
Install papermaking machine No.5
Paper machine No.5 (the fifth one ever to be installed on site) used to be called the Cornwall machine and just like our Hollander Beater comes from Springfield Mill in Kent, which closed in 2016. This machine differs from PM4 and PM2 in that rather than being a Fourdrinier machine it is a Cylinder Mould machine, a John Dickinson invention. 99% of the worlds paper making by machine is done by these two methods of papermaking. We were lucky enough to be able to take the front end out when the mill shut and only recently did we get permission to salvage the drying end, which makes the machine virtually complete. It is roughly the same size in length and width as PM.4 and when installed we will be able to show visitors both of major production machines, both invented in the Gade Valley. The machine can make different kinds of paper from PM.4, so it will add substantially to our paper offering and of course our finances! The work involved will be to install and connect the wet end cylinder mould vat to the Hollander beater and stock vats, find a press section and a wire and install those, and then reconstruct the drying section and connect up all the motors.
Update: Over the course of 2021 and into 2022, this machine was constructed and installed, parallel to Fourdrinier No4 in the machine house. As of April 2022, we are not quite there. We are awaiting parts to complete installation.