Hello Fellow enthusiasts. There has always been a need for Raffia Replacement Fences. I have watched as many of our fellow hobbyists have experimented and created nice Raffia fences for there own projects. Most people have calculated that these fences were sewn together. I have know for at least 12 years that these fences are woven and not sewn. I tried to convince our good friends Papa Ted and Tom Hull that this was the case but they refuted my claims. LOL Now with the right equipment I can demonstrate the original Japanese technique.
First let's start with IS IT RAFFIA?
As you can see in the picture there are strands of material that make up the basic fence. When wet I have unrolled the original Japanese fibers and used a digital microscope to take a picture at 500X magnification. In the same picture I have used the same process on a strand of new Raffia. Although I can’t be 100 percent sure of the exact material we can see that it IS a plant material and not crepe paper. Conclusion; Raffia is a contender.
WOVEN NOT SEWN.
The pictures show that the Raffia Fences are constructed using bundles of Raffia and the woven in a 3 over, interlaced, 2 under method. (see pictures) This method uses 5 individual strings. In a loom you can just keep repeating this pattern until you have a lengthy piece of fencing. Smaller houses use a 3 string; 2 over, intertwined, 1 under pattern.
PROCESSING RAFFIA FOR FENCE:
I found that you can get the perfect Raffia on Ebay in the form of a cheap Hula skirt. Bundles are made up of 2 strands of Raffia. When you wet them they curl up perfectly into the desired bundle. Now all you have to do is mix food coloring to a 50/50 solution of water and vinegar to tone your replacement fence. Mix colors to the desire tone.
WEAVING:
Using the 5 string pattern you can now feed your bundled strands (Weft) into the Strings (Warp). When you have a length of woven fence you can now glue a cardboard backer to the back for the needed support just as the Japanese did.
FINISHING:
You can now cut your replacement fences to the desire length for your repairs.
Hope this is an informative piece and I know we must have a weaver in our midst?
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DSCN2432 B.JPG [ 444.26 KiB | Viewed 12590 times ] |
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Raffia Magnification.JPG [ 1009.55 KiB | Viewed 12590 times ] |
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Raffia Weave B.JPG [ 867.82 KiB | Viewed 12590 times ] |
