Interesting highlights of hand papermaking
Paper manufacture in Velké Losiny, with its tradition of continuous manual production lasting for several hundreds years, represents a real "eyewitness" and simultaneously a rare source of many interesting information on the development of production technology. For example, as a technical monument it keeps in operation several pieces of equipment interesting from technological and technical point of view up to now, and still it utilizes many of traditional tools and knowledge of previous generations during the production process.
The craft of hand papermaking itself and its production technology have very rich tradition in European continent and also in our country. Many interesting highlights can be found that are almost forgotten today. Here, we would like to present gradually just these highlights, not only from the past of manufacture in Velké Losiny, but also those related to the life at all paper mills, as documented by some of our predecessors.
These old, today already yellowed amateur photographs, which were taken in paper mill in Velké Losiny soon after World War II, e.g. approximately 60 years ago, show interesting view of workplaces in paper mill of that time.
Manual production of paper was very demanding from technological point of view then. Especially the processing and preparation of raw material – old clothes and textile remains – belonged among the most difficult work operations. Cleaned, sorted and to small pieces cut rags were cooked with lime under increased pressure and temperature in revolving boiler that was acquired for paper mill in 1896. Rag pulp prepared in this way was then treated and processed in production process. A steam boiler was in the operation in the paper mill up to 1965, when the unsatisfactory rag raw material was replaced with clean cotton fibre, so-called linters.
So called slushing vats have always represented and today also represent crucial workplace within the production plant. In present days, two of them are in operation in paper mill in Velké Losiny, and around 1820, altogether four vats were in operation. Just here, individual sheets of hand-made paper are formed by means of so-called slushing, taking up the paper stuff on slushing forms (slushing screens).
Paper drying represented a very responsible activity in old paper mills, because resulting quality of finished paper depended a lot on the quality and observance of gradual drying of paper sheets. View of old loft drying rooms shows the way of traditional drying of individual sheets of already pressed, but still wet or sized paper. Paper sheets were hanged freely to airers made of horsehair strings, later also wooden laths. The drying rooms were located in loft, usually multi-storey areas of old paper mills and the drying itself was achieved only by natural air circulation under normal outdoor temperature.
Paper glazing represents one of the final operations of the whole manufacturing procedure. It underwent interesting technical development in previous centuries. In the oldest times, the paper was glazed manually, mostly with using of stone (agate) glazers. In the 17th century, this activity was "modernised" thanks to a mechanical hammer lifted up by water power. Hits of iron hammer glazed nicely whole folders, so-called books of paper. Only in the 18th century new invention can be seen in European paper manufactures - calender or iron. In our paper mill, the calender replaced iron hammer for paper glazing in 1883. The product of sometime famous ironworks of Klein family in Sobotín is in operation up to now. The papers are glazed one after another, separately on each side. Paper sheets are laid on board pad and cold glazed between to revolving metal glazing rollers.