Abstract: Sealing strips mounted on an internal vacuum box and engaged with the internal surface of a perforated rotatable shell forming a suction roll in a conventional paper making machine are contructed from a body portion of organic material having an outer surface forming an interface with an inner surface of the shell, and a PTFE inlay strip exposed at the outer surface of the sealing strip for rubbing against the interior surface of the shell and smearing across the outer surface of the sealing strip to reduce friction and improve lubrication at the interface.

Abstract: A spreader bar shoe mounted on the spreader bar of a paper making machine to smooth the sheet or web of paper prior to it being wound onto the takeup reel at the end of the paper machine. The spreader shoe is in the form of an elongated base of plastic material mounted on the spreader bar with segmental inserts forming a wear resistant strip in the outer surface of the base for engagement by the paper sheet with the segmental inserts being secured in a recess by a resilient interface material in the form of silicone to permit limited relative movement between the brittle insert segments and the plastic base due to differences in thermal expansion of the dissimilar materials of the brittle ceramic inserts and the plastic base.