At Hahnemühle, paper is made on two paper machines whose design and principle of operation is totally different. Both production lines are used to make top quality paper subject to continuous quality control.
Handmade paper A traditional workplace for manual papermaking was used to make single sheets with deckle edges, typical of handmade paper.
Nowadays, mould- made paper is manufactured mechanically, i.e. using the cylinder mould method. This production method is not as labour-consuming as in the past, but the operation of the mould machine is based on the same principle and ensures the same high quality end-products/mould made paper.
Cylinder mould paper machine In the case of cylinder mould machine production, the watermark and the dividing line, which marks paper sheet edges, are applied a few times, depending on the sheet size. The wire mesh is convex and reduces the quantity of fibre collected there - as a result the watermark can be seen against the light.
We still prepare rag stock with the so-called hollander, which has been in existence for over 300 years. A mixture of cellulose, fillers and auxiliary agents is placed in water, mixed and pulped with the beater roll.
Wet rag stock.
When the paper is being couched off the cylinder mould, you can clearly see the division line, which marks the sheet size for subsequent division of the endless paper web.
Divided, finished sheets are collected in a special container, which protects them during the whole production process against damage, such as creasing, folding or staining.
Additionally, sheets are inspected against the light. During the test, the structure of paper, fibre arrangement and opacity are rigorously inspected.
Cylinder mould paper machine is used to make premium quality mould- made paper with a watermark and four deckle edges, typical of this type of paper.
Fourdrinier paper machine The production of paper on the Fourdrinier machine starts in the pulper. Raw materials for preparing rag stock are supplied to the pulper on a conveyor belt.
As the Fourdrinier machine has a much higher capacity, the pulper is considerably bigger than the hollander used in the cylinder mould machine production process.
Also in this case, wet rag stock is a semi-finished product.
The supply of stock to the headbox of the Fourdrinier paper machine is monitored in the control room.
Paper production starts when the stock is fed onto the wire section.
The wire section ends with the so-called breast roll, which presses the water out of the paper. This felt-coated roll is pressed strongly against the moving paper web.
At the end of the machine, the finished paper web is wound on large reels and then sheeted to different sizes, e.g. to block size.
Throughout the production process, samples are taken from each production batch and then examined thoroughly, according to extremely strict parameters by employees of the Quality Control Department.
