The size of the wetting-trough should be about two inches longer and
wider than the largest-sized paper, folded, that is to be wet in it,
and about six inches deep. It should have a cover with hinges on the
left side, that the cover may fall over on that side, and, resting
horizontally, serve for a shelf to lay the paper upon previous to wetting
it.
Having received a certain amount of paper from the warehouseman, the
pressman lays one heap on the shelf attached to the wetting-trough,
laying the first token across the heap with the back of the quires toward
his right hand, that he may know when to turn the token-sheet, and that
he may more readily catch at the back of each quire with that hand,
for the purpose of dipping it. He then places the paper-board with its
breadth before him on his right, on a table, laying a wrapper or a waste
sheet of paper on the board, to prevent soiling the first sheet of the
heap.
He then takes a quire by the centre of the back with his right hand, and
the edge of it in his left, and, closing his hands a little, that the
quire may bend downward between his hands, he dips the back of the quire
into the left-hand side of the trough, and, relinquishing his hold with
the left hand, draws the quire briskly through the water with his right.
As the quire comes out, he quickly catches the edge of it again in his
left hand, and brings it to the heap, and, by lifting his left hand,
bears the under side of the quire off the paper previously laid down,
till he has placed the quire in an even position; if the paper be weak
and spongy, he draws the quire through the water quickly; if strong and
stubborn, slowly. To place the quire in an even position, he lays the
back of it exactly upon the open crease of the former, and then lets the
side of the quire in his left hand fall flat down upon the heap, and,
discharging his right hand, brings it to the edge of the quire, and, with
the assistance of his left thumb, still in its first position, opens or
divides either a third or a half of the quire, according to the quality
of the paper; then, spreading the fingers of his right hand as much as he
can through the length of the quire, turns over his opened division of it
upon his right-hand side of the heap.
A different process must be used in the wetting of drawing and plate
papers. These papers are usually sent in quite flat; that is, not folded
into quires or half-quires. The best method of wetting these papers is to
use a brush, such as is called a banister brush; and, instead of dipping
the paper into the trough, he lays it on the paper-board by the side of
the trough, and, dipping the brush into the water, he shakes it gently
over the whole surface, to give an equal degree of moisture to all parts;
and then proceeds as before described. The drawing-paper, being very
hard-sized in the making, will require the brush, and much water, three,
four, or even five times a quire; while the plate-paper should have as
little water as it is possible to give it, so as to cover it all over;
and twice a quire will often be too much. This same mode must also be
adopted in wetting paper of extraordinary dimensions.
Having wet his first token, he doubles down a corner of the upper sheet
of it on his right hand, so that the farther corner may be a little
toward the left of the crease in the middle of the heap, and the other
corner may hang out on the near side of the heap about an inch and a
half. This sheet is called the _token-sheet_, being a mark for the
pressman, when he is at work, to show how many tokens of that heap are
worked off.
Having wet the whole heap, he lays a wrapper, or waste sheet of paper,
upon it; then, three or four times, takes up as much water as he can in
the hollow of his hand, and throws it over the waste sheet, to moisten
and soak downward into the wet part of the last division of the quire;
after which, he places in the heap the label which the warehouseman must
always furnish for each heap, and upon which are written the title of the
work and the date of wetting, one-half hanging out so as to be easily
read.
The paper should be pressed for twelve hours, and then carefully turned
by each three or four sheets, so that no lift be relaid in the same
position with respect to the adjoining lift; at the same time, every fold
and wrinkle must be carefully rubbed out by the action of the hand, so
that nothing but a flat and even surface shall remain; the heap should
then be pressed for about twenty-four hours in a screw-press, and it will
be in good order for working.
The wetting of paper must, in all cases, depend entirely upon its fabric;
and, since the printer has seldom the choice of the paper, it will
require all his skill and patience to adapt his labours to the materials
upon which he is to work. The texture of the paper must be suited to the
fineness and tenacity of the ink. To attempt doing fine work upon common
paper is lost labour. A paper to take the best ink must be made entirely
of linen rags, _and not bleached by chemicals_. A fine hand-made paper,
fabricated a sufficient time to get properly hardened, and well and
equally saturated with size, so as not to imbibe more water in one part
of the dip than in another, nor resisting the water like a duck’s back,
is most suitable for fine printing.
Machines for wetting paper are now used in most large printing-offices.