u00b0 angle with respect to the moving web direction a the blade is held in a stationary position at the end 24 opposite the free edge by means not shown at the blade edge 12 the traveling web 22 is abruptly turned from its lengthwise direction of travel a to a new direction b which lies on a plane perpendicular to the plane of the web moving in direction a although exact perpendicularity is not required it is generally desirable because of the necessity to lock the web fibers at the blade edge and turn them into the new direction b to maintain the predominant lengthwise fiber orientation in the expanded web the width of the web 22 is expanded along the edge 12 to a width equaling about the length of the edge 12 the direction of web travel changes from direction a to b however the predominant fiber orientation is maintained the fibers which are parallel or at a zero angle or orientation with respect to the free edges of the original web are turned and maintained in the predominant orientation when turned over the edge of the blade and in the new direction of web travel b the web is taken off the edge 12 by the second conveyor 14 at a speed greater than or at least equal to the speed of the web on conveyor 10 if the original web is at its desired expanded width after passing over the blade edge 12 the expanded web can continue in the direction b directly to and onto the take off conveyor 20 to be rolled or transferred to a downstream processing step the conveyors 14 and.