deckle edge paper supplier?

I have had some success with folding the sheets at the position for the tear edge, dampen the sheets at the very edge with a sponge, and then the fibers are loose enough to just tear or use a bone folder or butter knife to tear.

This leaves an edge which somewhat simulates a deckle, but manages just to make a softer edge, not completely like a standard deckle edge.

Some of the hand-made paper providers can provide sheets made to particular sizes for you if you really need deckles on all four edges. Of course, the price for these is quite high, but does give a very nice appearance. I have had sheets made by Eskulan in Spain to a specified size, providing deckles on all four sides.

John Henry

You say paper, but if you can use card stock, consider Rossi Medioevalis, available with 4 deckles, 4.5 by 6.75 and other sizes; envelopes available. They make it easy for the letterpress printer to look good. Try orangeart.com as a source.

A long time ago we experimented reasonably succsessfully making deckle edge, thin card, rather than paper, with just the use of an electric drill *Rotary Flail* … of course we wasted experimenting a lot of card, but we had and still have mountains of off cuts from the trade. (bribery is still alive and well)… . Initially there were problems, i.e. when we flailed all 4 edges we lost the option to register,??? eventually we flailed 3 sides, interleaved every sheet with rubbish stock, (to prevent set of under the nipping press) & nipped about a 1” block in a bookbinders nipping press, and flailed the 4th side, which we had laid to .!! . . Of course a lot of dust in the flailing, but solved up to a point, with a vacuum cleaner.!!! For zero outlay, “passable” we even got ambitious and did 2 colour, alternate red/black etc, the minute discrepancy having no proper lay edge did not notice unless scrutinised very closely.
We did also, occasionally, dust a few with, a variety of dusting powders, i.e. Silver, Gold, Bronze, Turquoise, Crimson, etc. *Deckle edge & Dusted* Looked good, but time consuming, and not commercially viable, we would have used a different expression, way back, nowadays would probably, be *the Bees Knees* etc etc.??.
Still have several jars of dusting powder left.
When the children, visit the Museum Print Shop, to print their own name(s) on a preset forme, with a Quarto Adana I dust a Special for Birthday Boy/Girl, even the adults appreciate, sometimes,! and put a little more in the contributions box.

Thanks everyone for the input!

Mohawk carries Deckle edge. Or did carry. Check with Anchor Paper. 1-800-652-9755 They don’t show it online but they sell Mohawk.
Winfred Reed
Black Diamond Press (Kentucky)

If you can’t find it pre cut, I accidentally found a way to make a faux deckle on the press with some photopolymer ‘rule’

http://pantherapress.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/adventures-in-scoring-on-p...

Basically a thick photopolymer rule 1-3 pts makes a heavy valley which when torn produced a nice faux edge without risk of miss-tearing. Might not be as effective on thin papers, but certainly fine for the cotton stuff which doesn’t tear as well against a tearing bar (forgot the name, had one in the printshop once)

Arturo comes in a variety of sizes and I believe it’s always deckled edge.

To tear your own paper down to size, use a sturdy metal or plastic ruler (plastic with a bit of a rounded edge will produce more of a soft edge). The ruler has to be longer than the paper you’re tearing.

Line everything up. You can moisten the paper or not. Either way works. But you must tear the paper straight down along the edge of the ruler, pulling toward the edge of the ruler and down at the same time.

This tends to produce a nice, torn edge. Not really deckled, per se, but still not displeasing as long as there isn’t a hiccup.

This won’t work for card, but (often) works for paper. Take a needle and rule a line on the page. Take a wet fine paint brush and moisten this line. Tear apart - it should give way easily.

http://www.st-armand.com/English/E01-welcome.php
Pay a commercial printer to cut it down for you. Some amazing paper from Montreal, Quebec, Canada