surface provided by the wire mesh cylinder cover is provided with raised portions 6 by embossing see fig3 the thread is led into the vat so as to contact each raised portion 6 as the raised portion enters the vat so that the thread is lying over the raised portion as fibres begin to deposit i e whilst still above the water level 6a fig4 fibres are progressively deposited over the thread and also below the level of the thread except at the raised portions 6 the effect on the paper produced is shown in fig5 on a vertically exaggerated scale where the thread contacted a raised portion 6 the thread lies exposed on one surface of the paper the mould side the thread is continuously covered on the other side of the paper in fig4 it will be observed that the thread is shown bridging the gap between successive raised portions 6 to achieve this effect it may be necessary to apply somewhat greater tension to the thread than is conventional the use of less tension can result in the thread conforming more to the surface of the valley between the raised portions 6 the exposed portion of the thread may then be longer than desired or in extreme cases continuous as an example a 0 5.