1. The Manufacture of
Fine Papers
Spring Semester 1999
TEC 4562 Ink & Paper Substrates

2. Introduction
“The ability of humans to supplement their
speech with the written word is an indication
of a high degree of civilization.”
From carvings on slabs of rock to paper,
humans have been able to devise a form of
communication that goes beyond speech.

3. The History of Paper
What civilization invented paper?
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Ancient Egyptians?
Moors or Arabs
Persians?
Aztecs?
Japanese?
Chinese?

4. Pre-Paper Media
The following is a list of pre-paper media
developed by early humans:
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Wood
Metal
Stone
Leaves
Ceramics
Bark
Papyrus
Parchment
Cloth

5. Egyptians and Papyrus
The papyrus developed before 2,200 B.C. by
the Egyptians was not considered true paper.
The reason papyrus and the other materials
did not qualify as paper was due to the way it
is formed from a liquid suspension of
individual fibers into a mat or sheet.
It was made by slicking the plant’s stalk from
end-to-end into very thin blades and then
laminating them into something of a weave.
It appears similar to cloth.

6. The History of Paper
Although papyrus is not structured like the
writing or printing surfaces in use today—it
became the Latin word for paper.
Nearly 2,000 years later, the Chinese created
the first true or practical form of paper.
They did this by reducing raw material into
individual fibers and then forming them into a
mat or sheet.

7. The Inventor of Paper
It is widely accepted that Ts’ai Lun, a Chinese
court official, invented paper in 105 AD.

8. Ts’ai Lun’s Paper
Mulberry Bark
Hemp Waste
Old Rags
Fish Nets

9. The Wove Mold Process
This process was devised by the Chinese
– Pulp was made by beating bark (Pulp Friction), which had
been washed and boiled
– During the washing and boiling process, the pulp fibers
were separated using smooth-edged stones and sticks.

10. The Laid Mold
Consisted of a flexible cover made of thin
strips of bamboo held together with silk or
some other similar thread
It was placed on a wooden frame.
The papermaker would hold the two together
and dip them in a vat of water and fibers.

11. The Laid Mold (continued)
The papermaker would lift the mold and let
the water drain away.
This formed the sheet.
The layer of wet paper and light bamboo were
lifted from the wooden frame and placed on a
smooth stone with the wet fiber mat facing
down.
The light bamboo matting was then rolled
from the paper leaving a wrinkle-free sheet to
be dried.
The mold was reusable.

12. Therefore,
the Laid Mold was considered better than the
Wove Mold

13. Historical significance of
paper...
Early use as a symbol for money to burn over
graves of the dead
175 A.D. - Paper replaced silk as a medium for
writing.
610 A.D. the Japanese began to make paper
750 A.D. the battle fought between Muslims
and Chinese at Samarkand in Turkestan (now
part of Uzbekistan at formerly part of the
Soviet Union) spurred the development of
paper outside China’s domain.

14. 875 A.D. - First known use of toilet paper.
Late 900’s - Playing cards invented.
Mid 15th century - Johannes Gutenburg’s
invention of movable type spurred the
production for paper necessary for the
production of books.

15. The “Paper Renaissance”17th to 19th Century Europe
France was the center of paper production...
– Exported papers to all of Europe
– It possessed the best papermakers and the finest
equipment in the world.
France also experienced internal struggle and
unrest during the 17th century...
– This caused their papermakers to flee to England,
Holland and America.
– The skilled French papermakers contributed to the
English and Dutch paper manufacturers, thus,
transforming them into the “foremost paper
manufacturers in Europe.”

16. America’s First Paper Mill
Built in 1690 by William Rittenhouse
Location: Philadelphia
Since that time, America has become the
world’s largest producer of paper and pulp
products

17. Fibers for Papermaking
Fibers are defined as “...tough threadlike
substances capable of being spun or woven,
whether they be natural (vegetable, mineral,
animal) or man-made.”
In papermaking, animal fibers are not used at
all, and mineral fibers are used only
occasionally.
Vegetable fibers (cellulose) wet easily in a
water medium and will form a strong bond to
each other when dried in contact.

18. Four Types of Cellulose Fibers
Seed Hair Fibers
– Cotton fibers
Bast Fibers
– Flax plant
– Only 5% of the flax plant is usable for paper
manufacturing
Grass Fibers
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Wheat straw
Bagasse fiber (extracted from sugar cane stalks)
Esparto grass
Kenaf plant
Wood Fibers

19. Seed Hair Fibers—Cotton Plant
Cotton fibers are
very expensive.
Used primarily for
bank notes, high
grade writing
papers, maps—
anything that
requires
exceptional
strength and
durability.

20. Bast Fibers
Obtained from the
flax plant.
Located inside the
stem.
Only 5% usable for
papermaking.
Hemp and jute are
other forms of bast
fibers.
Hemp has been used
for cigarette and
Bible papers.

21. Bast Fibers (continued)
Jute obtained from new burlap cuttings or
other sources…
– It is used for heavy duty shipping tags and heavy pattern
boards.

22. Grass Fibers
Wheat Straw
– Absorbs water readily.
– Was used during World War II in England due to a severe
shortage of pulpwood.
Bagasse fiber
– Made from crushed stalks of sugar cane.
– Used as a source of fuel for Sugar Mills.
Esparto Plant
– Has very little strength and does not split into fibrils
easily.
– Impractical for use in the United States because of the
distance from the source of supply.

23. Grass Fibers (continued)
Kenaf plant
– Shows great potential for
papermaking.
– May produce 5 to 7 times more
pulp/acre than pine.
– Grows to maturity in 120 days
compared to 20 years for most
trees.

24. Wood Fibers
95% of all paper is made from wood fibers.
Deciduous hardwood trees, e.g., Oak, Gum,
Maple, Aspen, etc.
Coniferous softwood trees, e.g., Pine, Spruce,
Fir, etc. (the softwoods produce a stronger
pulp).

25. Wood Procurement
39% of the available forests in the United
States are in the South.
Private citizens own 3 quarters of land.
Paper industry uses specially designed
equipment to harvest & prepare crops of
trees:
– Power chain saws
– Skidders-forest tractors are used for opening sections of
land.
– Specially designed combines.
– Mechanized tree shears.
– Cranes, clamp trucks, truck dumpers.
– Slashers saws.
– Debarking drums.

26. Pulping
The objective of pulping is to separate the
wood into individual fibers.
Three broad classifications of pulping
methods:
– Mechanical (groundwood)
– Chemical
– Combination (chemi-mechanical)

27. Mechnical Pulping Processes
Stone Groundwood
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Mechanical process used to rip fibers from the logs
Slurry of pulp formed from the grounded mix.
Can be made from either hardwood or softwood.
Refiner-Mechanical Pulping
– Wood chips are pumped into rotating disks causing
internal friction that generates heat.
– The heat from the refiner softens lignin.
Thermo-Mechanical Pulping
Chemi-Mechanical Pulp

28. To Make Groundwood Pulp...
The bark is removed from the logs.
Then, the cut logs are forced by hydraulic or
steam pressure against a revolving grinding
stone in the presence of water.
This treatment converts the wood into a pulp
consisting of minute particles of both fibrous
and nonfibrous portions of wood.
The nonfibrous materials deteriorate when
left for some time in contact with air.
Therefore, paper made from this kind of pulp
lacks permanency.

29. Groundwood Pulp
This type of pulp is not as strong as chemical
pulp.
Groundwood pulp has to be mixed with other
pulps, e.g., Newsprint—contains 80%
groundwood pulp and 20% chemical pulp.
It is highly suitable for products such as
wallpaper, paper towels, or lightweight
catalog papers.
It is unexcelled in its ability to produce papers
with high opacity, smoothness and ink
receptivity.

30. Thermo-Mechanical Pulp
To make TMP, wood chips or sawdust are
first softened by steam and then subjected,
under pressure, to the defibering action of a
a disk-type refiner.
This causes the fibers to completely separate
from each other and suffer less damage than
those produced by the conventional
groundwood pulp process.
TMP is cleaner and stronger when compared
with groundwood pulp.

31. Chemical Pulp
Chemicals are used to reduce wood chips
into fibers.
This process separates each fiber from its
bonding material—lignin.
– The adhesive qualities of lignin holds cellulose fibers
together.

32. Bleaching
The purpose of bleaching is to remove stains
caused by lignin.
Major bleaching agents
– chlorine, sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide,
chlorine-dioxide, and oxygen.
Chlorine gas is one of the different bleaching
systems that are used to remove lignin that
remains in the pulp.
– Chlorine gas is passed into the pulp-water mixture.
– The gas reacts with whatever lignin that is left and
becomes chlorinated.
– The chlorinated lignin is then removed when treated with
the caustic soda NaOH (Sodium Hypochlorite)

33. Fourdrinier Paper Making
Machine
Nicolas Louis Robert invented the
papermaking machine in 1798.
Sealy Fourdrinier and Robert improved the
original design of the papermaking machine
to produce paper with a felt side and a wire
side.
The paper is formed at the wet end of the
machine—after the pulp-water mixture has
been refined.
– Fillers
– Coloring material
– Sizing

34. The Headbox
The headbox spreads pulp and water mix
evenly over the moving wire.
– The pulp-water mixture containing the added fibers,
coloring material and size is diluted with water to make
“slurry” containing ½ % to 1 % of cellulose fibers.
– The headbox must maintain the uniform delivery of
dispersion of fibers across the width of the machine.

35. The Fourdrinier Wire
The fourdrinier wire causes the forming of
paper at the wet end of the machine.
– It is the section of the papermaking machine made up of
a fine woven screen to let water drain away causing the
pulp to remain to form a thin mat.
– Suction boxes remove water as the mat moves along the
wire.
– Synthetic plastic fiber wires are used in modern
papermaking machines.
When the mat had left this stage of
production it contains 75% water.

36. Presses
During this stage of production, the mat
enters wet rollers carried by felt blankets to
reduce the amount of water to 60 - 65%.
It is during this stage that the thin mat or
paper begins to form a web or long ribbon.
The paper continues through press rolls and
felt blankets to remove water.

37. Dryers
Steam heated cylinders dry paper to 5%
moisture.

38. Size Presses
Size press applies 10 % starch solution to
both sides of paper.

39. Dryers
Second dryer unit removes moisture applied
to sheet in size press.

40. Calender-Reel
Polished rollers iron and control thickness of
sheet. Reel winds paper on mandrel.

41. Winder
Winder unwinds paper from mandrel, passes
sheet across slitter to trim edges and cut
paper to final width.

42. Twin Wire Machines
This method of papermaking was developed
to improve the efficiency of the fourdrinier
design.
Two vertical sides restrain the furnish to
permit the extraction of water from both sides
of the paper.
Increase machine speeds and reduction in
drying.

43. Cylinder Machine
This type of machine is designed for making
extremely heavyweight paper and/or multi-ply
products used in the manufacture of
corrugated containers, folding cartons, and
solid fiber boxes.
All layers for multi-ply products can be
manufactured with all layers formed in a
single continuous operation.
Two types of cylinder vats: contraflow and
direct flow.

44. Paper (handout)
1. The Chinese are given credit for inventing the
technique of papermaking.
2. To make a continuous supply of wood, the
basic raw material for making paper, paper
companies operate tree farms.
3. Pulp fibers are obtained from, woody fibrous
materials, and reclaimed products are made
from these materials.
4. Wood pulp sources are divided between
softwood (coniferous) and hardwood
(deciduous).

45. Paper (handout) continued
5. All paper fibers are made of a compound
called cellulose.
6. Lignin serves as a binder and support for the
cellulose fibers of woody plants.
7. Groundwood pulp process uses almost all of
the substance in wood to make paper.
8. The manufacturer of chemical pulp uses
chemical action to dissolve some of the
wood’s substances to make higher quality
paper.

46. Paper (handout) continued
9. The chemical-mechanical pulp method
combines mechanical and cooking separation
processes.
10. Opacity refers to the amount of light that
can be seen through a sheet of paper.
11. In all three pulping methods, washing is
used to remove all traces of chemicals and
dirt from wood fibers.
12. True. Groundwood pulp is often referred to
as mechnical pulp because it has been
reduced to fibers by a mechanical grinding
process.

47. Paper (handout) continued
13. The pulp selected for bleaching is treated
with chlorine and similar chemical solutions
to whiten the paper fibers.
14. The primary purpose of adding fillers to the
pulp is to strengthen its properties.
15. Sizing is used to helpl make paper less
absorbent and more water repellent, so it will
not allow ink to spread.
16. Dyes and pigments are added to pulp during
washing to give paper color.

48. Paper (handout) continued
17. The forming of paper starts at the wet end of
the papermaking machine. Then processed
pulp, which is 99% water, flows rapidly over
an apron the width of the machine onto a
moving mesh wire screen.
18. Where the paper touches the screen, it
shows a mesh pattern. This is called the wire
side of the paper.

49. Paper (handout) continued
19. Identify the water content and machine sections of a
typical papermaking machine operation in the mill.
A. 99.0 - 99.5 %
B. 75%
C. 60 - 65%
D. 5%
E. 35%
F. 4.7 - 5.5%

50. Paper Making Machine
G. Headbox
H. Fourdrinier
I. Presses
J. Dryers
K. Size
L. Dryers
M. Calender-Reel
N. Winder Press

51. Paper (handout) continued
20. As the paper starts to form, the pulp passes
under a dandy roll to produce a surface finish
on the paper. The roll is made of mesh wire.
21. The paper begins to form into a web, or long
ribbon as it passes through the papermaking
machine.
22. The ribbon of paper continues through
press rolls and felt blankets, which remove
more water.

52. Paper (handout) continued
23. The side of the paper that is in contact with
the felt blanket is called the felt side of the
paper.
24. Calender rolls are made of smooth iron to
polish the paper and give it a very smooth
finish.
25. Sheet-fed offset paper must have more
strength than other printer processes
because of the tackier ink.
26. The basis weights of paper generally used
for web offset range from about 20 - 80
pound.

53. Paper (handout) continued
27. Joining the ends of two rolls of paper is
referred to as splicing.
28. There are eight paper properties which must
be considered for each job:
Grain
Finish
Pick Resistance
Brightness and Basis weight
Flatness
Ink setting and sizing
Moisture absorbency and resistance
Opacity

54. 29. Fibers tend to align themselves in the paper
as it passes through the machine. This
alignment of fiber is referred to as the grain of
the paper.
30. Tear strength in paper increases with
increased fiber strength.
31. The term finish refers to any action
performed to the surface of the sheet of
printing paper that affects its surface.
32. Coated papers are exceptionally smooth,
since they are subjected to an additional
smoothing process.