Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1909 — Making Paper by Hand. [ARTICLE]

Making Paper by Hand.

Ninety per cent of the writing papers made in the United States Is produced in Massachusetts. It 3s said that Adams, Mass., maintains the only mill in the country where handmade paper is made. The reason why paper is not made by hand is simple. A modern paper making machine will produce a sheet of ordinary newspaper from 60 to 120 inches wide at the rate of from 160 to 400 feet a minute, or a‘ sheet more than 40 miles long in a working day of 10 hours. It requires the services of five persons to make three reams of handmade paper in a day. There is a large demand for these hanlmade papers for drawing, water color painting, correspondence and special book editions. The difference between hand and machine) made paper lies in the manipulation of the sheets. In making a sheet of paper by hand the pulp made from rags by the usual process of washing and heating is emptied into an open vat along with a considerable quantity of water. Into this vat the workman dips a mold or framed piece of wire cloth at an inclination of about 66 degrees and, taking up a sufficient quantity of pulp, raises It horizontally, the frame, or deckle, holding it upon the wire cloth. A double oscillating motion, or jog, is imparted to it, distributing the pulp with beautiful uniformity over the entire surface of the mold. Intertwining the fibers. Gradually the water drains through and the pulp solidifies and assumes a peculiar shiny look, which Indicates to the experienced eye the completion of the first process.