Mica? Shoji?

Remembering my third grade geology lessons….Mica is a type of rock. If there’s a big chunk of it, it forms sheets – kind of like flint for arrowheads and stuff. I remember it being shiny.

The shoji screens are made outta rice paper, if my memory serves.

And that’s all I have, really – someone else to explain better may have the floor now.

Mica is a mineral. It is easily cleaved into sheets. It was once used in high heat applications for windows into furnaces or kerosine stoves. It is also used in lamp shades for its natural earthy beauty. Here is a copper lamp with a mica shade. Mica throws a very warm light and is used a lot in arts and crafts lighting.

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

Mica sheets are not hard to cut. You can use a fine tooth scroll/jig/coping saw, I often use an 80 tooth ply blade & cut it on the tablesaw. You can even cut it with a sharp utility knife & straight edge. just make several scoreing passes.

-- http://www.grandprairiewoodworks.com

If you want durability and a material that can stand some abuse go for the mica. On the other hand, if you prefer the delicate and—literally—light japanese touch go for the ”shoujigami”, the rice paper used in the ”shouji” screens. Don’t forget though that the rice paper is VERY prone to get ripped and a simple wandering finger at night trying to reach for the light switch goes easily trough it like a hot knife through butter.

Installing the japanese paper requires some proper technique and it’s done while wet so it gets the right amount of tensioning once dry… too much and it will tear apart, to loose and it looks really bad and plentiful of rides.

Also think that classic ”shoujigami” is plain white and all of mica’s beauty resides in the beautiful wood-like grain and subtle tone variations. It’s way more warm in it’s color.

Jojo, “shouji” all around, “tatami” below.

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://www.japanese-woodworking-tools.com/ · http://twitter.com/japanesetools

There is another alternative to shoji paper should you decide to go that route. I admired Todd Clippinger's Prairie-style fixtures from the Cooper House Project, and he took the time to respond with this information:

Doug,
Thanks for taking a look at my projects. I have been busy and haven’t had much time to spend responding to queries about the projects.

#1. The shoji material is incredibly durable. I love the stuff. It is not the fragile “rice paper” product you would imagine. It is synthetic and very, very durable. The chandeliers have a piece of glass over the “paper” that can be rolled. I designed and made those before the entertainment center.

On the entertainment center I used an acrylic shoji panel. The material is bonded to acrylic and I was told by the distributor that it was durable and suitable for exterior use. What I liked about it was the flat, no-glare surface. It is very lightweight. I had the distributor precut the panels to a size close to what I needed, reducing the size of the package saved me a lot of money in shipping. I cut it myself to exact size with a blade specific to cutting acrylic and plastics from Freud. The blade cost me about $85.

Here is the distributor info on the shoji products; www.shojidesigns.com PH# 253-857-4712 Owner- Ed Crowell. Ed is a super nice guy to do business with and I will buy from him again. He probably can send you samples of the various materials, he did for me. He will explain the products to you.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Thanks for the information everyone. I have one more question, where does a person get mica?

-- Owen Johnson - aka IowaWoodcrafter

Owen,

I get mine from a lamp store that also makes lamp shades. Here is place that you can get it online also.
http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=941-273

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

If you go to google and type in “Mica Plate” you will find many suppliers of natural mica.

HTH

-- Scott - Chico California http://chicowoodnut.home.comcast.net

You are right Doug, here in Japan there’s also matte glass panels that imitate incredibly well the shoji and are commonly used for the windows on the public lavatories and such “low maintenance” places. But I doubt those make its way Stateside…

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://www.japanese-woodworking-tools.com/ · http://twitter.com/japanesetools