Welcome to the

"Guided tour of Handsheet Making."





This page contains a series of photographs that illustrate the sequence one must undertake to produce a handsheet from the initial pulp.

In this case the handsheet sequence begins with the bleaching of Pinus Radiata thermo-mechanical pulp (as used in newsprint production) . The handsheets produced are called brightness sheets which are primarily used to test the optical properties of the pulp. These sheets are easier to produce than the standard strength handsheets which are larger in diameter and have a lower gramage (grams per square metre).


This first picture shows the pulp at 5% consistency (ie 5% of fibres by weight) after bleaching with Hydrogen peroxide in a hot water bath at 60 degrees centigrade.

The second picture shows the pulp being transferred from the plastic bag to the 1 L beakers for dilution.

This picture shows the dilution of the pulp to 1 Litre before even dispersal.

This picture shows how the wood fibres are evenly dispersed throughout the suspension. This is important for good handsheet formation.

This picture illustrates the forming stage of the handsheet production.The pulp suspension is poured into the handsheet former. Vacuum is applied and the water is drained by suction out the bottom of the former. The fibre is retained on a mesh as in the next picture.

This picture shows the handsheet being formed on a wire mesh. The handsheet is quite rough and still contains a large amount of water trapped in the fibre matrix.

This pictures shows the method of getting the handsheet off the wire. The handsheet is pressed to remove excess water and to help smooth the handsheet. Removing the excess water also increases the strength of the sheet allowing it to be pulled off with out breaking.

This picture is the final in this series. The handsheet is dried through a glazing machine. The machine has a shiny metal cyclinder which is heated internally. The clothe provides restraint to the handsheet as well as keeping the handsheet in contact with the heated cyclinder.



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