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Here is a useless fact - Victorians made a lot of furniture from papier mache. Cleverly finished and painted, it looked just like carved wood, and was strong enough to make armchairs and things out of.
I need a coffee table so I am giving it some serious consideration. How many newpapers are you looking at when you take on a project like this?
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don't look at newspapers at all! or rather, use newspapers just for the finish. for body of table, go to a large appliance store and get one of their heavy duty, extra thick cardboard boxes. get yourself a box cutter and cut the forms for your table from that! then wrap newspaper /mache around it.
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cheers rachel, will hunt out some boxes
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I haven't made a coffee table, but I did make a stool out of papier-mache and tin cans that is suprisingly strong and holds the weight of someone sitting on it.
Let us know how your coffee table goes!
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Whilst I would agree that cardboard boxes do make an effective and speedy filler, I think a note of caution should be added in that p/maché on its own is incredibly strong in compression and torsion. This strength may be compromised by the use of board.
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Quote : This strength may be compromised by the use of board.
Cardboard has a "direction" so to speak..so if you use it in the right way ( the waves going sideways ) and sit on it can hold many many many times it's weight..the proof being you can bend it by hand in one way but not the other ..unless you REALLY press hard on it and even then it's almost impossible to bend once there's alot of layers of cardboard glued together..i dont know a single good papermache furniture builder who dosent use cardboard has a base.
oh and cardboard aint a filler when building furniture..it's virtualy the "skeleton" of the piece the papier mache only stop's the cardboard from going sideways and "bend"..heck they even started building recycled house wall's with the stuff..so it should be proof enough of the strenght it has 
..no offense by the way hehehe
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I havent forgotten..just VERY short on time :oops: just look at the spacing of dates between this post and the last one i did on the subject..
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Yes, as Melf says, the cardboard can be extremely strong, if aligned in the right way. It would not be good to make the whole thing out of mash because there would be a considerable drying problem.
In terms of strength, it is surprising how strong layered paper can be, if used properly. If, as an experiment, you took just one newspaper, cut each page (not tear it) into (say) 2 inch (50mm) strips, roll each one into a half inch (12mm) diameter tube using wallpaper paste; let them dry thoroughly; stand them on end, perhaps with a string around to hold them together; put a firm board on top . . . .
then stand on it; invite some friends to join you until . . . eventually . . . it collapses. The collapse is more likely due to some lateral movement rather than compression.
Also card bent into lengths with a triangular cross-section (like Toblerone packets if you know those) are structurally strong. Built into a block they can withstand great weight from all directions.
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Or roll a magazine up tightly and hold it together. Slam the end directly down onto a table. It wont bend at all.
Good self defense technique if you were on a plane being hijacked. A rolled up magazine will shatter a bone before it'll bend.
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.