assembling umbrella stand

The umbrella skeleton is thoroughly dried and assembled with the umbrella handle and keys. The umbrella key is the mechanism to open and close the umbrella, relying on the principle of physical sliding and bouncing to achieve the opening and closing action. The key cannot be made in bulk, but must be made on site according to the size of each umbrella and the thickness of the hollow handle. The bamboo piece is cut into a wide top and pointed bottom curved structure and stuffed into the hollow groove of the umbrella handle, using the physical elasticity of the curved pointed end to repeatedly open and close without damage or malfunction.

sticky umbrella surface

The umbrella laminating process includes five steps: yarn winding, laminating, brain building, edge trimming and edge laminating. One to five turns of cotton thread around the outer edge of the umbrella bones with the umbrella key is called yarn winding, which fixes the spacing between the umbrella bones. The even spacing between the umbrella bones and the umbrella bones is regulated by a net ruler, and the winding ensures that the umbrella is not held open to the extent of tearing the umbrella paper. The umbrella is covered with cotton paper adhered to the umbrella bones through glue and dried thoroughly for brain building. After trimming and taping the edges, we enter the trimming and rolling procedure.

umbrella wrapping edge

The repairing and rolling process includes two steps: arranging the bows and rolling the brain. After the umbrella is closed, a long bone is arranged neatly, and the cotton paper is neatly stuffed into the gap between the two bones with a filling board, so that the shape of an oil paper umbrella is tightly fitted after it is closed. The whole umbrella is completed when the roll is repaired.

umbrella surface brushing oil

The key to the oil umbrella is boiling tung oil. The natural raw tung oil is extracted from the fruit of the tung tree and must undergo special processing before it can be brushed on the umbrella surface, otherwise the oil cannot be dried into a film. The process of boiling tung oil and the recipe are kept secret, and only the inheritors and umbrella workers in each place have the recipe. The painter needs to paint and decorate the umbrella before brushing it with tung oil, which also protects and fixes the decorative painting on the umbrella surface, and the oiled umbrella needs to be completely dried in the sun.

Thread

Threading is more than just an aesthetic use for an oil paper umbrella. Umbrella makers use colored threads to create different patterns through different knotting techniques, which not only decorate the inside of the umbrella, but more importantly, make the umbrella bones flexible and stable.
The thread is knotted to half of the short bones, and the whole short bones are knotted to the full. The full thread is more laborious and time-consuming, but it is more beautiful and adds auspicious meaning.