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Lifelong Project Just Slipped Through My Fingers
- Thread starter CalgaryPT
- Start date
Remember the blue lines with red margins on your three hole punch paper in school? In the old days, this is how it was made. You had a huge machine, 12 or 15 feet long, with a giant conveyer belt that ran down its length. Just above this the pens and thread ran, dipped in ink. The paper sheets were fed under the thread and travelled along the belt, adding the coloured lines to the paper. The paper then ran above the operator about 8 feet high where it dried, then collecting into a pile. Seriously. This is how ruled paper was made.
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A variation using brass pens:
To clarify, the normal process used pens and the thread just held down the paper. My uncle's shop invented a process where the threads were inked for specially jobs. Lots of ruling machines used variations on this. His shop also had an attached custom paper, wedding invitation and writing paper arm in the basement. They made artisan papers for the invitations and writing paper (for hotels) that were very thick and bumpy, so the brass pens didn't work to rule them w/o tearing the expensive paper. The smart machinery guys inked the thread instead, like they used to do ages ago. Pretty clever.
To clarify, the normal process used pens and the thread just held down the paper. My uncle's shop invented a process where the threads were inked for specially jobs. Lots of ruling machines used variations on this. His shop also had an attached custom paper, wedding invitation and writing paper arm in the basement. They made artisan papers for the invitations and writing paper (for hotels) that were very thick and bumpy, so the brass pens didn't work to rule them w/o tearing the expensive paper. The smart machinery guys inked the thread instead, like they used to do ages ago. Pretty clever.
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I didn't know this existed
Right in our back yard to boot. Maybe we should organize a Calgary area group tour once this COVID crap is behind us.Craig
My thoughts exactly!!
Why would that be? The Website has a booking function?
Brian Ross
Active Member
The museum is part of Ian MacGregor's (Northwest Upgrader) home. There are people that look after the collection but they only do tours for the public a few times a year and those fill up really fast. If you do get a chance it is really worthwhile, I've been a couple of times. There is a good collection of machine tools from the line shaft era and a large steam engine that he bought in England, disassembled, shipped to Canada and reassembled here. Another interesting thing about the museum is that most of it is underground including the huge steam engine. If I remember correctly, the collection of machines was installed when there were just walls and a floor. Then the roof was added and the slope of the hill it is under was returned. So, there is no way to remove any of the larger machines.
I don't doubt you for a minute. My neighbour's hobby is travelling the world (mostly Europe) and visiting museums like this. Apparently in Europe there are a great number of private museums due to some tax exemption rules I don't fully understand. But she once commented that the private ones seem to all have temperamental owners that you need to genuflect in front of, or at least polish their egos passionately to gain access. I find the same is true of archival specialists. It may be a personality thing.
I hope I don't become that wacky as I age more, but the indicators aren't looking so good.
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