Historical paste boards

Martin Strebel may be interested in the "Lumpy Bookboard" made for
us by Jim Patterson at Pitt Mill in England, as part of our Queen
Anne range. The board is made on 510 x 695mm moulds in approximately
1.1 and 2.2mm thicknesses. When trimmed, each should produce a
"folio" board size, reasonably free of edge waves (which are very
difficult to control in the drying process, due, as far as we can
tell, to the different directional tensions in each layer of paper,
as these dry at different speeds in different parts of the
board).These boards are made up of a number of sheets of handmade
paper, each couched sheet on sheet, with no adhesive.

If there are problems with splitting--we have not yet heard back
from anyone who has bought the boards that this is so--then in
theory one could paste or glue the different layers in manufacture:
We felt keeping the structure simple was a better answer when trying
to produce a reasonably flat board, than trying to stick the layers,
which prevents the tensions in the sheet from settling out during
pack-pressing. There are also potential problems with mould
developing in pasted boards, during the manufacturing process, if
not afterwards.

We have deliberately introduced a somewhat lumpy surface in our
handmade boards (hence the name) especially visible on the felt
side. The boards are about half the weight of those such as Gemini
Mill Board, made on an intermittent board machine. These qualities
reflect the difficulty in pressing paper into great density, prior
to the advent, I presume, of the use of steam powered presses.

The next making of "Lumpy Bookboard" is booked to be made soon. I
have no doubt also, that Gangolf Ulbricht could well come up with a
very good answer, given his skill and dedication to paper making.

John van Oosterom
J v O Papers,
15 Newell Street
London E14 7HP
+44 207 987 7464
Fax: +44 207 987 9307


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 17:50
                 Distributed: Tuesday, January 20, 2004
                       Message Id: cdl-17-50-012
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