Reviews
Part of Paper marbling: four preparations that must line up before anything else
Trays compared first: paper marbling equipment, sorted category by category
Paper marbling equipment compared by category, starting with trays: what each item must do, which plastics survive size and pigment, and what to make yourself.
What to take away
- The tray is the one piece of paper marbling equipment you cannot improvise badly. It has to be rigid, level and about two centimeters deeper than your working depth of size.
- Cescolite darkroom trays, Bootstrap Farmer 1020 propagation trays, lined timber trays and latching boxes from Sterilite or Really Useful Boxes each solve a different problem. None is a marbling tray until you check it for flex.
- Polypropylene and polyethylene outlast other plastics in a bath of size and pigment. Replace anything chalky, sticky or brittle.
- A rake and a comb are pins on a strip and a stick. Make both before you buy from Colophon Book Arts Supply or Talas.
- Size is the recurring cost, so tray size sets your monthly spend more than any tool does.
Cescolite, Bootstrap Farmer and Sterilite trays compared first
Everything else can be improvised. The tray cannot, because it has to be rigid, level and about two centimeters deeper than your working depth of size.
Marbling trays compared
Cescolite
- Rigidity
- Rigid ribbed
- Typical price
- $15-$70
- Sizes
- 8x10 to 20x24
- Watch for
- Limited sizes
Bootstrap Farmer
- Rigidity
- Flexes filled
- Typical price
- $3-$8
- Sizes
- Large 1020
- Watch for
- Needs full support
Sterilite
- Rigidity
- Bows middle
- Typical price
- $10-$18
- Sizes
- 28-quart
- Watch for
- Depth shifts
Works because
- Cescolite photographic developing tray
- Rigid, ribbed base, built to sit full of liquid; typically $15 to $25 in 8x10 and $40 to $70 in 16x20
- Bootstrap Farmer 1020 propagation tray
- Cheap and large; typically $3 to $8 each in packs of five or ten
- Fabricated timber tray and liner
- Any size you want; frame and liner typically $25 to $60 in materials
- Sterilite 28-quart latching box
- Sold in every big-box store; typically $10 to $18
- Really Useful Box 50 liter
- Thick walls, clip lid, stacks; typically $30 to $45
Watch for
- Cescolite photographic developing tray
- Sizes are limited
- Bootstrap Farmer 1020 propagation tray
- Flexes when filled
- Fabricated timber tray and liner
- Liner creases hold size
- Sterilite 28-quart latching box
- Bows in the middle
- Really Useful Box 50 liter
- Heavy once full
A flexible tray changes depth as you work across it, and depth changes how a pattern behaves. Soft-walled boxes need full support on a board, not a strap at one corner.
Cescolite trays run from 8x10 up to 20x24 inches, so a half-sheet tray with a hand width to spare is easy to find. A 20x24 holds roughly four times the size of an 11x14, which matters when carrageenan is the recurring bill.
Know the plastic
Trays, jugs, droppers and squeeze bottles sit in size and pigment for years, and not all plastics age the same way. The Park Service note on the care and identification of objects made from plastic is written for collections rather than equipment, but the framing is useful.
The first man-made plastics were produced in the late nineteenth century from modified natural materials. Later ones were fully synthetic. All plastics are subject to aging and degradation, which proper conditions and monitoring can slow.
At a tray that means choosing polypropylene or polyethylene where you can. Keep equipment out of sunlight, and replace anything that has gone chalky, sticky or brittle. Most storage boxes carry a resin code on the base, so look for a 5 or a 2 before you fill one.
Combs, rakes and stylus from Colophon, Talas and Hollander's
- A rake is a row of pins at wide spacing, typically an inch or more, used for the first pass.
- A comb is a row of pins at close spacing, usually a quarter inch, used for detail.
- A stylus is a single point, used for curls and drawn shapes.
- A whisk or brush throws color onto the bath.
All four are trivially makeable. Pins pushed through a strip of board, spaced with a ruler and fixed with glue, will do everything a bought comb does, and it teaches you what spacing changes.
Buy combs only when you know which spacing you use. Colophon Book Arts Supply, Talas and Hollander's sell marbling combs, rakes and whisks by mail, typically $20 to $45 for a wooden-handled comb. Metal pins hold a straight line longer than plastic ones.
What a book arts teaching lab keeps on hand
If you want a sense of scale before spending, look at how teaching studios equip themselves. The University of Arizona's Book Art and Letterpress Lab describes itself as supporting on-campus letterpress printing, experimental printing, paper techniques, binding and bookery.
That is the range a single well-set-up room can cover. A room that does several things well is a better model than a room dedicated to one technique you may not stay with. The sink, the bench and the drying rack serve all of them.
The starting kit
Begin with the tray, then the jug, sponge and alum. Add size, four colors and one dispersant. Make a rake and a comb from pins and board, and keep newsprint and blotters for skimming and drying. Add a stylus when you want curls.
Carrageenan is the usual size, sold by Jacquard and Dharma Trading Co., typically $15 to $30 a pound. Methylcellulose, sold as Methocel A4M by Pro Chemical & Dye and other dye houses, costs about the same and needs a day to hydrate. Aluminum sulfate for mordanting typically runs $8 to $15 a pound at dye suppliers.
Jacquard Marbling Colors come in 2 ounce bottles, typically $5 to $8 each. Six bottles cover most traditional patterns.
The buying logic behind this is in what to buy first for decorative paper, and the process it serves is set out in paper marbling explained.
Common questions
Which tray should a beginner buy first?
A Cescolite photographic developing tray sized to take a half sheet with a hand width to spare. It is rigid, ribbed underneath, and built to sit full of liquid. Bootstrap Farmer 1020 trays and Sterilite boxes are cheaper and larger, but check them for flex before you fill one.
Metal or plastic combs?
Either. Metal pins stay straighter, plastic is lighter and cheaper. What matters is even spacing, which a printed template makes easier than it sounds. Colophon and Talas stock both.
Do I need a dedicated skimming tool?
No. Strips of newsprint drawn across the surface skim it perfectly and cost nothing. Keep a stack cut to the tray's width so you never tear a strip mid-bath.
How big should a first tray be?
One that takes a half sheet with a hand width to spare. Full-sheet trays hold a lot of size, and size is the recurring cost. A tray twice the size doubles what you pour every session, not once.
