Printing plant

“ The only remaining circumstance we have to mention is, that in the beginning of the present century there was manufactured, in the vicinity of London, a very good printing paper, made entirely from wheat straw; for which manufacture, the inventor obtained a patent, but he did not succeed, we presume, because it is now discontinued. Considerable quantities of41 paper is now made from straw in France; but it is of a yellow tinge. Paper made from linen is the best. ”

“ In choosing the paper destined for the transfer, therefore, attention not only has to be paid to the structure, which must serve the artistic purpose, but one must be certain of the amount of sizing; this latter is necessary so that one may correctly carry out the actual printing process.
As a basic principle the worker should use only pure rag paper and avoid all paper containing wood pulp. ”

“ Since hemp hurds are to be treated in this report as a raw material for the manufacture of book and printing papers, the qualities, supply, probable future, and cost of the material will be considered in comparison with wood, with which it must compete. There seems to be little doubt that the present wood supply can not withstand indefinitely the demands placed upon it, and with increased scarcity economy in the use of wood will become imperative. ”

“ In the manufacture of newspaper the tendency during recent years has been to make the paper mill operations as mechanical as possible and to dispense with the preliminary operations which are essential for the manufacture of half-stuff, the chemical processes being left in the hands of the pulp manufacturers.
The manufacture of straw cellulose is now practically confined to Germany, but small quantities of the bleached straw cellulose are imported because the pulp imparts certain qualities to paper which improve it, notably in making cheap printing papers harder and more opaque. ”

“ The value of Esparto for the manufacture of high-class printing and medium quality writing paper is well known. This material has qualities which cannot readily be obtained from other fibres, such as rag and wood pulp. It is chiefly used in papers required for lithographic printing, books, and art illustration, since it gives a sheet having a good surface and one which is soft and flexible.
The grass is obtained from Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripoli, in which countries it grows wild, requiring very little cultivation. ”

“ Although no paper has hitherto been found that will take so perfect an impression from colour-blocks as the long-fibred Japanese paper, yet it should be the aim of all craftsmen to become independent of foreign materials as far as possible. There is no doubt that [Pg 55] our paper-makers should be able to produce a paper of good quality sufficiently absorbent to take colour from the wet block and yet tough enough to bear handling when slightly damp.
If a short-fibred paper is made without size, it comes to pieces when it is damped for printing. ”

“ In the last decade of the century wood-engraving was practically killed by the perfection attained by photographic methods of reproduction (see Process) , the most popular of these methods entailing the use of paper heavily coated with china clay. During the century trade-printing, both in England and America, steadily improved, and the work done by William Morris at his Kelmscott Press (1891–1896) , and by other amateur printers who imitated him, set a new standard of beauty of type and ornament, and of richness of general effect. ”

“ Vegetable fibres of all kinds may be converted into paper, but no new fibre threatens those now employed, unless it can be obtained in large quantities, responds readily to the usual bleaching reagents, and can be delivered to the papermaker at a price which enables it to compete successfully with the fibres at present in use at the paper mill. In some cases the plant fibres are reduced to pulp near the place of growth, in others the raw material is transported in its entirety. Other sources of supply are the wastes of other industries, and wastes which have no other uses. ”

“ High-grade printing papers are produced from a mixture of rag and esparto fibres, a soft paper, taking a good finish, being produced. A blend of chemical wood and esparto, skilfully manufactured, produces a very good printing paper for all ordinary purposes, and papers composed entirely of chemical wood may be good or indifferent according to the treatment and skill devoted to their production. ”

“ The process of converting these different ingredients into pure white paper is a most interesting one, but we shall pass on to other materials used in making the newspaper without further notice.
The central idea in the printing process is the movable type from which the impression, which we call printing, is made. Types are composed from an alloy known as type metal. Its chief ingredient is lead; antimony is added to make it more stiff, and tin to give it toughness. ”

“ A complete factory for the production of printing ink consequently consists of three distinct plants,—one for the production of the varnishes, one for the manufacture of the pigments, and one for the grinding of the pigments into the varnishes. ”

“ It is in this liability to warp that types of wood fail most signally. It is not enough that they can be made to serve for one experiment; the only demonstration of practicability that a printer can accept is that of repeated distribution and recomposition, a feat which has never been done. That types of wood were tried by the inventor of typography is probable; that single leaves were printed, experimentally, is possible; but the statement that any printer used them repeatedly in the printing of books, cannot be admitted. No book was ever printed in Europe with small types of wood. ”

“ The plant grows spontaneously in isolated tufts on the most dry and barren soil; it extends itself in concentric layers, so that the youngest and best leaves are always outside, and therefore most easily plucked. At present it is principally employed for the manufacture of paper, and nearly all our British mills are being adapted to make use of it ”

“ This copper reproduction of the woodcut is filled in at the back with metal, mounted on wood, and is then ready for the printer, who has his ‘overlays’ all ready, and the business of printing begins.
There is nothing more wonderful in the history of printing than the rapid development of the printing machine and the extraordinary increase of its productive power. The ordinary press, though greatly improved, was found quite inadequate to the demands made upon it; and, the attention of practical men being directed to some more rapid means of production, the steam printing machine was invented. ”

“ Oriental paper-makers do not use rags nor raw cotton for making their pulp. They select different kinds of bamboo, and the bark and leaves of various trees, which they combine in unequal proportions, so as to produce for different kinds of paper the different qualities of strength, smoothness and flexibility. ”

“ Such ideas, when planted in the soil of the collective mind through the medium of official or other records, generally require for their germination a longer time than that for which the patent laws grant protection for industrial property. Many of them, indeed, have formed the subjects of patents which, from one reason or another, lapsed long before the expiration of the maximum terms. Nature is ever prodigal of seeds and of "seed-thoughts" but comparatively niggardly of places in which the young plant will find exactly the kind of soil, air, rain, and sunshine which the young plant needs. ”

“ But the invention of printing, one of the turning points of the human race, was first to take place, and then on that soil of the middle ages, so long prepared and fertilized by so patient a toil, a mighty harvest was to spring up. ”

“ These plates are filed smooth at the back, and fixed on wood, and you have the blocks ready to print from; one representing one color, another another, and so on, till the plates for a single shawl of many colors may mount up in value to a very large sum.
Before printing, the fabric has been well washed; the barège being passed, by machinery, over cylinders which apply and squeeze out a wash of soap, soda, and glue. All roughness had previously been removed by a “cropping” machine. After drying, it comes to the printing-table, where it is treated much like a paper-hanging. ”

“ 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. ”

“ As each stone is finished it is etched; that is, treated with a weak solution of nitric acid and gum-water, in order to remove all accidental traces of scum from its surface, and to prepare it for printing. Then proofs are made, which serve as a guide to the lithographer during the progress of his work, and finally as a guide to the transferrer and to the printer. The proving is done on a hand press, and it is here that we have our first glimpse of chemical printing, which, notwithstanding its simplicity, seems so mysterious to one uninitiated in its secrets. ”

“ Of all the fibre-yielding plants known to botanical science there is not one so well calculated to meet the pressing requirements of the Paper-trade as "Bamboo," both as regards facility and economy of production, as well as the quality of the "Paper-Stock" which can be manufactured therefrom: grown under favourable conditions of climate and soil, there is no plant which will give so heavy a crop of available fibre to the acre, no plant which requires so little care for its cultivation and continuous production.
The rapidity of the growth of "Bamboo" is unequalled. ”

“ These changes are mainly in the methods of manipulating the wood to obtain the pulp, for when that is ready, the process, from and including the “washers” and “beaters,” is very similar to that already described. All papers, whether made from rags or wood, depend upon vegetable fiber for their substance and fundamental base, and it is found that the different fibers used in paper-making, when finally subdued, do not differ, in fact, whether obtained from rags or from the tree growing in the forest. ”

“ Large types, such as are used for posters and large bills, are made of wood. The smallest size for practical use is 48-point, or 4-line pica. Sizes of wood type are multiples of the pica, and are so named, as 8-line, 10-line, etc. They are much cheaper than metal types, though not as durable or satisfactory for printing. The wood commonly used is maple, and the letter is made on the end of the grain. It must be well seasoned and polished. Pine and other soft woods are used for very large sizes of wood type and poster engravings. ”

“ This gives rise to difficulties in securing accurate register in color-printing, owing to atmospheric changes. The manufacturer may minimize this difficulty by a careful formation of the paper and the regulation of the drying, so as to turn out the paper as nearly as possible containing an average normal percentage of moisture.
The same conditions are responsible for wavy edges, which occur principally along the cross-grain dimension of the sheets. ”

“ In all these industries, whether the fiber cultivated is flax, ramie, or jute, the machine question enters so largely into the problem of their successful establishment that the business must be conducted on a large scale. Even in the growth of Sisal hemp in Florida,The Luffa, or Sponge Cucumber. should it be attempted, the enterprise will only pay when the necessary mill plant for extracting the fiber is able to draw upon a cultivated area of five hundred acres. ”

“ We must now take notice of two theories or traditions which have been current for a long time as to some intervening stage between the art of block-printing and the art of printing with movable cast types. [39] One theory or tradition would have it that the inventor of printing, after the idea of single, individual, movable types had arisen in his mind, practised his new invention for some consider able time with wooden types, and that he came only gradually to the idea of movable types cast of metal. ”

“ The quicker it is dried the better it retains its colors. The petals will fade, but careful pressing will make them look very well, not at all like hay. If the plant be taken out of its press too soon its leaves will wrinkle. Some delicate plants will dry in twenty-four hours' time, others take three or four days, or even a week.
Have ready sheets of nice white paper. These you can get a printer to cut for you of uniform size. The regulation size is 17 by 11 inches. If the specimen be too long for the paper, bend the stem once or twice. ”

“ The high value of land precludes the cultivation of any fibrous material exclusively for paper-making in England, even if this climate was suitable for its growth; with the exception indeed of "Flax" and "Hemp," it would appear that northern latitudes are not favourable for the production of fibre-producing plants, and therefore it is to warm or tropical countries alone any reliable supply of "New Material" can be looked for. ”

“ Gold leaf printing requires much more care than bronze printing, but if properly managed will be found to be a great improvement. Ink should be made of chrome yellow, mixed with Venice turpentine, virgin wax and varnish. Cut the gold leaf into slips a shade wider than the lines it is to cover, ink the form in the usual way, and pull a sheet; then lay on the gold leaf with [Pg 81] no great harm. Some colors will not keep at all, and others deposit at the bottom of the can almost all their solid ingredients. ”