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Is it possible to make something out of cardboard and paper mache alone that has the strength of a dowel? Most of the weapons I plan to make usually need a dowel, but I don't like working with wood and would prefer using materials I have already.
So, if it's possible, can someone tell me the recipe and how I would go about making it?
Please and Thank you ^^
Edit: I should mention what materials I have available to my disposal. I have quite a bit of cardboard, a LOT of paper, and about 30 wire hangers that I have straightened out. (I have more hangers, but they haven't been straightened yet.)
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First of all, forget the hanger wire. If you're making 'weapons' it would be dangerous to have ends of wire inside.
You can make very strong lengths, perhaps not as tough as wooden dowel - but not bad. You don't say what thickness of dowel you are talking about.
What I would do is . . . .. take a sheet of bond paper and a thin (eg 3mm) dowel. Wrap one end of the paper (the top or the side as you wish) around the dowel to a length of about 4cm. Without using paste, push the fold under the dowel (not the end of the paper which will still be visible). This just makes the next process easier. Now lift the flap and paste under. Press it down firmly. 
Now paste the paper and, with two hands, roll the dowel tightly across the paper until it is all wound round into a firm roll.
Slip out the dowel and allow the tube to dry. This will already be quite strong.
To increase strength, put several tubes together to the thickness you want (a fasces).
Will this do what you want, do you think? :oops:
DavidO
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I'm wondering how it would be dangerous to have wire inside these?
But I think what you're saying would work, only I don't know what bond paper is.
Edit: Okay, I did research and bond paper is basically printer paper. That shouldn't be hard I have a lot of that type of paper. But your method confuses me quite a bit.
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David, your description confuses me, too. Esp the part that says "... around the dowel to a length of about 4cm." Is that really what you meant to say? Or could you please reword it?
Sue
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It's so nice to be able to confuse everyone. And it didn't take too much practice either lol! :twisted:
Basically, it is just 'wind the paper round the dowel, making sure paste doesn't touch the dowel'. The method I was TRYING to explain just makes the start of the winding easier. Never mind - produce the tubes and find the method that best suits you.
Cheers to all my bewildered friends
DavidO
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I understand what David means imagine making large paper beads.
I make very similar tubes of news paper to play with the cats.
Start with opposite corners left hand bottom to right hand top.
The first bit is a little tricky as the first roll has to be very tight to make the tube strong if it gets slack or starts to unroll just start again. I wet the ends of my fingers and pinch and roll to start off then keep rolling and keep the tention on don't for get to glue or tape the end to stop it coming undone. You should end up with a long tube strong in the middle but the ends will be a bit wispy just cut them off. You could then put the wire inside the tube and seal the ends up. As David said put several of these tubes together and it should be very strong.
A friend of mine used this process to make large chain links its very strong.
Sue 
.
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I'm thinking the coat hanger would be fine as long as the ends were turned in on themself, not point out where they could possible poke through and stab someone.
So loop the ends back on themself, maybe tape it off for added reassurance. *shrug*
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David, I'm interested in how your method works : D But after reading it a few times, I think i'm starting to get. Basically when you said fold the paper over the dowel, you would have the wrap wrapped around the dowel in a hook like shape before beginning the rolling process... Am I right?
i'm still confused about how I would get several pages of bond (printer) paper to make a longer dowel. Would I tape them together at the edges or something?
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For a long tube, wrap enough bond round the dowel to cover it, holding it in place with masking tape or similar. Then take strips of bond or kraft (newspaper would break up too quickly) and wrap it in a spiral from top to bottom of the dowel, with a thin smear of paste both sides. Keep doing that until it is strong enough for your needs.
DavidO
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>:3 Oh man, I'm loving how simple this is! : D
I can't wait to start it out. I'll post pictures when I'm done with everything.
(Btw, I'm working on making two keyblades, one each for my neice and nephew. [lucky! >.<] They'll be about 30 inches to last them a while as they grow up.)
I'm glad that this process doesn't involve that many materials either. It's a perfect use for all that paper I've got. ^____^ Thanks for all the advice : D
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Okay, I know double posting is normally not allowed, but no one's replied and I've got another question~ : D
Okay, so I'm got rods rolled up and such. It took 3 pieces of paper in length to get the size I wanted. My question is, how do I strengthen the joints where the papers meet each other?
In fact, would wrapping these dowels in paper mache help to strengthen it further?
And yet again, thank you for the wonderful ideas! I'll make the most out of them!
-Neko : D
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Various ways to strengthen the joints. You could take short sections of dowels, long enough to push about 4cm into each tube. Glue them in and push them together.
Another is to take some fine, strong pulp and push into the tube, laying it flat until dry. If you followed the idea of having a strong wire inside, this would need to be the method.
For either, definitely put a couple or more layers over, winding in a spiral form.
OK?
(What's this with slugs and sloths then?)
DavidO
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Well in my tubes, I wrapped several pieces of paper together to strengthen the tube. There's roughly about 15-20 bond sheets involved in one 25 inch dowel. So putting anything in there would be an out. There's only the small space from the very first page that was rolled up that can be filled.
What I'm wondering is would layering it with glue and water make the outside stronger and less bendable? Currently if I try hard enough I can bend the pages, otherwise, it's decently strong.
If it involves using paper, then it's good with me : D I've got tons of it ^^;;
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