rendered ineffaceable by the following process:--Slightly warm a sheet of
ordinary drawing paper, then place it carefully on the surface of a
solution of white resin in alcohol, leaving it there long enough to become
thoroughly moistened. Afterward dry it in a current of warm air. Paper
prepared in this way has a very smooth surface. In order to fix the
drawing, the paper is to be warmed for a few moments. This process may
prove useful for the preservation of plans or designs when the want of
time or any other cause will not allow the draughtsman reproducing them in
ink. A simpler method than the above, however, is to brush over the back
of the paper containing the charcoal or pencil sketch with a weak solution
of white shellac in alcohol.
CARE OF WOOD TYPE.
Wood type should always be kept in a cool and dry place--not, as is often
the case, a few feet from a large stove, or directly over the lye and wash
tub. The drawer or shelves--drawers or cases are preferable to
shelves--where they are kept, should not, as very often happens, be made
of unseasoned wood, for this reason: type wood is usually perfectly
seasoned, and when allowed to remain for any length of time on a damp
surface, the moisture is absorbed, the bottom expands, and a warped type,
ready to be broken at the first impression, is the result.
Wood type should only be washed with oil. A moistened cloth is sufficient,
is more economical, and is certainly much cleaner than using their weight
in oil. All wood type have a smooth and polished face, and if properly
cleaned when put away will last for years. In fact, proper use only
improves the working qualities. Wood type forms should not be left
standing near hot stoves, or left locked up over night on a damp press or
stone to warp, swell, and perhaps ruin a costly chase.
COPPER-PLATING ON ZINC.
Take an organic salt of copper--for instance, a tartrate. Dissolve 126
grammes sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) in two litres of water; also
227 grammes tartrate of potash and 286 grammes crystallized carbonate of
soda in 2 litres of water. On mixing the two solutions, a light
bluish-green precipitate of tartrate of copper is formed. It is thrown on
a linen filter and afterwards dissolved in half a litre of caustic soda
solution of 16 deg. B. when it is ready for use.
The coating obtained from this solution is very pliable, smooth and
coherent, with a fine surface; acquires any desired thickness if left long
enough in the bath.
Other metals can also be employed for plating, in the form of tartrates.
Instead of tartrates, phosphates, oxalates, citrates, acetates and borates
of metals can be used; so that it seems possible to entirely dispense with
the use of cyanide baths.
TO TRANSFER ENGRAVINGS TO MOTHER-OF-PEARL.
To transfer engravings to mother-of-pearl, coat the shell with thin white
copal varnish. As soon as the varnish becomes sticky, place the engraving
face down on it, and press it well into the varnish. After the varnish
becomes thoroughly dry, moisten the back of the engraving and remove the
paper very carefully by rubbing. When the paper is all removed and the
surface becomes dry, varnish lightly with copal.
METAL FOR STEREOTYPING.
For every six pounds of lead add one pound of antimony. The antimony
should be broken into very small pieces, and thrown on the top of the lead
when it is at red heat. It is a white metal, and so brittle that it may be
reduced to powder; it melts when heated to redness; at a higher heat it
evaporates.
The cheapest and most simple mode of making a stereotype metal is to melt
old type, and to every fourteen pounds add about six pounds of grocer's
tea-chest lead. To prevent any smoke arising from the melting of tea-chest
lead it is necessary to melt it over an ordinary fire-place, for the
purpose of cleansing it, which can be done by throwing in a small piece of
tallow about the size of a nut, and stir it briskly with the ladle, when
the impurities will rise to the surface, and can be skimmed off.
In the mixing of lead and type-metal see that there are no pieces of zinc
among it, the least portion of which will spoil the whole of the other
metal that is mixed with it. Zinc is of a bluish white color; its hue is
intermediate between that of lead and tin. It takes about eighty degrees
more heat than lead to bring it into fusion; therefore, should any metal
float on the top of the lead, do not try to mix it, but immediately take
it off with the ladle.
HOW TO FIX PENCIL MARKS SO THEY WILL NOT RUB.
To fix pencil marks so they will not rub, take well skimmed milk and
dilute with an equal bulk of water. Wash the pencil marks (whether writing
or drawing) with this liquid, using a soft camel-hair brush, and avoid all
rubbing. Place upon a flat board to dry.
HOW TO OBTAIN A BRIGHT AND LASTING RED EDGE.
A bright and lasting red edge may be obtained by the following
process:--Take the best vermillion and add a pinch of carmine; mix this
with glaire, slightly diluted. Take the book and bend over the edge so as
to allow the color to slightly permeate it; then apply the color with a
bit of fine Turkey sponge, bend over the edge in the opposite direction,
and color again. When the three edges have been done in this manner, allow
them to dry. Next screw the book tightly up in the cutting press, and
after wiping the edge with a waxed rag, burnish well with a flat agate
burnisher.
TO RESTORE THE LUSTRE OF MOROCCO LEATHER.
The lustre of morocco leather is restored by varnishing with white of
egg.
TO RESTORE THE ORIGINAL WHITENESS OF COPPER-PLATE, WOOD ENGRAVING, ETC.
The following process will restore the original whiteness of copper-plate,
wood-engraving or printed matter:--Place a piece of phosphorus in a large
glass vessel; pour in water of 30 deg. centigrade (that is 86 deg. Fahrenheit)
temperature until the phosphorus is half covered. Cork up, but not
tightly, the glass vessel, and lay it in a moderately warm place for
fourteen hours. Damp the paper that is to be bleached, with distilled
water; fasten it to a piece of platinum wire and hang it up inside the
glass vessel. The faded paper after a short time will regain its original
white color. It should then be taken out and washed in water; next drawn
through a weak solution of soda, and finally dipped in pure water and laid
on a glass table, and thus made dry and smooth.
FOR ELECTROTYPING ON CHINA.
For electrotyping on China and similar non-conducting materials:--Sulphur
is dissolved in oil of spike lavender to a syrupy consistence; then
chloride of gold or chloride of platinum is dissolved in ether, and the
two solutions mixed under a gentle heat. The compound is next evaporated
until the thickness of ordinary paint, in which condition it is applied
with a brush to such portions of the china, glass or other fabric as it
is desired to cover, according to the design or pattern, with the
electrometallic deposit. The objects are baked in the usual way before
they are immersed in the bath.
PAINTING ON EBONIZED WOOD.
The great difficulty to be overcome in painting on ebonized wood, is the
non-absorbent character of the surface, which will not allow the paint to
sink in. Washing the panel over with onion juice enables the paint to
adhere more easily. The paint, whether oil or water color, must be laid on
thickly. In order that the painting, whether of flowers or figures, shall
prove a decoration, the black space between the painted figures must be
graceful in shape. Water color paintings on such panels require to be
varnished. Oil color does not need the varnish.
HOW GILDING IS DONE.
Letters written on vellum or paper are gilded in three ways. In the first
a little size is mixed with the ink, and the letters are written as usual;
when they are dry a slight degree of stickiness is produced by breathing
on them, upon which the gold leaf is immediately applied, and by a little
pressure may be made to adhere with sufficient firmness. In the second
method some white lead or chalk is ground up with strong size, and the
letters are made with this by means of a brush; when the mixture is almost
dry, the gold leaf may be laid on and afterward burnished. The best method
is to mix up some gold powder with size, and make the letters of this by
means of a brush.
The edges of the leaves of books are gilded while in the binders' press,
by first applying a composition formed of four parts of Armenian bole and
one of sugar candy, ground together to a proper consistence; it is laid on
by a brush with white of egg; this coating, when nearly dry, is smoothed
by the burnisher; it is then slightly moistened with clear water, the gold
leaf applied, and afterwards burnished.
In order to impress the gilt figures on the leather covers of books, the
leather is first dusted over with very fine powdered resin or mastic; then
the iron tool by which the figure is made is moderately heated and pressed
down upon a piece of leaf gold which slightly adheres to it, being then
immediately applied to the surface of the leather with a certain force;
the tool at the same time makes an impression, and melts the mastic which
lies between the heated iron and the leather; in consequence of this, the
gold with which the face of the tool is covered is made to adhere to the
leather, so that on removing the tool a gilded impression of it remains
behind.
PRINCIPAL COLORS OF GOLD FOR GRINDING.
The principal colors of gold for grinding are red, green, yellow. These
should be kept in different amalgams. The part which is to remain of the
first color is to be stopped off with a composition of chalk and glue; the
variety required is produced by gilding the unstopped parts with the
proper amalgam, according to the usual mode of gilding. Sometimes the
amalgam is applied to the surface to be gilt, without any quicking, by
spreading it with aquafortis; but this depends on the same principle as a
previous quicking.
WRITING ON METALS.
To write on metals, take half a pound of nitric acid and one ounce
muriatic acid. Mix and shake well together, and then it is ready for use.
Cover the plate you wish to mark with melted beeswax; when cold, write
your inscription plainly in the wax clear to the metal with a sharp
instrument. Then apply the mixed acids with a feather, carefully filling
each letter. Let it remain from one to ten hours, according to the
appearance desired, throw on water, which stops the process, and remove
the wax.
HOW TO TRANSFER A PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT TO GLASS.
To transfer a photographic print to glass for painting or for other
purposes, separate the paper print from the background by steaming it; dry
thoroughly, and having given the warmed glass an even coating of clean
balsam or negative varnish, place the face of the print on the surface
thus prepared, smooth it out and let it stand in a cool place until the
varnish has hardened. Then apply water, and with a soft piece of
gum-rubber rub off the paper so as to leave the photographic image on the
varnished glass.
STEREOTYPING WOODCUTS.
In stereotyping woodcuts, care should be taken that they are thoroughly
dry before being sent to the foundry, as the intense heat to which they
are subjected frequently causes them to warp and split, especially if
pierced.
TO GILD WITH GOLD LEAF.
Bookbinders use gold leaf in two ways--to gild on the edge, and to place
gold letters on the binding. To gild on the edge, the edge is smoothly
cut, put in a strong press, scraped so as to make it solid, and the
well-beaten white of an egg, or albumen, put on thinly; the gold leaf is
then put on before the albumen is dry; it is pressed down with cotton,
and when dry polished with an agate polisher. To put on the lettering, the
place where the letters are to appear is coated with albumen, and after it
is dry, the type to be used is heated to about the boiling point of water,
the gold leaf is put on, either on the book or on the type, and then
placed on the spot where the lettering is desired, when the gold leaf will
adhere by the heat of the type, while the excess of gold leaf loosely
around is rubbed off with a tuft of cotton.
GILDING ON WOOD.
To gild in oil, the wood, after being properly smoothed, is covered with a
coat of gold size, made of drying linseed oil mixed with yellow ochre.
When this has become so dry as to adhere to the fingers without soiling
them, the gold leaf is laid on with great care and dexterity, and pressed
down with cotton wool. Places that have been missed are covered with small
pieces of gold leaf, and when the whole is dry the ragged bits are rubbed
off with cotton. This is by far the easiest mode of gilding. Any other
metallic leaves may be applied in a similar manner. Pale leaf gold has a
greenish-yellow color, and is an alloy of gold with silver. Dutch gold
leaf is only copper colored with the fumes of zinc. Being much cheaper
than gold leaf, it is very useful when large quantities of gilding are
required in places where it can be defended from the weather, as it
changes color if exposed to moisture; and it should be covered with
varnish. Silver leaf is prepared like gold leaf, but when applied should
be kept well covered with varnish, as otherwise it will tarnish. A
transparent yellow varnish will give it the appearance of gold.
GILDING IN OIL.
In order to make good work in oil gilding there are several indispensable
conditions which must be observed. First, a smooth ground. Second, gold
size free from grit or skins. Third, in putting oil gold size on the work
it must be dross black, ground in turpentine, and mixed with boiled
linseed oil and a small piece of dryers; well sand-paper again, when this
coat is dry. And now for the finishing coat of color, which should be
flat, _i. e._, mixed with turpentine and a few drops of japanner's
gold-size, but no oil. The dross black should be first ground in
turpentine and the gold-size added after. When this has dried, varnish
with hard drying oak varnish, leave for a day or two, and then rub down
with pumice-stone powder, sifted through muslin; use a piece of cloth or
felt wrapped on a small block of wood, and first wet the surface to be
rubbed with water; dry with a wash-leather, and re-varnish. The ornaments
are usually done with stencil patterns, and the lines are done with
straight edges and lining fitches. Stencil patterns can be cut out of card
paper. Before using, give a coat or two of patent knotting. For gilding
panels, give a coat of buff first, then a coat of gold-size, in oil. When
this has dried just sticky, press the gold leaf upon it with a ball of
wadding, and leave for five or six hours, then rub over with a piece of
soft wadding, and wash well with a sponge and cold water. The gold will
not need any preparation before painting on, but if varnished afterward
use pale varnish. Screens should be painted in colors to match the rooms
they are intended to be used in. Birds, flowers and animals are the
subjects generally introduced for this purpose. Birds should be painted
toward the top of the screen, animals, flowers, etc., in the centre or at
the bottom.
GLOSS PRINTING.
Gloss printing is done in two ways; one by using the gloss inks specially
prepared for the purpose, the other by printing the gloss preparation on
over the finished job, or over that portion of it required to be glossed.
To the inexperienced this is a difficult operation, attended by many
failures. It is accomplished as follows:--Prepare a tint block the exact
size and shape to cover the printing to be glossed. The block should be of
boxwood or hard metal--soft metal will not do. Fix it on the press and
make it ready as for ordinary work, with a good, even impression. Wash up
the ink table, the rollers and the block itself thoroughly, removing the
least trace of ink. Replace the rollers and distributors. Now, with a
clean palette knife put a little of the gloss preparation on the ink
cylinder or table, let it distribute for about a minute, and then pull an
impression; if it comes up perfectly clean, the work may proceed, but if
there are any signs of dirt, it is best to wash up again at once. While
working the gloss, keep the machine in motion, and should the gloss become
too sticky (which it is apt to do) sprinkle a very little turpentine on
the rollers. It is best to have a separate hand to put on the gloss, so as
not to delay the feeder, and the sheets should be taken away at once and
laid out singly to dry. The two most important points are to have the
machine clean and keep it in motion. After printing, wash up the gloss
quickly with benzine.
TO BLEACH SHEEPSKIN PARCHMENT WHITE.
To bleach sheepskin parchment white, expose the pieces to strong sunlight
under glass, in a moist atmosphere.
COLORS FOR PRINTING.
For a black color for printing, 25 parts paraffine oil and 45 parts resin
are mixed, either by melting at 80 deg.C., or by mechanical means at the
ordinary temperature. To this mass 15 parts of black are added. For
printing machines, the mixture is composed of 40 parts of resin only,
instead of 45. Resin can, in some cases, be replaced by dammar. Other
colors are mixed by substituting the equivalent of the color to the black.
When cheapness has to be considered, paraffine oil can be substituted by
resinous oil, and resin by Burgundy resin, etc.
HOW TO DYE PARCHMENT BLUE OR RED.
Parchment can be dyed green, blue or red. To dye it blue, use the
following process:--Dissolve verdigris in vinegar; heat the solution, and
apply it by means of a brush on the parchment, till it takes a nice green
color. The blue color is then obtained by applying on the parchment thus
prepared a solution of carbonate of potash. Use two ounces for one gallon
of water. Another method is to cover it by means of a brush with
aquafortis, in which copper dust has been dissolved. The potash solution
is then applied as before, till the required shade is obtained. Another
method is by using the following solution:--Indigo, 5 ozs.; white wood,
10 ozs.; alum, 1 oz.; water, 50 ozs. Red:--The parchment is dyed red by
applying with a brush a cold logwood solution, and then using a 3 per cent
potash solution.
TO MAKE PAPER FIRE AND WATER-PROOF.
To make paper fire and water-proof, mix two-thirds ordinary paper-pulp
with one-third asbestos. Steep in a solution of common salt and alum, and
after being made into paper coat with an alcoholic solution of shellac. By
plunging a sheet of paper into an ammoniacal solution of copper for an
instant, then passing it between the cylinders and drying it, it is
rendered entirely impermeable to water, and may even be boiled without
disintegrating. Two, three, or any number of sheets rolled together become
permanently adherent, and form a material having the strength of wood. By
the interposition of cloth or any kind of fiber between the layers, the
strength is greatly increased.
A NEW BLOTTING PAPER.
A blotting paper that will not only dry the blot, but bleach the remainder
of it can be made by passing ordinary blotting paper or card through a
concentrated solution of oxalic acid. Care must be taken that no crystals
appear, which would injure the porosity of the paper.
IMPERMEABLE PAPER.
To make impermeable paper, prepare the two following baths: (1) alum, 25
ozs.; white soap, 12-1/2 ozs.; water, 100 ozs. (2) gum arabic, 6 ozs.;
Colle de Flandre, 18 ozs.; water, 100 ozs. Place the sheet of paper in the
first bath to be well impregnated. In this bath the paper is left only for
a short time. It is then dried and dipped in the second bath, the same
precautions being used as for the first bath. When dry, the paper is
hot-pressed in order to render it uniform.
TO MOUNT CHROMOS FOR FRAMING.
To mount chromos for framing, first soak for fifteen minutes in a shallow
dish, or lay between two newspapers that have been thoroughly saturated
with water; then paste to the panel of the wood or canvas which has been
prepared to receive them. Care must be taken that there are no lumps in
the paste.
A VARNISH FOR MAKING PAPER TRANSPARENT.
A varnish formed of Canada balsam, dissolved in turpentine, supplies a
most valuable means of making paper transparent. The mode by which this is
most satisfactorily accomplished is by applying a pretty thin coating of
this varnish to the paper, so as to permeate it thoroughly, after which it
is to be coated on both sides with a much thicker sample. The paper is
kept warm by performing the operation before a hot fire, and a third, or
even a fourth, coating may be applied, until the texture of the paper is
seen to merge into a homogeneous translucency. Paper prepared according to
this process is said to come nearer than any other to the highest standard
of perfection in transparent paper. Care must be used in making, as the
materials are highly inflammable.
CARBON PAPER.
To make carbon paper:--Take of clear lard, five oz.; beeswax, one oz.;
Canada balsam, one-tenth oz.; lampblack, q. s. Melt by aid of heat, and
mix. Apply with a flannel dauber, removing as much as possible with clean
woolen rags.
LUMINOUS PAPER.
To make paper which shall be luminous in the dark, it is sufficient to
mingle with the pulp the following ingredients in their
proportions:--Water, ten parts; pulp, forty parts; phosphorescent powder,
ten parts; gelatine, one part; bichromate of potash, one part. The paper
will also be waterproof.
SIZES AND WEIGHTS OF DRAWING PAPERS.
The following are the sizes and weights of drawing papers:
Inches. Lbs.
Emperor, 72 x 48 620
Antiquarian, 53 x 31 250
Double Elephant, 40 x 26-3/4 136
Atlas, 34 x 26 98
Columbier, 34-1/2 x 23-1/2 102
Imperial, 30 x 22 72
Elephant, 28 x 23 72
Super Royal, 27 x 19 54
Royal, 24 x 19 44
Medium, 22 x 17-1/2 34
Demy, 20 x 15-1/2 25
Large Post, 20-3/4 x 16-3/4 23
Post, 19 x 15-1/4 20
Foolscap, 17 x 13-1/2 15
Pott, 15 x 12-1/2 10
Copy, 20 x 16 20
TO MAKE BRONZED PAPER.
Dissolve gum lac in four parts by volume of pure alcohol, and then add
bronze or other metal powder in the proportion of one part to every three
of the solution. A smooth paper must be chosen, and the mixture applied
with a fine brush. The coating is not dull, and may be highly burnished.
Another process consists in first applying a coat of copal or other
varnish, and when this has become of a tacky dryness, dusting bronze
powder over it. After remaining a few hours, this bronzed surface should
be burnished with an agate or steel burnisher.
TO MAKE DRAWING-PAPER TRANSPARENT.
Drawing paper of any thickness may be made perfectly transparent by
damping it with benzine. India ink and water colors can be used on this
paper. The paper resumes its opacity as the benzine evaporates, so that
any place that has not been duly traced requires to be redamped with the
benzine for that purpose. A sponge should be used for the application.
TO MAKE PAPER WATER-PROOF.
The following is a recipe for making paper water-proof:--Add a little
acetic acid to a weak solution of carpenters' glue. Dissolve also a small
quantity of bichromate of potash in distilled water, and mix both
solutions together. The sheets of paper are drawn separately through the
solution, and hung up to dry.
HOW TO SIZE POOR DRAWING PAPER.
To size poor drawing paper, take one oz. of white glue, one oz. of white
soap, and one-half oz. of alum. Soak the glue and soap in water until they
appear like jelly, then simmer in one quart of water until the whole is
melted. Add the alum, simmer again and filter. To be applied hot.
TO PREVENT ALTERATIONS IN WRITING.
The following process of preparing paper will prevent alterations in
writing:--Add to the sizing 5 per cent of cyanide of potassium and
sulphide of antimony, and run the sized paper through a thin solution of
sulphate of manganese or copper. Any writing on this paper with ink made
from nutgalls and sulphate of iron, can neither be removed with acids nor
erased mechanically. Any acid will change immediately the writing from
black to blue or red. Any alkali will change the paper to brown. Any
erasure will remove the layer of color, and the white ground of the paper
will be exposed, since the color of the paper is only fixed to the outside
of the paper without penetrating it.
TO PREVENT GUMMED PAPER FROM COCKLING.
It is well known that paper, when gummed, often cockles. To remedy this a
little glycerine or sugar should be added to the gum.
COPYING DRAWING IN COLOR.