Make Your Own Parchment Scroll

For centuries professional bookbinders have made their own imitation vellums and parchment papers, these hand made parchment papers are so much more realistic than the mass of so called parchment papers.

To make this parchment scroll we are going to need the following items.

A length of ½ inch diameter wooden dowel, the length of the dowel will determine the width of the scroll so bear that in mind.

You will need four small wooden drawer pulls, about 2 inches In diameter, the kind that has a screw in the base.

A length of suitable paper, a good paper would be a hand made or mould made paper. Hahnemühle, make a paper called Medieval Laid which is perfect for making this type of parchment scroll.

A small amount of blonde de waxed shellac. This is the magic ingredient it is important to get this type of shellac by name.

The shellac changes the colour of the paper, alters the way it handles and makes the paper more or less translucent, depending on the paper used.

Methylated Spirit is needed to dissolve the shellac, this is a 90% proof alcohol made to smell and taste dreadful, (in America known as denatured alcohol).

The alcohol does give off fumes, so I suggest working in a well ventilated room.

(Make the shellac by dissolving 1 part shellac to four parts alcohol and allow to stand for 24 hours or till all the shellac flakes have dissolved.)

A 2 inch paint brush and some waste paper.

Access to Windows Word or similar.

Double sided tape.

Right, the first thing to do is settle on the width you want your parchment scroll to be and cut your wooden dowel ¼ of an inch wider than the paper.

Having cut your paper, go into Windows Word and go to File/Page Set Up/Paper. In the Paper Size box select Custom Size and enter the width and height of your paper.

You must do this, it instructs the printer to print to your sheet size.

Having set up your text and illustrations if any, print a copy onto the paper.

I suggest you leave about 3 inches from the top and bottom of the paper free of text etc. When we come to mount the scroll onto the wooden dowels we will wrap the paper around them, so we need this extra to work with.

Now lay out some waste paper, lay down the printed paper and with the 2 inch brush apply a generous coat, you will see the paper darken immediately as the alcohol soaks in, check the back of the sheet and apply some shellac to the back if needed.

Allow the parchment scroll paper to dry completely.

The shellac will have worked its magic and your sheet of paper will look and feel very different.

Using double sided tape apply to about 1½ inches of the top of the parchment paper, now take a dowel and place it on the double sided tape and roll the dowel forward onto the tape.

Repeat this for the bottom of the scroll.

Tie a ribbon around the scroll to keep it closed and you are finished.

By: Richard Norman

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For 25 years I ran a system of craft workshops in Somerset England. In 1994 the workshops were voted a National Living Treasure for their contribution to the Book Arts. Richard Norman www.gold-vault.com