the tongue 56 corresponding to the portion of the edge 26 at that cross directional position since this can be done during the coating procedure at each of the cross directional positions the coating applied to the paper can be kept uniform in thickness despite conditions which would otherwise result in a non uniform thickness in the preferred embodiment 12 inch modules comprising a bimetallic member 40 having four tongues 56 and four corresponding heaters 58 with their associated leads attached to a connector 74 are used precise control is obtained by locating the tongues 56 and heater elements 58 at the 3 inch intervals of the adjusting screws in the event of the failure of one of the heaters the entire module may be removed from the coating apparatus and replaced by a completely operational module a second preferred embodiment of the present invention can be understood with reference to fig3 fig3 is a partial representational view in perspective of the second preferred embodiment in this form of the invention the blade 102 itself is bimetallic the top layer 104 of blade 102 is steel or a stainless steel alloy while the bottom layer 106 of blade 102 is a different stainless steel alloy the edge 108 of the blade 102 is stainless steel heater elements 110 are mounted on the layer 106 of blade 102 and are of the same type and used in the same manner as has been indicated with respect to the first preferred embodiment the application of heat by a heater element 110 will cause the edge 108 of blade 102 to curve inward i e toward.