inadvertence, he splits away or breaks off a piece from his work. In
this case he must have recourse to glue. This should be of the very best
quality, perfectly light and clean. Glue is made in what alchemists used
to call a _balneum mariæ_, that is, of a vessel containing hot water,
within which is a smaller vessel. The glue, which is in the inner pot,
is therefore to be boiled by the heat of warm water, and not of the fire
directly. Before setting it to boil, break it into very small pieces,
say of the size of a hazel nut, and let it stand in cold water for
twelve hours. It will now be like a thick jelly. Pour off all the water
not absorbed, and put the jelly into the inner pot, fill the outer with
water and let it boil till the glue is like a thick cream. Use it while
in this state.
If you add to the glue, while thus liquid, some nitric acid, say about
a tea-spoonful to half a pint of glue, you will have a very superior
cement, which holds faster than the plain glue, and is much less liable
to crack or split. It dries more slowly, which makes it very valuable
for veneering and for large surfaces, where glue often dries before the
whole can be applied. Again, when an article fastened with common glue
is detached, it is often almost impossible to stick it on again with the
same. But with the acidulated glue this is easy.
The greatest advantage of this glue is, that if it be kept excluded from
the air it will remain in a liquid state for at least a year, and can be
used cold. Its disadvantages are a very pungent and not agreeable smell,
and the fact that, when corked up, the cork is most certain to get glued
to the bottle, and requires to be broken to get it out, rendering a new
one necessary. This may be avoided, however, with great care. Stir the
acid into the glue with a glass rod or tube.
It may happen that a rotten, broken place is found even in the best
wood; or the carver may obtain possession of a piece of ancient,
worm-eaten, half-decayed carving, and with a very little skill such
pieces can be perfectly repaired. Take a piece of similar wood, and
reduce it to fine sawdust by means of a rasp. For this purpose American
walnut and dark old oak, or cocoa-nut shell, which is easily pulverized
in a mortar, is excellent. Make this into a paste with glue, and repair
with it any broken places. This, if properly made, is quite like wood
itself, and may be moulded into any shape. It "takes hold" of the
ground, and when dry it may be filed into uniformity with the rest. It
may also be cut with ease or trimmed to shape, or, in fact, carved. If
there is too little glue in it it will break too easily, if there is too
much it will be too glazy. But a proper mixture makes it quite like
wood.
Scratches and chance cuts may be remedied by merely melting them with
hot water. But for such small defects a _filler_ is useful. This is a
kind of paint or liquid cement, the object of which is to fill up the
pores of certain coarse woods and make the surface fine. The squeezing
wax, described in the chapter on making moulds, is a filler. Others
are made by mixing flour with varnish, etc. Any dealer in paints and
varnishes will supply a filler suitable to any special work.
When a piece of wood-work is so decayed that it is absolutely dropping
to pieces, and cannot even be handled, it may be preserved and
rehabilitated by the following process. Take some thin glue and water,
or mucilage, or size of any kind, and a _spray_, that is, one of those
articles such as are used for spraying perfumes, etc., and which are
for sale in most chemist's shops. Spray or sprinkle the glue over the
figure, and, if necessary, gradually throw on it fine sawdust or other
powder. As it dries it may be shaped and worked more freely.
We read continually in the newspapers of the opening of old tombs and
ancient subterranean caves, in which are discovered dead bodies, bones,
dresses, implements of bone and wood or leather, or even of baked earth,
which gradually dropped into dust a few hours after being exposed to the
air. And I have never known a case in which these objects could not have
been preserved; certainly all which I have ever seen could have been.
All that is necessary to do is to make a thin size, and very gradually
spraying or sprinkling it on the objects, allow it to dry, little by
little. There are very few cases in which, indeed, the spray cannot be
successfully used. It was by the application of this principle that Sir
Joseph Hooker preserved the ivory articles brought from Nineveh by Sir
Austen H. Layard, and which would have perished but for him. He advised
that they should be boiled in gelatine. The student who becomes an
expert in such repairing will find plenty to do, and it will be his own
fault if it is not profitable. Nineteen people out of twenty have not
the least conception of the degree to which repairs may be carried.
Some years ago a gentleman in America had a very curious and valuable
vase from the pyramid of Cholula in Mexico. It was very fragile, being
made of the weakest terra-cotta, and having been broken to pieces, the
owner was about to throw it away, but gave it to me. Some months after I
repaired it so perfectly that the closest observation could not detect a
flaw in it. I did this by fastening pieces of paper on the inside with
gum, and so gradually bringing the fragments together, edge to edge,
and fastening them with the acidulated glue. When all were together,
there was, of course, a lining of paper. Where there was a fault or a
deficiency outside, I filled it in with plaster of Paris, rubbed it all
even, and coloured by "rubbing in" paint. This process would have been
much easier with decayed wood.
In gluing ordinary wood together, heat the two pieces first. This
renders them more inclined to "take" the glue. Sometimes it is a
difficult thing to hold them together till they "set," that is, adhere
so firmly that they will hold. For this the clamp, Fig. 7_a_, may often
be used. In other cases, take two pieces of wood, put one on each side
of the parts to be glued, and tie them tightly together; sometimes
clamps may be used to connect the binding pieces, when they are not
applicable to what is to be glued. Strong indiarubber rings or gummed
paper strips may be used in some cases. But with thought, ingenuity can
generally be awakened so as to help one out of any such difficulty.
A very perfect resemblance to carved wood may be made by taking
cocoa-nut powder or fine sawdust and mixing it with the acidulated glue,
so as to make a paste as already described. Then, having ready a mould,
either of plaster of Paris or of sunk or incised wood, and oiling it,
take the impression. These casts, retouched and glass-papered, are quite
like wood, and they may be used for decoration in doors.
The following are also excellent recipes for glue.
_Liquid glue._ Take of best glue three parts, place them in eight
parts of water, allow them to soak for some hours. Take half a part of
hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid), three-quarters of a part of sulphate
of zinc, add to these the glue, and keep the whole at a moderately high
temperature till fluid.
_Exceedingly strong cement_ for glass and china. Take gum arabic and
dissolve it in acetic acid instead of water. It must be melted in a
hottish place; it will be much stronger if this be done. The finest
quality of sheet gelatine makes a transparent glue.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
EIGHTEENTH LESSON.
COLOURING WOOD-WORK--OILING--SODA--STAINS AND DYES--IVORYING
SURFACES--BLACK DYES AND INK.
Carved or any other wood is often dyed, stained, or toned. Sometimes
this is done to make one piece or part match with another; or it may be
to imitate the effect of age, or to give light woods a colour which will
prevent them from showing defects. This is effected in many ways.
_Oiling_ alone is a kind of colouring, for all oiled wood becomes much
darker before long. The more frequently it is rubbed in with a pine
stick the harder and darker the surface becomes. I have seen walnut
tables which had been thus rubbed with a stick or a hard scrubbing
brush, until a tea-cup wet with hot water on the outside would make no
mark on them. Had they been only softly oiled or painted, or varnished,
an indelible stain must have resulted. Care should be taken that the oil
is pure, and that _no wax_ has been boiled in it. A table which has had
wax on it for a polish will always show marks or stains from hot water.
_Soda_ dissolved in water, and applied to oak with a sponge or
brush, will give it a darker tone, which may be increased by several
applications. Dark tea with a little alum is also useful, also porter
or beer, also a decoction of walnut leaves. In America butternut gives
a very rich indelible dye. Let it be carefully observed that in using
these, or any other colours, the following rules must be strictly
observed. I. Use a sponge or brush and do not apply the dye profusely or
pour it on, as you will run great risk of warping the wood, or causing
it to split. II. It may be advisable to dry it near a fire, but in this
case exercise great care that the heat be not too great. III. When dry,
rub the dye off with a rag or soft old newspaper, or chamois skin. Do
this very carefully, and do not be disappointed if it seem very light
and to have taken but little dye. Apply the dye again, giving it plenty
of time to dry between the coatings. Of course this depends on the dyes
used, and the degree of colour required.
_Stephens' stains_ of different kinds, to imitate all kinds of wood,
or those of _Mander_ (Oxford Street, London), are very good, and may
now be purchased in every town. As a rule, most of these dyes are very
strong, and it is therefore necessary to dilute them with water and make
several applications, instead of putting on the whole strength at once.
The diluted dye is carefully painted over the entire surface with a
full flat camel's hair brush, and a smaller round brush is used in the
corners and smaller recesses. After using dyes, and when perfectly dry,
the wood should be oiled.
_Ammonia._ Wood, and especially oak, may be not only stained of a very
dark rich colour, giving the effect of age, by washing it carefully with
ammonia or spirits of hartshorn, and then exposing it for some time in a
chimney, or otherwise to the fumes of smoke, especially of a wood-fire
if it be possible. Strong spirits of ammonia, according to Rowe, may be
placed in an open vessel and then shut up with the panel in an airtight
chamber or box, the wood darkening according to the length of time it is
left in. The ammonia may have to be renewed, as it quickly evaporates.
For small work a glass shade may be used, or a box can be made with a
glass lid, and after the panel and saucer of ammonia have been placed
inside, the crevices can be pasted over with brown paper. When the
depth of colour is obtained, which can be seen through the glass, the
panel can be taken out. The wood must be so placed that the ammonia can
pass quite round the parts which require darkening. But for ordinary
purposes, it will be found quite sufficient to apply strong ammonia with
a brush or sponge, and expose it to smoke.
_Umber._ Common powdered umber, which is used by the house painter, is
much preferable to the Swiss brown liquid stain to produce an antique
brown appearance. The Swiss dye is entirely too rich and uniform, making
everything exactly alike, or similar to chocolate. But the umber must be
properly applied. Mix it with beer or porter; strong coffee is also very
good; and apply it with a brush. When dry rub it very carefully, clean,
and apply it again. If it be desirable to make the wood very dark, add
lamp-black to the dye, mixing and shaking it very thoroughly. But always
let the first applications be of umber alone. By adding the lamp-black
one can darken the wood almost to blackness, and if it be very carefully
done, and not in a hurry, and exposed at intervals to smoke in a warm
place, a colour second to none may be thus given.
_Paint._ Wood which is to be exposed to the air must of course be
painted in the ordinary way. But there is another method of applying oil
paint which is not so generally known or practised, yet which gives very
good results. This consists of _rubbing_ paint with the hand into wood
or on plaster of Paris, papier-maché, or stone. As it is much thinner
than with coats laid on with a brush, it appears more like an innate
or natural colour. This was the finger painting of the old Venetian
artists. The appearance thus produced, when it is skilfully done, is
very different indeed from that of an ordinary coat of paint, and in
most cases it is much more attractive.
_Ivorying._ Take a panel, the pattern may be carved, or even produced
in the lowest relief by simply indenting the outline with a wheel or
tracer. Any degree of relief will, however, do just as well. Apply a
coat of thick ordinary copal varnish. When perfectly dry smooth it with
finest glass or emery-paper. Then apply the paint; two or three coats
are better than one. See that the last is perfectly smooth. Then work on
the dry surface with tracer and stamps, as you would on wood or brass.
When finished, take a very small fitch-brush and paint Vandyke brown
into all the dots, lines, scratches, and irregularities. Let there be a
dark line of brown close to the outline of the pattern. Sometimes the
entire ground may be _rubbed_ with brown, allowing an indication or a
few dots of white yellow to show here and there. When dry give two coats
of retouching varnish (that of Söhnee Frères, No. 19, Rue des Filles du
Calvaire, Paris, is specially suited to this work). By using olive, dark
and light greens, a beautiful imitation of bronze can be thus obtained.
In fact, by studying the effects of colour in many kinds of old objects,
we may obtain hints for converting very ordinary wood-carving into
beautiful objects.
_Bichromate of Potash_, diluted with water to the required shade, is a
good dark dye, but great care should be taken not to spill a drop of it
on the clothing, or to get it on the hands, or even to inhale its fumes,
as it is a poison. Apply it with a brush.
_Black Dyes._ Of late years black dyes have been so much improved
that ebony is imitated with holly, hickory, and beech, to absolute
perfection. The best way for the carver, as regards these and all kinds
of dyes, such as red, yellow, green, etc., is to go to a chemist or
colourman, who will obtain them for him. For black the following recipes
may be used.
I.
White vinegar 1 pint.
Iron filings 2 ounces.
Antimony (powdered) 2 ounces.
Vitriol 1 ounce.
Logwood 3 ounces.
Steep it in a corked bottle for eight days.
II.
Gall nuts coarsely broken 2 ounces.
Rain water 1 quart.
Boil down to one half. (_Seaton._)
To stain wood, first apply No. II., when nearly dry put on No. I. and
then No. II. again. It will occur to the reader that this is really
ink, and, in fact, if he cannot get a stain, good common ink applied a
few times and well dried will answer quite as well. After it has been
thoroughly put on, and quite dry, oil the surface, and rub it well, and
it will be found that it will not wash off from any casual application
of water. Some of the writing inks now made are intensely black and
almost indelible.
NINETEENTH LESSON.
MAKING MOULDS OR SQUEEZES FOR WOOD-CARVERS.
It will very soon become apparent to every wood-carver that it is easier
to copy from a model than a drawing, and that this ease is very much
increased when he has made that model in clay himself. However, it is
also very advisable that he shall, after a time, practise carving from
drawings and sketches also, as this of itself gives great skill and
accuracy of perception. But he will very often need or wish to have
copies of carvings or casts, and these he may obtain with ease, if
the relief be not too great or the object too large. This is called
"taking a squeeze," and it may be done in two ways. Firstly, by means
of squeezing or modelling wax, which is sold by dealers in artists'
materials. The use of this and the casting in plaster of Paris is,
however, generally tiresome to beginners in carving. For all practical
purposes squeezes in paper are quite sufficient.
_Paper squeezes._ Take any pieces of soft newspaper. Oil the wood
or plaster cast which you wish to copy; soak, and then press on the
paper and, with your fingers and a sponge or a very stiff brush, poke
and squeeze it into every cranny of the original. If this be done
_thoroughly_, the hardest part of the work is accomplished. Now give the
paper a brush of flour-paste or gum or mucilage, or paste strengthened
with glue, and press on new pieces of paper. To merely copy the
original, a few thicknesses will suffice. Take the squeeze off and let
it dry; if necessary, touch it up with colour. For this the first coat
should be of _white_ paper. To make a cast, keep adding paper till the
whole is at least half an inch in thickness. Press it as hard as you can
while forming the mould. When it is dry you can paint or rub the inside
with any dry powder, such as whiting, or varnish it, and then make a
cast with the same material, _i.e._ paper and paste, or with plaster of
Paris. Papier-maché casts, when rubbed by hand with brown paint, form
perfect facsimiles of old wood-work. Rubbed with bronze-powders they
resemble metals, or they may be ivoried, by the process described in the
chapter on dyes.
Plaster-casts are very easily broken, and are heavy and difficult to
transport. Wax is spoiled almost by a touch, and it readily yields
to heat. Papier-maché, when properly managed, with a little practice
gives a mould which is equal to either for all surfaces except the most
minutely delicate. When dry, such casts may be let fall, or really
thrown about, without sustaining any injury, and they are very portable.
It is very often possible to easily copy an object with paper when
plaster or wax cannot be used at all. The reason why it is not more
generally used is because few persons have taken the pains to treat
it as a plastic material suitable to the arts, or are sufficiently
practised in it to know what can really be done with it. The wood-carver
should do this, because it is a very important thing for him to keep
copies of his works, or to get those of others to use in his designs.
With a little practice, and at no expense, he can make such casts in a
material which is almost as durable as wood itself.
In large manufactories of papier-maché the pulp of paper is simply mixed
with the paste or size, and put into the moulds in large masses, and
then subjected to pressure. When a good surface is secured with fine
white paper, it is not of much consequence how coarse the paper for the
_backing_ may be. For this purpose it may be mixed with tow or fibre of
any kind, plaster, or fine sawdust, etc., so long as the _binder_ or
size be only strong enough to hold all together. But for all ordinary
purposes waste-paper and paste, thickened with common glue, will
suffice.
[Illustration: CASE FOR PAPERS OR MUSIC.]
TWENTIETH LESSON.
SPOT CUTTING.
This is a manner of ornamenting which can hardly be called carving,
and which would not deserve special mention were it not that it is so
extensively used, it being the chief method of decoration in all the
islands of the Pacific, and still extensively practised in Sweden and
Norway. It consists of small incised triangles, or "diamonds," made with
a skew or ordinary chisel, which are arranged in rows or lines. Simple
as the work may seem, it is very effective when artistically employed;
and it has this peculiarity, that no other kind of cutting is so well
adapted, with very little labour, to relieve flat surfaces, such as
paddles, tankards, spoons, war clubs, and scoops or dippers.
The triangular incision is made with three cuts; by adding two more
from the opposite direction we make a diamond, or the latter may be
produced at once with only four cuts, Fig. 63. To these we may add the
hemi-spherical or cup hollow, which is made with a gouge, and which,
in Scotland at least, seems to have been the earliest pre-historic
beginning of ornamentation of flat surfaces.
When these triangles and diamonds are tastefully arranged in lines, and
filled in with a composition, or paint, which contrasts in colour with
the wood, the effect is often excellent. Ordinary putty, into which a
little mastic has been well worked, or plaster of Paris with size and
a little flour paste, with one drop of oil to an ounce, makes a good
filler for such a purpose. This may be applied to any incised cutting.
An ivory-like filling, which may be stained of any colour, and which was
once extensively used in Florence, is made with rice, lime, and size.
[Illustration: Fig. 63.]
Any pattern which can be drawn in lines may be executed with good effect
in triangular spots, the base of every spot being on the line. They may
either join one another or be separated; both methods produce a good
effect. The spots may be of all sizes, and are generally not larger than
those at the top in the above illustration.
Large triangles may of course be used as well as small ones. Owing to
the ease with which these spots are made, and the good effect which they
produce when blackened, it is not remarkable that so simple a method of
decorating wood is extensively practised.
By placing a gouge vertically and turning it, as already mentioned, a
cup-like cavity is easily cut. A row of these is often very effective.
[Illustration]
APPENDIX.
OBJECTS FOR WOOD-CARVING.
"The most difficult part of making is to know what to make."
In no circumstances should the wood-carver be at a loss for a subject
to work on, yet this is the commonest source of complaint, especially
among young artists, that they "do not know what to take up." One result
of this is the wearisome production of panels or "fancy pieces" without
any definite aim, and a constant imitation of one another's work.
Unfortunately there are a great many who cannot understand or form any
idea how a pattern would look when executed. They will pass it over in
an engraving, but when they see it actually carved and made up they
appreciate it. Now the tutor should teach the pupils, and the students
teach themselves, to think of subjects, to invent them, to sketch
and execute them. I have found that all workers are invariably more
defective in this respect than in any other, and that it is one in which
the direction of almost every art school in the world is either utterly
wanting, or else leaves much to be desired.
[Illustration: Fig. 64.]
Pupils should be encouraged to look at every object with an eye to
ornamenting or decorating it, so far as that can be done without
detracting from its usefulness. In every school a list of objects for
carving should be hung up, and the workers be frequently requested to
think of subjects to add to the list; outline sketches of furniture
and other objects should be supplied. It is not at all understood
that even a very little frequent employment of the mind inventing and
planning, no matter at what, stimulates _all_ the mental faculties to an
extraordinary degree.
I therefore seriously urge that the wood-carver shall earnestly study
the following list of subjects, add to it, and at times take one or
the other of them and sketch it with variations. He may remember while
doing this, that any of the ornaments given may be varied and applied to
different things, as, for instance, the vine on a circular panel may be
easily adapted to a square. Full directions for doing this may be found
in "The Manual of Design,"[2] price one shilling, which also contains
many patterns perfectly adapted to carving.
[2] London: Whittaker and Co. Chicago: Rand, McNally and Co.
The first subject to be considered is: What to design or make; how its
surface can be appropriately ornamented; and, how to produce the best
effect with the least work. Mere elaboration is admired only by the
ignorant, and the less cultivated a pupil is, the more inclined he will
be to densely crowded petty patterns.
If the pupil wants a design for any of the objects described in this
chapter, and if he can draw at all, and has any skill in adapting or
changing a pattern, as, for instance, to make one which fills a triangle
or a square "set" into a circle, or extend to a long panel or a border,
he will find something for any of them, either in this book, or in the
"Manual of Design" already referred to. Let him also take pains to
collect as many patterns as he can of all kinds, and keep them in a
portfolio for reference.