The Origami Forum

Hey guys !

I'm going to order some origami paper from Origami shop.com, but I dont really know what the
different papers are like and for what i can use them...
What is

1.Tissue Paper
2.VOG papers
3.Lokta papers
4.Elephant Hide paper
5.Kraft

Thanks otim

Hm well I dont know what you enjoy folding, or what you are able to fold. Most of the time, paper selection varies on your ability. In my opinions, here are what the papers are good for:

Tissue paper: good for glueing to foil to make Tissue foil, they usually are good for double tissue, and they come in a large variety of paper

VOG paper: personally, I have never used it, but it's Crumpled and it looks like it gives a fantastic result to models. I dont recommend buying it if you are a beginner, but if you fold more complex, than more power to you.

Lokta: also never used it. I dont really know alot about it, but it looks like it gives a good result

Elephant hide: Jeremy shafer uses it for alot of his models. It is very good for wetfolding because it is thick. It is good for flashers, tesselations, flower towers, and some more beautiful models.

Kraft paper: Good for test folds as well as final folds. It also comes in a variety of colors if you can find it. It is cheap and good for test folding because of that reason. Sometimes it's too thick for a more complex model

I hope I helped

Ben

I ll just pick up from where ben left. Lokta is a nice paper to use if you know wetfolding. You have to prepare it before use but its thickness is perfect for folding wet folded forms. I used it for Hoang Tien Quyet's Swan and it turned out wonderful.

Tissue as Ben said is great for making Tissue foil. Tissue foil is a nice paper once you get used to it (which i couldnt) It gives you an easy way to shape (like Mr. Terry says it feels like moulding clay)

hope i helped

thank you very much ,i think I'll just order a little of everything (^^) to test it

otim

To clarify, I'll tell a bit more about Lokta and some of the other more expensive papers.
Lokta is a paper made in Nepal, it is somewhat thick but performs well with even complex models.


Sekishu - my favorite paper, performs very similar to origamido but comes in bigger sizes and is significantly cheaper. Thin, great for insects and super complex models.


Double tissue - I use this paper a lot. Great, cheap, good for just about anything.


Find a paper you are comfortable with and work with it, you'll start getting better and better

Thanks for reply !
doesn't lokta tear when folding to often because it's so thick...

otim

ps:did you fold these great models ?

Lokta and other handmade papers do not tend to tear. It is not really good for models wiith many layers. Its better for wetfolding. Thickness doesnt really cause a paper to tear

When paper tends to tear easily it most likely is made from short fibres that are all arranged in the same direction. The arrangement happens because machine made paper is made on huge belt conveyors and roll presses. Handmade paper like Lokta is scooped on a screen and then pressed from above, leading the fibres to lay in all possible directions. The fibres used for Lokta are long and of good quality, being used for the first time for making this paper. On conventional machine made papers, the fibres used often include at least partly recycled fibres, that get shorter with every time they will be used. The last recycling cycle usually is cardboard or toilet paper. On cardboard the short fibres do not matter because of the added thickness and for toilet paper it doesn't matter because it is actually made to easily dissolve in water.
Lokta, even though it seems a bit thick, is actually pretty lightweight with a usual 40 gram per square meter. If you wet fold it it will be easier to shape, especially if you use MC (wallpaper paste). It is possible to fold pretty complex models with Lokta. I'm sorry that Eileen Tan's website is down for quite some time now, otherwise I would be able to show you some breathtaking examples, but maybe you can find some yourself if you search for Lokta and Origami on either this Forum, Flickr or Google.

Well said Anna. Otim- i folded all those models with the corresponding papers. Deer head was made from lokta, I posted it to prove how good that paper performs even with super complex models.

Just a note on vog paper-it is very springy, and you have to use glue to get good results. Buy it knowing you will have to use glue, and for its wonderful texture and Color, not because it will magically turn into amazing models.
With that knowledge, however, you can make very complex models depending on your skill.

I agree with Eamon. I folded an Ancient Dragon from VOG paper. The layers splay really badly.

phillipcurl wrote: Sekishu - my favorite paper, performs very similar to origamido but comes in bigger sizes and is significantly cheaper. Thin, great for insects and super complex models.

Are you coloring/painting the Sekishu when you treat it or can you get it colored??

@fncll I believe i dyed that one with India Ink when i treated it, but I usually use acrylic paint.
I don't think you can get it colored, sorry.