[Cynnabar] Parchment Making Workshop

Tue Jul 19 04:40:44 UTC 2011

Parchment Making Workshop- Please feel free to forward this email  
where you think it will be well received.

Unto the Scribes of the SCA and others interested in learning to make  
parchment, Greetings from Master RanthulfR AsparlundR!

This is the second invitation to the Making Medieval Parchment  
workshop that I am hosting in September at my home in Ann Arbor, MI.  
If you wish to participate, we still have room on the sign-up list.  
There are two goals for this workshop. The first is to teach  
interested parties how to make parchment good enough to use for  
manuscript work. The second is in conjunction with the Calf To Codex  
project being organized by Master Johannes von Narenstein, where we  
are trying to find people willing to make some parchment for donation  
to the C to C project. The hides will be FREE to people taking the  
workshop. We can handle producing 16 parchments for this workshop,  
maximum. This is subject to the limitation of how many skins the  
supplier can actually provide for us. At this time we expect to have  
16 skins.

DATES AND LOCATION:
2101 S. Circle Dr., Ann Arbor, MI. 48103 Participants will need to  
come here 3 times over about a month (see details below).

Weekend #1: Saturday September 3 and Sunday Sept. 4. (Out of towners  
may make arrangements to arrive Friday night). Frame construction,  
preliminary fleshing, and into the lime bath to soak. (Soaking takes  
about a week and requires stirring, turning, and changing the lime  
water. Then the hair needs to be rubbed off, and then they go back in  
for another week of the same. I will do all of that soaking and  
unhairing for you because I'm here and you aren't.)

Weekend of September 16-18: Saturday we'll mount the skins on racks  
and scrape them. This is messy work, so you'll need an apron and old  
clothes to get wet, and a change of clothes for afterwards. I will  
have several lunelarium shaped knives available. It may take both days  
if we have all 16 skins.

Weekend of October 1&2: (I'm moving it from the previous weekend  
because that is Coronation. Let me know if you have a conflict and we  
might work something out) Saturday will be dry sanding. We will wet  
the skins and make a final pass with the knife, let them dry  
overnight, and then Sunday we will cut them down and disassemble the  
frames so you can take them home.

ACCOMODATIONS:
THL Arin and I can crash some people here (clean, and we have no  
pets), and if you prefer, I can help set you up some other place, or  
suggest nearby motels.

CLASS FEE:
A workshop like this would cost a lot of money mundanely, and the  
methods would be less medieval. We will be learning the process as it  
was done in the middle ages.
Although the skins themselves will be free, you will still learn to  
build frames to make the parchment. The class fee for this will be:

FREE: Each sheep or goat skin. (limit 2 per person for now, unless low  
enrollment allows for more to be done)
$21: For each frame. (You need one frame for each skin you commit to  
preparing. You will take home your frame at the end of the workshop).
$11 : For the other materials used, including: Hydrated Lime, Twine,  
Sandpaper, Preserving Salt, and a Comprehensive Handout.

NOTES:
1) To be put on the list you must send and email to Randy at RandyAsplund.com 
  saying you are interested and include the following information:
Your SCA name, your full mundane name, your phone number, and the  
number of skins you are interested in processing (1 or 2). This is NOT  
a commitment. It is a wait list. It will be on a first come-first  
served basis. AFTER you send me the email saying you are interested, I  
will email you back telling you if there is room. DO NOT SEND MONEY  
UNTIL YOU HEAR BACK FROM ME.

2) The sign-up deadline for the workshop will be Thursday, August 25,  
2011. After I reply to your email expressing your interest, confirming  
your place and telling how many skins you may request, you may then  
send a check to me so I can buy your materials. At that point you have  
a confirmed place in the workshop.

3) You will get to do at least one skin. We hope that you can do two.  
Instead of charging a lot of money for the workshop, we simply ask  
that you donate ½ of the parchment made here to the Calf-To Codex  
project. With your new knowledge and your frames you can continue to  
make parchment for yourself thereafter

4) The Calf To Codex project is a volunteer cooperative effort between  
SCA artisans to create a medieval book for use by the people of the  
SCA Middle kingdom. More detail can be learned from Master Johannes,  
MKA John Cash at: jcash at indiana.edu

5) IF you wish to build the frame yourself and bring it, you are  
welcome to do so and just send your $11 balance, but if you do that  
you must get the plans from me and make the frames according to  
specifications. Frames will be 7' tall and 4'-7” wide. They will screw  
together with brackets so thy can be dismantled for transport.

6) You will want to make sure that you can handle the frame parts in  
your vehicle. Please note that there will be nail-heads protruding  
from the frames.

7) You will want about 2 dozen pips for attaching the cords to each  
skin. These are balls about 1cm in diameter and made from tight packed  
cloth or from ROUND pebbles. Pebbles need to be semi-rough texture,  
not polished. Marbles tend to pop out easily. YOU SHOULD BRING YOUR  
OWN PEBBLES if you don't want to be stuck using cloth shards.

8) We can break registration down into individuals who want to make  
two parchments (preferred), or if someone wants to do just one, they  
can register to only make one. If two people want to partner-up to do  
one, that is also fine. Whoever registers by paying for the frame  
materials and salt is the one gets the frames and product in the end.

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Master RanthulfR AsparlundR, KSCA

Randy Asplund
www.RandyAsplund.com
Maker of Medieval books and
Illustrator of Science Fiction & Fantasy
(734) 663-0954
2101 S. Circle Dr. Ann Arbor, MI 48103

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