Papermaking
Before the invention and current widespread adoption of automated machinery, all paper was made by hand, formed or laid one sheet at a time by specialized laborers.
Even today those who make paper by hand use tools and technologies quite similar to those existing hundreds of years ago, as originally developed in China and other regions of Asia, or those further modified in Europe.
Handmade paper is still appreciated for its distinctive uniqueness and the skilled craft involved in making each sheet, in contrast with the higher degree of uniformity and perfection at lower prices achieved among industrial products.
In the 8th century, papermaking spread to the Islamic world, where the process was refined, and machinery was designed for bulk manufacturing.
[10] The earliest references to paper mills also come from the medieval Islamic world, where they were first noted in the 9th century by Arabic geographers in Damascus.
In other Southeast Asian countries, elephants are fed with large amount of starch food, so that their feces can be used to make paper as well.
This can be found in elephant preservation camps in Myanmar, where the paper is sold to fund the organization's operations.
[citation needed] In Europe, papermaking moulds using metallic wire were developed, and features like the watermark were well established by 1300 CE, while hemp and linen rags were the main source of pulp, cotton eventually taking over after Southern plantations made that product in large quantities.
In 1844, Canadian Charles Fenerty and German Friedrich Gottlob Keller had invented the machine and associated process to make use of wood pulp in papermaking.
The process of manufacturing handmade paper can be generalized into five steps: Screening the fibre involves using a mesh made from non-corroding and inert material, such as brass, stainless steel or a synthetic fibre, which is stretched in a paper mould, a wooden frame similar to that of a window.
The mould is then completely submerged in the furnish, then pulled, shaken and drained, forming a uniform coating on the screen.
Excess water is then removed, the wet mat of fibre laid on top of a damp cloth or felt in a process called "couching".
Deckle-edged paper is occasionally mechanically imitated today to create the impression of old-fashioned luxury.
The "handsheets" made according to TAPPI Standard T 205 [20] are circular sheets 15.9 cm (6.25 in) in diameter and are tested for paper characteristics such as brightness, strength and degree of sizing.
The head-box of the paper machine called Fourdrinier machine distributes the slurry onto a moving continuous screen, water drains from the slurry by gravity or under vacuum, the wet paper sheet goes through presses and dries, and finally rolls into large rolls.
[citation needed] Another type of paper machine, invented by John Dickinson in 1809, makes use of a cylinder mould that rotates while partially immersed in a vat of dilute pulp.
[22][23] Papermaking continues to be of concern from an environmental perspective, due to its use of harsh chemicals, its need for large amounts of water, and the resulting contamination risks, as well as the carbon sequestration lost by deforestation caused by clearcutting the trees used as the primary source of wood pulp.
Key inventors include James Whatman, Henry Fourdrinier, Heinrich Voelter and Carl Daniel Ekman, among others.
