salt diluted in water; leave it by for a week, till a complete coat
is formed; then apply a little oil, and after rubbing the surface
dry, polish it with a hard brush and a little beeswax.
520. LIQUID GLUE
Put 1 oz. of borax into a pan with 1 quart of water, set it on
the fire; when melted, which will be very soon, put in 8 oz. of
gum shellac, and boil until dissolved; if too thin add more gum;
when cool bottle for use.
521. TO TAKE INK SPOTS OUT OF MAHOGANY
Apply spirits of salt with a rag, until the spot disappears, and
immediately wash with clean water; or to half a pint of soft water
put 1 oz. of oxalic acid, and 1/2 oz. of butter of antimony; shake
it well, and when dissolved it will be very useful for extracting
stains out of mahogany, as well as ink, if not of too long standing.
522. TO CLEAN MARBLE, SIENNA, JASPER, PORPHYRY, &c.
Mix up a quantity of strongest soap-lees with quicklime, to the
consistence of milk, and lay it on the stone, &c., for 24 hours;
clean it afterwards with soap and water, and it will appear as new.
This may be improved by rubbing or polishing it afterwards with fine
putty powder and olive oil. This is a beautiful article for cleaning
marble monuments, &c.
523. TO CLEAN SILVER FURNITURE
Lay the furniture piece by piece upon a charcoal fire; and when they
are just red, take them off and boil them in tartar and water, and
your silver will have the same beauty as when first made. Try this
method once and you will never forsake it; it will not remove a
portion of the silver, as article that are sold in vials, boxes,
&c., for this purpose will do.
524. A FINE BLACK VARNISH
Take 2 ozs. of bitumen of Palestine, 2 ozs. of resin, and 12 ozs. of
umber; melt them separately, and afterwards mix them together over
a moderate fire; then pour upon them, while on the fire, 6 ozs. of
clear boiled linseed oil, and keep stirring the whole from time to
time; take it off the fire, and, when pretty cool, pour in 12 ozs.
of essence of turpentine. This varnish is for coaches and iron work.
525. TO PAINT SAIL-CLOTH, SO AS TO MAKE IT PLIANT, DURABLE, AND
WATER-PROOF
Grind 96 lbs. of English ochre with boiled oil, and add to it 16
lbs. of black paint; dissolve 1 lb. of yellow soap in one pail of
water, on the fire, and mix it while hot with the paint. Lay this
composition, without wetting it, upon the canvass, as stiff as can
conveniently be done with the brush, so as to form a smooth surface;
the next day, or the day after, (if the latter, so much the better,)
lay on a second coat of ochre and black, with a very little, if any,
soap; allow this coat a day to dry, and then finish the canvass with
black paint.
526. PHOTOCROMATIC OIL PAINTING
INSTRUCTION:
Chemicals used in executing them:--chemical varnish, No. 1, 2 oz.
damar varnish, 1 oz. spirits turpentine; (mix well together.)
Finishing varnish, No. 2, 1 oz. spirits turpentine, 1 oz. alcohol,
1 oz. salt, 1 quart water. A camel's hair brush is needed for
varnishing. Take a smooth pane of common window-glass, any size you
choose, clean it well, then varnish one side of it with chemical
varnish No. 1, lay it away where it will be perfectly free from
dust, and let it dry twenty-four hours; next varnish the same side
of the glass again, and let it dry about one half hour, or until the
varnish becomes stickey. Immediately after varnishing the glass the
second time, take the print that you wish to get an impression of,
and immerse it in the solution No. 3; put the solution in a flat
pan, and lay the print in with the face side up; let the print lay
in the solution about five minutes, or until the paper is completely
saturated, then remove it, taking care not to stretch it, and lay it
on paper with the face side up, in order that the solution may dry
from the face of the print. In this way prepare the print, getting
it ready by the time the glass has dried one half hour. Next,
carefully lay the face of the print on the varnished side of the
glass, being particular to lay it on smooth and press it firmly to
the glass, so as to exclude every particle of air; should there be
any air left under the paper, it will show itself in spots, and
must be pressed out. You now lay it away and let it dry another
twenty-four hours; then, wet the back part of the print with water
and with your hand or a wet cloth, rub the paper from the back of
the print until it is so thin that the outlines of the picture can
be seen from the back and of uniform thickness. You next spread a
thin coat of finishing varnish (No. 2) on it and lay it away to dry.
This will render it perfectly clear and transparent.--After this
coat of varnish has dried, rub it over with a bit of fine sand
paper, to make it smooth, and finish with two or three coats of
No. 2 varnish. When dry, put it in a frame with the varnished side
out, placing a sheet of light coloured paper on the back, this will
give it the appearance of an oil painting. By following these
directions you cannot fail to produce a beautiful picture.
527. FOR THE COMPLEXION
Boil a small piece of gum benzoin in some spirits of wine till it is
dissolved, (five minutes boiling will be sufficient,) then bottle
for use. A few drops of this in a glass of soft water (sufficient
to make the water a milky colour) makes a delicious wash; apply with
a towel or linen cloth. This article will make the skin as soft as
velvet, and will constantly preserve rosy cheeks and lips, and for
this it has not equal in the world; besides, it is as harmless as a
sun-shower. As it is not a paint, it will not act just on the moment
when applied.
528. ORIENTAL CREAM OF ROSES
Take of tincture of elder blossoms 1/2 oz., best beef marrow 1
teaspoonful, orange flower water 1/2 pint, cassia buds 1 oz.,
blanched bitter almonds 2 oz., spirits of oriental roses 4 drms.;
mix all, and when the solution acquires the colour and consistency
of milk it is fit for use. This article is for beautifying the
complexion, making the skin as soft, as fair, and as rosy as that
of a healthy infant; apply at pleasure. It is not only harmless,
but will prove a speedy cure for all pimples, blotches, &c.
529. INSTRUCTION FOR GILDING
Dissolve a gold dollar in nitro-muriatic acid,--(2 ozs. muriatic
to 1 of nitric,) then dissolve a 1/4 lb. of copperas in a pint of
hot water, and pour it into the dish containing the gold and acid,
pouring in a little at a time, till it stops boiling or foaming up;
then let it stand and settle about six hours; then strain off the
copperas-water carefully, and the gold will appear like a brown or
dark yellow powder in the bottom of the dish. You will then proceed
to wash the gold, which is done by pouring hot water on it; let it
stand and settle a few minutes, and then drain off. Continue washing
in this manner till there is no acid or copperas taste; then add to
the gold in the bottom of the dish from 1-1/2 to 2 oz. cyanuret
potassa, dissolved in about 1/2 pint pure soft water. The solution is
then ready for use. Gild by laying a piece of pure zinc in contact
with the article to be gilded, in the solution.
530. DIRECTIONS FOR SILVERING
Dissolve a silver dollar in about 2 ozs. of nitric acid by heating;
then dissolve a tablespoonful of salt in about a quart of water;
pour it into the dish with the silver and acid; let it stand and
settle a few minutes, and the silver will settle to the bottom in
a white powder. Then drain off the water carefully, and add more
water, then drain off again. Continue washing in this manner till no
acid or salt taste remains; then add a quart or more of pure soft
water, and cyanuret potassa enough to take it up, or nearly so.
The solution is then nearly ready for use.
Silver by laying a piece of zinc in contact with the article, the
same as in gilding. If the article you are silvering or gilding
corrodes or turns black, it wants a little more cyanuret. In gilding
or silvering, the article must be thoroughly cleaned, and great care
must be taken that the water used is of the purest kind.
When the plating is as heavy as you wish, polish it with a mixture
of chalk and alcohol, or of chalk alone, applied with a fine brush,
or else a bit of chamois leather or rag.
If you wish to put on a very heavy coat of silver or gold, instead
of using zinc alone as a battery, use the following, attach a piece
of copper to one end of an iron wire about ten inches long, and a
piece of zinc to the other end, and place both zinc and copper in
contact with the article being silvered or gilded.
531. USING FRENCH POLISH
There is a mode of using shell-lac varnish which is sometimes
denominated the German, but more commonly the French mode. It merits
to be generally known, as the process is easy and economical, and
the effect beautiful. It has been much employed by cabinet and
musical instrument makers, but is not yet so extensively practised
as it merits to be. The varnish is applied by means of what is
called a rubber, made by rolling up a piece of thick woollen cloth,
which has been torn off so as to have a soft, elastic edge. The
varnish, put into a narrow-mouthed bottle, is applied to the middle
of the flat face of the rubber by laying the rubber on mouth of the
bottle and quickly shaking the varnish at once, as the rubber will
thus imbibe a sufficient quantity to varnish a considerable extent
of surface. The rubber is then enclosed in a soft linen cloth
doubled, the remainder of the cloth being gathered together at the
back of the rubber to form a handle to hold it by; and the face of
the linen cloth must be moistened with a little raw linseed oil,
which may either be coloured with alkanet root or not, applied with
the finger to the middle of it. The work to be varnished should
be placed opposite to the light, in order that the effect of the
polishing may be better seen, and a surface of from ten to eight
feet square may be varnished at once. The rubber must be quickly and
lightly rubbed upon the surface of the article to be varnished, and
the rubbing continued until the varnish becomes nearly dry. The coil
of woollen cloth must then be again wetted with the varnish, (no
more oil need be applied to the surface of the linen cloth,) and
the rubbing renewed till the varnish becomes nearly dry as before;
a third coat must be applied in the same manner, then a fourth with
a little oil, which must be followed by two others without oil,
as before. You proceed thus until the varnish has acquired some
thickness, which will be after a few repetitions of the series.
Apply then a little alcohol to the inside of the linen cloth, and
wet the coil with the varnish; after which, rub very quickly,
lightly, and uniformly, over every part of the varnished surface,
which will tend to make it even, and very much conduce to its
polish. The linen cloth must now be wetted with a little alcohol and
oil, without varnish; and the varnished surface being rubbed over,
with the precautions last mentioned, until it is nearly dry, the
effect of the operation will be seen. If it be found not complete,
the process must be continued, with the introduction of alcohol in
its turn as directed before, until the surface becomes smooth and
of a beautiful lustre. The preceding process is that in general use;
but Dr. Jones recommends, in the Franklin Journal, a rubber of a
different sort, as well as a simpler mode of employing it. He takes
a piece of thick woollen cloth, six or eight inches in diameter, and
upon one side of this pours a teaspoonful of the varnish; he then
collects the edges together, so as to enclose the varnish in the
cloth and form a handle by which to hold it: this is finally covered
with a piece of oiled linen cloth, and the rubber is ready for use.
More varnish is added as often as it is required; and when it
becomes occasionally too thick to ooze through, a little alcohol is
poured into the cloth. Some difficulties may be at first experienced
in performing this process; but Dr. Jones states that a very little
practice will enable any handy person to surmount them. The peculiar
advantage said to attend it is, that a beautiful polish may be at
once obtained by a continued application of the rubber in this way;
while, according to the method previously described, successive
coats of varnish, which require considerable time to dry, must be
used, and a great deal of additional trouble incurred. In varnishing
recesses or carved work, where parts of the surface are difficult to
reach with the rubber, a spirit varnish, made with or without lac of
the usual gum resins, and considerably thicker than that used for
the rest of the work, may be applied to those parts with a brush or
hair pencil.
532. LACQUER FOR BRASS
Seed-lac, 6 ozs.; amber or copal, ground on porphyry or very
clean marble, 2 ozs.; dragon's blood, 40 grains; extract of red
sandal-wood, 30 grains; oriental saffron, 36 grains; pounded glass,
4 ozs.; very pure alcohol, 40 ozs. Articles, or ornaments of brass,
to which this varnish is to be applied, should be exposed to a
gentle heat and then dipped into the varnish. Two or three coatings
may be thus applied, if necessary. Articles varnished in this manner
may be cleaned with water and a bit of dry rag.
533. TO CLEAN OLD BRASS WORK FOR LACQUERING
First boil a strong lye of wood-ashes, which you may strengthen with
soap-lees; put in your brass work, and the lacquer will immediately
come off; then have ready a pickle of aquafortis and water, strong
enough to take off the dirt; wash it immediately in clean water, dry
it well, and lacquer it.
534. TO PREPARE FISH OIL FOR PAINT
Into a cask which will contain about 40 galls., put 32 galls. of
good common vinegar; add to this 12 lbs. of litharge, and 12 lbs. of
white copperas in powder: bung up the vessel, and shake and roll it
well twice a-day for a week, when it will be fit to put into a ton
of whale, cod, or seal oil, (but the southern whale oil is to be
preferred, on account of its good colour and little or no smell:)
shake and mix all together, when it may settle until the next day;
then pour off the clear, which will be about seven-eighths of the
whole. To clear this part, add 12 galls. of linseed oil, and 2
galls. of spirits of turpentine; shake them well together, and,
after the whole has settled two or three days, it will be fit to
grind white lead and all fine colours in; and, when ground, cannot
be distinguished from those ground in linseed oil, unless by the
superiority of colour. If the oil be wanted only for coarse
purposes, the linseed oil and oil of turpentine may be added at the
same time that the prepared vinegar is put in; and, after being
well shaken up, is fit for immediate use, without being suffered to
settle. The residue or bottom, when settled by the addition of half
its quantity of fresh lime-water, forms an excellent oil for mixing
with all the coarse paints for preserving outside work. All colours
ground in the above oil, and used for inside work, must be thinned
with linseed oil and oil of turpentine.
Gain by the above process.
One ton of fish oil, or 252 galls................ $151.20
32 galls. of vinegar, at 12-1/2 cts. per gall.... 4.00
12 lbs. litharge, at 7 cts. per lb............... 84
12 lbs. white copperas, at 8 cts. ditto.......... 96
12 galls. of linseed oil, at 90 cts. per gall.... 10.80
2 galls. of spirit of turpentine, at 40 cts..... 80
--------
$168.60
252 galls. of fish oil
12 ditto linseed oil
2 ditto spirit of turpentine
32 ditto vinegar
---
298 galls., at 90 cts. per gal. $268.20
Deduct the expense............. 168.60
--------
$ 99.60
535. PAINTING IN MILK
In consequence of the injury which has often resulted to sick and
weakly persons from the smell of common paint, the following method
of painting with milk has been adopted by some workmen, which, for
the interior of buildings, besides being as free as distemper from
any offensive odour, is said to be nearly equal to oil-painting in
body and durability. Take 1/2 gall. of skimmed milk, 6 ozs. of lime
newly slaked, 4 ozs. of poppy, linseed, or nut-oil, and 3 lbs. of
Spanish white. Put the lime into an earthen vessel or clean bucket,
and having poured on it a sufficient quantity of milk to make it
about the thickness of cream, add the oil in small quantities at a
time, stirring the mixture with a wooden spatula. Then put in the
rest of the milk, and afterwards the Spanish white. It is, in
general, indifferent which of the oils above-mentioned you use;
but, for a pure white, oil of poppy is the best. The oil in this
composition, being dissolved by the lime, wholly disappears; and,
uniting with the whole of the other ingredients, forms a kind of
calcareous soap. In putting in the Spanish white, you must be
careful that it is finely powdered and strewed gently over the
surface of the mixture. It then, by degrees, imbibes the liquid and
sinks to the bottom. Milk skimmed in summer is often found to be
curdled; but this is of no consequence in the present preparation,
as its combining with the lime soon restores it to its fluid state.
But it must on no account be sour; because, in that case, it would,
by uniting with the lime, form an earthy salt, which could not
resist any degree of dampness in the air. Milk paint may likewise
be used for out-door objects by adding to the ingredients
before-mentioned 2 ozs. each more of oil and slaked lime, and 2 ozs.
of Burgundy pitch. The pitch should be put into the oil that is to
be added to the milk and lime, and dissolved by a gentle heat. In
cold weather, the milk and lime must be warmed, to prevent the pitch
from cooling too suddenly, and to enable it to unite more readily
with the milk and lime. Time only can prove how far this mode of
painting is to be compared, for durability, with that in oil; for
the shrinking to which coatings of paint are subject depends in
great measure upon the nature and seasoning of the wood. The milk
paint used for in-door work dries in about an hour; and the oil
which is employed in preparing it entirely loses its smell in the
soapy state to which it is reduced by its union with the lime.
One coating will be sufficient for places that are already covered
with any colour, unless the latter penetrate through it and produce
spots. One coat will likewise suffice, in general, for ceilings and
stair-cases; two will be necessary for new wood. Milk painting may
be coloured, like every other in distemper, by means of the different
colouring substances employed in common painting. The quantity I
have given in the receipt will be sufficient for one coat to a
surface of about twenty-five square yards.
536. ETHEREAL SOLUTION OF GOLD
The following mode of effecting this solution (used chiefly for
gilding steel) is recommended by Mr. H. Mill, in the "Technical
Repository," as being superior to any previously made known. "The
instructions," he says, "given in most elementary works on chemistry
for this purpose are either erroneous or not sufficiently explicit."
The process answers equally well for either gold or platina.
Dissolve any quantity of gold or platina in nitro-muriatic acid,
(aqua regia,) until no further effervescence is occasioned by the
application of heat. Evaporate the solution of gold or platina, thus
formed, to dryness, in a gentle heat, (it will then be freed from
all excess of acid, which is essential,) and re-dissolve the dry
mass in as little water as possible: next take an instrument which
is used by chemists for dropping liquids, known by the name of a
separating funnel, having a pear-shaped body, tapering to a fine
sharp point, and a neck capable of being stopped with the finger or
a cork, which may contain a liquid once or more; fill it with the
liquid about one-quarter part, and the other three parts must be
filled with the very best sulphuric ether. If this be rightly
managed, the two liquids will not mix. Then place the tube in a
horizontal position, and gently turn it round with the finger and
thumb. The ether will very soon be impregnated with the gold or
platina, which may be known by its changing its colour; replace it
in a perpendicular position, and let it rest for twenty-four hours;
having first stopped up the upper orifice with a cork. The liquid
will then be divided into two parts--the darkest colouring being
underneath. To separate them, take out the cork and let the dark
liquid flow out: when it has disappeared, stop the tube immediately
with the cork, and what remains in the tube is fit for use, and may
be called gilding liquid. Let it be put into a bottle, and tightly
corked. The muriate of gold or platina, formed by digesting these
metals in nitro-muriatic acid, must be entirely free from all excess
of acid; because it will otherwise act too forcibly on the steel,
and cause the coating of gold to peel off. Pure gold must be
employed; the ether must not be shaken with the muriate of gold, as
is advised in chemical publications, for it will be sure, then, to
contain acid; but if the two liquids be brought continually into
contact by the motion described, the affinity between ether and gold
is so strong as to overcome the obstacle of gravity, and it will
hold the gold in solution. The ethereal solution may also be
concentrated by gentle evaporation.
537. VARNISH POLISH
Take 2 ozs. of tripoli, reduced to fine powder; put it into an
earthen pot or basin, with water to cover it; then take a piece of
fine flannel, four times doubled, lay it over a piece of cork or
rubber, and proceed to polish your varnish, always wetting it with
the tripoli and water. You will know when the process is completed,
by wiping a part of the work with a sponge and observing whether
there is a fair and even gloss. Take a bit of mutton-suet and fine
flour, and clean off the work. Or, the powdered tripoli may be mixed
up with a little pure oil, and used upon a ball of serge, or of
chamois leather, which is better. The polishing may afterwards be
completed with a bit of serge or cloth, without tripoli. Putty
powder, and even common whiting and water, are sometimes used for
polishing; but they produce a very inferior effect to tripoli,
except in the case of ivory, for which putty and water, used upon a
rubber made of a hat, forms the best and quickest polish. Putty and
water may likewise be used, in the same manner as just mentioned for
ivory, in finishing off the polish of pearl work, after it has first
been polished very smooth with pumice-stone, finely powdered, and
well washed to free it from impurities and dirt.
538. VARNISH FOR COLOURED DRAWINGS
Mix together 1 oz. of Canada balsam and 2 ozs. of spirits of
turpentine. Before applying the composition, size the drawing or
print with a solution of isinglass in water; when this is dry, apply
the varnish with a camel's-hair brush. The use of this varnish gives
to coloured drawings and prints an appearance resembling that of oil
paintings.
539. VARNISH FOR GLASS
Reduce a quantity of gum tragacanth to powder, and let it dissolve
for twenty-four hours in the white of eggs well beat up; then rub it
gently on the glass with a brush.
540. TO CLEAN PICTURES
Having taken the picture out of its frame, take a clean towel, and
making it quite wet, lay it on the face of your picture, sprinkling
it from time to time with clear soft water; let it remain wet for
two or three days; take the cloth off, and renew it with a fresh
one; after wiping your picture with a clean wet sponge, repeat the
process till you find all the dirt soaked out of your picture; then
wash it well with a soft sponge, and let it get quite dry; rub it
with some clear nut or linseed oil, and it will look as well as when
freshly done.
541. ANOTHER METHOD
Put into two quarts of strong lye a quarter of a pound of Genoa soap
rasped very fine, with about a pint of spirits of wine; let them
simmer on the fire for half an hour, then strain them through a
cloth; apply it with a brush to the picture, wipe it off with a
sponge, and apply it a second time, which will effectually remove
all dirt; then, with a little nut oil warmed, rub the picture, and
let it dry; this will make it look as bright as when it came out of
the artist's hands.
542. VARNISH FOR CLOCK FACES, &c.