for about $25 and works just as fine as glass sheets I've used in the past. Staring at yourself during the whole process is an added benefit. Or downside if you can't stand your own appearance.