HAND-MADE PAPER 287
The "couching pressure is applied to hand-made paper slowly and directly
at right angles, instead of the sudden rolling up of the machine couch rolls.
The expansion and contraction of hand-made paper, being much more
even, are of great advantage for some special papers, such as bank notes and
other papers which have intricate designs printed on them, and which must
register correctly.
Water marking can be made very clear and distinct, and some very beautiful
and elaborate designs are produced. While the dandy roll can only make an
impression on the already formed sheet on the machine, the water mark on a
hand-made sheet is moulded into the fabric. No loadings or resin size are
used because, the paper being loft-dried, there would not be sufficient heat to
fuse the resin in the sheet. Hairs from the felts were often left on the surface
of hand-made sheets, causing annoyance when a pen was used. This trouble
has, however, been eliminated recently to a great extent.
The substances of sheets are sometimes very irregular before the sorting,
but they are on the whole astonishingly good, when the conditions of working
are taken into account. The percentage of broken is naturally higher than that
of machine-made paper.
Hand-made papers are mostly sent out in rough or low finishes, especially
for drawing and painting, but those for writing are usually plate-glazed. Owing
to the deep impression of the felt and die absence of the smoothing process
between press rolls, it is difficult to obtain a close finish.
A steel pen-nib will generally be found more satisfactory than a fountain pen
for writing on hand-made paper, the surface of which usually has a 'greasy'
nature, because stationers think a rough paper looks better, and insist on the
maker supplying this, when a higher glaze would make it write perfectly well,
and itreaJly looks just as good.
It is scarcely necessary to add that the vatman and coucher must be skilled
and steady workmen, the vatman in particular, for he has to make sheet
after sheet without deviating from the correct substance or altering his
shake.
It is also quite a common occurrence for a vatman, owing to nervous strain,
to lose control of the muscles of his arms, and, as it is called, lose his shake',
sometimes only temporarily, usually permanently.
The vatman can only do his work properly if he is in good health and
'free from care'. The least mental strain or worry shows itself at once in
the resulting paper, so that the substance, appearance and character of the
paper are altered or irregular. Quite frequently, when beginning to make a
certain paper after having just finished making a different size or substance, it
will take some time before the vatman settles down and gets the paper right.