A variation on the traditional fourdrinier papermaking machine utilizing two wires rather than one in its forming section. In conventional fourdrinier machine, the papermaking furnish is deposited on a single continuous wire mesh belt, which drains the water from the furnish through the bottom. The result of this process is that the side of the paper web that dries against the wire—called the wire side—has a different texture than the top side of the web—called the felt side. This two-sidedness of paper has undesirable consequences in many types of printing. A twin-wire former sandwiches the papermaking furnish through two wire mesh belts, allowing drainage from the top and bottom of the furnish, producing paper with two wire sides. Alternate variations, such as top-wire formers, also employ the sandwiching of paper fibers between two wires as a means of increasing the likesidedness of paper. (See Fourdrinier.)
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