THE GRAINING COLOR.
In mixing the graining-color for any wood just as much difference of
opinion exists among grainers as to the proper way of mixing the color
as there is among painters as to the proper way of mixing the
ground-color, and although different grainers have their own method of
preparing and mixing their graining-color, and often use different
materials and colors, still, good workmen will often obtain the same
effects, but by a different process. Such being the case, it is
impossible to lay down any cast-iron rule for the materials to be used
in the representation of any wood or for the _proper_ way to imitate
any wood.
In imitating the color of certain woods the colors used are quite
simple, while for other woods considerable pains must be taken and a
number of colors used if the color of the wood is to be matched. I
think the most common fault of graining is that the color is made
darker than it should be; still, the grainer is not always to blame for
this, as such a fault cannot be laid to his charge if the painters
insist on keeping the ground-color itself as dark as or darker than the
work should be when grained. Many a time in the experience of grainers
is this the case, and I have on more than one occasion mixed a proper
ground-color to match wood after being called upon by some alleged
painter (who thought the ground-color he had put on was correct) to
grain the job, but in most cases it is said, "Do the best you can with
it and let it go, as the folks want to move in," or, "I want to get my
money," etc., and so grainers do the job if the color is not too far
off from what it should be.
Let us suppose that we are going to grain a job of light oak in oil.
First lightly sand-paper the ground-work with a piece of fine or an old
piece of sand-paper, and dust off. The ground-color should be quite
hard, and not tacky, before the graining-color is applied, and two or
three days is none too long a time to stand before being grained. Where
a good job is to be done and finished at one impression, as we might
call it, the manner of working can be reversed--that is, the work can
be shaded or over-grained, as it were, on the ground-color in distemper
before being rubbed in oil. The check roller can be used to good
advantage, and the panels and stiles of doors streaked or mottled. The
distemper color must not be diluted with much water, or it will rub off
when the oil-color is being applied over it. This way of working is an
advantage in matching stained oak, as all that remains to be done after
it is grained is to stain it to the desired depth or color. On ordinary
work this shading is done on the graining-color when dry.
The colors necessary for graining oak will be raw sienna and burnt
umber, with a _very little_ black to be added in case it is needed. It
is impossible to specify the exact amount of each color to be used, and
the judgment of the workman must be exercised in all cases. The
ordinary way is to mix about two-thirds raw sienna and one-third burnt
umber, adding the black if necessity should require to match wood. Do
not get the color too yellow, but rather on the gray shade, as that is
most frequently the color of the wood.
The color should be thoroughly mixed in a clean pot, and, if in oil,
thinned with the following mixture, or sufficient of it to bring the
color to the desired shade: Half a gallon of spirits of turpentine; two
and a half pints of linseed oil (boiled is to be preferred); half a
pint japan drier. It is better not to use too much drier, and, as the
drying qualities of each maker's japans, etc., vary greatly, the
workman's judgment must guide him as to the exact amount to be used. It
is a matter of doubt as to what is the best article with which to
thicken the color without altering the shade; a little bolted whiting
is very good. Some grainers prefer melted beeswax or soap dissolved in
hot water and added to the color while hot, or even cold water stirred
into the color. As a rule, the less of these added to the color, the
better.
After thinning to the desired consistency, a good brush is the next
requisite for applying the color. Do not use stubby brushes, as in so
doing you lose more time than you gain by making them last longer. By
general consent the flat brush has superseded the round brush in the
eastern states of America for grainers' use, as it requires no binding
and is a much better blender, when used as such, than any round brush,
and it is more quickly broken in for use. It is better to use a medium
size rather than one too large; one about three and a half inches
across the butt will be found the most serviceable. An oval or a flat
sash tool and a No. 2 flat fresco bristle liner, to be used as a fitch
tool in putting in hearts, etc., will be all the brushes required. A
set of steel combs, or even two, a coarse and a fine steel comb and
one or two of good rubber, are all the tools that are required. The
rubber combs should be coarse and fine--that is, the spaces between the
teeth of the fine rubber comb should measure from one-sixteenth to
one-eighth of an inch and the coarse one from one-eighth to one-quarter
of an inch. Sometimes a rubber comb with the teeth cut graduated looks
well introduced among the other work. Where the work is to be shaded or
over-grained it is better to cover the teeth of the rubber combs with a
thin cotton rag before using, taking a clean place on the rag for every
time the comb is used, but on cheap work this may be omitted.
When a piece of work is rubbed in, if it is desired to represent
"champs," or "lights of oak"--better known as quartered oak--the rubber
combs are first used and carefully drawn through the color--not
necessarily in a straight line--and the coarse or finer, or both the
steel combs, are drawn lightly over the track of the rubber comb; the
work is then blended lengthwise with the flat brush, which has
previously been rubbed out clean, and the champs or veins are put in
across the grains previously made by the rubber and steel combs. The
other implements necessary are a piece of soft rag and the thumb-nail.
Many substitutes have been invented for the thumb-nail, but it is as
yet unsurpassed for this particular purpose, as it is more sensitive
than are the bone or horn substitutes sometimes used.
[Illustration: Plate 3.
PLAIN OR WAINSCOT OAK, LIGHT.]
[Illustration: Plate 4.
FLAKED OAK, LIGHT.]