If the paper has to be sized (which is the case in all “hard” papers) it has to pass through a process, the machinery of which is shown in fig. 3. A is a reservoir for size, B a trough for the paper to dip into, C the reel of paper to be sized, D rollers to press out all superfluous size, E a pulley to keep the paper on the stretch, F F F a succession of hollow “drums,” to prolong the passage of the paper through the air of the drying-room, which is heated by the furnace G and the tubes I I. H H are openings to admit fresh air, and K openings to allow the exit of the steam from the paper as it dries. L is a series of rollers to glaze it.
The “cutting-machine” before referred to is represented at fig. 4. A is a wheel upon which is fixed a plate with projections and screws for fixing the position of the arm attached to the link B; B link connecting the wheel A with the lever-arm G, and capable of adjustment by means of the plate attached to the wheel A, and the screw D; D a screw regulating the position of the rod B; E the drum by whose motion the web of the paper is carried forward.
But the process, as conducted by hand (fig. 5), will give a much better notion of how paper is formed from the pulp. A reservoir, A, is filled with pulp, which is supplied by a wheel in the box B, to a strainer C, and passed to a vat D, and a man, E, takes in his hands a mould consisting of a shallow frame of wood of the size the sheet of paper is to be, having a bottom of fine wires laid side by side, and having wires crossing at intervals to keep them firm (the marks of these may be seen in any sheet of laid foolscap paper held up to the light); he dips this mould edgewise into the reservoir, and brings it up horizontally full of pulp; this he gently shakes, to make the pulp lie level and allow all superfluous water to drain through the wires. It is then handed to another man H, who has a sheet of flannel or felt spread out on a table F G, on which the mould is inverted, and the sheet of pulp left on the flannel, which sucks up more of its moisture; over this is placed another piece of flannel, and then another sheet of pulp on it, and so on to the number of five or six dozen F, then the whole is put into a powerful press, and screwed down till all the water is squeezed out, when they are pretty firm, and are lifted out and hung on lines to dry, after which they are immersed in a cistern filled with thin size made by boiling clippings of skin in water (see “Glue and Size”), and having some alum dissolved in it--they are once more pressed and dried. What is called “hot-pressed” paper is pressed between smooth sheets of pasteboard, having a hot iron plate placed between every three or four dozen sheets of paper; this gives a smooth surface to the paper. The names, dates, and other marks seen on hand-made paper are formed by wires worked into the bottom of the mould, which, projecting, make the pulp thinner in those places. The water-mark of Bank-notes is made in the same way. More than half-a-million sterling is paid annually for duty upon paper--so vast is the consumption!