From Paper-mill to Pressroom

by William Bond Wheelwright

A good view of the surface-sizing vat is obtained in the machine on the right hand. The paper is being slit just before its introduction into the vat.

As the drying proceeds there is a marked shrinkage in the dimensions of the sheet, caused by the shrinking of each individual fiber, until the fibers are thoroughly set, enmeshed one with the other.

The addition of size glazes over each fiber and makes it less susceptible to moisture. The addition of clay permeates the structure, filling up the interstices. Up to a certain point the clay does not materially weaken the structure, as a certain percentage of empty air space would exist without it. Beyond that point the clay will fill places that conceivably would be filled by fibers, and having no adhesive strength, the structure of a sheet overloaded with clay is weakened in proportion to its overload.

While the fibers are more or less moist, they are susceptible to alteration in structure, and may in this state be flattened by calendering to a smooth surface, and the presence of clay helps to fill in the microscopic valleys between the fibers so that the surface becomes level to human vision.

THE FOURDRINIER

Now to return to a sketch of the wet ends of paper-machines. The Fourdrinier part consists of a head box, which resembles the case of an upright piano. Where the keyboard might be, is a broad portal for the passage of a stream of pulp, the width of the machine, onto a horizontal, endless wire belt. This wire belt is suspended in a frame some thirty feet long and held taut by being stretched over a number of rolls. The large roll near the head box is known as the breast roll. The still larger roll at the other extreme of the frame is called the lower couch roll, on top of which is a felt-jacketed couch roll. The wire is kept level by a transverse series of “table rolls” closely set, and the under part of the wire is held down by stretch rolls. Directly under the top part, and continuing from the breast roll for about two-thirds the length of the frame, is a shallow tray called a “save-all,” as it catches all the drippings which contain filler, and some fine fibers which are returned to the screens by stuff-pumps, maintaining a continuous circulation so that nothing goes to waste. Into this save-all water may be admitted to regulate the consistency of the stuff.

Near the couch roll the wire passes over two or three suction boxes, and on top of the wire, between the suction boxes, turns a wire-covered roll called a “dandy.”

On either side of the machine is a frame which may be contracted or expanded. It carries a series of pulleys over which run rubber deckle straps, the under parts of which rest on the wire and keep the wet pulp within bounds. By this means the width of the web of paper is regulated. As a little pulp leaks under these straps machine-made paper has deckle edges on both sides of the web. Artificial deckle edges may also be produced by squirting a fine stream of water upon the web near the couch roll, but it is not possible to produce this effect across the web. Except on special papers the deckle edges are trimmed off by slitters at the end of the machine.

Near the flow box, running at right angles across the machine, are two so-called “slices” about eight inches apart. These may be adjusted at various heights from the wire, in order to regulate the thickness of the paper. Their most important function is to make the thickness uniform from one side to the other of the sheet, and to create a pond which assists in forming the paper.

The frame of the Fourdrinier has a joint near the first suction box, and a mechanical arrangement called a “shake” is located near the head box to impart a lateral shaking motion to the frame while the wire runs straight ahead, thus imitating the shaking of the hand mold.