Paper and Its Uses/Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII
WRITING PAPERS
A large variety of papers falls under the heading of writing papers: account book, bank, bond, cheque, ledger, loan, and typewriter papers being placed in this category. The printer uses writing papers of all kinds, some as superior printings, and others he prepares as stationery, or prints some part of a document upon them for subsequent filling in or completion.
Writing papers must be smooth and hard-sized to fulfil their purpose of bearing writing ink, and other qualities will depend upon the use for which they are destined. The fibres used include rag, chemical wood, esparto, and in the poorest qualities, which but few printers or stationers will stock, mechanical wood. Writing papers of the highest class are all-rag, tub-sized, air-dried, and plate-glazed. Every variety of writing paper may be wove or laid without alteration in quality; in fact, most mills make woves and laids from the same stuff, merely changing the wove dandy roll to one which makes the laid marks on the paper. This first class of paper is used for the best stationery, for printed and written documents of the highest importance which are required to stand a good deal of handling, and for ledgers and similar books subject to hard wear. Bank-notes are printed on hand-made paper, while the papers for stamps, cheques, postal orders, and money orders are usually machine-made.
Bank-notes, loans and banks demand the use of the strongest rags, such as linen, duck, and sail-cloth. The fibres are drawn out rather than cut up, the resulting paper being hard and resistant to wear. Bank-notes are cream wove; banks, cream wove or blue wove; loans are cream wove. Being hand-made the sizing, drying, and finishing are carried out as described in Chapter V.
Ledger or account book papers may be hand- or machine-made, and are usually azure or blue laid. If machine-made, the characteristics of the hand-made papers are as far as possible retained: strength, hard tub-sized surface, opacity, moderate finish, both sides alike in surface. To attain these qualities the same materials are employed, an all-rag furnish with a fair proportion of strong linen, prolonged beating to draw out the fibres, a shake to ensure good felting, slow drying to allow gradual contraction, tub-sizing, air-drying over skeleton drums will attain the desired end. The finish of ledger or account book papers is not quite so high as that for loan papers, but it must be equal for both sides of the sheet, in order that writing may be done easily on all pages of the books. The sizing must be thorough, or the ink will sink through the paper, and if erasures are made, the abraded surface will not take ink without spreading.
Machine-made bond or loan papers are not always all-rag papers, and are not essentially tub-sized, but the best of the class will be all-rag, tub-sized papers. One paper mill carries an enormous stock of high class engine-sized bond and bank papers in eighteen colours, and each of these in six substances. Bank papers are thinner than bonds, the usual substances being foolscap 7 lb., large post 11 lb., medium 13 lb. Here again the best papers are all-rag, tub-sized, and while a very good chemical wood, tub-sized, super-calendered bank paper is obtainable, papers of the best quality, such as "3009 Extra Strong," always command a high price, being extremely strong and durable. Typewriting papers are similar to bank papers, but usually have a matt finish to prevent the smearing that may always take place on a highly polished paper, as the typewritten characters are not indented into the paper, but the colour is on the surface. Watermarked typewriting papers are well known, and the prices vary according to the substance and fibrous constituents of the papers, thin papers (8 lb. large post) costing nearly twice the price per pound for which 16 lb. large post can be purchased.
Cheque papers are strong, even in texture, and present a good surface for printing. There is a fair range of papers to choose from for cheque printing, without taking into consideration safety cheque papers.
As the same pulp may be wove or laid, so may the colour be varied without changing the quality. Cream wove, blue wove, yellow wove, cream laid, azure laid, blue laid, or tinted papers may be made from the same stuff, the colouring matter added giving the necessary difference in tint, the description of the paper varying accordingly. There are, of course, certain cases where one or other is preferred, but the quality is neither indicated by the colour of the paper nor by the pattern of the dandy roll employed. The surface may be rough (antique), moderately smooth (machine finish, vellum, ivory), or highly glazed (super-calendered or plate-glazed), each being attained by the different treatment in finishing the paper. Papers made entirely of rag will always be tub-sized, air-dried, and frequently plate-glazed, but papers which are only partly rag, and even chemical wood papers, are sometimes tub-sized, but as a rule papers which contain no rag fibre are sized in the pulp, that is, engine-sized. The large variety of high-class engine-sized papers now obtainable is at once creditable to the enterprise of the manufacturers, and a sign that papers of this description fulfil the requirements of a large body of consumers.
A good deal of writing paper is used for printing, from which it might be inferred that there is a close resemblance between printings and engine-sized writings. The sizing of writings is harder than that of printings, and the materials used are manipulated to give a firmer handle to the paper, but there is no reason why all writing papers should not be used as printings in work of the character of booklets, magazines without illustrations, and a large part of the jobbing work which keeps to leaflet and pamphlet sizes. The nature of writing papers makes them less absorbent than printings, so that the ink does not sink into the paper quickly. This is desirable in the case of writing, but not in the case of printing, where a fair absorbency aids the rapid drying of printed work.
Drawing papers are made in various qualities. The best kinds for water-colour drawings are made from strong rags, chiefly linen, only boiled to remove dirt and other impurities, and reduced to pulp without the use of bleach or other chemicals. Hand-made papers are the best, being tub-sized, air-dried, and the surfaces—rough, "not" (matt), or hot pressed—obtained by pressure, not by rolling. A few high-class mills are responsible for machine-made drawings similar in furnish and finish to those made by hand. Engine-sized drawing papers are more like cartridge papers, but some of the cheaper varieties resemble thick toned printings. Cartridge papers are made from long-fibred stuff which is only partly bleached. Some cartridges are tub-sized, and the papers serve as substitutes for drawing papers. Being very strong they make excellent cover papers for books and lists of various kinds. Crayon papers are coloured or tinted drawing papers used for crayon and water-colour work.