Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Stacks of Paper

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Message

TwinHits
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 6/17/11
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Topic: Stacks of Paper
Posted: 6/18/11 at 11:52am

Hello everyone!

For the Capital Fringe play that I am working on, I need to build 1'-4' tall stacks of paper, notebooks, etc that are lightweight and won't fall apart when quickly loaded in and loaded out. Does anyone have any experience with this or have some ideas?

My first thought is some of kind structure with a cardboard box in the center and just the edges of the paper glued on, but I don't know how I would glue the paper on/make it look realistic.

Thank you very much!

~TH

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gelcat
Celebrity

Joined: 6/12/09
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 106

Posted: 6/20/11 at 1:50pm

hmm....... blocks of styrofoam with the edges hot knife cut?

there is a product called padding glue that is used for 'tear-off' pads of paper. This would at least corral the edges of paper, and give you something to glue onto another surface - maybe check with a bindery near you about doing skinny 'pads' for you for this?

make the stacks from the real thing, then cut the middle out to take away the weight?

www.actorsguildonline.org
Actors Guild of Parkersburg
Parkersburg, WV

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MusicManD
Star
Star

Joined: 3/21/11
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 91

Posted: 7/24/11 at 4:22pm

I would find a cardboard tube, maybe 6" across (the bigger the better). Then trace its outline on all your pieces of paper and cut out the circle. Slide the paper over the tube until you get a stack of the desired thickness, and secure it on the ends by gluing on some posterboard cut to paper size.

You might also try some sheets of 1/2" foam cut to paper size and stacked. I was able to create an oversized book to be held by the smallest girl in the cast using these sheets, and they looked great, despite being much thicker than "real" paper.

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David McCall
Celebrity

Joined: 1/28/09
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 299

Posted: 7/24/11 at 6:21pm

I have no idea if this would work, but here goes :-)

Get 2 pieces of good plywood a little bigger than your stack then cut away one side about 9"x 6". Make a sandwich of a couple inches (perhaps more) of stacked paper with the pieces of plywood on the top and bottom, then clamp or screw the sandwich together.

Using a band saw or other reciprocating saw, cut away the paper in the middle leaving just the outer edges of the paper.

While still clamped, paint the inside cut edges with glue and let it set up.

When done you will hopefully have a U-shaped block of stacked paper. You would build several of these and stack them together.

To make it rigid you could glue wood of foam core to the inside of the stack.

This may not make any sense without pictures.

David M

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Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup

Author	Message
TwinHits Walk-On Joined: 6/17/11 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Topic: Stacks of Paper Posted: 6/18/11 at 11:52am
	Hello everyone! For the Capital Fringe play that I am working on, I need to build 1'-4' tall stacks of paper, notebooks, etc that are lightweight and won't fall apart when quickly loaded in and loaded out. Does anyone have any experience with this or have some ideas? My first thought is some of kind structure with a cardboard box in the center and just the edges of the paper glued on, but I don't know how I would glue the paper on/make it look realistic. Thank you very much! ~TH

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gelcat Celebrity Joined: 6/12/09 Online Status: Offline Posts: 106	Posted: 6/20/11 at 1:50pm
	hmm....... blocks of styrofoam with the edges hot knife cut? there is a product called padding glue that is used for 'tear-off' pads of paper. This would at least corral the edges of paper, and give you something to glue onto another surface - maybe check with a bindery near you about doing skinny 'pads' for you for this? make the stacks from the real thing, then cut the middle out to take away the weight?
	www.actorsguildonline.org Actors Guild of Parkersburg Parkersburg, WV
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MusicManD Star Joined: 3/21/11 Online Status: Offline Posts: 91	Posted: 7/24/11 at 4:22pm
	I would find a cardboard tube, maybe 6" across (the bigger the better). Then trace its outline on all your pieces of paper and cut out the circle. Slide the paper over the tube until you get a stack of the desired thickness, and secure it on the ends by gluing on some posterboard cut to paper size. You might also try some sheets of 1/2" foam cut to paper size and stacked. I was able to create an oversized book to be held by the smallest girl in the cast using these sheets, and they looked great, despite being much thicker than "real" paper.
	IP Logged

David McCall Celebrity Joined: 1/28/09 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 299	Posted: 7/24/11 at 6:21pm
	I have no idea if this would work, but here goes :-) Get 2 pieces of good plywood a little bigger than your stack then cut away one side about 9"x 6". Make a sandwich of a couple inches (perhaps more) of stacked paper with the pieces of plywood on the top and bottom, then clamp or screw the sandwich together. Using a band saw or other reciprocating saw, cut away the paper in the middle leaving just the outer edges of the paper. While still clamped, paint the inside cut edges with glue and let it set up. When done you will hopefully have a U-shaped block of stacked paper. You would build several of these and stack them together. To make it rigid you could glue wood of foam core to the inside of the stack. This may not make any sense without pictures.
	David M
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