The "Paper Pulper" Manual Paper Shredder

The Paper Pulper(TM) is a water-based hand-powered "shredder" that completely macerates your papers into a pulp.

It's no cost
Uses no energy
Won't break.
Is nearly silent
Makes destruction of important papers accessible to the masses for identity protection, wherever you are.
Gives you material for craft projects.

1/09 Update:

Step 1 Make your container

Find a 1 quart plastic container or a metal can that has a plastic top.

Cut a slit then a hole in the top so you can easily remove it while holding your Pulper blades (aka an egg beater) stand in the middle.

Comments

[pamhill]

Does anyone know where I can find such a large eggbeater. Not sure if one that size goes by a different name, but when I type in 'large egg beater', 'industrial egg beater' and other variations, nothing that size comes up on Yahoo or Google (only the small kitchen egg beaters are featured). Thanks much.

[paqrat]

You might try a thrift store or even an antique store. I work in an antique store here and kitchen tools are a pretty good seller and aren't too expensive. Some of the old tools work better than any new stuff.

[herronfarms]

use a paint mixer, a drill and 5 gal. buket, cut a hole in the lid. walla. make lots of egg trays.

[mbear]

Wasserstrom has them. They're a restaurant/industrial kitchen supply house in Ohio. You could try searching for "Restaurant Supply" and see what you get.

[radiorental]

Great instructable, I'm working on a way to make egg cartons (for all the eggs our chickens produce when they're not helping me make stuff) Anyone got an idea on hold to make a mold?

[paqrat]

I have not tried this but seems as though you could take the bottoms of plastic eggs, glue them in two rows of six (to make a carton of a dozen) to a board. Then build a wood box, with hinged sides or sides that will release, that will fit around the board with the eggs glued to it. Then partially fill the box with paper pulp then press the board with the egg halves glued to it into the pulp. With a bit of experimentation you could probably add pieces of wood glued to the insides of the box to use less pulp but still have strength. Not sure just how I'd go about drying the stuff but I think a modified solar heater could be made that would supply warm air blowing over the molds.

[mrfoltz]

How about muffin pans? I know they're not rounded on the bottom but when the paper drys, it shrinks, it's worth a try... I know a lot of dollar stores sell the heat resistant rubber ones now... That makes them easier to release the dry paper???

[macrumpton]

If you get a couple of those plastic or foam egg trays you could partially fill one of them with the paper mache and then squash the other one on top and secure it with some spring clamps. To get it to dry it would probably do best to prop it up sideways so the water can run out the side. Another option would be to rip some newspapers in strips a little wider than the egg tray, and dip the strips in the glue and lay them on the plastic tray, pressing it into the holes. 3 or 4 layers should do the trick. If you are wanting to make one of those big trays that holds 3 dozen, I would just take an existing big tray and give it a few coats of spray paint and and after it dries a little spray of cooking oil so the paper mache won't stick and then do one of the techniques above.

[radiorental]

great ideas! thanks!

[cowscankill]

Maybe set the bottoms and tops of plastic Easter eggs or something similar in rows and columns. Then paper mache strips over the plastice eggs. When the paper dries, remove the plastic. Maybe even use paper putty and push that in between the eggs first.

[Just Bill]

Consider the TINY amount of ink on the paper (it's like a bazillionth of an inch thick) and relax ... and compost it. The enamels used to make paper shiny are no problem, either ... the solvents are long since totally gone. Enameled paper decomposes slightly slower ... but so what? It's not a race.

[susie]

I believe I'm on to something!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/garden/01shred.html?hpw

"As unlikely as it sounds, some people are willingly, even enthusiastically, spending upward of $1,000 on shredders heavy duty enough to reduce personal documents and other items to the consistency of confetti — particularly during tax season, or high shredding season, when shredder sales peak every year."

[thepelton]

I used an old electric blender to make pulp. The only problems are that you should use paper without a slick finish on it, and color ink has lead in it. You should take that into consideration when making paper.

[Jackabee]

You can add paper to the compost pile. If paper from a regular paper shredder can be added, I don't see why the soggy paper pulp your gadget makes could not be added. It counts as a brown, so remember to add some green items or some source of nitrogen to balance it.

[bootdsc]

GorillazMiko is there any instructable you don't comment on?

[computerwiz_222]

OMG - I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR DAYS!!

[j626no]

i second that. just checked his stats...5305 comments...he's been a member since august 2nd, 2007. thats (...thinking....) just over 23 comments per day. im just gunna keep my mouth shut on this one...just too many things to say here. (albeit funny, most go against the "be nice" comment policy :-p )

[computerwiz_222]

at an average of say 30 seconds to write each comment:

5305 * 30 = 159150 seconds

159150 / 3600 = 44.2 hours

So I would say he has spent an upwards of 50 hours on instructables. Is instructables ad supported? This has to chew up GB's of bandwidth!!!

[j626no]

thats to WRITE each comment....now...how long does it take to read each instructable?

[computerwiz_222]

an upwards of 50 hours... Probably closer to 100 or more

[santy22]

i take 2 or 3 minutes to read something, and you dont need to read if you see the imasges and you can say cool. Gorillaz miki is an certificated instructaholic!

[meddler]

I never thought of that. Clever idea, some friends were trying to figure out how to make paper bricks for a set on a play on a tight budget. I will print this out and give it to them.

[Sgt.Waffles]

It would be really practical with a 5 gallon bucket, a drill, and larger beaters. Good idea though.

[GorillazMiko]

That's so cool! I seriously want to try this out, great job.

[susie]

Yay thanks. Believe it or not it took many design iterations to come up with this ridiculously simple solution! It's a perfect way to use an old rubbermaid or other container that's more sturdy and larger but isn't good any longer for food.