Craft · 6 pages · 12 min

Why paper has a grain

Fibers on a moving wire line up with the web, and the sheet prefers that direction.

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From the opening

Machine-made paper has a grain because more of its fibers line up with the direction the wire and the web are traveling. The dry sheet bends and tears more willingly along that lineup than across it. The opening covers fibers line up with the web, folds follow the grain, and cross-grain fights the fibers.

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Inside

Fibers line up with the web
Folds follow the grain
Cross-grain fights the fibers
Humidity swells the width
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Machine direction on the papermaking wire
Fiber alignment and paper grain

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Why paper has a grain

From the opening

Inside

Sources

Also on the desk