William Bond Wheelwright

“ The transition from the old ways of paper-making to modern processes was sudden. The century which gave6 them to us stands out in radiance against the dark ages of heavy toil at the vat and press.
First came the mechanic whose genius caused tons to be produced in the time that pounds were made of yore. Next came the chemist who developed unthought-of raw materials to supply the ever-growing demands of “papivorous” civilization, until it has been said with so much truth that ours is the paper age. ”

“ Grain.—The question of the grain in paper is certainly, in many cases, within the control of the printer when ordering his paper, but its importance is very frequently overlooked. In machine-made papers there is a distinct grain that is caused because a majority of the fibers point in the direction that the stuff flows on the machine, just like logs floating in a river. ”

“ There is no escape from the consequences of one’s work. It remains proved in black and white, or even in many colors, as a credit or otherwise to one’s imagination, conception and workmanship. It is my conviction that there are large educational advantages in the study of Printing if it be taught by trained enthusiasts in a way to make it live and vibrate with all its far-reaching and inexhaustible power. ”

“ This can be accomplished to so fine a degree, by a skilful man, that the difference between the two sides of the paper is scarcely discernible. The fineness of weave of the one cloth also is an important bearing in securing an even sided sheet.
Thus we see that it is well-nigh impossible to reduce the making of paper to an exact science, and a reasonable variation must be expected, both in weight and finish. The successful management of a paper-machine depends, from start to finish, on careful, experienced judgment and alert attention. ”

“ A plant has one function to perform—it is to flower, fruit or make stalk. Its other functions are subordinate and produce only by-products. The stalk is the main product of the forest tree. No other fibrous material is so rich in cellulose; no other which lends itself so easily to paper-mill processing. It has no seasons of harvest; does not require curing; does not easily decay; requires no packing, and may be stored best in the rivers. All these waste stalks are pithy, bulky and perishable, and would require much labor to gather, pack and ship. ”

“ In this class of difficulties, discrepancies in sizing are the less pardonable and are more apt to be noticed when hard sizing is requisite, as in writing-paper or index bristol. In such cases a lack of sufficient sizing is an incurable fault, for which the manufacturer is responsible. There are occasions when excess of sizing would be troublesome—for example, in a smooth-finished book-paper it would be likely to cause offsetting, but this trouble may be alleviated by using less ink, or, if necessary, by slip-sheeting. ”

“ Pure air is also an insulator of electricity, which finds its paths through the air by means of the dust particles in suspension. Moisture in the air forms a connection between the dust particles through which the electricity easily passes into the ground, but when the air is dry this medium is lacking, so that substances containing static charges are deprived87 of these channels of conductivity. Cold air can not hold so much moisture as warm air, so that its insulating properties are increased. It is, consequently, in cold weather when this sort of paper trouble is at its worst. ”

“ Hence it is only a question of a limited number of years until paper fiber must be grown as a crop, as are practically all other plants materials entering into the economy of man. While the conservation of only a few of the by-products of the farms yielding paper fiber can be accomplished profitably in the near future, and only a few of the plants promise to be money-makers immediately if grown solely for paper production, it seems very probable that raw products, now scarcely considered, may in a few years play an important part in the paper and pulp industry. ”

“ Where the process takes place on the machine, more breakage is occasioned and more paper has to be sorted out, as the hard-finishing accentuates spots in the paper, and little lumps of fibers, which would pass unnoticed in an uncalendered or antique paper, are squashed down and blackened by calendering. Hence the higher cost of such papers.
Supercalendering and plating bring into play different workman, so that the labor cost is increased, and any finishing, sheet by sheet, is necessarily slow and more costly than that accomplished in a continuous process from the roll. ”

“ APPRAISING AND TESTING PAPER The appraisal of a specimen of paper differs from testing in that an appraisal comprehends the value of an object in relation to its usefulness and marketability, whereas testing is merely an arbitrary method of expressing the chemical or physical properties of the object. ”

“ Griffin ignores the fact that esparto grass is a crop which gives a yield of cellulose practically equal to wood, and of equal, if not superior, quality. Although it is not available for American mills, it is worth citing in contradiction to the flat statement that “there is no substitute for wood.” Furthermore, there is no evidence that the American crops furnish an inferior fiber, though the cellulose yield is less. It is quite possible that the low cellulose yield may be compensated for through the production of by-products along with the paper-making material. ”

“ Of course, when any of these symptoms appear it is the duty of the men on the machines to correct them, and in the continuous course of paper-making it is inevitable that felts become filled up and require washing or changing, or that the variations of consistency in the stuff should call for some form of regulation. Stuff which runs too moist on the wire will often “crush” under the couch roll, producing a curdled appearance. Stuff run with insufficient water will not form evenly. The skilful machine-tender avoids these extremes. ”

“ Mineral fillers should not be regarded as adulterants. They are used, not as a means for adding weight, but for the sake of certain effects which are requisite in many papers. No filler is used on good writings or ledgers, as the printing requirements do not call for a closely filled surface or a mellow texture.
39 In book papers a varying percentage of clay is used, as it improves the printing quality by filling up the interstices between the fibers and increases opacity. Papers for half-tone printing require more filling, in order to have smooth, level surfaces. ”

“ Wood-pulps are of two classes, mechanical and chemical. In the lay mind there often appears to be some confusion between the two, leading to an unreasonable prejudice against papers made from either class. The fact is so generally known that news-print, one of the cheapest grades of paper, is made from wood, that the partially informed person is prone to think that all wood papers are of low quality, whereas paper of permanence and excellent quality may be made from the high grades of wood cellulose chemically prepared. ”

“ Formation.—While examining a paper for color and clearness, the formation of the sheet should also be observed. In general, a close, even formation is to be desired. Fibers of the same approximate length may be loosely or evenly formed, according to the skill of the machine-tender. The longer the fiber, the harder it is to get a close, even formation, and it should be remembered that these two qualifications are to a greater or less extent contradictory. ”

“ For example, on a bulk of .015 of an inch to four sheets a supercalendered paper would weigh about 65 pounds, a high machine finish about 60 pounds, a text or medium finish about 50 pounds, an antique about 40 pounds. In other words, the density of any given piece of paper is proportionate to the amount of calendering it receives. Naturally, the antique paper, lightly pressed and uncalendered, is loose for texture and full of minute air pockets, so that it is light for bulk, while the supercalendered paper is squeezed to a hard, dense sheet containing little air space. ”

“ The addition of filler, however, increases the opacity, gives mellowness, and improves the printing quality by equalizing the texture of the surface.
The addition of sizing tends to increase the strength of paper, owing to its adhesive properties, but if liberally used it detracts from the mellowness and gives the sheet a tinny “character.”
The length of the fiber also affects the strength, as long fibers give greater strength and better folding quality than short. It is not possible to get as close formation with long as with short fibers. ”

“ PAPER-MAKING—Continued Technique.—The importance of the formation of the sheet on the machine wire is the same as on the hand mold, as subsequent pressing and calendering can only modify faulty formation. The stuff should be uniform and even in texture. The press rolls must be ground with absolute accuracy, and slightly crowned to allow for their sagging. Otherwise water would be unevenly expelled from the web, possibly causing a damp streak throughout the entire run of paper, which would show in the finished product. ”

“ The discrepancies between the percentages of increase in production and value serve to emphasize the increasing difficulties in obtaining raw material. That sprucewood is being consumed in this country faster than it is grown, is indicated by the recourse to less-favored species, as well as by the steadily increasing imports, both of pulpwood and wood-pulp. This situation emphasises the great importance of conserving waste papers, in spite of the fact that 21.4 per cent of the fiber used in 1909 in the United States were derived from waste papers. ”

“ Mineral impurities in paper are not uncommon. Minute particles of iron worn off the machinery, or getting into the stock in the shape of wire stitching, can often be discovered by the use of a magnet test. In photographic papers this must positively be excluded, but in most papers, if the particles do not show as specks, and are not large enough to make trouble for the printer, they are not a serious menace. ”

“ The printers who in the aggregate consume large quantities of writing, catalog, and miscellaneous printing paper, but whose orders are composed principally of many small items, buy almost wholly from the paper jobbers. In localities far removed from the Mills, the jobber very naturally occupies a more conspicuous position than elsewhere, and his superior facilities for handling the business make him a stronger factor than in the markets adjacent to the mills, and enable him to handle much of the largest business to advantage. ”

“ There is one very serious objection to making books or catalogues “cross-grained.” This is on account of the way fibers are affected by moisture. The cellulose fiber expands in diameter on absorbing moisture, for which it has a great84 affinity. Indeed, a cellulose fiber is only stable under uniform atmospheric conditions. The expansion of each fiber in diameter makes paper expand much more across than with the grain. Obviously, the total expansion of a sheet equals the amount each fiber expands times the number of fibers that side by side go to make up the sheet. ”

“ If the beater-man dilutes one batch of stuff more than another, the variation will show the minute the altered stuff appears on the machine, and only an immediate readjustment at the wet end can avoid considerable variation in52 the product. Then, from end to end, the long machine must be watched carefully, so that the pressing, drying and calendering may all be kept uniform. A bungler should find no place in the machine-room, but it is desirable that consumers have sufficient appreciation of human limitations, as applied to paper-making, to admit proper allowances for normal variations. ”