J.J. Planks has been the world's leading provider of dandy rolls and watermarks for the papermaking industry since 1907. The craft of making watermarks and dandy rolls has not changed much since then. Stepping into the guts of their shop is a walk back in time. Open flames, solder and acid are everyday tools of this age old craft. And although they have tried to modernize, they continue to return the the handmade way to create the quality needed for fine text and cover papers. It is always a favorite desitination while on our Neenah Paper mill trips with customers.
The tools Plank's use in the shop are handmade right there. Like this soldering iron. Each is unique and beautiful with a angle or edge that is appropriate to the idiosyncrasies of the user's hands. Fathers teach sons the craft and work along side eachother. Some even 3rd and 4th generation.
Watermarks come in shaded, wire or combinations. Above is a shaded mark. The wire is debossed on the mesh to gather the fibers on a forming roll of wet paper. Once dry, the resulting mark on the final cut sheet is a darker/opaque mark on the paper.
A wiremark is made by soldering the logo or type treatmentwire mark onto the mesh of the dandy roll. The dandy roll is a very long cylinder that runs across the wet end of the paper machine. In a wire mark, the paper fibers are slightly displaced making the area readable when held up to the light.
Texture can be imparted onto paper using the a dandy roll. Above you see a detail of the dandy roll used for Neenah's Classic Laid. Individual wires are hand turned with a plier to create this distinct finish.The wonderful world of paper science. Thanks, Dave Plank for the fascinating tour.
