Experimental Manufacture of Paper for War Maps

Early in World War II, a new map paper was developed that greatly improved the quality and performance of war maps. The National Bureau of Standards cooperated in the development and, subsequently, determined by experimental manufacture how to make the paper from commercially available raw materials. The best results were obtained in experimental manufacture by using fiber furnishes of 100-percent strong bleached sulfate pulps with the addition of melamine-formaldehyde resin to increase the wet strength and titanium dioxide to produce the desired capacity. It was essential that the beating be very carefully controlled to preserve the maximum fiber strength. The most critical requirements from a manufacturing standpoint were very high resistance to tear, high wet tensile strength, high opacity, and good smoothness. A moderate degree of wildness was not objectionable. The data obtained by experiments were applied to initiate the commercial production of the new paper to meet unprecedented tonnage requirements.