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Re: Homemade paper and Luminos
Gary Miller wrote:
> The problem with this Hollander
> beaters is that they are expensive, probably about $3000., but they are the
> best way to make paper.
Not entirely true...
When the Hollander entered the scene in 1682, in or around Frankfurt, it
was a method to further industrialize and commercialize the art of
papermaking - but this step was not taken out of quality reasons. The
method to treat the pulp before the Hollander made its entrance was a
machine that resembled a group of large "hammers" that beat the fibers
in a sort of wooden tub. This treatment created a paper that was both
stronger and longer-lasting than paper that was made in a Hollander. In
that sense I don't agree that Hollanders are the best way to make paper.
A few paper artists and printers have replicated the hammer-beater in
modern times, with exquisite results when it comes to paper quality.
Also, the Hollander was historically never designed as a beater, but
rather a tearer or cutter (cf. Sturm 1718, von Natrus 1734 and others).
What happens in a Hollander is that the fibers are torn and cut apart
between the toothed wheel and the fixed edge. In the hammer-beater the
fibers are actually beat which creates longer paper fibers and thus a
stronger paper.
Mats Broberg