The Hollander Beater Begins the Slow Process of Mechanizing Paper Production

Around 1680 the Hollander beater machine to produce paper pulp from rags evolved in Holland. This machine was the first significant step in the slow mechanization of papermaking. A Hollander beater could produce in one day the same amount of pulp that a traditional stamp mill, an ancient device that had been used in various industries over a millenium or more, required eight days to produce.

"However, the wooden paddles and beating process of a stamp mill produced longer, more easily hydrated, and more fibrillated cellulose fibers; thus increasing the resulting paper's strength. The Hollander used metal blades and a chopping action to cut the raw material, resulting in shorter cellulose fibers and weaker paper. Further, the metal blades of the Hollander often introduced metal contaminants into the paper as one metal blade struck another. These contaminants often acted as catalysts for oxidation that have been implicated in browning of old paper called foxing" (Wikipedia article on Hollander beater, accessed 12-2020).

By 1761when Jérôme de Lalande published the first comprehensive treatise on papermaking Lalande devoted the greater part of his book to different variations of beaters used to produce pulp. Besides beater machines, papermaking remained mainly a manual process.