Introduction

Watermarking is a "technique which disperses fibers or allows them to accumulate in specific areas" on paper. (Rolland) When one holds a watermarked piece of paper up to the light, an image can be seen. This is done by attaching a raised design to the mould on which the paper will be made. Although watermarking is still considered an art form, it has numerous other advantages as well. Many companies use watermarks on their paper to identify it as their own. Watermarks are also used as a security feature because they are difficult to recreate. (Rolland) Watermarks can be found on typing paper, checks, stamps, and corporate paper.

My original plan was to make watermarks in paper using different kinds of pulp with different beating times. The five kinds of pulp are: esparta (36 minute beating time), abaca (16 minute beating time), pine (50 minute beating time), pine (18 minute beating time), and cotton (19 minute beating time). The purpose of this experiment was to find what kind of pulp works the best for making watermarks. Because beating time affects whether the fibers are long or short, it is a factor in the experiment as well. The appearance of the pulp itself should have an effect on how the paper looks as a finished product.

I hypothesized that the shorter fibers, or those which have been beaten for longer periods of time, would produce the better paper needed for watermarking. I also predicted that one of the mid-sized wires will produce the best watermark. The largest wire, (.323 mm) looks too large to make a discreet and attractive watermark while the smallest wire (.007/inch) appears too small to make much of an impression on the paper.

Procedure

Deckle box

Five different sizes of wire (.007 inch, .025 inch, 22 gauge, 24 gauge, and .323 mm)

Paper mould

Felts

Pellon

Five different kinds of pulp (Esparta, Abaca, Pine beaten for 50 minutes, Pine beaten for 18 minutes, Red cotton)

Measuring device to find width of paper and depth of watermark

Drying board

First take the different kinds of wire and make a design of your choice out of each one. Then attach each piece of wire to the mould. I used small pieces of the smallest wire (.007 inch) to attach the others to the mould. I also placed a second screen on top of the first one so as not to ruin the original mould.

After all of the wire is securely connected, place the mould in the deckle box. Lock the deckle box and make sure that the knob is turned to "stop". Pour water into the deckle box until it fills about three-fourths of the extension above the box.

Now add pulp and stir to ensure that the pulp will settle evenly. All pulp should be suspended in the water before the knob is turned to "open."

Place a bucket under the draining pipe on the deckle box to catch the water that is drained. Turn the lever to "open" and let drain until draining has stopped for the most part. I found that it works best to turn the knob about 3/4 of way to "open." Otherwise, after the majority of the water has drained, the pressure pulls the paper down, affecting its overall appearance.

Unlatch the deckle box and remove the mould. Transfer the paper from the mould onto the pellon and felts. When transferring the paper from the mould to the pellon, position the hands to turn the mould upside down. In a rolling motion, swiftly press the fresh paper onto the pellon. If the paper will not come off of the mould, gently pull a corner to get it started. One must be extremely careful during this step because the freshly made paper could be easily ruined. Place another pellon and more felt on top of the paper and use a rolling pin to press some of the water out. A two-liter bottle filled with water also works well. Transfer the paper onto the drying board and label. I found that the best way to transfer paper onto the drying board is to gently rub a hand over the pellon. (The paper is face down on the board.) Lifting up one corner of the pellon, try to get one of the paper's corners to come off and place it on the board. Slowly peal back the rest of the pellon and leave the sheet of paper face down to dry. Be sure and label all sheets of paper with specific indications of what was done.

Repeat this process for all of the types of pulp used. I recommend making at least three good sheets of paper for each pulp to give a more average and accurate idea of the results. The three sheets should all contain the same amount of pulp, so if the amount of pulp needs to be adjusted to accommodate the design, take these changes into consideration and begin counting accordingly. The water used can be recycled for each sheet of paper that uses the same kind of pulp. When the pulp is changed, the water should be changed as well because leftover pulp in the water could change the results slightly if mixed with other pulps.

After the paper is dry, measure the width of each sheet of paper. I took three readings and averaged them in order to get the most accurate idea of the thickness of the paper. Measurements of the depth of the largest watermark should be taken and averaged as well. The largest watermark is the best design to measure because it was the only one to appear clearly on all kinds of pulp.

Observations and Data

OBSERVATIONS AND DATA

1- (100ml) paper fell apart, did not come off of mould correctly, largest wire still exposed

2- (200ml) covered all of the wire, largest wire made a deep indentation

3- (150ml) not as thick, looks like the best concentration of pulp for esparta, biggest wire does not cut as deeply

4- (150ml) pulp did not cover huge wire as well this time, I drained the deckle box faster, so it had a harder pull

5- (175ml) all wire covered, will do two more tests to look at three of the same amount of pulp

6- (175ml) process seems to work best if deckle box is drained slowly

7- (175ml) cannot tell exactly how well watermarks are turning out because the sheets dry face down

Overall after dried- One can see the largest wire in all sheets, 175 ml of pulp looks like too much now, sheet 3 shows four of the five watermarks, paper fell apart easily

Width of paper Average Width Depth of 3.23 mm Average

(mm) (mm) watermark (mm) Depth (mm)

Average of all widths- 1.06 mm Average of all depths- .646 mm

1- (100ml) slow draining, absorbs a lot of water

2- (150ml) draining took a long time, not all of the water drained

3- (100ml) flipped so watermarked side faces up

4- (100ml) kept turned over, abaca fibers stick together more easily, I had a problem with the esparta coming apart, but the abaca remained in one piece, easier to transfer from mould to board

Overall after dried- Four of five watermarks are seen in sheets 2, 3, 4- sheet 1 was too thick, 100 ml of pulp covers all wires completely

Width of paper Average Width Depth of 3.23 mm Average

(mm) (mm) watermark (mm) Depth (mm)

Average of all widths- .652 mm Average of all depths- .331 mm

1- (100ml) pulp does not stick together well, lots of pulp in water, after draining, would not kooch correctly (fell apart), no signs of watermarks while wet

2- (150ml) took almost 15 minutes to drain, still did not completely drain, held together better than with 100ml of pulp

3- (150ml) took a long time to drain, transferred easily, pulp gets clogged in between two screen, when water is poured in deckle box it just stands because of clogging

4- (150ml) slow drainage (15minutes) will NOT drain completely

Overall after dried- Largest wire only really apparent mark in all of the sheets

Width of paper Average Width Depth of 3.23 mm Average

(mm) (mm) watermark (mm) Depth (mm)

Average of all widths- .356 mm Average of all depths- .112 mm

1- (100ml) draining time under a minute, transferred easily, 100ml is enough to cover the largest wire

2- (100ml) same as 1, all parts still covered

3- (100ml) results consistent with test 1 and 2

Overall after dried- Four of five marks apparent in all three tests, only 100ml of pulp used

Width of paper Average Width Depth of 3.23 mm Average

(mm) (mm) watermark (mm) Depth (mm)

Average of all widths- .351 mm Average of all depths- .144 mm

1- (100ml) too little pulp, broke apart biggest wire mark, drains quickly, settles quickly

2- (150ml) thick sheet but pulp covers everything and transfers well

3- (150ml) consistent with test 2, nice, thick sheet

4- (150ml) still consistent, watermarks look like they will show well because of definite indentations, recycled water is pink

Overall after dried- Paper is so dense and opaque that it is difficult to seen the watermarks, largest wire can be seen in all sheets with traces of other wires here and there

Width of paper Average Width Depth of 3.23 mm Average

(mm) (mm) watermark (mm) Depth (mm)

Average of all widths- .567 mm Average of all depths- .441 mm

Conclusions

Out of the five pulps used, the abaca and the pine that was beaten for 18 minutes showed the clearest watermarks. Four of the five wires shown as well. This gives more possibilities for watermarking. Only 100ml of pulp were used in both the abaca and the 18-minute pine, which cuts down on the amount of materials.

The two least desirable pulps for watermarking were the pine that was beaten for 50 minutes and the red cotton that was beaten for 19 minutes. The pulp was very short in both cases, suggesting that longer pulp is better for watermarking paper. 150 ml of pulp was needed in both of these tests to cover all of the wire completely.

In conclusion, I found that longer fibers, beaten for less time were better for watermarking. The quality of the watermarks was better and more of the wire designs appeared. Before I started the experiment, I thought that shorter fibers would make better watermarks because they could fill in the gaps more easily. My hypothesis on the best size of fibers was disproved. I also thought that the largest wire would be too large to make a good watermark. This part of my hypothesis was disproved as well because the largest wire was the only one that can be seen on every sheet of paper. Instead of being too big to look delicate, it was just the opposite. The smallest wire, which I thought would make a lovely watermark failed to show up on any of the sheets.

Measuring the depth of the watermark proved to be rather useless. I do not believe that I got an accurate reading on some of the pieces of paper because the digital readout changed if a tiny bit more pressure was applied. Although I tried to apply the same amount of pressure during all of the readings, there is no way to know positively if I did so. Chances are probably that I did not put the same amount of pressure on all of the paper. If I were to repeat this experiment, I would use more advanced equipment to ensure that my readings would be accurate.

From my experiments, I conclude that of the materials that I used, the ideal watermarked piece of paper should be made from abaca that has been beaten for 16 minutes or pine that has been beaten for 18 minutes. Comparable materials could, of course, be used in place of these. The experiment proves that long fiber works better for watermarking handmade paper than does short fiber and that larger wires or designs leave a more noticeable watermark than do smaller wires.

References

 Rolland Inc. Fine Papers Division, Cascades Group (http://www.somervillepackaging.com/rolland/papierfins/watermarken.html#top)

Helen Hiebert

Hand Papermaking, Volume 14, No. 1, Summer 1999