After a break, the crew cuts a strip, typically 10 to 30 centimeters wide, with a water jet at the couch or a cutter further on, carries it through the dryers and calender with rope carriers or air conveyors, then spreads it to full width. Threading is a skill: a lost tail means more downtime and more broke. Rope systems and automatic threading do most of the work on fast machines.
Lost the tail at the calender twice, so slow it down and get a fresh tail from the couch.
Also heard as
- threading tail
Related terms
Break
Tear of the running paper web on the machine, which sends everything to broke until the sheet is rethreaded.
Back tender
Paper machine crew member who runs the dry end, handling reels, samples and threading the sheet.
Cans
Crew name for the steam-heated cast iron cylinders in the dryer section of a paper machine.