Through the stomach, the lungs and the skin. In other words, it
may be eaten, inhaled or absorbed, hence the stomach, lungs and
skin should each be carefully guarded against it. To guard the
stomach, through which you are in the most danger of taking in the
poison, make it a rule to keep the mouth closed as much as possible
when using white lead, and _especially when sandpapering_. Make
it a rule to never eat or drink without first carefully cleansing
your lips, and carefully removing the paint from your hands before
eating. Tobacco chewers, who carry tobacco in their pockets, are in
especial danger of lead poison, if working in paint, because the
tobacco becomes more or less poisoned with lead from the fingers,
if the painter is not careful to clean his hands before taking a
chew. There is no great danger from inhaling white lead, except
when sandpapering, or when dusting after sandpapering.
It is a pretty good thing to carefully guard the nose with a damp
sponge while sandpapering, and to carefully free the nostrils
from lead. There is no danger of poisoning by absorption through
the skin, unless the painter is careless. When T see some men at
work, I wonder how they can possibly escape lead poisoning. Their
clothing glazed with oil paint, their hands daubed to the wrist by
grasping the brush by the head, instead of by the handle; or by
general carelessness in mixing and handling paints.
SYMPTOMS OF LEAD POISON.
Tired feeling, wakefulness at night, neuralgic pains, “shaky”
hands, constipated bowels, bad taste in the mouth, and pain in the
bowels, a blue edge on the gums, and a coated tongue. If you get
the colic, see a doctor; for the other symptoms, get away from
paint for a while if possible, and take the following: Iodide of
potash, ½ oz.; syrup sarsaparilla, 8 oz. Dose:--Teaspoonful three
or four times a day in half a cup of milk. Eat graham mush and
drink milk.
TO FINISH FURNITURE AND OTHER WORK IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY OAK.
First fill the wood with any good filler. Fill it well, then take
Vandyke brown 3 parts, and burnt sienna 1 part, and mix to a stiff
paste with boiled oil and japan, and thin with turpentine, until
you can brush it on the wood, and not have it look dauby or muddy.
Give the work a light coat, and brush it out well and carefully.
Too much pigment will make your work too dark. Wherever you want
the light or worn spots to appear, wipe off the stain with a cloth,
and with a badger blender carefully blend the stain into the edges
of the worn or light spots. Don’t stain too much at once, for fear
your stain may set so you cannot wipe out and blend. When the stain
is dry, sandpaper lightly with No. 0 paper. Finish with two coats
rubbing varnish, or with hard oil finish. Polish with rotten stone
and raw oil.
A SUPERIOR GLUE (WATERPROOF).
A very superior article may be made by dissolving 3 parts of india
rubber in 30 parts of naphtha; heat and agitation will be required
to effect the solution; when the rubber is completely dissolved,
add 64 parts of finely powdered shellac, which must also be heated
in the above mixture until all is dissolved. This mixture may be
produced in sheets like glue by pouring it while hot upon plates
of metal, where it will harden. When required for use, it may
simply be heated in a pot till soft. Two pieces of wood or leather,
joined together with this glue, can scarcely be sundered without a
fracture of the parts.
A VALUABLE CEMENT.
We find the following recipe good: The compound of glycerin,
oxide of lead, and red lead, for mending cast-iron that has been
fractured with the happiest results. It takes some little time to
dry, but turns almost as hard as stone, and is fire and waterproof.
For mending cracks in stone or cast-iron ware, where iron filling
cannot be had, we think it is invaluable. Take litharge and red
lead, equal parts, mix thoroughly and make into a paste with
concentrated glycerin to the consistency of soft putty, fill the
crack and smear a thin layer on both sides of the casting so as
to completely cover the fracture. This layer can be rubbed off, if
necessary, when nearly dry, by an old knife or chisel.
LINSEED OIL AND IRON RUST.
The oleaginous principle of linseed oil is said to be in the nature
of neutral salts called linolein, consisting of linoleic acid
combined with a glycerine base. Linolein is said by some writers to
constitute three-fourths of the volume of linseed oil, and that the
drying properties of the oil reside in the acid principle of the
linolein; that is, linoleic acid has the property of attracting and
combining with oxygen to form the substance known as dry linseed
oil. This acid is said to be a compound of several different acid
principles, combined in definite proportions. Writers seem to
disagree as to what the acids are, and in what respect they differ
from the acid properties of the non-drying fixed oils, but that is
a question which need not be discussed here. The glycerine base of
linolein seems to be common to all fixed oils, and is set down as
an oxide consisting of one equivalent of water and five of oxygen;
hence the affinity between the linoleic acid and its glycerine base.
Linoleic acid, like other acids, has an affinity for alkalies and
the ordinary metallic oxides. It unites with them, forming _neutral
compounds_. This affinity is said to be electrical; the alkalies
and oxides electro-positive, and the acid electro-negative. The
greater the contrast in this respect, the stronger the affinity;
hence, some acids separate others from their bases and form new
salts by precipitation. As an instance:
Drop sulphuric acid into a solution of acetate of lead. It will
displace the acetic acid, form sulphate of lead and precipitate,
leaving the liberated acetic acid in solution. In linolein, this
acid is so constituted that the affinity, or attraction between
it and its glycerine base, is too feeble to resist and keep back
the oxygen of the air; hence, when linseed oil is exposed to the
air in a thin layer, oxygen unites with its linoleic acid, and
this process continues until the oil becomes dry to the touch.
Beyond this point the process is slower, because the oil is now
less penetrable; but the process goes on until the layer of oil
becomes hard and brittle, no matter with what pigment it may be
mixed, although the pigment may for a time retard the action of the
destroying elements.
Linseed oil dries too slowly for general use by the painter, hence
various ways have been devised to hasten the drying process. If
the foregoing theory is correct, the process which will cause the
oil to dry to a good wearing body in the time desired, and leave
it in the best condition to resist the action of the elements and
the absorption of oxygen, is the best. I regard the lead oxides
as the best dryers for this purpose--at least according to my
experience. When we add an oxide to linseed oil as a dryer in the
small quantity which experience has taught us is best to use, it is
evident that it is not sufficient in itself to oxidize the whole of
the oil to an appreciable extent. Writers differ as to the peculiar
action of the oxides upon the oil, but I think it safe to say
that the dryer sets up some chemical reaction which increases the
affinity between the linolein and the oxygen of the atmosphere; at
any rate, there is no dispute upon the point that linseed oil in
drying absorbs a large per cent. of oxygen.
A knowledge of this unanimously conceded point led me to believe
that a coat of pure linseed oil might make the best possible
priming coat for iron work which had commenced to rust. Why?
Because iron rust is an oxide of iron, having an excess of oxygen.
Spread on rusty iron, it penetrates the rust, absorbs its excess
of oxygen and dries with the remaining neutral oxide held fast in
its body. This is my theory; whether correct or not, numerous tests
have proved to me that a coat of linseed oil will stop the rusting
of iron if applied under proper conditions. When rust is _thick or
scaling_ there is no safety short of taking it off. Iron rust is
more or less hydrated; to free it from moisture, give it the flame
of the gasoline paint burner.
WHITE ENAMEL (SELECTED).
First, the wood is primed with a composition consisting of three
parts of turpentine and one part of oil, japan gold size being used
as a dryer. On this drying thoroughly the work is rubbed down until
perfectly smooth. Next are applied two or three coats of pure white
lead mixed entirely flat; each coat is rubbed down, time being
allowed for it to dry. Equal parts of lead and zinc are used for
the next coat, and three-fourths zinc and one-fourth lead for the
one succeeding. After this has become thoroughly hard it is rubbed
down very smooth. A thin coat of color made of zinc and turpentine
is now rubbed on; for the next coat the same flat color is used,
with the addition of about one-half the quantity of good light
coach varnish. For the last coat enough zinc is used in the varnish
to make it white if the last coat of zinc is not white and solid
before varnishing. If the work is to be gilded or striped the zinc
must be left out of the last coat of varnish.
VARNISH TO IMITATE GROUND GLASS.
An expert has sent the following to the _British Journal of
Photography_: To make a varnish to imitate ground glass, dissolve
90 grains sandrac and 20 grains of mastic in 2 ounces of washed
methylated ether, and add, in small quantities, a sufficiency of
benzine to make it dry with a suitable grain--too little making the
varnish too transparent, and excess making it crapy. The quantity
of benzine required depends upon its quality--from half an ounce
to an ounce and a half, or even more; but the best results are got
with a medium quality. It is important to use washed ether, free
from spirit.
VARNISH FOR RUSTIC WORK.
One quart of boiled linseed oil and two ounces of asphaltum, to
be boiled on a slow fire until the asphaltum is dissolved, being
kept stirred to prevent its boiling over. This gives a fine dark
color, is not sticky, and looks well for a year; or, first wash
the article with soap and water, and when dry, on a sunny day do
it over with common boiled linseed oil; leave that to dry a day or
two, then varnish it over once or twice with hard varnish. If well
done this will last for years and prevent annoyance from insects.
TO CLEAN VERY DIRTY BRASS.
Rub some bi-chromate of potassa fine, pour over it about twice its
bulk of sulphuric acid, and mix this with an equal quantity of
water. The dirtiest brass is cleaned in a trice. Wash right off in
plenty of water, wipe it and rub perfectly dry, and polish with
powdered rotten stone.
TO COUNTERFEIT TORTOISE SHELL VERY FINELY.
In order to do this well, your foundation or ground-work must be
perfectly smooth and white, or nearly so, you then gild it with
silver leaf with slow size, so as to have it perfectly smooth with
no ragged edges, cleaning the loose leaf off. Then grind cologne
earth very fine, and mix it with gum water, common size; and with
this, you having added more gum water than it was ground with, spot
or cloud the ground-work, having a fine shell to imitate; and when
this is done, you will perceive several reds, lighter and darker,
appear on the edges of the black, and many times lie in streaks on
the transparent part of the shell. To imitate this finely, grind
dragon’s blood with gum water, and with a fine pencil draw those
warm reds, flushing it in about the dark places more thickly,
but fainter and fainter and thinner, with less color towards the
lighter parts, so sweetening it that it may in a manner lose the
red, being sunk in the silver or more transparent parts. When it is
dry, give it a coat of varnish, let it stand for a few days, then
rub it down with pumice stone and water. Then grind gamboge very
fine, and mix with varnish, giving of this as many coats as will
cause the silver to have a golden color, then finish with a clean
coat of varnish.
PRICE LIST.
The prices of labor, and cost of material vary so much in different
localities that it seems impossible to make a reliable price list
for general work. The position, condition, and shape of different
jobs all go towards making a general price list, an unreliable
guide; also the quality of work demanded may make 50 per cent.
difference in price. I have half a dozen printed price lists before
me, and they generally agree to about the following prices for
painting and glazing, to-wit:
_Per Yard._
1 coat on new work 8 to 10 cents
1 coat on old work 10 to 18 cents
2 coats on new work 18 to 20 cents
2 coats on old work 20 to 25 cents
3 coats on new work 25 to 28 cents
Brick walls, 2 coats 20 to 30 cents
Penciling 10 to 15 cents
PRIMING AND GLAZING SASH.
_Per Light._
10 × 14 and under 5 to 6 cents
12 × 16 7 to 9 cents
14 × 24 10 to 12 cents
18 × 24 15 to 18 cents
24 × 30 20 to 25 cents
30 × 40 35 to 50 cents
For old work where the old putty is in the sash, multiply the above
figures by 3 or 4. When called out to the house to set a light or
two charge for time and material. Most work of this kind is done at
least 30 per cent. below the above prices.
I quote below a price list for sign painters, from a very complete
report on painters’ prices and measurements, generally, by one of
the ablest of local associations of master painters and decorators:
JAPANNED TIN SIGNS.
_Gold._ _Plain._
3 × 14 inches $1.25 $ .75
6 × 8 inches 1.50 .75
8 × 10 inches 1.75 1.00
10 × 14 inches 2.50 1.50
11 × 17 inches 3.00 2.00
11 × 17 inches, 3 lines 3.50 2.55
14 × 20 inches 4.00 2.50
14 × 20 inches, 3 lines 4.50 3.00
18 × 24 inches 6.00 3.50
18 × 24 inches, 3 lines 7.00 4.00
Frames additional.
GLASS SIGNS ON WINDOWS AND DOORS.
_In Silver or Gold_ _Per Foot._
Letters up to 6 inches in height $ .75
Letters 6 to 10 inches in height 1.00
Letters 10 to 14 inches in height 1.50
Shaded, one color, 25 per cent. extra.
DRUM SIGNS.
_Gold._ _Plain._
10 × 14 inches $ 3.50 $ 2.50
11 × 17 inches 4.00 3.00
14 × 20 inches 5.00 3.50
18 × 24 inches 7.00 5.00
20 × 24 inches 8.50 6.50
24 × 30 inches 10.00 7.00
30 × 30 inches 12.00 8.50
30 × 48 inches 15.00 10.00
The above include moulding and urns and putting up.
Drilling holes in iron extra.
MUSLIN SIGNS.
_Per Foot._
Up to 1 foot high, black 8 cents
1 to 2 feet, black 10 cents
2 to 3 feet, black 12 cents
Colored one-half extra.
Muslin furnished.
Frames extra.
OIL CLOTH SIGNS.
_Per Foot._
Up to 1 foot 20 cents
1 to 2 feet 25 cents
2 to 3 feet 30 cents
Oil cloth furnished.
Frames extra.
BOARD SIGNS.
Including three coats of paint and lettering.
_Gold._ _Plain._
6 inches × 4 feet $ 4.00 $ 2.50
8 inches × 6 feet 5.00 3.50
10 inches × 8 feet 6.00 4.00
1 foot × 12 feet 7.50 5.00
1 foot × 15 feet 8.50 5.00
14 inches × 16 feet 8.50 5.00
14 inches × 18 feet 9.00 6.00
14 inches × 20 feet 9.50 6.00
16 inches × 16 feet 9.50 6.00
16 inches × 18 feet 10.00 6.00
18 inches × 18 feet 10.00 6.00
18 inches × 20 feet 12.00 7.00
18 inches × 24 feet 15.00 7.00
18 inches × 30 feet 18.00 8.00
Board extra.
Irons and putting up extra.
Shading, 25 per cent. additional, one color.
WALL SIGNS.
Two coats of paint and lettering. Extra coat, 1 cent per square
foot additional.
2 × 16 feet $ 6.00
2 × 20 feet 7.00
2 × 24 feet 8.00
2 × 30 feet 10.50
3 × 16 feet 8.00
3 × 20 feet 10.00
3 × 24 feet 12.00
3 × 30 feet 14.00
4 × 16 feet 9.00
4 × 20 feet 12.00
4 × 24 feet 13.00
4 × 30 feet 15.00
6 × 16 feet 12.00
6 × 20 feet 14.00
6 × 24 feet 16.00
6 × 30 feet 18.00
8 × 16 feet 14.00
8 × 20 feet 16.00
8 × 24 feet 18.00
8 × 30 feet 20.00
10 × 12 feet 10.00
10 × 16 feet 13.00
10 × 20 feet 16.00
10 × 24 feet 19.00
10 × 30 feet 22.00
12 × 16 feet 14.00
12 × 20 feet 18.00
12 × 24 feet 20.00
12 × 30 feet 25.00
14 × 20 feet 20.00
14 × 24 feet 24.00
14 × 30 feet 28.00
16 × 24 feet 26.00
16 × 30 feet 39.00
20 × 24 feet 30.00
20 × 30 feet 35.00
20 × 40 feet 40.00
21 × 30 feet 37.00
24 × 36 feet 42.00
24 × 40 feet 48.00
30 × 40 feet 60.00
30 × 50 feet 70.00
30 × 60 feet 80.00
SHOW CARDS.
1 sheet, 22 × 25 $ 1.50
1 sheet, 14 × 22 .75
1 sheet, 11 × 14 .50
The above prices are based upon white lead at 7 cents per pound
and wages at 33½ cents an hour.
MIDSUMMER PAINTING.
All things considered, which is the best time of the year to do
outside painting? Spring and fall, did you say? Well, yes. I know
nearly all painters think so, and the people outside the trade are
almost, if not quite, unanimous in holding the same opinion. But
why? Do the winds of March, the frequent showers of April and May
add very much to the pleasure and profit of doing outside work
in spring? Do the soaking rains, which come along about the time
of the vernal equinox and drive you off your job for a week or
two and watersoak your unprimed work, add much pleasure to your
recollections of spring painting? Do you remember anything about
the clouds of midges and thousands of little moths which filled the
air, ready and willing to decorate your paint with their little
bodies on every still, warm mid-day in April and May? Of course, we
are speaking now of climatic conditions from our own standpoint,
the great Northwest, which may also be true in the Middle and
New England states. The mornings and evenings of spring and fall
are apt to be cool--often frosty; then the oil stiffens and the
paint rubs out hard and goes on slow, and we lose time and work
harder. Practically, I favor midsummer for outside work, because
the temperature is more uniformly warm and the paint spreads
easily and evenly at any time of day, and as a rule the rains are
less frequent and give a longer warning of their approach. The
little black flies are not so plentiful in the hot days of summer
as they are in spring and early fall. They are either dead or
seek the shade of trees and grass. The dew is all gone in summer
before seven o’clock a. m., and does not commence to fall until
after quitting time. A carpet of grass and other vegetation covers
a large portion of the ground in summer, holding down the dust.
The winds are not usually so high and gusty in summer as they are
in the spring and fall. In the warm days of summer your work is
more apt to dry quickly, cleanly and evenly; and when you “knock
off” from work at six p. m., and the sun is yet two hours above
the horizon, you know that your last ground stretch will soon be
out of the way of dust and rain. In the hot weather of summer the
pores of the wood are all open, and the oil, which is then soft
and thin, goes farther into the wood than in spring and fall, when
the weather is cool. There are, it is true, some fine days in the
fall for outside work, but the rainy season of the autumnal equinox
and the frosty nights of the later months often retard your work
and mar the finish of your job. One objection urged against summer
painting is the flies, but really are the flies which injure paint
any more numerous in midsummer than they are in spring and fall? It
is true the festive house-fly is in his glory in the summer, but,
as a rule, he is too smart to get stuck in outside paint. To get
inside is his ambition, and the molasses-cup and sugar-bowl are his
objective points. If the house-fly is an objection in the summer,
it certainly is a greater one in the fall, for in September and
early in October they are thicker, saucier and more familiar than
at any other time of year; then they want not only to get at the
sugar, but to get in and warm.
A correspondent asks: “Does the reader know from practical
experiment that one season is better than another for applying
outside paint?” I suppose the writer means the effect upon the
wearing qualities of the paint and the permanency of the color.
I have been experimenting for a practical solution of this
question for my own satisfaction and guidance, and have come to
the conclusion that paint put on the outside in the hot weather of
summer will wear as well and hold its color as long as paint put on
in the cooler days of spring and fall. I know the idea that paint
dries too fast in hot weather is almost universal, but I think it
grows largely from the fact that a quick-drying paint is not as
good for outside as a slow dryer; but you must remember that there
is a great difference between a quick-drying paint and drying a
slow paint as quickly as the ingredients will admit of. Linseed
oil dries or hardens by absorbing oxygen from the air, and that
process goes on more rapidly in hot weather than in cool weather,
because the air in hot weather is in a condition more freely to
part with its oxygen, or because the oil is in a better condition
to receive it, or both. In other words, a warm atmosphere hastens
the process of absorption and a cool air retards it, but in either
case the result is the same: the air gives up enough of its oxygen
to solidify the oil. Now, the question arises, can any difference
be discovered (chemical or otherwise) in the composition of the
paint, whether dried in warm or cool air? From a business-point of
view, I have long advocated summer as a good time to paint outside,
and have usually succeeded in converting customers to my views upon
the subject, and as a consequence have not often had a dull time
in midsummer. We painters in the country know how unpleasant
and unprofitable it is to have all the work of the year rushed
upon us in the spring and fall, and I think if painters generally
could convince themselves by practical experiment that, all things
considered, summer time is the best season of the year to do
outside work, and advocate the same to their customers, backed by
argument and practical illustration, there would soon be less need
of complaint about a dull season in midsummer.
TO REMOVE PAINT.
1. An expeditious way is by chemical process, using a solution of
soda and quicklime in equal proportions. The soda is dissolved in
water, the lime is then added, and the solution is applied with a
brush to the old paint. A few moments are sufficient to remove the
coats of paint, which may be washed off with hot water. The oldest
paint may be removed by a paste of the soda and quicklime. The wood
should be afterwards washed with vinegar or an acid solution before
repainting, to remove all traces of alkali.
2. Wet the place with naphtha, repeating as often as required; but
frequently one application will dissolve the paint. As soon as it
is softened, rub the surface clean. Chloroform mixed with a small
quantity of spirit ammonia, composed of strong ammoniac, has been
employed very successfully to remove the stains of dry paint from
wood, silk, and other substances.
3. To remove paint from floors.--Take one pound of American
pearlash, three pounds of quickstone lime. Slake the lime in
water, then add the pearlash, and make the whole amount about the
consistency of paint. Lay the mixture over the whole body of the
work which is required to be cleaned, with an old brush; let it
remain for twelve or fourteen hours, when the paint can be easily
scraped off.
TO SOFTEN PUTTY AND REMOVE OLD PAINT.
1. Take three pounds of quickstone lime; slake the lime in water,
then add one pound of American pearlash; apply this to both sides
of the glass and let it remain for twelve hours, when the putty
will be softened, and the glass may be taken out without being
broken. To destroy paint, apply it to the whole body which is
required to be cleaned; use an old brush, as it will spoil a new
one; let it remain about twelve or fourteen hours, and then the
paint may be easily scraped off.
2. To remove paint from old doors, etc., and to soften putty
in window frames, so that the glass may be taken out without
breakage or cutting, take one pound of pearlash and three pounds
of quicklime, slake the lime in water and then add the pearlash,
and make the whole about the consistency of paint. Apply to both
sides of the glass and let it remain for twelve hours, when the
putty will be so softened that the glass may be taken out of the
frame without being cut, and with the greatest facility. To destroy
paint, lay the above over the whole body of the work which is
required to be cleaned, using an old brush, as it will spoil a new
one. Let it remain for twelve or fourteen hours, when the paint can
be easily scraped off.
3. Paint stains on glass.--American potash, 3 parts; unslaked lime,
1. Lay this on with a stick, letting it remain for some time, and
it will remove either tar or paint.
TREATMENT OF DAMP WALLS.
There are two classes of damp walls, first where the water comes
in from the outside from defective roofs, bad gutters, defective
pipes, and where it comes through the walls from the ground, as
in basements. In the other class we may include walls which are
dampened by condensation of moisture, in places shut off from the
general artificial temperature of the room, behind stationary
furniture. Such walls may dry out during hot weather, or they may
be kept damp by a growth of mold or fungus.