492 PAPER, MANUFACTURE OF 



in consequence of the natural tendency of the pulp to contract in drying, and conse- 

 quently becoming, where no resistance is offered, more entwined and entangled, which 

 of course adds very considerably to the strength and durability of the paper. In 

 making by the machine, this tendency is completely checked. 



The following note from a correspondent is well worthy the attention of paper- 

 manufacturers : 



' You are most probably aware that, in the paper-machine, the pulp or half-stuff, 

 after leaving the plane of wire, is pressed between rollers and becomes paper, and 

 then only requires to be made dry and smooth. These objects are effected by tlio 

 machine conducting the paper over the polished surfaces of large cylinders heated by 

 steam, and afterwards through a series of heavy and highly-polished metal rollers, 

 which are in some cases also heated by steam to increase the effect. Now, a great 

 advantage would be gained by electro-plating those cylinders and rollers with nickel.' 

 (See NICKEL ; ELECTBO-METALUJKGY.) ' A surface far superior to that of burnished 

 steel would be obtained ; being harder than steel, it would not become scratched, and, 

 no rust being formed, it would be always clean and bright. The paper would be 

 found to possess a surface like ivory, the pores being entirely filled up. The only 

 cleaning required, and that at long intervals, would be washing with soap and wat<-r, 

 and rubbing with a dry leather. The expense (about $d. per square inch) would be 

 very trifling as compared with that of grinding and re-burnishing ; and, if all the 

 bright parts of the machine were electro -plated with nickel, a vast saving of expense 

 in labour would be effected, I am strengthened in these conclusions by the fact, that 

 photographers find that, after passing prints when damp through ordinary steel 

 rollers, an impression is left on them, which, if not cleaned off immediately, causes 

 the steel to rust, aud which rust cannot be got rid of without grinding and re- 

 burnishing.' 



It may be interesting to mention, that the first experiment for drying paper by 

 means of heated cylinders was made at Gellibrand's calico-printing factory, near 

 Stepney ; a reel of paper, in a moist state, having been conveyed there from Dartford 

 in a post-chaise. The experiment was tried in the presence of the patentees of the 

 paper-machine and Mr. Donkin, the engineer, and proved highly satisfactory; and 

 the adoption of copper cylinders, heated by steam, was thenceforward considered in- 

 dispensable. 



The next operation to be noticed, now that the paper is finished, is that of cutting 

 it into standard sizes. Originally, the wheel upon which it was finally wound was 

 formed so that its diameter might be lessened or increased at pleasure, according to 

 the sizes which were required. Thus, for instance, supposing the web of paper was 

 required to be cut into sheets of 18 inches in length, the diameter of the reel would 

 be lessened to 6 inches, and thus the circumference to 18 inches, or, if convenient, it 

 would be increased to 36 inches, the paper being afterwards cut in two by hand with 

 a large knife ; the width of the web being regulated by the deckle-straps, Q, to either 

 twice or three times the width of the sheet, as the case might be. However, in regard 

 to the length, considerable waste, of necessity, arose from the great increase in the 

 circumference of the reel as the paper was wound upon it, and to remedy this, several 

 contrivances have been invented. To dwell upon their various peculiarities, or sepa- 

 rate stages of improvement, would prove of little comparative, interest to the general 

 reader; it will, therefore, be well to limit attention to the cutting-machine, of which 

 an illustration is given (Jig. 1596), which is unquestionably the best, as well as 

 the most ingenious, invention of the kind. 



The first movement or operation peculiar to this machine is that of cutting the web 

 of paper longitudinally into such widths as may be required ; and this is effected 

 by means of circular blades, placed at stated distances, which receive the paper as it 

 issues direct from the other machinery, and, by a very swift motion, much greater 

 than that at which the paper travels, slit it up with unerring precision wherever they 

 may bo fixed. 



A pair of those circular blades is shown in the drawing, A (fig. 1596), the upper one 

 being much larger than the lower, which is essential to the smoothness of the cut. And 

 not only is the upper blade larger in circumference, but it is also made to revolve 

 with much greater rapidity by means of employing a small pinion, worked by one 

 at least twice its diameter, which is fixed upon the same shaft as the lower blade, to 

 which the motive-power is applied. The action aimed at is precisely such as we 

 obtain from a pair of scissors. 



The web, as it is termed by the paper-maker, being thus severed longitudinally, 

 the next operation is that of cutting it off into sheets of some particular length hori- 

 zontally ; and to do this requires a most ingenious movement. To give a very general 

 idea of the contrivance, the dotted line represents the paper travelling on with a 

 rapidity in some cases of 80 feet per minute, and yet its course has to be temporarily 



