PART I.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=.

Underlined text is denoted by +plus signs+.

Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.

THE

HARDWOOD FINISHER.

_WITH RULES AND DIRECTIONS_,

FOR FINISHING IN NATURAL COLORS AND IN ANTIQUE,

MAHOGANY, CHERRY, BIRCH, WALNUT, OAK, ASH, REDWOOD,

SYCAMORE, PINE, AND ALL OTHER DOMESTIC

WOODS.

_FINISHING, FILLING, STAINING, VARNISHING, AND POLISHING._

_ALSO_:

MISCELLANEOUS RULES FOR DYEING, GILDING, AND BRONZING

_COMPILED AND EDITED BY_

FRED T. HODGSON,

Editor of THE OPERATIVE BUILDER.

Late Editor of “BUILDER AND WOOD-WORKER,” and “CABINET-MAKER

AND UPHOLSTERER.”

NEW YORK:

THE INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION COMPANY,

1892.

Copyright secured 1892, by John H. Phin.

PREFACE.

The subject of wood-finishing is one that interests every person who

has anything to do with the construction or decoration of buildings, be

he architect, carpenter and joiner, painter, decorator or carver, and

it is to meet the requirements of these artists and artisans, in these

respects, that this work has been prepared.

In order to make the book as complete as possible it has been necessary

to consult a variety of authorities on the subject, and cull from them

whatever in my opinion—based on experience—I thought best, and here and

there add to, or eliminate, such matter as my experience proved to be

good on the one hand, and what I thought useless or absurd on the other.

I am of course aware that there are some methods of finishing that I

have not touched upon; such as the finishing of musical instruments,

toys, wooden bric-a-brac, lacquered Japanned ware, walking sticks,

etc., etc., but as this work is only intended for the finishing of

wood-work employed in the construction and completion of buildings,

it was thought better to confine it to that department alone; thereby

keeping its cost within reasonable limits.

Among the works drawn from I may mention, CABINET-MAKING AND

UPHOLSTERY, THE BUILDER AND WOOD-WORKERS, CARPENTRY AND BUILDING,

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, FURNITURE MEN’S MANUAL, SPON’S WORKSHOP

RECEIPTS, THE WORKSHOP COMPANION, ENGLISH MECHANIC, HOUSE PAINTING

AND DECORATING, THE PAINTERS MAGAZINE AND COACH PAINTER, ENCYCLOPEDIA

BRITANNICA, ninth edition, and many other works.

While believing the work, as now presented to be equal, if not superior

to any published on the subject; I feel that it is defective in some

minor points; as it would be impossible to convey to the mind of

the operator all the minutiæ of each and every process required in

wood-finishing; for the perfect wood-finisher can only be the outcome

of experience and observation added to the knowledge and instructions

derived from the teachings of others. The latter is offered in this

volume; the experience and observation must rest with the learner; and

if he takes advantage of his opportunities and masters all the details

offered herewith, there is no valid reason why he should not become an

expert WOOD-FINISHER.

FRED T. HODGSON.

NEW YORK,

_August, 1892_.

INTRODUCTION.

Doubtless, the arts of Carpentry and Joinery were among the oldest

in the world, and these arts must have flourished for many centuries

before anything like polish or fine finish on wood-work were even

thought of. The handles of stone weapons were probably the first

specimens of the wood-worker’s art, then clubs and other wooden weapons

subsequently the “dug-out” and the paddle or oar. Huts or wooden

dwellings with doors and shutters, roofs and floors did not appear

until much later.

Nature always makes her works fittest for the intended end, and

beautiful as well. So long as mankind were in constant contact with

Nature’s works they tried to imitate her methods, but at last this

involved two processes, so, that, when they ceased to care for beauty,

they grudged the necessary labor required to attain it. Therefore, in

anything made by the hands of man, with no other motive in view but

that of utility, the chances are a thousand to one that beauty will be

conspicuous only by its absence.

That wood plays a very important part in the affairs of mankind,

I scarcely need mention, and nature seems to have well understood

our wants for it is claimed by those who claim to know, that about

one-third of the earth’s surface is covered with trees, all of which

are capable of contributing in some form or another to the wants of man.

In this country, the art of using wood for almost every purpose, has

gone far beyond anything that has ever been attempted by any other

people. The introduction of wood-working machinery for the rapid

manipulation of intricate mouldings, spirals, flutings, beadings

and carvings, has in a great measure, had a tendency to elevate the

taste of the whole community, though I must confess that artistic

excellence of a high order, in the mechanical arts, is now scarcely

found among our younger workmen; machinery having almost done away

with the necessity for the fine kinds of hand and brain work. Fashion,

which rules despotically in the wardrobe, influences, to a greater or

lesser degree, the style and finish of wood-work, and to a certain

extent, the kind of wood that must be used for certain purposes. It

is but a few years since, when no other wood than clean white pine,

would be permitted to do service in a building. Every thing must be

pine, floors, doors, windows, and skirtings, even to the bath fittings.

Then Dame fashion sent forth her decree, and a mixture of white pine,

Norway and Southern pine, was used followed shortly afterward by the

abominable mixture of ash, walnut and chestnut. Some architect who

deserves well of his country, introduced all walnut and all mahogany

fitments; and at once, people of taste who saw this manner of finish

noticed its superiority over the “trash-like” mixture at once; and the

fashion then of finishing in one kind of wood became the rage. Walnut

was found too dark for general purposes and was soon abandoned for

the lighter woods; chestnut, sycamore, ash and oak were then tried,

but I believe I voice the opinion of a majority of architects when

I say that, with the exception of oak, the light colored woods were

not successful, from an æsthetic point of view, and it is on record,

that many buildings finished in these woods, have recently had their

wood-work cleaned and stained to imitate darker woods or have been

painted. One of the valuable qualities of white oak, is, that it grows

richer in color as it gets older, and no matter how it is finished, so

long as the grain is visible, it mellows and improves with age. This

is a quality that no other of our American woods possess in the same

degree. All the oaks have this quality to a certain extent, but the

white oak (Quercus alba), possesses it more than any other. Mahogany

too, has this quality largely, if true Spanish mahogany is used, but

little of this is in the market; though there are many woods which have

the appearance of mahogany, and are called mahogany, and both buyer and

user are oftentimes deceived, and pay for what they do not get.

We have often been reproached with willfully or ignorantly ignoring

or destroying our own handsome woods, while importing from abroad

at excessive cost, and the payment of heavy duties, foreign woods

which are much inferior to many of our native productions. This folly

prevailed at a time when it was fashionable and even popular to believe

there was no merit in domestic productions of any sort, this state

of things, however is now at an end; and in the neighborhood of all

large towns, and in country places as well, a finish in hard wood is

the rule, and a finish in pine the exception, if the building to be

finished, makes any pretension of being “up to the times.”

With regard to the difference in cost between a finish in the best

clear pine, and the best selected hard wood, there is really but

little, if any, if we take into consideration durability and good

taste. As between pine wood and good well finished hard wood, the

disparity in value and merit is so very little as to completely silence

any comparison. Between poor pine and poor hard wood the preference

should by all means be given to the former; because, poor pine as it

reveals its defects can be puttied and painted in a manner to disguise

them; whereas the defects of poor hard wood are almost incurable. The

rationale of the subject seems to resolve itself into the following

statement.

Modern taste in expensive dwellings calls for the free use of hard

woods. It is immaterial which are used, but highly essential that the

best seasoned woods should be selected; and, further, that they should

be skillfully treated and finished.

The principal recommendation of hard wood is that it admits of a

treatment which renders it impervious to the effects of atmospheric

changes, and, therefore can be made more durable and ultimately less

expensive than pine wood. A hard wood that is well seasoned before

use, that is treated with proper fillers to close up its pores, and

then finished with successive coats of copal varnish, well rubbed in

with pumice-stone, being finally brought to a higher flat finish,

presents the most attractive, serviceable and reliable style of

wood-work that can be introduced into a house. Well finished hard wood

obviates the expense and annoyance of constant renewals, which pine

work calls for in patching, puttying and painting. The most brilliant

gloss of finished hard wood can be restored by a skilled person without

disturbing the furniture or carpets of a house.

Pine work seems peculiarly and incomparably adapted for cheap work.

A good article of common pine, suitable for ordinary work can be

procured, and worked at considerably less expense than would be

involved in using good hard wood. The use of poor hard wood in any work

should not be tolerated or thought of under any circumstances, for

the simple reason that it is certain to create annoyance and expense,

which no house-owner, especially of moderate priced property, should be

subjected to.

I have deemed the foregoing introduction necessary as it will enable

the workman to have some idea of the development of the art of joinery,

and the transition from the use of pine and the softer woods, to that

of the hard woods.

In the following work it is my intention to take each of the woods most

in use; describe them, say what I think they are best adapted for,

and the best way to finish them, as far as my knowledge extends. By

this means the reader will have, under one head, all the book contains

concerning the particular wood he is about to finish.

PRELIMINARY.

If the workman who finally finishes wood-work, had the selection of

the materials out of which the work is formed; and wrought the work

himself; the following suggestions would scarcely be required, for he

would see to it that the material was free from shakes, cracks, worm

holes, doze, sap and fractures; and he would so choose his material,

that the full beauty of the grain would show, when the polish coat went

on. He would also see, that the work was _clean_. That is, that no

plane marks were visible, no rough spots, or cross-grains noticeable,

and that all angles were sharp and definite, all mouldings smooth and

not a nail head or screw top to be seen, nor any point that could

suggest a nail head. As a rule, however, the workman who puts on the

last finishing touches never makes the work, though he is _always_

expected to cover and hide all the faults of bad workmanship, bad

selection of timber, and a thousand other objectionable things in

connection with work, over which he has had no control. In order to aid

the finisher as much as possible, I give a few hints herewith, for the

use of the workman whose duty it may be to prepare and put up the work

to be finished. The suggestions given, are equally applicable for hard

and soft woods and I trust they will not be out of place.

First, then see that the material is dry, free from imperfections,

of the full sizes required, and of such variety of grain as may be

suitable for the purpose intended. Next, make all joints close and as

near perfect as possible as on this point rests, in a great measure,

the artistic appearance of the work. Make all angles sharp and clean,

and all mitered mouldings true and with perfect intersections. Never

use glass-paper where a scraper can be applied, and when a large

quantity of mouldings of similar contour and size are to be employed;

it is always better to make a scraper their reverse shape, and use it

in cleaning and preparing the mouldings for the varnisher, than to use

glass-paper for the purpose.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.]

Wherever possible and suitable I would advise the use of glue in

putting up finish, and I may here remark to the workman, that after

a little practice in the use of glue and a little knowledge of its

worth and capabilities, he will prefer it, to nails or screws where

he can apply it; further on I will give a few hints and suggestions

on the proper methods of using glue in house finishing. Of course,

I am well aware that the use of nails and screws is a necessity in

wood-finishing, but where the work is to be left natural color, or

stained and polished, there should not be the slightest suspicion

of a nail or screw head, and to meet this condition the skilled

workman resorts to several expedients to hide the fastenings among

which are the following. These methods, which are similar, are called

“sliver-nailing,” or sometimes, “chip blind-nailing.” In the first

method, shown at Fig. 1, the wood is raised with a firmer chisel and

the screw or nail is then put in place and driven home. At Fig. 2,

the “sliver” or chip, is raised with a gouge. In the first instance a

sharp knife should be employed to draw lengthwise with the grain two

deep cuts the width of the chisel, as this keeps the sides of the chip

from splitting. The chisel should be set at a steep angle at first

till the proper depth is reached, and then made to turn out a cut of

even thickness until there is room to drive in a screw or nail. If too

sharp a curve is given, the “sliver” is likely to break apart in being

straightened out again. In Fig. 2, I show how the “sliver” is raised

by using a gouge. To do this nicely a gouge about three-quarters of an

inch across the face should be used and the curve should be quick. In

this case no knife cut is needed, as the corners of the gouge will cut

as it progresses.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.]

The cut being made and the “sliver” slightly raised as shown in both

cuts, the screw or nail may be driven without disturbing either the

“sliver” or the cut underneath. See that the head of either screw or

nail be sunk beneath surface of recess, so that the “sliver” will fit

back in its place without obstruction. Now take properly prepared glue

and, after warming the “sliver” and recess with a warm cloth, cover the

underside of “sliver” and the wood underneath, seeing that the glue is

not too thick; press down the “sliver” in place, then rub with the face

of a hammer until the glue holds; then leave until dry, when the whole

may be dressed off and finished. Another way is to glue the “sliver”

down and then take a flat piece of pine about an inch thick, and glue

over the “sliver,” rubbing the pine block to and fro until the glue

takes. The block is left on until dry and solid. The pine block may

be split off, and the face of the wood dressed clean and finished. In

hardwood finish for interior housework this latter plan of fastening up

stuff is often resorted to.

When the work has been made secure by any or all the methods described,

the next thing to be considered is the smoothing and final finishing,

and these two processes as here defined, pertain to all sorts of wood,

hard or soft, that is intended to be finished in the natural colors or

stained. In order to obtain a fine and substantial finish the work must

either be smoothed fine with a plane, scraped with a steel scraper, or

rubbed down with the finest glass-paper. For very hard or irregular

grained wood, such as is made into veneers or employed for the finer

kinds of work, the cleaning-off process consists first in planing the

surfaces with a toothed plane, having a serrated edge like a comb, this

tool scratching away the high places and leveling the surface without

pulling or splintering the wood, as a common knife will do unless very

carefully adjusted and worked. After tooth-planing, the surfaces are

scraped with a steel hand scraper until the scratches made by a tooth

plane are removed, and the surface is then finished by rubbing with

glass-paper of different finenesses.

Straight-grained hard woods can be cleaned off by planing with a common

smoothing plane, and then scraping and rubbing them with glass-paper.

Soft wood requires only careful planing and glass-papering, but if

scraping is omitted great care must be taken in planing, or else the

plane marks will show by reflection when the surface is polished,

varnished or painted. I have known of cases where the finishers were

wrongly accused of improper execution of the work because the finish,

after being exposed to the changes of temperature occurring in a year,

became impaired on account of the appearance of fine cracks running

with the grain, differing from those caused by the improper application

of varnish, which always runs across the grain. Among other reasons for

this premature impairment, one is that the fine fibres become affected;

sandpapering the wood lengthwise or with the grain will loosen these,

but will not break them off. The application of the filler will force

them down into the pores, the filler making them adhere perfectly

tight for some time; but the changing of the temperature expands and

contracts the wood, thus causing the fibres to loosen and work out,

making their appearance in fine cracks and impairing the finish.

This fault most frequently occurs in open-grained wood especially when

employed in the common class of cabinet-work which is transferred to

the finishing-room directly upon leaving the machinery where it has

been sandpapered lengthwise by a set of cylinders under heavy pressure,

and should be guarded against with great care. “This sandpapering,”

finishers will generally say, “is a matter for the cabinet-maker or

the carpenter; daub it over and let it go.” It is immaterial to them

how the finish holds out after leaving their hands; but I find it is

well for a finisher to do his duty by at least insisting upon having

the work lightly cross-sandpapered with paper with No. 1. or No. 1½

paper. This process will loosen the fibres at both ends; consequently,

they will fall off, or, if they do not do so, they should be dusted off

previous to filling.

There is one more source of injury which should be guarded against with

great care, and that is finishing over wet timber; nor should steam,

water or dampness in any form be allowed to come in contact with the

smooth dry surface, as it will raise the grain, making redressing by

the joiner a necessity.

In their natural state all woods are more or less porous consisting

of bundles of hard fibres, with interstices filled with a softer

substance. These constitute the grain, and as the hard or soft parts

predominate, the wood is said to be hard, fine, or close-grained,

or soft and open-grained. To fill these softer parts, or pores, and

give to the whole an even, uniform surface, hard, and capable of a

brilliant polish, is the object of the finishers’ art. This hard, firm

surface was formerly gained by the successive application of several

coats of varnish, at least three preliminary coats being required to

fill the pores; the inequalities were then reduced by fine sand or

glass-paper, and several additional coats laid on, the last, after

becoming thoroughly hard being polished if desired. In this operation,

however, a great quantity of varnish is absorbed by the open pores of

the wood, and it is consequently so expensive that it is now seldom

used. Recourse is therefore had to various plans to render the wood

non-absorbent before applying varnishes, and certain compounds called

fillers are largely used for this purpose. These I will endeavor to

describe, and give the methods of application in the following section.

WOOD-FILLERS AND WOOD-FILLING.

In woods employed for house and cabinet work there are two distinct

natures, therefore different treatment is required in finishing. First,

there is the coarse or open-grained wood, having its surface perforated

with innumerable pores or cells. In order to obtain a smooth and even

finish, these pores should be filled up to a level with the hard grain,

or, as the grainer would term them, the “lights” of the wood. Next we

have the fine or close-grained wood, which, like the preceding, also

contains these pores, but they are of a very fine character, and simply

sealing them up with a liquid filler will enable one to produce a fine

smooth finish, which we shall consider farther on.

I will now return to the open or wide-grained wood which requires more

attention and care than the closer-grained wood, if same results are

expected. There are many things that will serve the purpose of fillers

and make pretty fair work; among these may be mentioned, china clay,

silver white and corn starch; the best of which is probably the last

named. This is well adapted to the work being equally useful with

light, or when colored with dark wood; one fault with it, is that it

never hardens. China clay—the English is the best—makes an exceedingly

good filler; it is light in color, very fine and dries as hard as

cement.

There are an hundred ways of preparing fillers for use, and nearly as

many different materials for making them; I would recommend however,

that wherever it is possible, that Wheeler’s patent quartz filler be

used; though I am aware, that in many cases, it may not be advisable to

use it, and to meet these rare conditions the following mixtures may be

substituted.

A filler should be so mixed that the greater portion of the vehicle

will penetrate into the wood, leaving the pigment on the surface to

be rubbed into the pores and still retain enough combining property

to form a hard and impenetrable surface. This depends entirely upon

the proportions of the vehicles employed, and, as different pigments

require different quantities of vehicle, I seldom mix filler by actual

measurement unless it be in large amounts. I proceed with the mixing

by filling my pot two-thirds full of the dry pigment, then add boiled

linseed oil, producing the consistency of putty, then dilute with

about one part japan and two parts turpentine. Should it be required

to keep the wood as light as possible, replace the boiled oil with

raw, using a smaller quantity, but a little more japan. For all light

wood the light japan should be preferred, although there are many

who never use anything but the common brown. Naphtha can also be

employed in place of the turpentine, somewhat reducing the expense;

but, as naphtha evaporates much faster, it prevents the operator from

covering an extended surface without running the risk of having it dry

hard. This causes difficulty at “rubbing it in” and wiping off the

surplus, although “wiping off” should not proceed until the filler has

flatted—or, at least, “set.” This to a certain extent the operator can

accelerate or retard by omitting or adding a small quantity of oil,

keeping in view the fact that the smaller the quantity of oil used, the

lighter colored, but the less durable, will be the finish.

Oil is sometimes used as a filler, but its use is not recommended;

applied directly to the wood, its effect is to swell the fibres, or

“raise the grain,” which remains in that condition until the oil

becomes entirely dry or disappears. During this time the fibres are

gradually shrinking, and consequently moving or checking the varnish.

The qualities essential to a good filler are that it shall readily

enter the porous portion of the wood, and shall very soon harden and

render the wood impervious to the varnish, which should lie smoothly

upon the surface, giving brilliancy and effect to the natural beauty

of the wood; and that it shall not raise the grain of the wood; and

that it shall not change the color of the wood. These conditions are

satisfactorily fulfilled by few of the home-made fillers ordinarily

used in shops, and while I give a number of receipts, my readers are

advised that they will obtain better satisfaction, at less cost by

purchasing some of the patent fillers now coming into general use. In

these fillers very little oil is used and a large amount of dryers, so

that the wood becomes perfectly dry and hard in a few hours preventing

any swelling or shrinking of the fibres of the wood after the varnish

is applied. The following fillers should be allowed to dry until quite

hard. A period of about eight hours is usually sufficient, but it is

better to let the work stand for twenty-four hours before touching it

with glass-paper. In applying a filler it should always be borne in

mind that the substance of wood consists of a multitude of small tubes

lying side by side. These tubes or cells are not continuous from top

to bottom of the tree, but are comparatively short and taper out to

points so that they are thickest in the middle. Most of the common

woods have the walls of these tubes so thin that liquid is readily

absorbed by them and carried into the substance for some distance.

Different kinds of wood differ much in the shape and arrangement of

these cells. In filling the pores the first step is taken in providing

an absolutely smooth surface. We trust mainly to mechanical force

in rubbing in, aided by the absorptive powers of the wood. Formerly

successive varnishings and rubbings and scrapings took much time and

when they were done, the final finish had still to be applied, but the

whole process has now been simplified, by using fillers.

The careful workman will not leave “great daubs” of superfluous filler

here and there on the work, but will see that all corners and heads and

quirks of mouldings are well cleaned off before it gets too hard to

remove easily, and should there be any nail holes—which there ought not

to be—he will have them filled with properly colored putty or cement

and nicely smoothed down before he makes any attempt to put on his

finishing coats.

Among the many home-made fillers I have endeavored to select the best.

=Walnut Filler.=—For Medium and Cheap Work.—10 lbs. bolted English

whiting, 3 lbs. dry burnt umber, 4 lbs. Vandyke brown, 3 lbs. calcined

plaster, ½ lb. Venetian red, 1 gal. boiled linseed oil, ½ gal. spirits

turpentine, 1 quart black japan. Mix well and apply with brush; rub

well with excelsior or tow, clean off with rags.

=Walnut Filler.=—For Imitation Wax Finish.—5 lbs. bolted whiting, 1 lb.

calcined plaster, 6 oz. calcined magnesia, 1 oz. dry burnt umber,

1 oz. French yellow, 1 quart raw linseed oil, 1 quart benzine spirits,

½ pint very thin white shellac. Mix well and apply with a brush. Rub

well in and clean off with rags. Before using the above filling give

the work one coat of white shellac. When dry, sandpaper down and

apply the filler.

=Walnut Filler.=—For First-Class Work.—3 lbs. burnt umber, ground in

oil, 1 lb. burnt sienna, ground in oil, 1 quart spirits of turpentine,

1 pint brown japan. Mix well and apply with a brush; sandpaper well;

clean off with tow and rags. This gives a beautiful chocolate color to

the wood.

=Filler for Light Woods.=—5 lbs. bolted English whiting, 3 lbs.

calcined plaster, 1 lb. corn starch, 3 oz. calcined magnesia, ½ gallon

raw linseed oil, 1 quart spirits of turpentine, 1 quart brown japan,

and sufficient French yellow to tinge the white. Mix well and apply

with a brush, rub in with excelsior or tow, and clean off with rags.

=Filler for Cherry.=—5 lbs. bolted English whiting, 2 lbs. calcined

plaster, 1½ oz. dry burnt sienna, 1 oz. Venetian red, 1 quart boiled

linseed oil, 1 pint spirits of turpentine, 1 pint brown japan. Mix

well, rub in with excelsior or tow and clean off with rags.

=Filler for Oak.=—5 lbs. bolted English whiting, 2 lbs. calcined

plaster, 1 oz. dry burnt sienna, ½ oz. dry French yellow, 1 quart raw

linseed oil, 1 pint benzine spirits, ½ pint white shellac. Mix well,

apply with brush, rub in with excelsior or tow, and clean off with rags.

=Filler for Rosewood.=—6 lbs. bolted English whiting, 2 lbs. calcined

plaster, 1 lb. rose pink, 2 oz. Venetian red, ½ lb. Vandyke brown,

½ lb. brandon red, 1 gallon boiled linseed oil, ½ gallon spirits of

turpentine, 1 quart black japan. Mix well, apply with brush, rub in

with excelsior or tow, and clean off with rags.

=Another.=—Stir boiled oil and corn starch into a very thick paste; add

a little japan, and reduce with turpentine, but add no color for light

ash. For dark ash and chestnut use a little raw sienna; for walnut,

burnt umber, add a small quantity of Venetian red; for bay wood, burnt

sienna. In no case use more color than is required to overcome the

white appearance of the starch, unless it is wished to stain the wood.

The filler is worked with brush and rags in the usual manner. Let it

dry forty-eight hours, or until it is in condition to rub down with

No. 0 sandpaper without much gumming up, and if an extra fine finish is

desired, fill again with the same materials, using less oil, but more

of japan and turpentine.

=Another.=—Take three papers corn starch, one quart boiled linseed

oil, two quarts turpentine, one-quarter pint japan; cut in half the

turpentine before mixing; it will not cut perfectly otherwise. For dark

woods add burnt umber to color. When nearly dry rub off with cloths.

The above mixture must be used fresh, as it is of no value after it is

four or five days old. The cloths used in rubbing as above mentioned

should be destroyed immediately after use, as spontaneous combustion is

likely to ensue from the ingredients employed.

=Preparation of Wood for Staining.=—As a filler of wood to be stained,

apply French plaster of Paris, mixed as a creamy paste with water,

and after rubbing in, clean any surplus off; or use whiting finely

powdered, or white lead slacked with painters’ drying oil, and used

as a filler. Another process is that of oiling then rubbing crosswise

to the grain with a sponge dipped in thin polish composed of melted

beeswax, resin, and shellac, and smoothing the surface, when dry, with

pumice-stone, or fine glass-paper. Embody the work a second time with

thicker polish, or a mixture of polish and varnish. The rubbers will

work easily with half the quantity of oil which is ordinarily used.

This second body should be rubbed very smooth with moist putty.

In the use of any filler, care must be taken in the selection of

color, for the employment of a light colored filler on dark wood or

_vice versa_ would result in gross defacement, as the lighter color

would show at the pores of the wood in the one case, and the darker in

the other. Therefore, to avoid this the filler should be as near as

possible the color of the wood to be filled.

As a general thing, paint manufacturers who do not make fillers a

specialty use opaque colors to stain their filler, as it requires a

less quantity. This will do sometimes, but not always. But those which

give to the wood a clear and bright appearance, and therefore produce

the best results, are stained with transparent colors; those chiefly

employed are burnt umber and sienna, Venetian red, Vandyke brown and

charcoal black, the charcoal being ground fine in oil, while the others

can be used dry and according to the following recipes with good

results:

In mixing any or all dark fillers the same pigments used for the light

(previously described) should be kept for a basis, with sufficient

coloring to stain it to the desired depth of shade.

Filler for Walnut is very often stained with burnt umber; this

is reddish in hue and gives to the wood a pleasing effect. Others

use Venetian red darkened somewhat with lamp black; this is rather

opaque, and tends to deaden the color of the wood. There is another

article—namely, Vandyke brown—which gives fair results. In order to

obtain a rich effect, the filler should be made considerably darker

than the wood when new.

Fillers for mahogany, cherry, California redwood, and other woods of

similar shade, should be stained with burnt sienna, as they should

be finished very clear. It is well to know that charcoal black, and

Venetian red will give the desired shade for any dark-colored wood in

common use or for all colors in antique, but it does not show up quite

as clear as some other combinations.

For rosewood, charcoal as a stain will suffice, and for vanilla or

Brazil-wood the use of rose-pink will give good results.

The methods of mixing these fillers are quite numerous. It is

impossible to give the proportions definitely, owing to the strength of

the colors or the transparency of the chief ingredient, but one cannot

go astray by following the preceding rules.

Mix the light pigment to a paste with boiled oil, which must be well

stirred up. Then in another pot mix a quantity of the colored pigment

with turpentine or naphtha; and when thoroughly “cut,” or dissolved,

add sufficient of it to the light to give the shade required. After

this is obtained, dilute with turpentine or naphtha and japan, as

directed in mixing light filler. This applies to all colors except

black, which is seldom obtained finely ground unless in oil, and

properly thinned down.

There are many finishers and firms who exclusively use manufactured

fillers, and in consequence meet with many difficulties as to the shade

they require, as different manufacturers use different colors to stain

their filler. But this difficulty can be overcome by a few experiments

with the above-named stains.

As the foregoing gives pretty nearly all the fillers in general use

with the exception of some of the manufactured mineral preparations

of which I will have more to say further on, I will now proceed to

describe the method of application, and for the greater portion of

this description, and other matters in this work, I am indebted to Mr.

R. A. A. Bahre’s papers on the subject contributed to _House-Painting

and Decorating_, a monthly magazine published in the city of New York.

The secret of this is to do the work well, quickly and economically.

These points are dealt with in the following:

Have your filler mixed to the consistency of ordinary lead paint;

then apply to the prepared surface of the wood with a pound brush,

or, what is still better, a 3-0 or 4-0 oval chisel varnish brush. In

applying the filler it is not necessary to cover all the small beads

and carvings; and if the filler be light better avoid coating them at

all, and if dark or antique stain them with a little of the filler,

much reduced with spirits of turpentine. For this purpose have at hand

a small pot with a small fitch or sash tool.

By not filling the beads and carvings, the varnish is not so liable to

run down in them, although sufficient remains to produce a finish equal

to the balance of the surface.

After enough surface has been covered with the filler, so that what

has been first applied begins to flatten, the process of wiping should

immediately begin, using for that purpose either a rag or a handful

of waste or Excelsior. If the wood is very open-grained, waste is

preferable. With a piece of this that has previously been used and is

pretty well supplied with filler, rub crosswise of the grain, rather

rubbing it into the grain than wiping it off. After the whole surface

has been gone over in this way, take a clean piece of waste or rag

(never use Excelsior for wiping clean) and wipe the surface perfectly

clean and free from filler, using a wooden pick the point of which

has been covered with a rag or waste to clean out the corners, beads,

etc. It is well to give these picks some attention, as a person once

accustomed to certain tools can accomplish more and better work than

with tools that feel strange in his hands; therefore, each finisher

should furnish his own pick. As to their construction, these are best

made from second-growth hickory, which can be procured at any carriage

repair shop, such as old spokes, broken felloes, etc. They are made

eight inches in length, half inch oval at one end and tapering down to

the point at the other. Sharpen the oval end like a cold chisel, then

smooth with sandpaper, which should also be used to sharpen the tool

when the same becomes worn dull.

This picking out of the filler from beads, etc., can be accelerated by

the use of a picking brush manufactured especially for that purpose,

but it is not advisable to use this on very coarsely grained wood, as

it scrubs the filler out of the pores.

There are several fillers used which do not require this picking and

scrubbing. One is a liquid filler used chiefly for carriage finishing;

but it can be used successfully on butternut, bird’s-eye maple, curly

maple, satinwood, hickory, etc. It is made from gum and oil. Another

is a filler made from finely-ground pumice stone, mixed as other

fillers. It is applied with a brush, and must be left to dry at least

twenty-four hours; it is then sandpapered smooth, when an oil varnish

is applied, rendering it completely transparent. This last can be used

only upon light wood.

The workman, as a matter of course, will understand that different

woods, require slightly different treatment, and the finer-grained

woods, among which are the pines, maples, cedars and poplars, of

different varieties, and birch, cherry, beech, sycamore, white box,

satinwood, etc., require no filling, not that a filling would prove

detrimental to the finish—except upon stained work or white holly,

which in order to maintain a clear color should never be filled—but,

from the condition of all fine wood, it is superfluous, and only causes

unnecessary labor and expense. At this point it will be convenient to

pause to consider the subject of mineral or prepared wood-fillers.

I think I have prepared the mind of the reader to receive the fact,

that of all the several manufactured preparations in the market I think

that Wheeler’s patent filler made by the Bridgeport Wood-Finishing

Company, is decidedly the best and the most economical to use, for

many reasons, the chief one being its certainty of action. A great deal

of time and money have been wasted in attempting to make good fillers,

to no purpose, and a great variety, as I have shown—of substances as

chalk, plaster of Paris, corn starch, etc., etc., have been mixed with

various vehicles and rubbed into the wood with but indifferent success.

Most of these compounds labor under the disadvantages of forming

chemical compounds with the oil and consequently they shrink very much

on drying, so that though the surface may appear smooth when they are

first put on, waves and hollows make their appearance as they dry.

These waves having round edges, are difficult to fill, the second coat

building up as much or more upon the level spaces as in the hollows.

It sometimes seems almost impossible with these fillers in the latter

coats to make the hollows hold any substance, the filler clinging

chiefly to the surfaces.

I have thought it necessary to show how the ordinary or home-made

fillers act, and fail in order to show by contrast how much easier it

is to work efficiently with the mineral fillers. The mineral quartz,

when mixed with oil, probably shrinks less in drying than any other

similar known mixture. If a surface of wood be covered with this and

then rubbed, the sharp and angular particles of the silica imbed

themselves in the pores of the wood, closing them up, while the oil

cements them fast. This is the foundation of Wheeler’s wood-filler,

and which we recommend for use by all wood finishers. When the pores

have been filled with the silica, and are cemented fast by the proper

mixture of gums and oils, the difficult part of the work is done.

After a good surface has been made upon the article it is ready for

the filler, which is to be selected according to the color desired.

In putting the filler on it is thinned with turpentine until about

like flowing varnish, and is applied with a brush. Only so much of the

surface is covered as can be cleaned off before it hardens. When it has

set so that the gloss has left the surface, it is at once rubbed off

with “excelsior” or shavings, going across the grain with the strokes.

If the filler dries too fast or too light a little raw linseed oil may

be used in it.

For a nicer job the filler is rubbed in with a rubber, made by gluing

a piece of sole or belt leather on the face of a block of wood and

trimming the edges flush with the block. The rubbing is done after the

filler has set and before it is cleaned off. If it dries off too light,

a little white japan may be added on nice work. The light colored

filler should be used on all work where light and dark woods are used

together. The filling, it must be understood, is done by the silica,

which will often be found in the shape of a sediment in the bottom of

the mixture. Eight hours is generally considered a sufficient time for

the filler to dry.

When the work with the filler is done the surface of the wood ought

to be like so much ground glass. Such portions of the wood as show a

solid grain need very little filler. On Georgia pine, after the filler

is dry, a little rubbing in the direction of the grain with very fine

sandpaper is an advantage. If the filler has been properly used the

desired results will be obtained with little labor.

The wood is now in a condition to receive the final coatings. Whether

the work is to be polished or “dead finished,” do not employ shellac

or “French polish.” If a “dead” surface is wanted, wax finish is

easily put on, and as easily rubbed to a good surface. F. W. Devoe &

Co. prepare a wax finish, which is a convenient preparation of wax

and gums, and can be applied with a brush and then rubbed down with a

woolen cloth, tied up to make a hard rubber, until a fine lusterless

surface is obtained. With mahogany and similar woods this greatly

improves the color of the wood. When this has dried, which will be in

the course of a few hours, the work is ready for use. The wax finish,

like many of the furniture creams, has the advantage that it can be put

on in a few minutes at any time to brighten up work when it has become

dull. A piece of work prepared in this way, after four operations,

will present as fine an appearance as the best cabinet work found in

the furniture stores.

The materials which have been described, it will be noticed, are both

manufactured articles. The prepared filler is indispensable; the

wax finish can be made by the mixing together, by the aid of heat,

white wax and spirits of turpentine until they are of the consistency

of thick paste. Another wax finish is made of beeswax, spirits of

turpentine and linseed oil in equal parts. The addition of two drams of

Alkanet root to every twenty ounces of turpentine darkens and enriches

the color. The root is to be put into a little bag and allowed to stand

in the turpentine until it is sufficiently colored.

An altogether more durable surface can be made by a little change in

the treatment. When the wood is filled instead of applying the wax,

take some hard oil finish, a preparation manufactured by Messrs. Berry

Bros., of Detroit, Mich., and put it on with a brush precisely like

varnish. The coat should not be too heavy, especially on vertical

surfaces, and the brush used ought to be a good one. This material

gives a most brilliant polish. By rubbing it down with a woolen cloth

and pumice-stone powder it can also be made dull. Hard oil finish does

not spot with hot or cold water, is slightly elastic and is not injured

by pretty severe soaking in water. It gets hard in twelve hours or less

in warm weather and over night in winter time. It is one of the best

surfaces which can be used, and has the advantage of working very well

in the hands of one who is not an expert in the art of finishing wood

or handling varnish. It will make a very fair surface applied direct to

the unfilled wood, in which case it is a good substitute for shellac.

Wax finish has the advantage that scratches can be easily repaired

without sending to the cabinet-maker or the painter. Here a word of

advice to the carpenter who does any work of this character may save

him some trouble and make way for the further use of the same kind of

finish. When the wood-work of a house is treated in this way, be sure

and leave a little bottle of the wax polish with the housekeeper, with

directions as to the method of using it. In sending out a “what-not,”

book-case, or any other article of similar kind, put up a little bottle

of the polish and show the owner, or, preferably the lady of the house,

how to repair any little scratch and make the work look “as good as

new.” The fresh appearance of the work will be a good advertisement,

while it will prevent complaints and dissatisfaction that often follow

the use of work which, when injured, cannot be restored.

It may be said that either of the methods of finishing involves a great

deal of labor. This is true; but the amount is not much greater than

is needed for three coats of paint, and the cost of the paint would

probably be more than the cost of the finish. The labor in one case

can be of a cheap character, and in the other an experienced painter

must be employed. The profit upon the “dead finish” can go into the

pocket of the carpenter, while that of the painting must in any event

be divided between the carpenter and painter, or belong to the latter

altogether who is, after all the proper person to do the work.

I have now said about all that is necessary in the matter of “fillers”

and “filling,” but, as sometimes happens, the old system of “sizing,”

has to be resorted to for certain kinds of work, I give herewith a

formula for its construction and use:

Size of different kinds is sometimes applied to the surface of wood

to prevent absorption of the varnish. The kind of material used for

the size is not important, the object being only to prevent absorption

by a very thin coat of some substance not soluble in the varnish.

For dark-colored wood, thin size, made by reducing ordinary glue

with water, is generally used; but for lighter-colored surfaces a

white size is used, which is prepared by boiling white kid or other

leather or parchment-cuttings, in water for a few hours, or until it

forms a thin jelly like substance, which is reduced with water to a

thin consistency, and used in a tepid state. Sometimes solutions of

isinglass or tragacanth are employed in like manner. Unlike the best

fillers, sizes of any kind do not improve the finish, and are sometimes

a positive detriment to it. They are used solely as an economy to

reduce the quantity of the varnish needed; and their use is not

recommended for the best work.

STAINING, FINISHING, VARNISHING AND POLISHING.

The following will apply to nearly all stained work with the exception

that the coloring materials must be chosen to suit the results desired;

directions for mixing and preparing will be found under the head of

woods.

Staining, or dyeing, though not very modern, has grown in popularity of

late. This is due not so much to the natural imitation of valuable wood

as to the beautiful colors in which it may be produced—for example, the

deep red, generally represented as mahogany, which forms a handsome

and lively contrast with nearly any color or style of finishing. In

house interiors, however, it has not been so extensively used as it

has on furniture, owing to the preference for the light wood for house

finishing. But, despite its handsome color, at the present time it is

obliged to yield to the more artistic and substantial old oak, which,

it is generally anticipated, will continue in vogue a greater length of

time than did the stained work. An objection to stained work is that

after it has been in service a comparatively short time the finish

and stain wear off from those portions most exposed to severe usage.

The appearance is thereby destroyed, and it cannot be restored by

refinishing. Another objection to stains is that they fade, a fault to

which all these bright colors are subject.

Whether this style of work is _la mode_ or not, it will always remain

in greater or less demand. A few details of staining will, therefore,

be due. Now, if the object of staining is to imitate natural wood,

it would be found desirable to procure specimens of the woods to be

imitated. Excellent and most convenient specimens can be obtained at

any scroll-saw supply house at a trifling expense. Commence by oiling

and varnishing the specimen to bring out the color, or apply a darkener

if an antique color is required. As a darkener for cherry, apply with

a brush aqua-ammonia diluted with water according to the depth of color

required. This is probably the best mixture for all red woods, as it

develops the colors to their utmost intensity. Lime-water and lye

(potash solution) are also frequently used, although lye should be used

cautiously; for if applied too strong, it destroys the red color after

developing it. Iron fillings or shavings boiled in vinegar produce a

darkener for oak, and are frequently employed in producing the “darks”

or shades in sixteenth century finish.

After darkening with a water solution the specimens should not be

oiled, but after having thoroughly dried should receive a coat of

shellac, and, when dry, a coat of varnish. Having the colors well

brought out, they will be found of great utility in preparing a stain

of accurate shade. Now, the secret in preparing a good stain is that it

should be perfectly transparent, which may be produced in either oil or

water colors. The latter, however, with a few exceptions, will be found

to give the best results, for several reasons. In the first place, it

penetrates deeper into the wood, thus producing a more substantial

finish. Next, the wood employed is generally hard and fine, and by an

application of water stain the grain is raised, whereby the “lights”

or veins are more prominently brought out, imparting to the finish

a more vivid appearance, which cannot be so effectually produced in

oil colors. Still another advantage in water stain is the saving of

time in its application; for when properly prepared, it can be used

for dipping, which is the method practised in our cabinet shops for

staining much furniture. It can also be applied with a brush, although

good results by this method are accomplished only when skill and

practice are exercised. In applying it a four or-five-inch flat bristle

brush would be found the right size, enabling the operator to cover

over any one part or section before the stain penetrates the wood. It

will be found less difficult to apply oil stain uniformly with a brush,

and it is, therefore, generally employed in staining softwood and

especially the different species of pine, all of which absorb water

stain in spots, giving it a daubed appearance.

The first thing to be considered is the receptacle or vessel in which

the water or acid stains are to be prepared. This should be formed

of a material which is unaffected by the corrosive action of acid.

Porcelain-lined iron or glazed earthenware in the way of kettles or

common stew crockery are commonly used. As the latter are often cracked

by the heat required in boiling, it is safer and cheaper in the end to

use porcelain-lined kettles.

I need not say that care and cleanliness are two very necessary

qualities in the preparation and application of stains, for a good

workman is always a careful and a clean workman.

In finishing “rubbing” may be considered one of the most essential

qualities, since it gives to the varnish when laid upon the wood a

degree of smoothness not otherwise attainable; for by the use of

the brush alone minute furrows and ridges are left upon the plastic

surface of the varnish, and although good varnish possesses in itself

a high gloss, the gloss is not nearly so agreeable to the eye as the

brilliant polish of which rubbing is the preliminary. The reduction of

these ridges and furrows is accomplished by means of finely-powdered

pumice-stone moistened with raw linseed oil, applied with a piece of

haircloth or other coarse and fibrous material. For rubbing large flat

surfaces the haircloth is sometimes folded over a block of convenient

size, but this is not practicable for articles of small size or

irregular shape. In rubbing, considerable force must be used, but

the stroke must be steady, and as long as possible, and great care

should be taken to rub the surface uniformly, as in case it is rubbed

unevenly the varnish is liable to be worn away quite to the wood in

some places, and the perfect smoothness that is the beauty of a good

finish will thus be impossible. The edges especially are liable to be

rubbed bare, and should be carefully treated. The crevices and hollows

of carvings are rubbed by means of hard-pointed sticks of various

convenient sizes. The rubbing should be continued until the entire

surface appears perfectly smooth and free from marks of any kind. The

surplus pumice-stone and oil should all be carefully removed from the

surface by means of rags, and the work may then be cleaned up with a

little sweet oil well rubbed in, and retouched with a cloth slightly

dampened in alcohol, which serves to remove any remaining oil from the

surface. If the article has veneered panels they are now ready for the

final processes of “polishing,” or “flowing,” processes, whatever the

kind of “finishing,” the workman should make it a point where possible,

to have a suitable temperature. No good finishing can be done under

60°, and it is hard to get the temperature too high for this work. The

wood should be warm and perfectly dry, and visitors, flies, dirt, dust

and dampness should rigorously be excluded from the room while the work

is in progress.

The word “shellacking” has become of late very common with finishers

and is often applied to first coating or “sizing,” whether shellac

be used or not. This, doubtless, arises from the fact of the general

employment of shellac for first coating and up to the present time has

proved the most suitable medium discovered for the purpose. 1 again

quote from R. A. Bahre’s papers on this subject.

Before proceeding with the application of shellac, it will be necessary

to investigate the condition of the surface of the wood, taking care

that no successive application is made before the preceding one is

perfectly dry.

The dry condition of water-stained work may easily be determined by

the uniformly dead appearance it presents, especially in the corners

and angles. A surface treated with oil stain, when dry, will impart no

color to the finger if brought in contact, and is effected in twelve or

fifteen hours according to the amount of japan used.

The condition of a filled surface cannot be so readily observed, for in

wiping off the filler from the surface, the moisture is likewise wiped

off, and the surface is dry to the touch. But let us examine the pores,

which have become small receptacles filled to the brim with a fatty

substance. We find that the bulk of the substance in these pores does

not dry so fast as were it spread out in a thin layer upon an extended

surface. When regard is not paid to this condition and the surface is

prematurely coated, it will be but a matter of a short time before the

effects will become manifest by the cracking of the varnish, caused by

the varnish becoming dry before the filler. We shall have something

more to say on this subject later.

The safest way to ascertain whether a filler has become perfectly dry

is to drop, while filling, a few drops upon a board and let them remain

until they become hard enough to resist the pressure of the finger

nail. The length of time required will depend upon the amount of oil

contained in the filler.

Upon acquiring this degree of hardness the filler in the work may be

considered dry, and ready to receive the first coating. This coating,

which should be employed on all first-class work, is an alcoholic

solution of gum shellac.

Among the advantages of this solution are, first, that it dries very

rapidly, thus preventing it penetrating and sinking into the pores.

Besides levelling the surface, it forms a close impenetrable body for

receiving the varnish. By reason of this property it is also used

for sealing up the pores of fine grained wood by applying two coats.

On account of its best solvent (alcohol), it is indispensable for

developing, certain stains, especially the aniline and other water

stains which do not contain lye or glue. Alcohol does not affect the

stains nor the glue; for this reason an alkali stain should first

receive a light coat of oil, while the glue stains require a strong

glue size for their development.

The second advantage of shellac solution is its exceedingly hard drying

qualities; as it dries in five or six hours sufficiently hard to

sandpaper, and in eight or ten hours becomes so hard that the finger

nail can make no impression upon it, the surface is then ready for the

second coat. In addition to this, its quality of hardness makes it

indispensable for the first coating of all resinous woods, especially

the pines, of which it not only seals up the pores but prevents the

exudation of the resin while it sandpapers as fine as satin.

In preparing shellac for general use, dissolve in a gallon of alcohol

(ethylic alcohol, spirits of wine) four pounds of the orange or five

pounds of the white shellac, using the white upon light wood if a clean

or clear job is required, and the orange if the color is immaterial

or is required to be darkened, as the cost of the orange gum is about

forty per. cent. less. The clearness of the orange gum depends much

upon its freshness, and it is therefore undesirable to prepare it until

it is wanted for use, when the dissolving of the gum can be accelerated

by warming and continually agitating the mixture. Wood spirit (methylic

alcohol) also dissolves this gum and is frequently substituted for pure

alcohol, its cost being about one-third; but on account of disagreeable

odor and deleterious effect it is rejected for first-class work.

The application of shellac is to an experienced finisher the most

agreeable and least difficult part of finishing; but to a beginner it

is often most aggravating and discouraging, it being very difficult

to prevent lapping or doubling up. Especially is this the case when

the lac is darker than the wood, as, for instance, in shellacking pine

shutters with orange shellac, when the attempt of the beginner usually

results in a total botch. An experienced hand will produce a clear

and even effect by proceeding in the following manner: Having in view

the fact that the wood is very soft, he will dilute his lac somewhat

with the spirits, to make it work free. Then, with a double-thick

flat-chiselled bristle brush about two inches wide he will apply a very

free coat to the closed slats, on the bar side, including the small

ogee edge of the frame, taking care to daub none on the flat surface.

Then, quickly turning to the other side and opening the slats, he will

finish and lay off the sides, and, again closing the slats, proceed by

coating them upon the plain (non-bar) sides, including the other edge

of the frame. He will then return to the bar side, open, lay off and

finish; then, running the brush up and down the bar, complete that

portion of the work. It may be laid down as a rule that one section

should be completed before another is started. When one portion is

coated, proceed with the frame by coating the outside edges and then

the centre rail, cutting the joints clean. Then begin at one end of

the style and follow around until the starting-point is reached, being

always careful to complete as you go on.

It is sometimes required to finish shutters in a hanging condition,

but, on account of the speed required in applying the shellac, there is

much danger of spattering the walls or windows. If, therefore, they are

hung with loose joint butts, it will be found economical to remove them

and finish them in a separate room.

We have thus far referred to the shellacking of pine shutters with

orange shellac. If one has acquired proficiency in this point, all

the remainder will come very easy to him, especially when using white

shellac (transparent), which does not show the laps after varnishing.

The whole secret of shellacking may be condensed in adherence to the

following simple rules: First, to keep a wet edge to work to; second,

always to work to a joint before stopping; and third, never to repeat

with the brush after becoming partly set, thereby causing it to “double

up.”

There are several substitutes for shellac, but the operator should

remember they are only “substitutes,” and cannot compare with the “real

thing” and only the man who takes his work at starvation prices, will

use the “subs,” unless such be specified.

Oil shellac, which is used to a great extent, is generally supposed to

be gum shellac dissolved in a volatile oil, and in quality virtually

equal to alcohol shellac. This supposition is wrong however, for the

gums employed are of an inferior sort, being chiefly taken from our

pines and dissolved in turpentine or naphtha, and having a little

linseed oil and chemical dryer thrown in. When dry it is very brittle,

easily spoils and will not resist the action of water on the grain, and

is utterly useless as a substantial finish. This so-called shellac, is

applied in the same manner as varnish.

Glue size proves most effectual in holding out varnish, and while the

work is new, it is not easily marred. In the course of two or three

years, however, the glue decays, when the slightest bruise causes the

varnish, size and all to give. For developing water-stains containing

alkali it is quite effective.

“Hard oil finish” so-called, is simply an application of a quick-drying

brittle varnish, that will polish with rubbing; for inside work it

contains very little “oil” while that prepared for outside purposes,

contains more “oil,” is more expensive, dries slower and is more

durable.

It matters but little whether we employ shellac or a substitute, or

even varnish for first coating. It should be allowed to dry and then

receive a rubbing to take off all the grit or roughness which may

have been caused by a little filler remaining on the surface or dust

settled upon it before dry. Whatever it may be, it should be smoothed

before applying a coat of varnish. For this purpose No. 0 sandpaper

will be found the best adapted, but, as the ordinary sandpaper is very

heavy, and therefore stiff, we are liable to cut through the edge in

using it. Neither does it conform easily to mouldings and corners. It

is therefore advisable to employ the thin paper especially prepared

for the purpose; but if it cannot be obtained, the heavy should be

split—that is, by detaching one or two layers of the back paper. This

can be accomplished in the following manner: Hold one corner of the

sheet between the thumb and forefinger; rub that corner briskly with

a moistened finger of the other hand, and the layers will then become

detached and can easily be separated by running the finger down the

edge between the two layers. Then, holding the paper down upon a flat

surface, the layers can be drawn asunder across the whole width of

the sheet. By tearing the sheet once lengthwise and twice crosswise,

we have pieces of a convenient size for use. As new paper scratches

more or less, it will be advisable to rub the grit off upon another

piece; then by moistening the back we are able conveniently to get into

the corners without scouring the edges through. Should the sandpaper

still scratch (which it frequently does when inferior stock is used

for coating), haircloth will do instead, using the hair side on the

surface. This can be obtained at any furniture repair shop.

A very important part of hardwood finishing is the varnishing. Simple

as it looks, it is extremely difficult to properly lay on a coat of

varnish, and experienced varnishers will tell us that this is so.

Scarcely two varnishers work alike, and it takes time and patient

experience with any particular varnish to learn its peculiarities. We

cannot teach how the varnishing should be done, but we can give a few

general directions that may prove helpful. In the first place, do not

be afraid of your varnish; do not get excited if it threatens to give

trouble. I have seen a carriage-painter tremble so when applying a

strange varnish that he appeared as though in an ague-fit, and it is

needless to say that it was a bad job. Apply the varnish quickly and

freely, and do not work it much; the less varnish is worked after being

applied, the higher will be the lustre. Remember this, for it is true

and very important to know. Flow it on freely with a flat brush of

suitable width, and use a badger or fitch hair brush; a fine elastic or

half-elastic chiselled bristle brush is very good. I mention the badger

and the fitch more because they will outwear any bristle varnish brush

and of course are cheaper.

A pound or any other bristle brush will answer for varnishing grained

or painted work, on which the varnish is generally scrubbed, but

in varnishing natural wood it should be laid on so as to level the

surface, for which purpose fine-haired brushes are necessary.

Having the surface of the wood filled and shellacked, we have a

ground-work suitable for any class of work from piano polish to

cheap one-coat work. In selecting the varnish for the latter—which

is generally left in the gloss—use a “finishing” varnish; that is,

a varnish retaining a bright gloss when dry. However, the varnishes

with the brightest gloss are generally not very durable. When

successive coats are to be applied either in oil—finishing—_i. e._,

oil rubbing—or polishing, a varnish is required that dries hard, but

not brittle, the latter especially being characteristic of cheap gum

varnish, such as colophony—common pitch or rosin—poor copal, etc. If

the varnish contains much oil, it will render it elastic, making it

difficult to rub; and therefore a good rubbing varnish should be made

either of amber or of copal, the former being especially adapted to

the manufacture of polishing varnish, as the gum is susceptible of a

very fine polish. Varnishes to suit almost any purpose are generally

obtainable at the dealers. We never can expect good results if we put

a hard varnish over an elastic one or apply a coat before the previous

one is dry. These are the main causes for varnishing cracking. The same

trouble also arises when varnish is applied too heavily, so that the

coat forms an enamel on the surface, remaining soft underneath, and

then drying very slowly. While drying, the surface enamel contracts,

consequently drawing the cracks open quite wide.

It is impossible to lay down rules which by simply being read would

make a practical varnisher of a person, as varnishing requires much

judgment and practice, but a few “tips” may not go amiss; at any rate,

they assist in completing the subject.

We will now enter a room that has been sandpapered as described

previously, having a temperature of about seventy degrees. We sprinkle

with water, not flooding the floor, as a very damp atmosphere would

prove injurious to the gloss of the varnish, then with a painter’s

duster carefully dust off all the work. This generally ends the

preparation, but in order to remove all the dust it requires wiping

off with a damp chamois skin; and when all is clean and dry, we are

ready for the varnish. For a bucket or pot use one of the clean tin

pails known as “two-quart-lunch pails.” Then, to prevent the varnish

from running down the outside by scraping the brush over the edge,

a bar should be soldered across the pail about ½ inch from the top

and a little on one side from the centre. Manufacturers claim that

varnish should be used just as it is sold, and we find that nearly all

good quality of varnishes work freely without diluting, but how to

obtain good results with some of their cheap stuff without diluting

remains a mystery to finishers. If, therefore, the varnish is of a

poor, thick quality, add turpentine until it spreads freely with your

“fitch brush,” which, if the work is very complicated, should be two

inches in width; and if the work be plain, a three-inch could be used

to advantage. Varnish should be applied freely—or, rather, flowed

on, and not rubbed out, or “skinned” on, as finishers term it. In

applying the varnish, first run freely over a panel, then run over

it crosswise. If there are projections rising with an angle, or any

grooves or depressions, as in mouldings, they will retain more varnish

than the flat surface, and to prevent running down in them it requires

drawing out. This is done by stabbing the brush into the angles and

at the same time drawing it out toward the flat surface; and when

this is done, the whole length of the angle, we finish by laying off

up and down. This should complete this portion of the work without

being obliged to touch it again, and thus proceeding until a section

of panels have been finished, when the frame should be gone over. In

coating the panels the surface of the frame is very often daubed—in

fact this is nearly inevitable—and to coat over this would form fat

edges; so we shall again make it fluid by mixing it with the fresh

varnish, and this is done by “pounding” it up well—or, as a painter

would call it, “stabbing” it—when it can be evenly laid off. The

amount a surface will hold without running can be ascertained only by

experience and judgment; although much depends upon the way it is laid

off, as a greater quantity can be applied if laid off up and down than

horizontally, as the brushmarks give occasion for the varnish to “sag.”

But if such should take place after the varnish is partly set, it could

be stopped by stabbing with the brush rubbed out dry, although this

will leave the surface pitted, but, at any rate, much easier to rub out

than a run. The brushes, when not in use, should be kept in varnish

or washed out clean, which can be done by rubbing them out well with

kerosene and then washing them with soap and water until perfectly

clean.

Should it be desired after applying one coat of varnish, to proceed

with the oil finish, that is “oil rubbing or polishing,” we should

first take into consideration the condition of our surface. Providing

that one coat has filled the little depressions of the grain to a

perfect level, we are prepared to proceed with the rubbing; but

this levelling is seldom effected with one coat, requiring, as a

rule, at least two coats for fine wood and three or four coats for

coarse-grained woods. The main object, however, is to form a coating

sufficiently heavy to prevent rubbing it entirely off from the

elevations in getting it down to that in the depressions.

As to the best method of rubbing and polishing as much or more

diversity of opinion exists than in any other branch of the trade. This

is probably due to the scheming and experimenting of the so-called

“rushers,” who get nervous at seeing a man take sufficient time

to rub down a surface, and thus devise some new plan for hustling

out the work, and generally, when the gloss is removed, the job is

completed regardless of appearance. But nevertheless in all of these

snide finishes there is generally a point or two of importance for

us. We have for instance, a dead finish produced by adding wax to

varnish. This is made by scraping the wax fine, putting it into a

dish and covering it with a good turpentine japan placed over a fire

to dissolve, but with a moderate heat. When dissolved, add twice its

amount of varnish and apply with a fitch flowing brush. Although

this does not produce a rubbed finish, it produces quite a clever

imitation, and we can use it to advantage on the slats of shutters and

on elaborately carved capitals, etc. It is not infrequently employed in

floor finishing.

There is a method practised which removes the gloss from the varnish

by rubbing with a mixture of oil and pumice-stone applied with a

furniture scrub brush, or, for a large flat surface, a commercial

stencil brush—No. 12 or 14 is frequently used—dipping the brush into

the mixture and scrubbing it on to the surface; three or four scrubs

are generally sufficient, depending particularly upon the cleaning off

with wadding completely to remove the gloss. Unless the varnish has

been very cleanly applied and is perfectly level, it does not amount to

much, for it does not smooth the surface.

Others, again, first sandpaper the surface with fine sandpaper, then

rub it a trifle with oil and pumice, using a piece of burlap or old

felt boot for a rubber. The only way yet discovered by which to level

the surface is to rub it down with felt. For this operation we provide

ourselves with a set of rubbers which may be made as follows: First

take a piece of white Spanish felt one inch thick and about 3x5 in

size; split it in two, and keep one half for the large plain surfaces.

Then again split the other half, obtaining two thin pieces, reserving

one for mouldings, etc., to which it will easily conform. We now want

some tools to get into small corners so we whittle sticks about six or

eight inches long and in shape of a triangle, half round and oblong;

then, cutting the ends square, glue a piece of thin felt upon it,

allowing the glue to dry thoroughly before putting in oil. For getting

around in the bottom of carvings, we whittle a stick of basswood bark,

and, moistening it, stub the end to a pulp. A scrub brush will also

be necessary to remove the gloss from the beads and around the edges

of the panels, etc. The oil generally used for rubbing is golden oil,

known as machine oil, although crude petroleum, raw linseed and cotton

seed oils are often used, but none of the latter cut so rapidly or

clean off so well as the golden.

Pumice-stone No. 0 is generally used, although some prefer No. 00 or

000, but these are quite fine, and therefore do not cut very fast. In

applying the oil and pumice, some prefer dipping the rubber first into

the oil, then into the powder, and thus convey it to the surface, while

others apply the oil with a piece of wadding, then sprinkle on the

powder.

To excel in rubbing, like all other branches of the trade, requires

practice, always remembering that if the rubber is allowed to lag

over the edge while drawing back and forward it will rub the edge

through. And, furthermore, the work should always be rubbed lengthwise

the grain, so if it be necessary at the ends of panels next to the

rails, where it is generally inclined to be rough, to rub crosswise,

it should be rubbed down crosswise, but finished lengthwise, to take

away the scratchy appearance. Before attempting to rub, the varnish

should resist the impression of the finger nail, or when rubbed before

dry it will again flow, causing bright spots to reappear, generally

known as “sweating,” and would require re-rubbing after becoming

dry. An experienced hand could easily tell when his surface was

sufficiently rubbed by raising the felt or edge and drawing a clean

streak the length of the work, and if the surface has lost its pitted

appearance the rubbing is complete and ready to be cleaned off. This

is accomplished easier if done directly, not allowing the oil to soak

and soften the varnish, which causes the surface to appear mottled and

smeary.

In cleaning use fine softwood sawdust, moistened a trifle to prevent

scratching; and when the bulk of the oil is removed, the corners picked

out and the work dusted it is again wiped off with wadding or waste,

splitting the sheets of wadding to get the soft inside, then with the

point of a pick and the wadding the beads and corners are carefully

freed from all particles of oil and pumice. Should there be sags and

runs or wrinkles which the ordinary rubbing did not remove, they should

be rubbed out with pumice and strong soapsuds, then rubbed over a

little with the oil again.

It is often required, in finishing a job, to form a contrast by

polishing the raise of the panels, thus producing a rich and elegant

finish.

In polishing as well as rubbing the hustlers have their schemes. One

scheme commonly practised is, after the ordinary oil rubbing, to rub

the surface to be polished with a bunch of raw cotton moistened with

about equal parts of sweet oil and alcohol, the oil and spirits

being put into a bottle and well shaken before moistening the cotton.

Although this may be a hustler’s scheme, an experienced hand with

it can produce elegant results. In hand polishing proceed somewhat

differently. First complete the oil rubbing, omitting the parts to be

polished, then proceed by rubbing those parts with pumice and water,

using pumice for that purpose, levelling the surface as much as the

coating will permit, then cleaning off with damp chamois frequently

rinsed in clean water. We then apply a coat of polishing varnish,

which, when dry, is again rubbed down with pumice flour and water,

using a fine but soft piece of felt; and when perfectly smooth, it is

carefully cleaned off, so that none of the pumice remains upon the

surface, as this will scratch and destroy the polish. It is then rubbed

again with rotten-stone and a piece of chamois leather, using the lump

of rotten-stone and changing the rubber by rubbing it over the lump

three or four times, then rubbing the surface quite briskly, for in

this rubbing is where the polishing really is done. This powder then is

allowed to dry upon the surface, and then with a short circular motion

with the ball of the hand we proceed to rub off the powder, frequently

wiping the hand upon a rag free from all other dust or pumice-stone.

Then, if the varnish was of a superior quality, the polish is complete;

but should the varnish contain cheap gum or a too great amount of oil,

it is nearly impossible to produce a bright polish, although in this

case the method first mentioned would prove quite effective—viz., that

of using an old silk handkerchief to rub with in place of the cotton.

In the finest sort of general work, get a good quality of carriage

varnish, and be sure and, do not _mix_ either _oil or turpentine_

with it, as it is prepared and put up for immediate use and specially

prepared to meet special needs. Two coats of varnish are usually

sufficient when the filling has been complete. When the first coat

is dry, rub it down with pulverized pumice-stone and water—in some

cases simply with curled hair, which removes the gloss and makes a

good finishing-coat possible. The rubbing accomplished, wash and dust

off well; then apply the finishing-coat of varnish. If a “polished”

surface be required, the last coat must be rubbed down as before with

pumice-stone and brought to a mirror-like surface with rotten-stone and

water. Clear up with a little sweet oil, and afterward with a cloth

dampened with alcohol. A “dead finish” is produced by rubbing the

varnished surface with powdered pumice-stone and raw linseed oil, which

gives a semi-lustrous finish of great beauty and durability. Another

method of polishing hardwood is described as follows: Take a long piece

of list or coarse flannel and roll it up in a wad like a roll of rope,

and over this wrap a soft piece of linen several times doubled up; sew

it on tightly and form a sort of handle by tying up a round wad. Then

put into a saucer some shellac varnish, into which dip the flat side

of the wad until it becomes saturated. Pouring a few drops of boiled

linseed oil on the face of the wad, rub the work briskly and lightly

in a circular direction, doing a small space at a time until the whole

surface is gone over. Repeat the operation, allowing each successive

application to dry well, or rubbing dry and not putting on too much

polishing-liquid at a time.

Observe cleanliness and care during these operations. Such parts as

cannot well be reached with the wad polish with a bit of flannel. This

will give a very durable polish, and the parts are readily brightened

up at any time by means of flannel moistened with oil. Remember that in

all these operations the utmost care and patience must be exercised if

one would have a perfect job. Do not slight the work in the minutest

particular. Take your time and do everything as it should be done,

filling in well, rubbing down smoothly and dusting off carefully.

A term sometimes used by American workmen is somewhat misleading; I

refer to the word “flowing,” as applied to varnishing. The term is

given to the process of giving the work, after it has been properly

prepared, a coat of varnish made expressly for that purpose, called

“flowing varnish.” The process as so named, as given herewith is quoted

from an English authority:

Veneered panels are usually finished that way. Some finishers, when

the body-work is to be dead finish with flowed panels, coat the panels

with the same varnish—shellac or other—used for the body, and rub them

with pumice-stone and oil; in fact, up to the point of flowing make no

difference whatever in the treatment of the body-work and the panels.

Such treatment is not recommended; whatever varnish is used for the

body-work, the panels should be coated with two or three coats of the

best rubbing varnish; oil should not be used for rubbing, as, if the

surface is at all greasy, the subsequent coat of flowing varnish cannot

be evenly laid, therefore water should be used with the pumice-stone

for rubbing, in place of oil. After the rubbing is completed, wash off

with a sponge, and dry with a chamois skin. Let it stand for a day, and

after freeing the work from all pumice-stone and dust, taking it to the

flowing-room, which should be clean, dry, and free from all draughts

of air, apply the varnish with a flat brush of suitable width, made of

badger or fitch hair; lay the varnish on smoothly and evenly, leaving

no marks of the brush. The quicker the varnish is put on, and the less

it is worked, the better it will look. Let it stand in the room until

it is hard enough to handle. Upholstered work should not be flowed

until it comes from the hands of the upholsterer and is ready for the

ware-rooms.

Varnish polishing is used when it is desired to give to the work a

bright lustre, differing from the natural gloss, and resulting from a

perfectly smooth surface produced by rubbing. The previously applied

coats of rubbing varnish having been rubbed down with pumice-stone

and water, one or more coats of polishing varnish are applied, rubbed

down as before, and brought to a bright mirror-like surface with

rotten-stone and water. Clean up with a little sweet oil, and afterward

with a cloth damped in alcohol.

There are many makes of varnish in the market at the present writing,

that are especially adapted for natural wood finish and which may be

obtained from any respectable dealer. The most reliable manufacturers

of varnish in the United States, whose preparations may be depended

on to a dead certainty, do not number more than a half a dozen firms

among which may be named Devoe & Co., of New York City, Murphy & Co.,

of New York, and Berry Bros., of Detroit, Mich. The Murphy Company

make a transparent varnish that is extensively used in the trade. It

is used for either a high polish or dead surface. It is recommended

especially for developing the grain of natural wood; for durability in

all temperatures, freedom from discoloration from soap, water or acids,

a perfect adherence to the surfaces, preventing cracking, flaking or

blistering, while acting as a good preservative of the wood or metal,

preventing either decay or rust.

It is made in different qualities, adapted to interior finishing

on walls, floors or ceilings in halls, bath-rooms or kitchens for

dwellings, asylums and hospitals, and also for exterior work, such as

front doors, vestibules, window castings, and protecting the wood from

weather exposure.

The Berry Bros. of Detroit, also make a white varnish that possesses

all the requisites of a first-class finishing material. The

preparations of Devoe & Co. are so well known and so universally used,

that only a bare reference to them is necessary. Doubtless there are

other makes of varnish that answer equally well with those named.

I think I have now placed before the reader pretty nearly all that is

worth saying on the subject of hardwood and natural wood finish, and

have drawn largely from the best authorities extant; but it would not

be wise to close this section, without giving as briefly as possible,

a few rules on the now almost obsolete process of French polishing, as

occasionally this method of finishing is employed for certain purposes:

French polishing is a method of varnishing by rubbing the varnish

upon the surface of the wood instead of applying it with brushes.

When varnish is applied simply with a brush, a comparatively uneven

surface results, rendering necessary the subsequent process of rubbing

and polishing, but by the method of French polishing, a smooth and

continuous, surface hard and not easily scratched, is secured.

All the polishes are applied very much in the same way, and a general

description will therefore be sufficient. To obtain a good polish

with lac varnish on wood, the quantity applied must be very small,

and must be rubbed continuously until dry. If the work be porous or

cross-grained, it will be necessary to give it a coat of thin clear

size previous to commencing with the polish; when dry, the surface must

be smoothed with fine glass or sandpaper. The size fills up the pores

and saves the polish, and also saves considerable time in the operation.

Make a wad of cotton-batting, covered with several folds of very new

fine soft linen cloth; put the wad or cushion to the mouth of the

bottle containing the preparation (or polish) and shake it sufficiently

to damp the cloth; then proceed to lightly rub the work with circular

motion; as the rubber becomes drier, the pressure may be increased, but

care should be taken not to press too heavily when the rubber contains

much polish, as a streakiness will result. The circular motion should

be continued until the rubber becomes quite dry, when more polish may

be taken upon it and the rubbing renewed. It should be borne in mind

that the rubber should never be raised directly from the work, but

should be raised with a sweeping motion; also that it should never for

a moment remain quiet upon the surface; and that its motion should be

as even as possible; neglect of these precautions will produce a rough

surface wherever the rubber remains quiet or is improperly removed. The

circular rubbing must be continued until the surface appears perfectly

smooth and the pores are no longer visible. Be very particular to keep

the cloth covering of the wad clean and soft; it is desirable to use a

clean portion each time it is dipped in the polish. It is quite likely

that in about twelve hours after the above operation the surface of

the work will be lustreless, and the grain plainly visible, in that

case proceed over the work again until the grain is thoroughly filled.

French polishing is a process requiring particular care and skill, and

considerable experience is necessary to produce good results.

Beginners will find that they will be more successful with a flannel

rubber, made in the shape of a ball. Most polishers use wadding, which

is more pliable and better to get in the internal angles or small

mouldings. A bottle with a slit cork is the best to apply the polish to

the rubber. In commencing, the rubber should not be rubbed quite dry,

as you will never get any body on the work by so doing; but, as the

shiny appearance advances, you must rub each rubber dry. Every time the

rubber is wetted with polish it should be pressed in the palm of the

left hand, which will equalize the polish. After the cover is put over,

which should be some clean old cotton or print rags, the top of the

finger should be dipped in linseed oil and applied to rubber-cover—just

enough to keep it from sticking. As soon as the cover has a shiny

appearance, it should be removed to a fresh place. As soon as the work

has got a good body of polish on, it should be set away for at least

ten hours, to allow for the polish to sink, which always takes place.

Before commencing to polish again, the work should be very carefully

rubbed over with the finest glass-paper obtainable, taking care not

to cut through the skin; then proceed as before. Be sure never to let

the rubber stop in one place for an instant, as it will surely take

off the polish to the bare wood and spoil the job. After the work has

sufficient polish on, it should be allowed to stand three or four hours

before spiriting off.

The same rubber will do; only use spirits. Just damp the rubber, and

cover three or four times double with cover, and rub very lightly over

the work; but care must be taken not to make the rubber too wet, or the

work will be spoilt. The same process will answer for pine or deal,

only no filling is required, but a coat of clean patent size, before

applying the polish.

The ingredients for the above kind of work are quite numerous, but

shellac, dissolved in alcohol, is the basis of all French polishes,

and some finishers use thin shellac varnish without other admixture,

slightly moistening the rubber with linseed oil to prevent stickiness

and make it work smoothly. There is a great variety of admixtures and

diversity in the proportion of ingredients, but the differences are not

material. I subjoin a number of receipts.

=First and Best.=—To one pint of spirits of wine add a quarter of an

ounce of gum-copal, a quarter of an ounce of gum-Arabic, and one ounce

of shellac.

Let the gums be well bruised, and sifted through a piece of muslin.

Put the spirits and the gums together in a vessel that can be closely

corked; place them near a warm stove, and frequently shake them. In

two or three days they will be dissolved. Strain the mixture through a

piece of muslin, and keep it tight corked for use.

=Next.=—Take one ounce each of mastic, sandarac, seed lac, shellac,

gumlac, and gum-Arabic; reduce them to powder; and add a quarter of an

ounce of virgin wax; put the whole into a bottle, with one quart of

rectified spirits of wine; let it stand twelve hours, and it will be

fit for use.

=Another.=—Put into a glass bottle one ounce of gumlac, two drachms of

mastic in drops, four drachms of sandarac, three ounces of shellac,

and half an ounce of gum dragon; reduce the whole to powder; add to it

a piece of camphor the size of a nut, and pour on it eight ounces of

rectified spirits of wine. Stop the bottle close, but take care, when

the gums are dissolving, that it is not more than half full. Place near

a warm stove until dissolved.

=Other French Polish Receipts.=—1 pint naphtha, 3½ ounces orange

shellac, ½ ounce elima. Darken with red saunders wood.

To one pint of spirits of wine, add half an ounce of gum shellac, half

an ounce of seed lac, and a quarter of an ounce of gum sandarac; submit

the whole to a gentle heat, frequently shaking it, till the various

gums are dissolved, when it is fit for use.

Shellac, 6 ounces; naphtha, 1 quart; sandarac, 1 ounce; benzoin, ¾

ounce.

Three ounces shellac, ½ ounce of gum mastic pulverized, and one pint of

methylated spirits of wine added. Let it stand till dissolved.

Twelve ounces shellac, 2 ounces gum elima, 3 ounces gum copal, 1 gallon

of spirits of wine; dissolve.

The following must be well mixed and dissolved:—Pale shellac, 2¼

pounds; 3 ounces mastic, 3 ounces sandarac, 1 gallon spirits of wine.

After the above is dissolved, add 1 pint copal varnish, 1¼ ounces

shellac, ½ ounce gum juniper, ½ ounce benzoin, ½ pint of methylated

alcohol.

=A Good Polish.=—To a pint of spirits of wine add, in fine powder,

one ounce seed lac, two drachms of gum guaiacum, two drachms of

dragon’s-blood, and two drachms of gum mastic; expose them, in a vessel

stopped close, to a moderate heat for three hours, until you find the

gums dissolved; strain the whole into a bottle for use, with a quarter

of a gill of the best linseed oil, to be shaken up well with it.

This polish is more particularly intended for dark-colored woods—for

it is apt to give a tinge to light ones, as satinwood or air-wood,

etc.—owing to the admixture of the dragon’s-blood, which gives it a red

appearance.

=A Polish that Will Stand Water.=—Take a pint of spirits of wine,

two ounces of gum benzoin, a quarter of an ounce of gum sandarac,

and a quarter of an ounce of gum anime; these must be put into a

stopped bottle, and placed either in a sand-bath or in hot water till

dissolved; then strain the mixture, and, after adding about a quarter

of a gill of the best clear poppy oil, shake it well up, and put it by

for use.

=Prepared Spirits.=—This preparation is useful for finishing after any

of the foregoing receipts, as it adds to the lustre and durability, as

well as removes every defect, of the other polishes; and it gives the

surface a most brilliant appearance.

Half a pint of the very best rectified spirits of wine, two drachms of

shellac, and two drachms of gum benzoin. Put these ingredients into a

bottle, and keep it in a warm place till the gum is all dissolved,

shaking it frequently; when cold, add two teaspoonfuls of the best

clear white poppy oil; shake them well together, and it is fit for use.

This preparation is used in the same manner as the foregoing polishes;

but, in order to remove all dull places, you may increase the pressure

in rubbing.

=Polish for Turner’s Work.=—Dissolve 1 ounce of sandarac in ½ pint

of spirits of wine; shave 1 ounce of beeswax, and dissolve it in a

sufficient quantity of spirits of turpentine to make it into a paste,

add the former mixture to it by degrees; then, with a woollen cloth,

apply it to the work while it is in motion in the lathe, and polish it

with a soft linen rag; it will appear as if highly varnished.

=A French Polish Reviver.=—Beat gum acacia and white of two eggs in a

mortar until they amalgamate; then add half a pint of raw linseed oil

and best vinegar, eight ounces methylated spirits of wine, one ounce

hydrochloric acid and two ounces muriate of antimony. They are to be

rubbed on the surface of the furniture until dry, and will give a

brilliant and lasting polish.

It now remains to explain the several varieties of finishing in use;

these are largely derived from the peculiar qualities of the different

varnishes used. Polishing varnishes, which are very hard and durable,

are so called because their surface can be brought to a high lustre

by rubbing with the proper materials. Flowing or finishing-varnishes

contain more oil than polishing-varnishes, dry more slowly, and are

softer, but their peculiar qualities are brilliancy and durability,

fitting them for work requiring a brilliant gloss, such as veneered

panels. Rubbing-varnishes are those that dry sufficiently hard to admit

of being rubbed to a smooth surface. Turpentine varnishes, being the

cheapest variety, are employed for cheap work, such as common chairs,

bedsteads, &c.

_Dead Finish_ is a term applied to the finish produced by the reduction

of any of the rubbing varnishes with powdered pumice-stone, and raw

linseed oil, the surface thus produced being left in the semi-lustrous

state by omitting the polishing process. It is now more used than any

other for body-work, shellac varnish being generally employed because

of its adaptation to the requirements of fine cabinet-work, and its

properties of quick and hard drying. Copal, anime, and amber varnishes

are also used, but are slower drying. The number of coats required

depends somewhat upon the quality of the filler, but usually three

coats, and sometimes less, are amply sufficient.

=Varnish Finish.=—=For Cheap Work.=—One coat of filler or stain

followed by one coat of cheap turpentine varnish without rubbing. In

this class of work the brilliancy of the gloss and covering qualities

of the varnish are principally considered. The cheaper turpentine

varnishes have a brilliant gloss, and dry very hard, but the gloss is

not permanent, and after drying the gum is very brittle and easily

cracked and broken. The gum is principally common resin.

=Wax Finish.=—Mix together, with heat, white wax, and spirits of

turpentine to the consistency of thick paste; when cold, apply it to

the work with a rag; rub on heavily so as to fill the pores of the

wood; remove all wax from the surface with a wooden scraper made in

the shape of a carpenter’s chisel; smooth off with a bunch of soft

rags by rubbing hard and quick for a few minutes; finish with a little

French polish applied with a cotton pad. For table tops and all large

flat surfaces, allow the wax to remain on, and finish with a warm iron

by passing it lightly and quickly over the work until the wax is made

smooth and the surface is sufficiently polished. This is not considered

a desirable finish, as it is not durable, and water spots it very

easily.

The brushes required for varnishing are of many kinds and sizes and

a description of even a portion of them, is out of the question in a

small work of this kind; however a few remarks concerning them may not

be out of place. For spirit varnishes, camel’s-hair pencils and brushes

are used, the sizes of which vary from one-quarter to three-quarters of

an inch diameter, according to the size of the work. When the surfaces

are very large, flat camel-hair brushes are used; but from their

comparative thinness they scarcely contain a sufficient quantity of

varnish to preserve the brush uniformly charged in passing over a large

surface. Turpentine and oil varnishes require less delicacy; and flat

brushes, made of fine soft bristles, are generally used, or sometimes

ordinary painting brushes are employed, but they are rather harsh, and,

owing to the adhesion of the varnish, the hairs are apt to be loosened,

and come out. Brushes should always be kept perfectly soft and clean,

and therefore should never be laid aside when through work, without

cleaning. For this purpose turpentine is best; the brushes can either

be washed out quite clean in it, dried on a cloth, and laid aside,

or the bristles can be partially immersed in turpentine and allowed

to remain in it until wanted for use. Warm water and soap will also

serve to clean the brushes. If, however, the brushes are laid aside

without being thoroughly cleaned, they will certainly be ruined by the

hardening of the varnish.

Varnish pans can be procured at any varnish shop. They are constructed

of tin, with a false bottom; the interval between the two bottoms is

filled with sand, which being heated over the fire keeps the varnish

fluid, and it flows more readily from the brush. There is a tin handle

to them, and the false bottom slopes from one end to the other, which

gives sufficient depth when the varnish is low. They should also have

a wire fixed across the top to wipe the brush against. An ordinary

preserve jar is frequently used for containing the varnish, and is

sufficiently suitable; but it also should have a wire or string

stretched across the top, for reducing the quantity of varnish taken

up by the brush. The quantity of varnish poured into the jar should be

sufficient to nearly cover the hairs of the brush in order to keep it

soft. Too small a quantity of varnish is liable to thicken rapidly by

evaporation, which should at all times be prevented as far as possible,

by keeping the vessel closely covered when not in actual use.

=The Various Woods, their Stains and Finish.=—The foregoing rules

and instructions apply, in a great measure to all woods that are to

be finished in natural colors or stained, but under this head it is

intended to take each wood separately, with regard to coloring, and

other matters not before mentioned, that may be considered necessary to

insure good work.

It should not be forgotten, when speaking of hardwood finishing, that

some of the prettiest woods used, are not “Hard” but soft woods among

which may be mentioned pine of various kinds, poplar, cedar, redwood,

hemlock and basswood. When some of these are finished in their natural

state or stained to imitate harder woods their beauty is much enhanced

and they become deserving of more than a passing notice. Pine when

properly prepared, is in my opinion one of the most useful as well as

one of the prettiest woods that Nature has given to this continent,

and hemlock which is a much despised wood, when properly prepared and

finished in the natural state, or slightly “Mahoganized,” makes the

richest of panels for doors, wainscot or other house finish. As oak and

mahogany are rivals as to which is the better and handsomer woods for

finish, I will commence this section with those woods, giving oak the

preference.

=Oak.=—We have in this country over forty kinds of oak nearly every

one of which may be used for some special purpose, those most used for

building finish and for furniture however are only few, among which are

the white oak, (_Quercus rulia_), rock oak (_Quercus primas murticola_)

and black oak (_Quercus tindoris_). All of the above named oaks are

capable of being handsomely finished, the white and black oaks being

the best and the red being next.

What is known as quarter-oak is made by first sawing the log from

end to end through the middle. Then each half is sawed from end to

end through the middle, thus leaving four quarters. Each quarter has

only three sides, one side the bulge part of the log, and the other

two sides flat and coming to an edge. The boards are sawed off the

sharp edge, and each sawing, therefore, throws off a board wider than

one before it. Sawing the quarters of the log in this manner, lumber

possesses that beautiful cross-grained figure so much in fashion now

that it has become somewhat of a craze. This cross-grained material

finds favor in the finest furniture and interior work. The wood is

susceptible of the very finest polish, and the cross-grain produces an

effect made by both nature and the saw, that is quite superior to the

art of the most skillful grainer. To effect a good imitation of antique

oak lamp black or Vandyke brown in oil is applied to the surface of the

wood, darkening its natural hue, but this is not by any means best or

the only way, but answers very well where other processes or methods

are not available. With regard to giving oak an antique appearance,

many opinions exist. Formerly—and probably the first—imitations of

antique oak were produced by exposing the bare dressed surface to the

steam of boiling ammonia. This process, however, it was impossible to

apply to casings of house interiors, thus leading to the application

of the aqua ammonia with a brush, but, it is by repeated application

that the desired results are produced. It stains the wood gray. There

are finishers who claim this to be the only process by which to

imitate Nature, but another much faster, and one which gives the same

results, is to use strong vinegar with iron filings or shavings added;

by a little experimenting, this can be made to suffice with one coat,

depending upon the amount of iron added.

A very clever imitation of the general antique can be obtained by

staining the filler with Vandyke brown and charcoal, equal parts, using

about one part of the colored to four parts of the light. Then there is

another antique which imitates certain oak from the sixteenth century:

the peculiarity of it consists in dark cloud streaks permeating the

wood in every direction some of them crossing the panels in a V-shape,

others straight near top and bottom. To give them an odd appearance, a

pair of panels can be clouded by streaking one three or four times and

the other once or twice. These stripes vary in width from three to five

inches. The wider streaks look well across the top of a table three or

four times, or even partly across, while the narrow ones would do well

around the legs and across the styles and rails of panelled work. In

putting these on, they should be dark in the centre and blend out at

the edges. This is done with an automatic paint burner, allowing the

flames to scorch the wood nearly black; but care must be taken not to

char it. After the work is all streaked the wood is filled with filler

stained with burnt umber mixed as for black walnut.

Care must be taken to have the filler stained to the proper tint, and

in applying correctly. By following the rules given under the head

“Filling” the operator should have no trouble in making good work, and

we here repeat the instruction.

“After enough surface has been covered with the filler, so that what

has been first applied begins to flatten, the process of wiping should

immediately begin, using for that purpose either a rag or a handful

of waste or excelsior. If the oak is very open-grained, waste is

preferable. With a piece of this that has previously been used and is

pretty well supplied with filler, rub crosswise of the grain, rather

rubbing it into the grain than wiping it off. After the whole surface

has been gone over in this way, take a clean piece of waste or rag

(never use excelsior for wiping clean) and wipe the surface perfectly

clean and free from filler, using a wooden pick, the point of which

has been covered with a rag or waste to clean out the corners, beads,

etc. It is well to give these picks some attention, as a person once

accustomed to certain tools can accomplish more and better work than

with tools that feel strange in his hands; therefore, each finisher

should furnish his own pick. As to their construction, these are

best made from second-growth hickory, which can be procured from

any carriage repair shop, such as old spokes, broken felloes, etc.

They are made eight inches in length, half inch oval at one end and

tapering down to the point at the other. Sharpen the oval end like a

coal chisel, then smooth with sandpaper, which should also be used to

sharpen the tool when the same becomes worn dull.”

This picking out of the filler from beads, etc., can be accelerated by

the use of a picking brush manufactured especially for that purpose,

but it is not advisable to use this on very coarse-grained oak, as it

scrubs the filler out of the pores.

There are several fillers used which do not require this picking and

scrubbing. One is a liquid filler used chiefly for carriage finishing;

but it can be used successfully on butternut, bird’s-eye maple, curly

maple, satinwood, hickory, etc. It is made from gum and oil. Another

is a filler made from finely-ground pumice stone, mixed as other

fillers. It is applied with a brush, and must be left to dry at least

twenty-four hours; it is then sandpapered smooth, when an oil varnish

is applied, rendering it completely transparent. This last can be used

only upon light wood.

It is a well-established fact that nearly all the oaks grow dark with

age; many of them assume an entirely different shade from that which

they have when new and first cut. For instance, light oak, when new,

is of a sort of cream color; when aged in a dry atmosphere, it will

assume a reddish brown, and in a damp atmosphere it will turn a gray

with a blue tinge and eventually become brown. Cherry will turn from a

light salmon to a maroon, and the same with mahogany. It has not been

so long since mahogany and cherry were antiquated by being colored dark

with stains or other coloring material, while, at the same time, oak

was finished light. At present this manner of finishing is entirely

reversed. Cherry, mahogany and all dark woods are finished as light as

possible, while oak and ash, especially black ash, are finished antique.

Another method of rendering new oak wainscoting and other oak work

dark, and give it an antique appearance is given.

A correspondent in the _English Mechanic_ gives the following process

of treatment, which he considers the best, after trying the various

other processes used by builders and cabinet-makers to darken woods:

“Oak is fumigated by liquid ammonia, strength 880°, which may be bought

at any wholesale chemist’s at 5s. a gallon. The wood should be placed

in a _dark_ and _air-tight_ room (in a big packing case, if you

like!), and half a pint or so of ammonia poured into a soup plate, and

placed upon the _ground_ in the center of the compartment. This done,

shut the entrance, and secure any cracks, if any, by pasted slips of

paper. Remember that the ammonia does not touch the oak, but the gas

that comes from it acts in a wondrous manner upon the tannic acid in

that wood, and browns it so deeply that a shaving or two may actually

be taken off without removing the color. The depth of shade will

entirely depend upon the quantity of ammonia used and the time the wood

is exposed. Try an odd bit first experimentally, and then use your own

judgment.”

Short pieces of stuff may be so treated by using an air-tight box. The

box-ready, a flat dish or plate of strong ammonia should be placed in

the bottom, so that the fumes will _rise_ and surround the object.

All that is now necessary is to place the article in the box, nailing

up as close as possible and await results. Ten hours exposure using

strong ammonia, should give a good color; if not dark enough let it

remain longer, bearing in mind, however, that the wood will present

no noticeable change until oiled or brought in contact with a wet

substance such as shellac. It is well, therefore, to note the progress

by touching the wood with the wet finger when it will show at once the

stage it has reached.

There could be no better method devised to stain oak than this when

practicable, and in adopting it we simply anticipate nature which in

time through the action of the ammonia of the atmosphere would present

the same result. Mahogany may also be treated similarly with success.

Here is another method of making antique oak, and I might add, that

white, and black ash, and chestnut, similarly treated, will give a fair

imitation of antique oak: The job should be made of hard wood, with

as full an open grain as possible to secure a fine effect. Sandpaper

this and clean off. Then prepare a priming made of 1 part japan, 1 part

raw linseed oil and 1 part rubbing varnish. Drop into ½ gallon of the

liquid 1 pound of commercial corn starch, such as is used for culinary

purposes. Next take some good, dry, burnt Turkish umber, and add about

¼ pound of this to the starch. Apply to the job a good flowing coat of

this priming. Let stand until it is set and has soaked well into the

grain, and then take a broad putty knife and stick it into the grain,

working the knife crosswise of the grain. Again let stand a little

while, and then wipe with rags; especially clean out all the corners,

and get the job into as good condition as possible as regards having

the grain well filled.

Upon the completion of the operation above described it will be found

that the open grain has absorbed the starch and umber, and that these

portions now show the dark shade suggestive of age, while all the rest

of the surface is also slightly darkened.

When again perfectly dry, give one coat of rubbing varnish, prepared

by adding to it ½ pound of starch to each gallon of varnish. This coat

should be flowed on freely as a medium coat of rubbing varnish, but be

careful not to have runs of sags. This ought to completely fill the

wood, after which proceed to varnish, rub and finish the job in the

usual manner. To produce a natural oak finish, follow precisely the

same course as above described, with the single exception of omitting

the umber. This will leave the wood in its natural color.

Some of the most attractive work in this line, however, is effected by

simply spreading on the surface of the material a concentrated solution

of permanganate of potash, this being allowed to act until the desired

shade is obtained. Five minutes suffice ordinarily to give a good

color, a few trials indicating the proper proportions. The substance

named is decomposed by the vegetable fibre with the precipitation of

brown peroxide of manganese, which the influence of the potash, at the

same time set free fixes in a durable manner on the fibres. When the

action is terminated, the wood is carefully washed with water, dried,

then oiled and polished in the usual manner. The effect produced by

this process in several woods is really remarkable. On the cherry

especially it develops a beautiful red color which well resists the

action of air and light, and on the other woods it has a very pleasing

and natural effect.

Along with the foregoing may be added the following stains for oak:

add to a quart of water 2 ounces each of potash and pearl-ash. This is

a very good stain, but it should be used carefully as it blisters the

hands and softens brushes. The stain may be made lighter by adding more

water.

=Other Oak Stains.=—To darken the color of oak any of the following may

be used:

Liquid ammonia laid on evenly with a rag or brush will deepen the color

immediately, and it will not fade, this being an artificial production

of result produced naturally by age.

Bichromate of potash, dissolved in cold water, and applied with a

brush, will produce a similar result.

A decoction of green walnut-shell will bring new oak to any shade or

nearly black.

=Another.=—To two quarts of boiled oil; half a pound of ground umber,

mixed in oil by colorman; one pint of liquid driers, stirred in; one

pint of turpentine; mix. After cleaning and planing your boards, lay

this on with the grain of the wood. If required lighter add naphtha

till the required shade is attained; it darkens with age. Give it

twelve hours to dry; then varnish with wood varnish, or use only

beeswax and turpentine. The result is good in time, but slower than

varnish.

=Mahogany.=—(_Svietened._)—The tree has a darkish-brown bark and a

reddish-brown, coarsely fibred, streaky, hard wood. The tree grows to

the height of 35 metres, and is pretty strong. The chief varieties

are the common mahogany, with a very hard, very durable wood, which

is never attacked by worms, and is excellent for ship-building; but

its capability for taking a fine polish is its chief recommendation.

_Mahagoni Haiti_, _Mahagoni Jamaika_, _Mahagoni Havanna_ are the other

chief kinds.

Thirty-five years ago mahogany was commercially designated as “St.

Domingo,” from the island of St. Domingo, and “Baywood,” or “Bay

Mahogany,” from the vicinity of the Bay of Honduras, in Central

America. The Central American wood was condemned as being too soft,

of light weight, straight-grained and characterless. In recent years

it has ceased coming to this market, but one cargo having arrived at

the port of New York (the largest mahogany market in the world) in

six years. St. Domingo mahogany likewise exists only in name, the

original growth having long since been utilized; only the small and

stunted second growth being received here now. The individual logs of

great size and best quality are so seldom found as to come within the

category of “rare specimens.”

The Central American wood having been debarred by reason of softness,

and the St. Domingo being virtually extinct, it became a matter of

discovery where else to find this wood. From the island of Cuba a

considerable quantity of the smaller sizes, of good texture and hard,

suitable for small work, is obtained; but it is from the vast forest of

Mexico that the great markets of the world are now supplied, not alone

with the bulk of the best mahogany, but much that is soft, though these

soft grades are superior to the Baywood of olden times from Central

America.

With, perhaps the exception of our oaks, no wood possesses like

advantages of combined soundness, large size, durability, beauty of

color and richness of figure. So, when compared with other woods,

mahogany costs no more to work and stands better than any other—the

only point to weigh against this last great feature is the slight

difference in the first cost of the wood in the rough; but if mahogany

stands better and longer, and needs no attention afterward, surely the

sole advantage of less cost at first which any other wood may possess

is overcome.

But another merit, equal to any thus far mentioned, is the warmth in

its color and the glory in the figure of this beautiful wood. The air

of elegance, artistic effect and gentle breeding it imparts to all

its surroundings, its joy and life—all these cannot be measured by

a few cents a square foot. Its growing splendor with age that gives

increasing satisfaction may safely be contrasted with the tameness of

other woods, which, though pleasing at first, deteriorate rather than

improve. Does not mahogany add to the value of a private residence

or public building? I believe it does; and it is this very fact that

encourages so much imitation in housefinishing and in furniture.

When the real wood is used, but little more is necessary than to fill

and varnish or polish, as it cannot be much improved upon. Sometimes,

however, it may be deemed proper to darken it somewhat to take away the

reddish hue that newly wrought mahogany presents, and this can best be

done by darkening the filler, to suit the taste, trying the mixture

first on a piece of the dressed stuff, until the desired shade is

obtained, staining the varnish or polish with dragon’s-blood or other

suitable dyes, will also accomplish the desired end.

Staining by the fumes of ammonia will probably give the best results,

as almost any tinge can be given the work from the newness of youth,

to the mellowness of extreme age. This method is considered the best

for imparting to mahogany the appearance of age, and for those wishing

to avail themselves of an easy, clean and certain means of gaining the

result, fumigating offers no serious obstacle to its accomplishment,

the articles necessary being easy of acquirement, and at small expense.

I give a number of receipts for making stains to imitate mahogany.

These stains may be applied to cherry, black birch, white wood,

basswood, pine or sycamore, with pretty fair results. The best of these

enumerated are cherry, birch and pine, as from these woods the best

results are obtainable:

A good imitation of and substitute for mahogany, useful in fine

manufactures, is made by procuring any species of close-grained wood,

such as cherry, beech or birch, and properly preparing it smooth and

clean. Then rub with diluted nitric acid, which prepares it for the

materials subsequently to be applied. These consist of one and a half

ounces of dragon’s-blood, dissolved in a pint of spirits of wine, and

one-third of that quantity of carbonate of soda, mixed together and

filtered, the liquid in this state being rubbed, or rather, laid upon

the wood with a soft brush. This process is repeated with very little

alteration, and in a short interval the wood possesses all the external

appearance of mahogany.

For other stains the following are given: Two ounces of dragon’s-blood

dissolved in one quart of rectified spirits of wine, well shaken; or

raw sienna in beer, with burnt sienna to give the required tone; for

darker stains boil a half-pound of madder and two-ounces of logwood

chips in one gallon of water and brush the decoction while hot over the

wood. When dry paint with a solution of two ounces of potash in one

quart of water. A solution of permanganate of potash forms a rapid and

excellent brown stain.

For the color of new mahogany, see Cherry Stains.

A decoction of logwood chips, made by boiling in a closely-covered

vessel one part of the chips in two parts water for two hours; then

strain through a muslin cloth. Should this be required dark, as for

antique mahogany, condense by a gentle heat.

_Another._—For the red generally called mahogany, add to a strong

decoction of logwood chips a small quantity of chloride of tin. Or add

to the decoction a trifle eosine. Apply two coats.

_Another._—Add to archil (orchil) sufficient eosine to produce a

natural color.

_Another._—Dilute alizarin-paste to the proper consistency and color.

_Another._—To produce the red in oil, apply two coats of crimson or

rose-lake diluted with turps and japan.

To darken mahogany, apply a weak solution of bichromate of potash in

water. Apply successive coats, allowing each to dry, until the required

shade is secured.

Half a pound of madder, two ounces of logwood chips boiled in a gallon

of water; brush over the wood while hot. When dry, go over the whole

with pearl-ash solution, two drachms to a quart of water. Size and

polish. If a redder shade be required, it can be produced by smearing

the surface with a strong solution permanganate of potash, which is

left on for a longer or shorter time, according to the shade required;

in most cases, five minutes will be enough. The wood is then carefully

washed, dried and polished in the ordinary way.

The reader will understand that the mahogany stains mentioned are

mostly intended for staining inferior woods to imitate mahogany, for as

mentioned before only in isolated cases, will the genuine wood require

to be stained—“good wine needeth no bush.”—

=Cherry.=—(_Prunus cerasus._)—This is a fine grained wood, tough and

light, is capable of taking the very finest finish. Is harder than

Baywood, and is the nearest approach in color, grain and texture, to

mahogany than any other native wood.

One of the best methods for making cherry look like mahogany is to have

the wood rubbed with diluted nitro acid, which prepares it for the

materials subsequently applied. Afterwards to a filtered mixture of one

ounce and a half of dragon’s-blood dissolved in a pint of spirits of

wine is added one-third that quantity of carbonate of soda. The whole

constituting a very thin liquid is brushed with a soft brush over the

wood. This process is repeated with very little alteration, and in a

short interval of time the wood assumes the external appearance of

mahogany. If the composition has been properly made the surface will

resemble an artificial mirror and should this brilliancy ever decline

it may be restored by rubbing the surface with a little cold drawn

linseed oil.

When cherry is nicely filled and rubbed well down and not varnished,

it has a soft glow not possessed by any other, and has none of those

distortions of grain that are so unpleasant in mahogany. The timber

is chosen from the wild cherry, which in New England and the North

generally does not usually grow to a girth of more than 20 inches,

but in some of the Western States and in the South frequently attains

a diameter of 24 inches. The domestic fruit cherry gives some good

specimens of small timber, but as the tree is rarely sacrificed until

it is past bearing and is decayed, this source of supply is precarious.

The facility with which cherry can be worked makes it a favorite with

the cabinet-maker and the house joiner; and it also possesses the

quality of “staying where it is put,” and that is more than can be said

of many of the hard woods.

I give below several stains for making pine and other suitable woods to

have an appearance of cherry.

1. To prepare this color in water stain, boil in a gallon of water

one pound of Spanish annotto and one ounce of concentrated lye

(potash). Should this not be deep enough, allow the water to evaporate

by a gentle heat. The stain can also be darkened by adding gamboge

previously dissolved in a weak potash solution.

2. Gamboge in oil, diluted with turpentine, and a little japan added as

a siccative. This produces the same color in oil as the former in water

stain, and can be deepened with dragon’s-blood in oil or finely-ground

burnt sienna in oil.

3. Mix together, by stirring, 1 quart of spirits of turpentine, 1 pint

of varnish, and 1 lb. of dry burnt sienna; apply with a brush and after

it has been on about five minutes wipe it off with rags. This stain

takes about 12 hours to dry.

4. Take 1 quart alcohol, 2 ozs. of dragon’s-blood; pulverize the latter

along with ¼ oz. of alkanet root; mix and let stand in a warm place a

couple of days. Shake frequently in the meantime. Apply with a sponge

or brush. Two or three coats may be required. This makes a fine stain.

There are a number of other compounds, but it is considered that the

above are ample for all ordinary purposes. When stains are wanted in

large quantities it is much better to purchase them, as a number of

excellent mixtures are now obtainable, among which may be mentioned

those of the Chilton Mfg. Co., New York, who make fine ebony, mahogany

and cherry stains. Aniline stain may be purchased at any color shop.

=Ash.= (_Fraxinus excelsior._) This wood is now used very much by

cabinet-makers and house joiners in place of oak, and I have often

seen furniture palmed off, to unsuspecting customers as antique oak

and in one instance I know of an architect who specified oak, and who

“passed” a mixture of white and black ash, as oak, either knowingly or

otherwise. I am not sure that the owners in either case lost anything,

for good sound Canadian ash, is decidedly better than dosey red oak.

In finishing ash, either black or white, the same methods are adopted

as for finishing oak and similar processes will give similar results.

Ingenious stainers and finishes can make ash resemble oak wainscot, in

vein and color so correctly that it is almost impossible for the most

experienced connoisseur to distinguish the genuine from the spurious.

In order to do this some finishers make a commencement by sketching

out, upon certain parts of the ash exterior, the requisite white

veins, by means of a camel-hair pencil, with white stain; that done,

they coat the veins with thin varnish, and then darken the general

ground, dealing carefully throughout the entire process with the veined

portions. Others stain and embody, _i. e._ French polish—the ash with

the ordinary preparation, after which they pursue an operative course

termed “champing”; that is, scratching fancifully, so as to form the

veins, upon different parts of the coated surface, before it gets time

to harden, with a saturated rag. The former process is, however, the

most suitable of the two.

=Birch.= (_Betula Nigra._) or Canadian birch is superior to all other

birches for constructive purposes and when properly finished has a

fine quiet refined look that commands itself to all lovers of domestic

woods. So popular has the use of black birch become within the last ten

years, that the price of good grades has advanced from $8 per M feet,

in 1880 to $100 per M feet, in 1892.

Black birch is a close-grained, handsome wood, and can be easily

stained to resemble walnut exactly. It is just as easy to work, and is

suitable for nearly, if not all, the purposes to which walnut is at

present applied. Birch is much the same color as cherry, but the latter

wood is now scarce, and consequently dear. When properly stained it is

almost impossible to distinguish the difference between it and walnut,

as it is susceptible of a beautiful polish, equal to any wood now used

in the manufacture of furniture, and inside finishings.

There is a species of bird’s-eye birch, but it is very scarce. An

evidence of the weight and solidity of the wood is the fact that it

will sink after being a few days on the water. It also possesses the

quality of durability in a pre-eminent degree.

Birch is generally finished the same as cherry, and directions given

under that head will apply here also.

=Pine.=—(_Pinus Strobus_). If oak is the king of woods, pine is most

assuredly “president,” for it is at once the most useful and the

most democratic of woods. It is found in the halls of the great and

powerful, and in the cottage of the most humble among us. It is strong

and vigorous, plain or ornamental and is not out of place either in the

backwoodsman’s cabin or in the stately cathedral, and like a true man

of the world, it adapts itself to every condition that circumstances

may place it in.

Pine can be made to look like any known wood, but is at its best when

left natural and finished in clear shellac. There is no wood grows,

that will convey so cheerful a feeling to the beholder as yellow or

white pine finished in a natural state. Next to being finished in a

natural state, is to imitate mahogany or light cherry which coloring it

takes readily.

Where the pine—of any kind—is to be either stained or left natural, it

should be “quarter sawed” as it will show a finer grain, shrink less,

and last longer. The softness of its texture and its susceptibility to

injury may have had some influence in preventing its general use for

ornamental purposes, but the wood can be “filled,” so that much of this

objection is removed. Its pure white color—white as compared with other

woods—recommends it for purposes for which holly has been heretofore

used; and the size of the timber from which clear boards may be cut is

greatly in its favor, boards of a width of sixteen, and even twenty

inches being not uncommon, with no shade of distinction between sap

wood and heart, and only the faintest perceptible grain.

Some specimens lately examined show a greatly enhanced beauty by very

simple treatment—the filling with warm shellac varnish, bleached

shellac in alcohol, applied with a brush while warm. Several coats

are given, the last coat being rubbed with pumice and rotten-stone,

moistened with water, not oil. A finish of a flowing coat of copal

varnish completes the preparation. Thus treated, the wood is of a

faint creamy tint, with an appearance of semi-transparency. Beautiful

gradations of tone were obtained by panels of this prepared pine.

Most of the stains given under previous heads, are applicable to pine,

I add, however a few more, so that the workmen may have a number of

recipes to draw from:

For Walnut No. 1.—Dissolve by boiling one part each of Epson salt and

permanganate of potash in about twenty-five parts of water. This stain

may be improved by adding a little eosine, and it works best when

applied hot.

2. Catechu broken into crumbs and boiled in about twice its bulk of

water until dissolved. To darken to the required depth, add bichromate

of potash previously dissolved in about eight times its equivalent of

water. If the deep yellow shade peculiar to the Southern walnut be

required, add yellow chromate of potash. For the reddish shade of the

Northern wood, add more eosine.

3. For oil stain, use Vandyke brown toned up with the siennas, the

colors being strictly pure and finely ground in oil, and diluted with

turpentine and a small amount of japan.

4. Burnt Turkey umber mixed in the same way as the former.

5. Mix together, by stirring, 1 quart spirits of turpentine, 1 pint

asphaltum varnish, 1 pint of japan, 1 lb. dry burnt umber, 1 lb. dry

Venetian red; apply with a brush. This stain is transparent, and allows

the grain of the wood to show through.

6. Boil 1½ ounces washing soda, and ¼ ounce bichromate of potash, in

1 quart of water; add 2½ ounces Vandyke brown. This stain may be used

either hot or cold.

7. With a brush apply a thin solution of permanganate of potassa in

water, until the desired color is produced, allowing each coat to dry

before another is applied.

For Mahogany or Cherry No. 1. For mahogany, use a pint of turpentine

and an ounce of color known as dragon’s-blood. Dissolve and shake well

before applying. For ebony, use hot liquor from logwood chips, and

after dry apply a coat of tincture of steel. For walnut, use two ounces

of washing soda, darkened with Vandyke brown in water. Add two ounces

of bichromate of potash in pint and a half of water.

2. Mix together, by stirring, 1 quart of spirits of turpentine, 1 pint

of varnish, and 1 lb. of dry burnt sienna; apply with a brush, and

after it has been on about five minutes wipe it off with rags. This

stain takes about 12 hours to dry.

3. Take 1 quart alcohol, 2 ozs. of dragon’s-blood; pulverize the latter

along with ¼ oz. of alkanet root; mix, and let stand in a warm place a

couple of days. Shake frequently in the meantime. Apply with a sponge

or brush. Two or three coats may be required. This makes a fine stain.

For Rosewood No. 1. Mix in a bottle ¼ lb. of extract of logwood, 1

oz. salts of tartar, and 1 pint of water; in another bottle, put 1

lb. of old iron in small pieces, and 1 pint of vinegar, which, after

standing twenty-four hours, will be ready for use; make a hard stiff

brush with a piece of rattan sharpened at one end in a wedge shape,

pounding it so as to separate the fibre. Mix in 1 pint of varnish, ¼

lb. of finely-powdered rose-pink. The materials are now ready, and the

first thing in the process is to stain the wood with the logwood stain;

give two coats of this, allowing the first to become nearly dry before

applying the second; then dip the rattan brush in the vinegar, and with

it form the grain, after which give the work a coat of the varnish and

rose pink. There can be no definite directions given for graining,

except to study the natural wood and imitate it as near as possible.

With the above materials skilfully applied, any common wood can be

made to resemble rosewood so nearly that it will take a good judge to

distinguish the difference.

2. Boil 1 lb. of logwood in 1 gallon of water, add a double handful of

walnut shell, boil the whole again, strain the liquor and add to it 1

pint of the best vinegar. It is then ready for use. Apply it boiling

hot, and when the wood is dry, form red veins in imitation of the grain

of rosewood with a brush dipped in the following solution: Nitric acid,

1 pint; metallic tin, 1 oz.; sal-ammoniac, 1 oz. Mix and set aside to

dissolve, occasionally shaking. If carefully executed it will give the

appearance of dark rosewood.

For surface stains the following are sometimes used: The colors are all

to be mixed with very thin glue size, laid on warm with a soft woollen

material, and the wood wiped dry after application. All the colors used

is staining should be well pulverized, and before use the liquid should

be strained.

=Imitation Oak Stain.=—Equal parts burnt umber and brown ochre.

=Imitation Mahogany Stain.=—One Part Venetian red, and two parts yellow

lead.

=Imitation Rosewood Stain.=—Venetian red, darkened with lamp black to

required shade.

=Imitation Walnut Stain.=—Burnt umber and yellow ochre, mixed in

proportions to give desired shade.

Before leaving the subject of pine, it may be as well to say a few

words regarding the long leaved, or Georgia pine (_Pinus Pulustris._)

as a great deal of it is used now in and about the city of New York,

and other large centres. This wood is very fine, strong and lasting.

Some of it is insusceptible of fine finish, but the best success with

it, is when treated with shellac finish. In all other respects, when

used as a finishing material, it may be treated the same as ordinary

pine.

=Walnut.=—(_Juglans Nigra._)—As this wood is seldom or never stained

it is unnecessary to say more about it other than it may be treated

like oak cherry or birch. It looks well filled and finished in shellac.

Birch stained and properly finished looks very much like walnut, and

with a little care in getting a proper tint in the stain, can scarcely

be known from the real thing. “Filling,” in walnut finishing, is one of

the most important processes, if the richness of the wood is desired to

be shown as much depends on the “tint” as on the filling material.

=Poplar.=—(_Populus balsamifera._)

=Basswood.=—(_Tieia Americana._)

=Cedar.=—White—(_cupressus thuyoides_) which is really a spruce, and

all similar woods, should never be finished in a natural state. Deep

stains or surface stains should always be employed on these woods if

they are not to be painted.

=Beech.=—(_Fagus ferruginea._) This is one of the unnoticed woods of

former years but is now gradually gaining in favor as a decorative

wood. It is cheap and also quite abundant, while the more popular hard

woods are beginning to grow scarcer and higher in price. Beechwood has

a fine grain, is quite durable, and can be used in the manufacture of

furniture and for decorative purposes generally. The red variety has

a handsome appearance and is especially suitable for use where a good

imitation of cherry is desired.

If “quarter sawed” it shows a fine grain and has a character distinctly

its own which I think has never been properly appreciated. When

quartered, properly finished, filled and polished, it looks something

like dark leopard wood. It will assume a dark mahogany color if

prepared like cherry or birch, or it may be made to appear like walnut

if treated with walnut stains and finish.

=Elm.=—(_Ulmus Americana._)

=Chestnut.=—(_castanea vesca._)

=Butternut.=—(_Juglans cinerea._)

These three woods are often used in inferior work, and are very soft

and easily dented. The best is perhaps the elm, which does very well

for bath-room finish, panels for ash doors and similar work. All

require a great deal of “filling” and this should be well rubbed in if

a good job is required. All of these woods have a very coarse grain,

but if care is taken in selecting the material, very odd and oftimes

pleasing effects may be obtained. Any of the stains used on pine, will

answer for these woods, dependent of course on the tints desired. The

best results with these woods is derived by giving the work one coat of

shellac after filling and staining, then sandpaper well and apply your

varnish or oil finish or whatever you purpose finishing in.

=Cypress.=—(_Cupressus sempervierens._) The light the dark and the bald

are good woods and are coming more and more in favor every day.

This wood contains a very small amount of resin, and a very high

polish can be given it; in fact, because of its not being affected by

moisture, it is being used for cisterns, hogsheads, and sugar, molasses

and honey barrels. The red cypress is the favorite, and some of it

is so heavy that it will sink upon being placed in water. The white

variety is much lighter, and will float after being deadened a short

while before being cut, but it has not the firm grain of the red. The

red cypress has a straight trunk with a small top, and the bark when

cut has a reddish tint. These woods may be treated like cherry or birch

with good results. They look well when left their natural color and

finished “dead finish.”

=Sycamore=, or Buttonwood, as it is sometimes called (_acer pseudo

platanus_) when quarter sawed and properly finished makes a good

appearance, and in many cases is superseding cherry owing to its beauty

and cheapness. Heretofore its natural beauty has been destroyed in many

cases by staining the wood, and thus preventing the development of many

chemical changes which take place and are thrown to the surface when

properly treated. When quarter sawed, a light bodied and light colored

shellac should be used, when by a natural chemical process a beautiful

silver leaf is developed and the surface assumes a charming pink hue.

=Hemlock.=—(_Abies Canadensis._) This is rarely used for finishing

owing to its brittleness and splintery nature. Clean boards, however,

made into panels or other similar work and then finished in natural

color, assumes a very handsome appearance. It has a pink tint of the

most delicate kind which improves and mellows with age. It should be

finished in the same manner as pine.

=Rosewood.=—(_Dalbergia Nigra._) It seldom falls to the lot of the

ordinary finisher to have to “try his hand” on the genuine wood, but

sometimes it _does happen_ and it is just as well that he should be

armed with the means to wrestle with the work if such is ever thrown

in his way. To finish rosewood, requires about the same treatment as

mahogany, though, as a matter of fact, many pieces of rosewood will be

found to have a coarser grain than mahogany, and will require much care

in filling. The main thing to be observed, is to see that the filling

is a shade or two darker than the wood to be filled, before any varnish

is laid on. For imitation of rosewood I give below a few recipes:

Take half a pound of logwood, boil it with three pints of water till

it is of a very dark red, to which add about half an ounce of salt of

tartar. When boiling hot, stain your wood with two or three coats,

taking care that it is nearly dry between each; then, with a stiff,

flat brush, such as is used for graining, make streaks with a very

deep black stain, which if carefully executed will be very near the

appearance of dark rosewood. The following is another method: Stain

your wood all over with a black stain, and when dry, with a brush as

above dipped in the bright liquid form real veins in imitation of the

grain of rosewood, which will produce, when well managed, a beautiful

effect. A handy brush for the purpose of graining may be made by taking

a flat brush such as used for varnishing, and cutting the sharp points

of the hairs and making the edge irregular; by cutting out a few hairs

here and there the grain may be imitated with great accuracy.

This is suitable to pine, cedar, cyprus, whitewood, basswoods while the

following should only be used in mahogany, cherry, or birch, spread on

the surface of the material a concentrated solution of hypermagnate

of potassa, to act until the desired shade is obtained. Five minutes

suffice, ordinarily, to give a deep color, a few trials indicating the

proper proportions. The hypermagnate of potassa is decomposed by the

vegetable fibre with the precipitation of brown peroxide of manganese,

which the influence of the potassa, at the same time set free, fixes in

a durable manner the fibres. When the action is terminated the wood is

carefully washed with water, dried, and then oiled and polished in the

usual manner. The effect produced by this process in several woods is

really remarkable.

It has been a mystery to many people why the dark wood so highly prized

for furniture is called “Rosewood.” Its color certainly does not look

much like a rose, so we must look for some other reason. It is claimed

by some that when the tree is first cut the wood possesses a very

strong roselike fragrance, hence the name. This is the most probable

reason for its name. There are about a half a dozen kinds of rosewood

trees. The varieties are found in South America, and in the East Indies

and neighboring islands. Sometimes the trees grow so large that boards

or planks four feet broad and ten feet in length can be cut from them.

The broad boards are used for the tops of piano fortes. When growing in

the forests the tree is remarkable for its beauty, but such its value

in manufacturing as an ornamental wood that some of the forests where

it once grew abundantly now have scarcely a single specimen left.

I have purposely left unmentioned a number of our finest woods such

as our maples, and others, which, would it not increase the size of

this volume, beyond reasonable dimensions. I should have more to say

concerning them. The workmen will know, from what has already been

said, how these light woods may be treated, and I may add, that the

various maples, though rather light in color for general purposes, make

the most delicate of finish. Gum wood of late, has been used to some

extent and is not hard to deal with when to be finished. It should be

treated about as cherry and birch, and finished in a similar way, and

when done nicely the work looks quite well.

Redwood is getting to be a favorite wood with some builders, owing

no doubt to its cheapness, and its easiness to work. It may be

classed among the softer woods and requires treating about the same

as chestnut, butternut and the cedars. The following formula and

directions have been highly recommended as a finish, but for my own

part, I prefer using Wheeler’s filler as I think better results are

obtained. Here is the formula:

Take one quart Spirits Turpentine.

Add one pound Corn Starch.

Add ¼ “ Burnt Sienna.

Add one tablespoonful Raw Linseed Oil.

Add “ “ Brown Japan.

Mix thoroughly, apply with a brush, let it stand say fifteen minutes;

rub off all you can with fine shavings or a soft rag, then let it stand

_at least twenty-four hours_ that it may sink into and _harden_ the

fibres of the wood, afterward apply two coats of white shellac; rub

down well with fine flint paper, then put on from two to five coats

best polishing varnish; after it is well dried rub with water and

pumice-stone ground very fine, stand a day to dry; after being washed

clean with chamois, rub with water and rotten-stone; dry, wash as

before clean, and rub with olive oil until dry.

Some use cork for sandpapering and polishing, but a smooth block of

hard wood like maple is better. When treated in this way redwood will

be found the peer of any wood for real beauty and life as a house trim

or finish. By proper attention, redwood may be made to appear like

mahogany or cherry but its softness is very much against it.

=General Recipes.=—_Ebonizing._—Prepare some shellac varnish by

dissolving half a pound of gum shellac in a quart of alcohol; put in a

tightly corked bottle, set in a warm place, and shake frequently. When

completely dissolved, add sufficient dry lamp or bone black. It will

require only about a heaping tablespoonful to half a pint of varnish.

Should it be too thick to flow easily from the brush, and spread

evenly, add alcohol. Give the wood two or three coats of this, which

can be done within two days. For fine work give three coats of the

black varnish and allow it to dry thoroughly; then take some 00 or 000

sandpaper and rub the work down lightly until the surface is smooth and

even, being careful not to rub through to the wood. Then apply two or

three coats more, and rub down again with the sandpaper; give two coats

more and allow it to dry perfectly hard. Make some rubbers of felt, an

old felt hat is good, by tacking the felt on blocks of soft wood of

proper shape, which should be flat, concave or convex to fit the work.

Apply a few drops of sewing machine oil to the felt and sprinkle on a

pinch of pulverized pumice-stone. Rub the work with this, keeping the

rubber moist with oil and supplied with the pumice, until the wood

shows a perfectly smooth surface, without any gloss. When it has all

been gone over wipe off the surface and rub clean with dry flannel

cloths. The result is fine imitation of ebony. If the shellac varnish

is colored with aniline instead of lamp black, the finished surface is

smoother and finer.

_Others._—1. Infuse gall-nut in vinegar, into which rusty nails have

been soaked; paint the wood with this, polish and burnish when dry. 2.

Wash the wood repeatedly with a solution of sulphate of iron, made by

dissolving 2 oz. of sulphate in a pint of hot water. When dry, apply a

hot decoction of logwood and nut-galls two or three times. When dry,

clean with a wet sponge and then polish. 3. Brush the wood with a

strong decoction of logwood chips several times. When dry, give it a

coat of vinegar in which rusty iron has been placed. Dissolve beeswax

in turpentine by setting in a warm place; apply warm with a brush, and

rub it till it shines. 4. Wash with a concentrated aqueous solution of

logwood several times, and then with a solution of acetate of iron of

40 deg. Baume. Repeat till a deep black is produced. 5. Put 2 oz. of

logwood chips with 1¼ oz. of copperas in a quart of water, boil, and

lay on hot. When dry, wet the surface again with 2 oz. of steel filings

dissolved in half a pint of vinegar. When dry again, sandpaper smooth,

then oil, then fill it with powdered drop-black mixed in the filler.

Work to be ebonized should be smooth and free from holes. Give it a

light coat of quick drying varnish, then rub with finely pulverized

pumice-stone and linseed oil until very smooth. 6. Boil ½ pound of chip

logwood in two quarts of water, and add ½ oz. of verdigris and ½ oz.

of copperas, strain, and put in ½ pound of rusty steel filings. With

this go over the work a second time. 7. A pound of logwood boiled in

four quarts of water, add two handfuls of walnut shells or peel, boil

up again, take out the chips, add a pint of vinegar, and apply boiling.

Afterwards dissolve 1 oz. of green copperas in a quart of boiling water

and apply hot. 8. First sponge the wood with a solution of chlorhydrate

of aniline in water, to which a small quantity of copper chloride is

added. When dry, go over again with a solution of potassium bichromate.

Repeat this twice or thrice. 9. One gallon of vinegar, ½ pound of green

copperas, ¼ pound of China blue, 2 oz. nut-gall, 2 pounds extract

of logwood. Boil all these over a slow fire, and add half a pint of

iron-rust. Apply as usual. A good varnish for ebonized work is made by

dissolving in alcohol some black wax.

=Stains.=—Many excellent stains for pine may be obtained by using

the ordinary graining colors, Vandyke brown, raw and burnt sienna,

ultramarine blue, etc., applied with a brush, without previous

preparation and then wiped off with a cloth—a method that brings out

clearly the grain or marks of the wood, which in pitch pine, now being

extensively used for fittings, are often extremely beautiful. A better

method for general work, French polish being ordinarily too expensive,

is, where dark oak or mahogany stains are not wanted, light varnishes,

of which two coats are to be applied. The glue size with which the work

is first coated, in order to fill up the pores of the wood, should not

be too thick, as in that case it is liable to crack.

Logwood, lime, brown soft-soap, dyed oil, sulphate of iron, nitrate

of silver exposed to the sun’s rays, carbonate of soda, bichromate

and permanganate of potash, and other alkaline preparations, are used

for darkening the wood; the last three are specially recommended. The

solution is applied by dissolving one ounce of the alkali in two

gills of boiling water, diluted to the required tone. The surface is

saturated with a sponge or flannel, and immediately dried with soft

rags. The carbonate is used for dark woods. Oil tinged with rose madder

may be applied to hard woods like birch, and a red oil is prepared

from soaked alkanet root in linseed oil. The grain of yellow pine

can be brought out by two or three coats of japan, much diluted with

turpentine, and afterwards oiled and rubbed. To give mahogany the

appearance of age, lime water used before oiling is a good plan. In

staining wood, the best and most transparent effect is obtained by

repeated light coats of the same. For oak stain a strong solution of

oxalic acid is employed; for mahogany, dilute nitric acid. A primary

coat or a coat of wood-fillers is advantageous. For mahogany stains,

the following are given: two ounces of dragon’s-blood dissolved in

one quart of rectified spirits of wine, well shaken, or raw sienna in

beer, with burnt sienna to give the required tone; for darker stains

boil half pound of madder and two ounces of logwood chips in one gallon

of water, and brush the decoction while hot over the wood; when dry,

paint with a solution of two ounces of potash in one quart of water.

A solution of permangate of potash forms a rapid and excellent brown

stain.

Oak or ash may be stained brown by using linseed oil and benzine half

and half, and burnt umber or Vandyke brown incorporated with this.

Maple can be stained green-gray by using copperas in water; oak will

also be changed to a dark green blue through the same agency, the

effect on ash being various shades of olive green. Ammonia applied to

oak produces the bronze olive tint now used so much by architects.

Wash any compact wood with a boiling decoction of logwood three or four

times, allowing it to dry between each application. Then wash it with a

solution of acetate of iron, which is made by dissolving iron fillings

in vinegar. This stain is very black, and penetrates to a considerable

depth into the wood, so that ordinary scratching or chipping does not

show the original color.

A wash of one part of nitric acid in ten parts of water will, if well

done, impart a stain resembling mahogany to pine wood which does not

contain much resin. When the wood is thoroughly dry, shellac varnish

will impart a fine finish to the surface. A glaze of carmine or lake

will produce a rosewood finish. A turpentine extract of alkanet root

produces a beautiful stain which admits of French polishing. Asphaltum,

thinned with turpentine, makes an excellent mahogany color on new wood.

=A Method.=—Of imparting to any plain white wood the appearance of

cedar wood is as follows:—Mix two parts of catechu, and one part of

caustic soda, in a hundred parts of water (all by weight). The article

to be stained should be boiled in this solution for some hours, and is

then rinsed in clear water and dried. If the desired depth of tone has

not been obtained, a second boiling must be resorted to. This stain is

said to sink so deep into the wood that even thick sheets of veneer

thus treated will be colored right through; while other wood articles

thus stained may be safely manipulated without any fear of the original

color of the wood showing through.

=For a Brown Stain.=—Boil 1 lb. of the brown pigment called Terre de

Cassel with 4 quarts of water, until it is reduced one-third. Mix two

ounces (Troy) of white potash with sufficient water to dissolve it, and

mix with the Terre de Cassel. This stain must be applied with a brush,

two or even three times, according to the depth of the shade required.

=Another.=—Paint the wood with a solution made by boiling one pot of

catechu with thirty parts of water and a little soda; when dry paint

over with another solution made of one part bichromate of potash and

thirty parts water. By a little difference in the mode of treatment,

and by varying the strength of the solutions, several shades of color

may be given.

=For a Black Dye.=—Put 6 lbs. of chip logwood into the copper, with as

many veneers as it will conveniently hold, without pressing too tight;

fill it with water, and let it boil _slowly_ for about three hours;

then add half a pound of powdered verdigris, half a pound of copperas,

and four ounces of bruised nut-galls; fill the copper up with vinegar

as the water evaporates; let it boil gently two hours each day till the

wood is dyed through.

=To Brighten Stains.=—Any of the stains named (except the surface

stains) will be rendered much more brilliant by an application of the

following: 1 oz. nitric acid, ½ teaspoonful muriatic acid, ¼ oz. grain

tin, 2 ozs. rain water. Mix in a bottle, at least two days before

using, and keep the bottle well corked.

The above stains are probably the most important to a house finisher,

and, as they have all been employed and found practicable, they can be

relied upon. In performing a small job it will generally be found more

convenient and economical to obtain the stain from some furniture shop

where it is kept in bulk.

The best way to preserve stain is to keep it in bottles or jugs. It is

said that four or five drops of creosote added to a quart of stain will

prevent it from becoming mouldy and stagnant.

The stainers at the furniture shops have contrived a scheme to prevent

their hands from becoming deeply stained while at work, by dipping them

into a quick-dry varnish or oil shellac, and then in cleansing them

they rinse them first in water to remove the stain, and then submit

them to a turpentine bath, thus removing the varnish.

=Miscellaneous.=—Many processes have of late been applied to the

finishing of wood-work, such as staining in various colors, fumigating

and other methods. A new finish is now practised in the European

market, and is known as the Rubenick process. It is used for giving a

metallic surface to wood, and consists in first immersing the wood in

a bath of caustic alkaline lye, in which it is allowed to remain for

two or three days, according to the degree of permeability of the wood,

at a temperature of 167° to 194° F. From this bath the wood passes to

another of hydrosulphate of calcium, to which is added, after 24 or 36

hours, a concentrated solution of sulphur. Here it remains for about 48

hours at a temperature of 95° to 122° F., and, lastly, for from 30 to

50 hours the wood is immersed in a solution of acetate of lead at the

same temperature. The timber, thus pickled, is allowed to dry, when it

is said to be susceptible, after burnishing, of a high polish and even

metallic luster, which is more brilliant if the surfaces of the wood

have been previously rubbed with lead, tin or zinc plates, and then

polished with a glass or porcelain burnisher. Treated in this way the

wood may assume the appearance of a metallic mirror, being also hard

and very strong.

With the majority of lumbermen the term hardwood includes everything

except white pine, and is accepted in that sense generally by the

trade, though in reality there are two or three woods, such as buckeye

and Southern white lynn, that are softer than white pine. Some writer,

we know not who, says: “The relative hardness of woods is calculated

by the hickory, which is the toughest. Estimating this at 100, we get

for pignut hickory 96, white oak 84, white ash 77, dogwood 75, scrub

oak 73, white hazel, 72, apple tree 70, red oak 79, white beech 65,

black walnut 65, black birch 62, yellow and black oak, 60, hard maple

56, white elm 58, red cedar 56, cherry 55, yellow pine 54, chestnut 52,

yellow poplar 51, butternut and white birch 43, and white pine 35.”

According to this formula, woods possessing a degree of hardness equal

to only about 40 per cent., or less than that of hickory, should not

be classed as hardwoods. Such woods are, however, limited in quantity,

and are not of sufficient importance to justify a classification, and

the trade will continue to construe hardwood to mean everything except

white pine.

=Dyeing= wood is mostly applied for the purpose of veneers, while

staining is more generally had recourse to give the desired color to

the article after it has been manufactured. In the one case, the color

should penetrate throughout, while in the latter the surface is all

that is essential.

In dyeing, pear tree, holly and beech, take the best black; but for

most colors holly is preferable. It is also best to have wood as young

and as newly cut as possible. After the veneers are cut, they should be

allowed to lie in a trough of water for four or five days before they

are put into the copper; as the water, acting as a purgative to the

wood, brings out an abundance of slimy matter, which must be removed,

or the wood will never be a good color. After this purificatory

process, they should be dried in the open air for at least twelve

hours. They are then ready for the copper. By these simple means the

color will strike much quicker, and be of a brighter hue. It would also

add to the improvement of the colors, if, after the veneers have boiled

a few hours, they are taken out, dried in the air, and again immersed

in the coloring copper. Always dry veneers in the open air, for fire

invariably injures the colors.

=Fine Black Dye.=—Put 6 lbs. of chip logwood into the copper, with as

many veneers as it will conveniently hold, without pressing too tight;

fill it with water, and let it boil _slowly_ for about three hours;

then add half a pound of powdered verdigris, half a pound of copperas,

and 4 ounces of bruised nut-galls; fill the copper up with vinegar as

the water evaporates; let it boil gently two hours each day till the

wood is dyed through.

_Another._—Procure some liquor from a tanner’s pit, or make a decoction

of oak bark, and to every gallon of the liquor add a quarter of a pound

of green copperas, and mix them well together; put the liquor into the

copper, and make it quite hot, but not boil; immerse the veneers in it,

and let them remain for an hour; take them out, and expose them to the

air, till it has penetrated its substance; then add some logwood to

the solution, place the veneers again in it, and let it simmer for two

or three hours; let the whole cool gradually, dry the veneers in the

shade, and they will be a very fine black.

=Fine Blue Dye.=—Into a clean glass bottle put 1 lb. of oil of vitriol,

and 4 ozs. of the best indigo pounded in a mortar (take care to set

the bottle in a basin or earthen glazed pan, as it will ferment); then

put the veneers into a copper or stone trough; fill it rather more

than one-third with water, and add as much of the vitriol and indigo

(stirring it about) as will make a fine blue, which may be known by

trying it with a piece of white paper or wood, Let the veneers remain

till the dye has struck through.

The color will be much improved if the solution of indigo in vitriol

be kept a few weeks before using it. The color will strike better if

the veneers are boiled in plain water till completely soaked through,

and then allowed for a few hours to dry partially, previous to being

immersed in the dye.

_Another._—Throw pieces of quicklime into soft water; stir it well;

when settled, strain or pour off the clear part; then to every gallon

add ten or twelve ounces of the best turnsole; put the whole into the

copper with the veneers, which should be of white holly, and prepared

as usual by boiling in water; let them simmer gently till the color has

sufficiently penetrated, but be careful not to let them boil in it, as

it would injure the color.

=A Fine Yellow Dye.=—Reduce 4 lbs. of the root of barberry, by sawing,

to dust, which put in a copper or brass trough; add 4 ozs. of turmeric

and 4 gallons of water, then put in as many white holly veneers as the

liquor will cover; boil them together for three hours, often turning

them; when cool, add 2 ozs. of aquafortis and the dye will strike

through much sooner.

=A Bright Yellow Dye.=—To every gallon of water necessary to cover the

veneers, add 1 lb. of French berries; boil the veneers till the color

has penetrated through; add to the infusion of the French berries, the

liquid for brightening colors given on page 78, and let the veneers

remain for two or three hours, and the color will be very bright.

=Bright Green Dye.=—Proceed as in either of the previous receipts to

produce a yellow; but instead of adding aquafortis or the brightening

liquid, add as much vitriolated indigo (see page 80) as will produce

the desired color.

=Green Dye.=—Dissolve 4 ozs. of the best verdigris, and of sap-green

and indigo half an ounce each in 3 pints of the best vinegar; put in

the veneers, and gently boil till the color has penetrated sufficiently.

The hue of the green may be varied by altering the proportion of the

ingredients; and it is advised, unless wanted for a particular purpose,

to leave out the sap-green, as it is a vegetable color very apt to

change, or turn brown, when exposed to the air.

=Bright Red Dye.=—To 2 lbs. of genuine Brazil dust, add 4 gallons of

water; put in as many veneers as the liquor will cover; boil them for

three hours; then add 2 ozs. of alum, and 2 ozs. of aquafortis, and

keep it lukewarm until it has struck through.

=Red Dye.=—To every pound of logwood chips, add 2 gallons of water; put

in the veneers, and boil as in the last; then add a sufficient quantity

of the brightening liquid (see page 78) till you see the color to your

mind; keep the whole as warm as the finger can be borne in it, till the

color has sufficiently penetrated.

The logwood chips should be picked from all foreign substances, with

which it generally abounds, as bark, dirt, etc.; and it is always best

when fresh cut, which may be known by its appearing of a bright-red

color; for if stale, it will look brown, and not yield so much coloring

matter.

=Purple Dye.=—To 2 lbs. of chip logwood and half a pound of Brazil

dust, add 4 gallons of water, and after putting in the veneers, boil

them for at least three hours; then add 6 ozs. of pearl-ash and 2 ozs.

of alum; let them boil for two or three hours every day, till the color

has struck through.

The Brazil dust only contributes to make the purple of a more red cast;

you may, therefore, omit it, if you require a deep bluish purple.

_Another._—Boil 2 lbs. of logwood, either in chips or powder, in 4

gallons of water, with the veneers; after boiling till the color is

well struck in, add by degrees vitriolated indigo (see page 80) till

the purple is of the shade required, which may be known by trying it

with a piece of paper; let it then boil for one hour, and keep the

liquid in a milk-warm state till the color has penetrated the veneer.

This method, when properly managed, will produce a brilliant purple,

not so likely to fade as the foregoing.

=Liquid For Brightening= AND SETTING COLORS.—To every pint of strong

aquafortis, add 1 oz. of grain tin, and a piece of sal-ammoniac of the

size of a walnut; set it by to dissolve, shake the bottle round with

the cork out, from time to time; in the course of two or three days it

will be fit for use. This will be found an admirable liquid to add to

any color, as it not only brightens it, but renders it less likely to

fade from exposure to the air.

=Orange Dye.=—Let the veneers be dyed by either of the methods given

in page 81, of a fine deep yellow, and while they are still wet and

saturated with the dye, transfer them to the bright red dye as in page

82, till the color penetrates equally throughout.

=Silver Grey Dye.=—Expose to the weather in a cast-iron pot of six or

eight gallons, old iron nails, hoops, etc., till covered with rust; add

1 gallon of vinegar and 2 of water, boil all well for an hour; have

the veneers ready, which must be hardwood (not too dry,) put them in

the copper used to dye black, and pour the iron liquor over them; add

1 lb. of chip logwood and 2 ozs. of bruised nut-galls; then boil up

another pot of the iron liquor to supply the copper with, keeping the

veneers covered, and boiling two hours a day, till the required color

is obtained.

=Gray Dye.=—Expose any quantity of old iron, or what is better, the

borings of gun-barrels, etc., in any convenient vessel, and from time

to time sprinkle them with spirits of salt (muriatic acid) diluted in

four times its quantity of water, till they are very thickly covered

with rust; then to every six pounds add a gallon of water, in which has

been dissolved two ounces of salt of tartar; lay the veneers in the

copper, and cover them with this liquid; let it boil for two or three

hours till well soaked, then to every gallon of liquor add a quarter of

a pound of green copperas, and keep the whole at a moderate temperature

till the dye has sufficiently penetrated.

=Gilding, Silvering and Bronzing= are processes of applying to

previously prepared surfaces a thin layer of gold or silver leaf, or in

bronzing, of a fine powder, prepared from various metals and intended

to imitate the peculiar appearance of genuine bronze. The processes

of gilding and silvering being identical, the description of one will

suffice to explain the other.

=Gilding.=—Gold leaf, applied to articles of furniture as a means

of decoration, is used in two ways; it is applied over an ordinary

varnish or other finish, in which case but little special preparation

is necessary; or, as when used for picture-frames, cornices, etc., it

is applied to a specially prepared foundation, the basis of which is

whiting, mixed with various other ingredients suggested by experience

or fancy. In either case, the gold leaf is caused to adhere to the

work, by size specially prepared for the purpose, receipts for which

follow herewith; the size being first applied to the work, and when

it has become of the right consistency, the gold is laid upon it.

OIL-GILDING and BURNISH-GILDING are different methods used to obtain

certain desired effects, the former principally for articles exposed

to the weather, and for heightening the effect of incised carving or

engraving, and the latter for picture-frames and articles having a

specially prepared foundation, whose entire surface is to be gilded. It

is intended that the gold shall adhere to the work only in the places

to which the size has been applied, but the smallest portion of oil

or even a slight dampness may cause the gold to partially adhere to

the adjoining surface, resulting in slightly ragged edges; to prevent

this, before applying the size to the desired design, the entire

surface is covered with a thin film of some substance perfectly free

from moisture, and easily removable by water, after completion of the

process.

=The Requisites.=—First, a sufficient quantity of leaf-gold, which is

of two sorts—the deep gold, as it is called, and the pale gold. The

former is the best; the latter very useful, and may occasionally be

introduced for variety or effect.

Second, a gilder’s cushion: an oblong piece of wood, covered with rough

calf-skin, stuffed with flannel several times doubled, with a border

of parchment, about four inches deep, at one end, to prevent the air

blowing the leaves about when placed on the cushion.

Thirdly, a gilding-knife, with a straight and very smooth edge, to cut

the gold.

Fourthly, several camel-hair pencils in sizes, and tips, made of a few

long camel’s hairs put between two cards, in the same manner as hairs

are put into tin cases for brushes, thus making a flat brush with a

very few hairs.

Lastly, a burnisher, which is a crooked piece of agate set in a long

wooden handle.

=Sizes.=—These are of two kinds: oil sizes are those which when

applied, present an adhesive surface, requiring the immediate laying of

the gold-leaf upon it; of this class is the oil-size commonly used in

decorating furniture; water-sizes are those that are allowed to become

dry and hard when applied, and are rendered adhesive when the gold is

to be laid, by brushing over with water; for burnish-gilding these are

always employed, as oil-size does not dry sufficiently hard to permit

of burnishing.

=Oil Size for Oil-Gliding.=—Grind calcined red-ochre with the best

and oldest drying-oil. When desired for use, add sufficient oil of

turpentine to make it work freely.

=Parchment-Size.=—For preparing Frames, etc.—To half a pound of

parchment shavings, or cuttings of white leather, add three quarts of

water, and boil it in a proper vessel till reduced to nearly half the

quantity; then take it off the fire, and strain it through a sieve. Be

careful in the boiling to keep it well stirred, and do not let burn.

=Gold-Size for Burnish-Gilding.=—Grind fine sal-ammoniac well with a

muller and stone; scrape into it a little beef suet, and grind all wet

together; after which, mix in with a pallet knife a small proportion of

parchment-size with a double proportion of water. When about to use,

add parchment-size until it will just flow from the brush.

_Another._—Grind a lump of tobacco-pipe clay into a very stiff paste

with thin size; add a small quantity of ruddle and fine black lead,

ground very fine, and temper the whole with a small piece of tallow.

When ready to use, reduce with parchment size until it will just flow

from the brush.

_Another._—Grind separately in water, 1 lb. Armenian bole, 2 ozs. red

lead, a sufficient quantity of black lead; mix, and regrind with a

small quantity of olive oil. Reduce with parchment size to the proper

consistency.

=To Prevent Gold Adhering.=—Either one of the following methods will

prevent gold-leaf or bronze from adhering to the surface beyond the

outlines of the sizing laid on to receive it:

1. Whiting used dry, and applied by means of a pounce bag.

2. Whiting mixed in water, and applied with a soft brush. When the

water has evaporated, dust off the superfluous whiting with an ordinary

paint duster. By this method a very thin coating of whiting remains,

which is free from any grittiness. One advantage gained by the use of

whiting thus applied is, it furnishes a whitish ground over which clear

varnish or oil-size may be distinctly seen as the striping progresses.

After the leaf or bronze has been applied, the work must be carefully

washed, so as to insure the removal of the whiting.

3. White of egg reduced with water, and applied with a piece of sponge.

4. A thin wash of starch water, either brushed on with a flat

camel-hair brush, or applied with a soft sponge.

5. Take ball liquorice and water, a weak solution, and apply with a

soft brush. This may be kept in a bottle ready for use at any time.

6. Cut a new potato in two, and rub over the part to be sized with the

raw face exposed, allowing the juice to remain until dry.

It will be observed that any substance which interposes a film over the

varnish, itself being free from tackiness and readily removed by water,

will answer the purpose.

=Oil Gilding.=—Applying the Gold.—If the wood to be gilded is finished

with varnish or otherwise, no additional foundation is necessary upon

which to lay the gold-leaf; if the wood is not finished, after it has

been smoothed and dusted, give it one or two coats of parchment size,

after it is perfectly dry and hard, again smoothing the surface with

fine sandpaper. That the gold may not adhere to any part of the work

except where the size is hard, powder the surface lightly with whiting

from a pounce-bag, which is a small bag made of material sufficiently

loose to permit the powdered whiting to sift through as fine dust; if

preferred, any of the preceding receipts for that purpose can be used

instead. Remove the surplus whiting with the dusting-brush, and the

work is then ready for the size. Apply this with a sable or fit brush

of the proper size, carefully observing to make the outer lines of the

design clear and sharp, that the work may not appear ragged. Let the

size remain until it feels tacky, when the gold may be applied. This is

the most difficult part of the operation, and experience is necessary

before gold-leaf can be laid smoothly without a wrinkle or a break.

Turn a leaf of gold out of the book upon the cushion; breathe gently

upon the centre of the leaf and it will lay flat on the cushion; cut

it to the proper size by bringing the knife perpendicularly over it,

and sawing it gently until divided. Take your tip (a brush used for

the purpose) and after drawing it lightly over your hair to remove any

particles or dust that may be upon it, breathe upon it gently, which

will dampen it sufficiently to cause the leaf of gold to adhere to it;

lay the tip upon the leaf of gold and carefully transfer it to the

work; blow upon it gently and it will straighten out and adhere. It may

be rendered quite smooth by slightly dabbing it with a bit of cotton.

In about an hour wash off the superfluous gold from the edges, with a

sponge and water. If the article is to be exposed to the weather or

much wear, the gilding may be varnished with copal varnish.

=Burnish-Gilding.=—As previously stated, this process requires a

specially prepared foundation upon which to lay the gold, and as the

preparation of this foundation is a distinct trade, the furniture

dealer or cabinet-maker seldom finds it necessary to undertake it,

the articles coming to his hand ready-prepared for gilding; but as in

repairing picture-frames, cornices, mirror frames, etc., it frequently

becomes necessary to renew the foundation, a comprehensive description

of the whole process is given.

=Preparing the Woodwork.=—After smoothing and dusting the work, coat

the frames in every part with boiling-hot parchment-size, as previously

described, then mix a sufficient quantity of whiting with size to the

consistency of thick cream, and with it by means of a brush, coat

every part of the frame several times, permitting each coat to become

perfectly dry before proceeding with the next. The wood will thus be

covered with a layer of hard whiting nearly or quite a sixteenth of an

inch in thickness. The size must not be too thick, and when mixed with

the whiting should not be so hot as the preliminary coat of size.

=Polishing.=—When the preparations are quite dry, clean and polish

them. To do this, wet a small piece at a time, and, with a smooth, fine

piece of cloth, dipped in water, rub the part till all the bumps and

inequalities are removed; and for those parts where the fingers will

not enter, as the mouldings, etc., wind the wet cloth round a piece of

wood, and by this means make the surface all smooth and even alike.

Where there is carved work, etc., it will sometimes be necessary to

bring the mouldings to their original sharpness by means of chisels,

gouges, etc., as the preparation will be apt to fill up all the finer

parts of the work, which must be thus restored. It is sometimes the

practice, after polishing, to go over the work once with fine yellow or

Roman ochre; but this is rarely necessary.

=Applying the Size.=—Select the proper gold-size from the receipts

previously given; add parchment size until it will just flow from the

brush; make it quite hot, and apply it to the wood with a very soft

brush, taking care not to make the first coat too thick; let it dry and

give two or three successive coats, after the last brushing it with a

stiff brush to remove any inequalities. The work is then ready for the

gold.

Laying the gold. The manipulation of the gold leaf has been described

under the heading OIL GILDING. In the paint now being described, size

used (being water-size, which previously explained is permitted to

become hard and dry after being applied) must be moistened to cause

the gold-leaf to adhere to it. For this purpose, with a long-haired

camel-hair pencil, dipped in water, go over as much of the work as you

intend the piece of gold to cover; then lay the gold upon it in the

manner previously explained. Be sure that the part to which the gold is

applied is sufficiently wet; indeed it must be floating, or the gold

will be apt to crack. Proceed in this manner a little at a time, and

do not attempt to cover too much at once, until by experience you are

going to handle the gold with freedom.

=Burnishing.=—When the work is covered with gold, set it by to dry;

there is a particular state or degree of dryness, known only by

experience in which the moulding is in a fit state for burnishing; it

will probably be ready to burnish in about eight or ten hours, but it

will depend on the warmth of the room or state of the air.

When it is ready, those parts intended to be burnished must be dusted

with a soft brush; then wiping the burnisher with a piece of soft

wash-leather (quite dry) begin to burnish about an inch or two in

length at a time, taking care not to bear too hard, but with a gentle

and quick motion, applying the tool until all the parts of the surface

are equally bright.

=Matting or Dead Gold.=—Certain portions only of the work are

burnished, according to the fancy, and the facility with which the

burnishing tool can be applied; the remaining parts are now to be

deprived of their metallic lustre, to make a more effective contrast

with the burnishing. The parts thus treated are said to be matted or

dead gold. The process is as follows:

Grind some vermilion or yellow ochre very fine, and mix a very small

portion either with the parchment size or with the white of an egg,

and with a very soft brush lay it evenly on the parts to be dulled; if

well done, it will add greatly to the beauty of the work. Previous to

matting, the work must be well cleared of superfluous gold, by means of

a soft brush.

=Finishing.=—In elaborate works it is frequently impossible to lay

gold-leaf into all the intricacies of an elaborate design, and the

parts thus left bare must be finished by touching up with a small brush

charged with shell-gold, or gold-powder, mixed with gum-Arabic to the

proper consistency. The following receipt describes the preparation of

shell-gold:

=Shelled Gold.=—Take any quantity of leaf-gold and grind it with a

small portion of honey, to a fine powder, add a little gum-Arabic and

sugar-candy, with a little water, and mix it well together; let it dry.

=Silver Size.=—Grind pipe-clay fine with a little black lead and good

soap, and add parchment-size as directed for gold-size.

=Composition for Frame Ornaments.=—The ornaments for gilded

mirror-frames, etc., are usually moulded from some plastic substance

that is somewhat tougher and more durable than the ordinary gilding

foundation of whiting and size. The proper moulds being prepared

they are thoroughly rubbed upon the inside with sweet oil, and the

composition firmly pressed in; after removing the mould the cast may

be dried by a gentle heat, or while still plastic it can be applied in

its proper place and bent into any position. Following are receipts for

composition:

Dissolve 1 lb. of glue in 1 gallon of water. In another kettle boil

together 2 lbs. of resin, 1 gill of Venice turpentine, and 1 pint of

linseed oil; mix altogether in one kettle, and boil and stir till

the water has evaporated. Turn the whole into a tub of finely-rolled

whiting, and work till it is the consistency of dough.

Boil 7 lbs. of best glue in 7 half-pints of water. Melt 3 lbs. of

white resin in 3 pints of raw linseed oil. When the above has been

well-boiled put them into a large vessel and simmer them for half an

hour, stirring the mixture and taking care that it does not boil over.

The whole must then be turned into a box of whiting rolled and sifted,

and mixed till it is of the consistency of dough.

=To Manipulate Gold Leaf.=—Get a piece of paper, thin enough to show

shadow of gold-leaf through, slightly wax it, lay it on gold-leaf, the

latter will then adhere, and can be easily worked and will come off

clean. The paper should be slightly larger than the gold-leaf, and the

fingers passed over the paper to make the gold-leaf adhere.

Bronzing.—This is a process for imitating on metal, plaster wood, or

other material, the peculiar appearance produced by chemical action

upon the surface of bronze metal. It is accomplished by spreading over

the surface of the material to be ornamented a very thin coating of

bronze-powder, which is caused to adhere either by applying it directly

upon a coating of any of the sizes mentioned in the foregoing pages, or

by mixing with a vehicle, such as gum-Arabic or transparent varnish.

The latter is most desirable, as in the other case, being subject to

the direct action of the atmosphere, the bronze-powder soon tarnishes.

In ornamenting furniture, bronzing is generally employed to represent

gilding, a variety of bronze called gold-bronze being used, which

affords an excellent imitation but is not very lasting. It is usually

applied after the completion of the other finishing processes, the

ground-work being prepared in the manner described under OIL-GILDING,

and the size likewise applied as there described. A small wad of cotton

batting is then dipped in the bronze and passed gently over the sized

portions, causing the bronze to adhere. In the other method—that of

applying the bronze by means of a vehicle—the preliminaries of whiting

the ground and sizing are not necessary, a small quantity of bronze

being simply mixed with the vehicle employed to such a degree of

fluidity that it will flow easily, and in that condition applied with a

fine brush. Many preparations are used as vehicles such as transparent

varnish thinned with turpentine, gum-Arabic, dissolved in water, and

gold-size reduced with parchment-size. There are a variety of colors

in bronze-powders, and to produce the best effect the size or vehicle

should be of a color similar to that of the bronze used; in gold-size

the coloring pigment is ochre, and in its place, for green-bronze,

or blue-bronze, may be employed respectively verditer, vermillion or

Prussian blue, a very small quantity being sufficient. In bronzing on

painted work the ground should be as nearly as possible the color of

the bronze to be applied.

THE END.

INDEX.

A filler for rosewood, 18.

Another method of filling, 18.

A good recipe for French polish, 47.

Another recipe for French polish, 47.

A good polish, 48.

A polish that will resist water, 48.

A French polish reviver, 49.

Antique oak, 53.

Ash, 63.

A fine yellow dye, 81.

A bright yellow dye, 81.

Applying size, 88.

Berry Bros. hard oil finish, 25.

Brushes for varnishing, 35.

Birch, 64.

Basswood, 69.

Beech, 69.

Butternut, 69.

Brown stain, 77.

Brown stain by another method, 77.

Black dye, 77.

Bright green dye, 81.

Bright red dye, 82.

Burnish gilding, 87.

Burnishing, 89.

Carriage varnish, 41.

Chamois skin, 41.

Cleanliness in polishing, 42.

Cotton wads for polishing, 45.

Cherry, 62.

Cedar, 69.

Chestnut, 69.

Cypress, 70.

Cedarwood imitation, 77.

Composition for frame ornaments, 90.

Dead finish, 49.

Dying wood, 79.

Elm, 69.

Filler for light woods, 17.

Filler for cherry, 18.

Filler for oak, 18.

Filler for rosewood, 18.

Filler for mahogany, redwood and cherry, 20.

F. W. Devoe & Co.’s wax finishing, 24.

Finishing, varnishing and polishing, 27.

Flowing, 42.

French polishing, 44.

First and best recipe for French polishing, 47.

Finish—dead, 49.

Fine black dye, 80.

Fine blue dye, 80.

Finishing, 90.

Glue size, 34.

General recipes, 73.

Green dye, 81.

Grey dye, 83.

Gilding, silvering and bronzing, 83.

Gilding, 84.

Gold size for burnish gilding, 85.

Hard oil finish, 25.

Hard oil finishing, 34.

Hemlock, 70.

Introduction, 5.

Imitation oak stain, 68.

Imitation mahogany stain, 68.

Imitation rosewood stain, 68.

Imitation walnut stain, 68.

Liquid for brightening and setting colors, 82.

Murphy’s transparent varnish, 44.

Mahogany, 58.

Miscellaneous, 78.

Matting or dead gold, 89.

Oil shellac, 33.

Other French polish recipes, 47.

Oak, 52.

Oak stains, 58.

Oak stain “No. 2,” 58.

Orange dye, 83.

Oil size for oil gilding, 85.

Oil gilding, 86.

Preliminary, 9.

Preparation of wood for staining, 19.

Polishing and finishing, 27.

Preparing shellac, 32.

Pumice-stone, 39.

Prepared spirits, 48.

Polish for turner’s work, 49.

Pine, 65.

Poplar, 69.

Purple dye, 82.

Parchment size, 85.

Preparing wood-work, 88.

Polishing, 88.

Rubbing and finishing, 29.

Rubber for polishing, 46.

Rosewood, 71.

Red dye, 82.

Size and sizing, 26.

Staining, finishing, varnishing and polishing, 27.

Shellacing, 30.

Shellac, preparing, 32.

Sandpapering, 36.

“Sag” in varnish, 37.

Sweating varnish, 40.

Sycamore, 70.

Stains, 75.

Silver grey dye, 83.

Sizes, 85.

Shelled gold, 90.

Silver size, 90.

The various woods, their stains and finish, 51.

To brighten stains, 78.

The requisites, 84.

To prevent gold adhering, 86.

To manipulate gold leaf, 91.

Varnishing and polishing, 27.

Varnishing hardwood, 35.

Varnish brushes, 35.

Veneered panels, 43.

Varnish polishing, 43.

Varnish finish for cheap work, 50.

Varnish pans, 51.

Wood fillers and wood-filling, 14.

Walnut filler, medium, 17.

Walnut filler for wax finish, 17.

Walnut filler for first-class work, 17.

Wheeler’s wood-filler, 22.

Wax finish, 50.

Walnut, 68.

+Established 1870.+

STANDARD BOOKS

PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY THE

INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION CO.

New York.

_These books will be sent, postpaid, to any address in any accessible

part of the world, on receipt of price.—Full Descriptive Catalogues may

be had free.—New Catalogues, with additions of new books, are issued

from time to time, and will be sent to any address on request.—Address_,

INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION CO., New York.

THE STEEL SQUARE AND ITS USES.

Being a Description of the Square and Its Uses in Obtaining the

Lengths and Bevels of all kinds of Rafters, Hips, Groins, Braces,

Brackets, Purlins, Collar-Beams, and Jack-Rafters.—Also, its

Application in Obtaining the Bevels and Cuts for Hoppers, Spring

Moldings, Octagons, Stairs, Diminished Stiles, &c.—By FRED. T.

HODGSON, author of “Practical Carpentry,” “The Builders’ Guide,”

&c.—Third Edition, Revised and Greatly Enlarged.—Illustrated by

Nearly One Hundred Fine Engravings.—Cloth, gilt. $1

This is the only practical work on the steel square and its uses ever

published. It is thorough, accurate, clear, and easily understood.

Confounding terms and scientific phrases have been religiously avoided

where possible; and everything in the book has been made so plain that

a boy of twelve years of age, possessing ordinary intelligence, can

understand it from end to end.

This new edition, just issued, is illustrated by nearly one hundred

handsome engravings, showing how the square may be used for solving

nearly every problem in the whole art of carpentry. The carpenter who

possesses this book need not waste time and material “cutting and

trying.” He can lay out his work to a hair’s breadth, and “cut to the

line.” And, in these days, the workman who can not lay out his work

accurately at the first attempt stands no show.

The book is absolutely indispensable to every person who may have

to use a carpenter’s square. Joiners, cabinet-makers, bricklayers,

stonecutters, plasterers, lumber-dealers, amateurs, and all who build

a fence, tinker a gate, or make a chicken-coop will find something in

this little volume that will help and aid them to do their work better

and more intelligently than they could without a knowledge of its

contents.

Many difficult and troublesome mathematical problems can be solved by

the use of this tool, and the methods of solving them are shown in

this book. It describes how painting, plastering, and brickwork can be

measured, and how many mechanical difficulties can be overcome with

great ease. It explains how ellipses, parabolas, octagons, circles, and

many other figures, may be described by the steel square.

It is safe to say that this dollar book will easily enable any

intelligent mechanic to save ten dollars in time and material during

the first three months that he has it in use.

STEEL SQUARES AND THEIR USES.

Being a Description of the Various Steel Squares and Their Uses

in Solving a large number of Mechanical Problems in Constructive

Carpentry, Joinery, Sheet-metal Work, Cut-stone or Brick-work. Also,

showing how many Geometrical and other Problems may be solved by the

use of the Steel Square.—By FRED. T. HODGSON, author of “The Steel

Square and Its Uses,” “The Slide-Rule, and Its Uses,” “Practical

Carpentry,” “The Builders’ Guide,” &c.—Finely Illustrated.—Cloth. $1

This forms Part II of “_The Steel Square and Its Uses_,” and is not in

any sense a substitute for the First Part, which still remains what it

always has been—a necessity to every intelligent workman. Part II is an

extension and enlargement of the First Part, giving new problems, new

methods, and new wrinkles for shortening the labor and increasing the

accuracy of the workman. It is illustrated in the same handsome manner

which characterizes the First Part, to which it forms a companion

volume.

With these two volumes in his possession the workman has at command the

entire practical mathematics of construction, and is prepared to lay

out any piece of work more easily, quickly, and accurately than it can

be done by any other method.

PRACTICAL CARPENTRY.

Being a Guide to the Correct Working and Laying out of all kinds of

Carpenters’ and Joiners’ Work, with the Solutions of the Various

Problems in Hip-Roofs, Gothic Work, Centering, Splayed Work, Joints

and Jointing, Hingeing, Dovetailing, Mitering, Timber-Splicing,

Hopper-work, Skylights, Raking Moldings, Circular Work, &c.—To

which is prefixed a thorough treatise on “Carpenters’ Geometry.”—By

FRED. T. HODGSON, author of “The Steel Square and Its Uses,”

“The Slide-Rule, and How to Use It,” “The Builders’ Guide,”

&c.—Illustrated by over Three Hundred Engravings.—Cloth, gilt. $1

This is the most thorough book of the kind ever published. It is

thorough, practical, and reliable; and at the same time is written in a

style so plain that any workman or apprentice can easily understand it.

STAIR-BUILDING MADE EASY.

Being a Full and Clear Description of the Art of Building the Bodies,

Carriages, and Cases for all kinds of Stairs and Steps.—Together

with Illustrations Showing the Manner of Laying Out Stairs, forming

Treads and Risers, building Cylinders, preparing Strings; with

Instructions for making Carriages for Common, Platform, Dog-legged,

and Winding Stairs.—To which is added an Illustrated Glossary of

Terms used in Stair-Building, and Designs for Newels, Balusters,

Brackets, Stair-Moldings, and Sections of Hand-Rails.—By FRED. T.

HODGSON, author of “The Steel Square and Its Uses,” &c.—Illustrated

by over One Hundred and Twenty Engravings, many of them full-page

size.—Cloth, gilt. $1

This work takes hold at the very beginning of the subject, and

carries the student along by easy stages until the entire subject of

stairbuilding has been unfolded, so far as ordinary practice can ever

require. This book, and the following one on _Hand-Railing_, cover

nearly the whole subject of _Stair-Building_.

A NEW SYSTEM OF HAND-RAILING.

Or, How to Cut Hand-Railing for Circular and other Stairs, square

from the Plank, without the aid of a Falling Mould.—By AN OLD

STAIRBUILDER.—Edited and corrected by FRED. T. HODGSON, author of

“Stair-building Made Easy,” &c.—Cloth, gilt $1

The system is new, novel, economic, and easily learned. Rules,

instructions, and working drawings for building rails for seven

different kinds of stairs are given.

THE BUILDERS’ GUIDE, and Estimators’ Price-Book.

Being a Compilation of Current Prices of Lumber, Hardware, Glass,

Plumbers’ Supplies, Paints, Slates, Stones, Limes, Cements, Bricks,

Tin, and other Building Materials. Also, Prices of Labor and Cost of

Performing the Several Kinds of Work Required in Building; together

with Prices of Doors, Frames, Sashes, Stairs, Moldings, Newels,

and other Machine-work.—To which is appended a large number of

Building Rules, Data, Tables, and Useful Memoranda, with a Glossary

of Architectural and Building Terms.—By FRED. T. HODGSON, author of

“The Steel Square and Its Uses,” “The Slide-Rule, and How to Use It,”

“Practical Carpentry,” &c.—Cloth $2

CARPENTERS’ and JOINERS’ POCKET COMPANION

Containing Rules, Data, and Directions for Laying Out Work, and for

Calculating and Estimating.—With Frontispiece showing the parts of

an Architectural Column; also containing many other Illustrative

Engravings.—Compiled by THOMAS MOLONEY, Carpenter and Joiner.—Cloth

50 cents.

This is a compact and handy little volume, containing the most

useful rules and memoranda, practically tested by many years’

experience in the shop, factory, and building. Also, a treatise on

the framing-square. It is by a thoroughly practical man, and contains

enough that is not easily found any where else to make it worth more

than its price to every intelligent carpenter.

EASY LESSONS IN ARCHITECTURE.

Consisting of a Series of Questions and Answers explaining in Simple

Language the Principles and Progress of Architecture from the

Earliest Times.—By THOMAS MITCHELL.—Illustrated by nearly One Hundred

and Fifty Engravings.—New Edition, with American additions.—Cloth

50 cents.

Architecture is not only a profession and an art, but an important

branch of every liberal education. No person can be said to be well

educated who has not some knowledge of its general principles and

of the characteristics of the different styles. The present work is

probably the best architectural textbook for beginners ever published.

The numerous illustrative engravings make the subject very simple, and

prevent all misunderstanding. It tells all about the different styles,

their peculiar features, their origin, and the principles that underlie

their construction.

HINTS AND AIDS TO BUILDERS

Gives hints and prices, tells how to measure, explains building

terms, and, in short, contains a fund of information for all who are

interested in building.—Paper 25 cents.

BUCK’S COTTAGE AND OTHER DESIGNS.

Buck’s Designs in Architecture, showing a Variety of Designs,

together with a large amount of Miscellaneous Matter, making it a

very valuable book.—Forty designs for fifty cents.

Just the book you want, if you are going to build a cheap and

comfortable home. It shows a great variety of cheap and medium-priced

cottages, besides giving a number of useful hints and suggestions on

the various questions liable to arise in building, such as selections

of site, general arrangement of the plans, sanatary questions. &c.

Cottages costing from $500 to $5,000 are shown in considerable variety,

and nearly every taste can be satisfied.

The information on site, general arrangement of plan, sanatary matters,

&c., is worth a great deal more than the cost of the book.

=WATER-CLOSETS.=—A Historical, Mechanical, and Sanitary Treatise.—By

GLENN BROWN, Architect; Associate American Institute of

Architects.—Neatly bound in cloth, gilt title. $1

This book contains over 250 engravings, drawn expressly for the work

by the author. The drawings are so clear that the distinctive features

of every device are easily seen at a glance, and the descriptions

are particularly full and thorough. Every known water-closet is

fully described, and an account given of its qualities, advantages,

and defects. The paramount importance of this department of the

construction of our houses renders all comment upon the value of such a

work unnecessary.

PLASTER: HOW TO MAKE AND HOW TO USE.

Being a Complete Guide for the Plasterer in the Preparation and

Application of all kinds of Plaster, Stucco, Portland Cement,

Hydraulic Cements, Lime of Tiel, Rosendale and other Cements. With

Useful and Practical Information on the Chemistry, Qualities, and

Uses of the Various Kinds of Limes and Cements.—Together with

Rules for Measuring, Computing, and Valuing Plaster and Stucco

Work.—To which is appended an Illustrated Glossary of Terms used in

Plastering, &c.—By FRED. T. HODGSON, author of “The Builders’ Guide,

and Estimators’ Price-Book,” “Practical Carpentry,” &c.—Cloth, gilt $1

This work is illustrated with numerous engravings in the text and

three plates, giving some forty figures of ceilings, center-pieces,

cornices, panels, and soffits. It is an invaluable book for plasterers,

bricklayers, masons, builders, architects, and engineers.

HANDSAWS: THEIR USE, CARE, AND ABUSE.

How to Select and How to File Them.—Being a Complete Guide for

Selecting, Using, and Filing all kinds of Handsaws, Back-saws,

Compass and Key-hole Saws, Web, Hack, and Butchers’ Saws. Showing

the Shapes, Forms, Angles, Pitches, and Sizes of Saw-teeth suitable

for all kinds of Saws, and for all kinds of Wood, Bone, Ivory, and

Metal.—Together with Hints and Suggestions on the Choice of Files,

Saw-sets, Filing-clamps, and other matters pertaining to the Care and

Management of all classes of Hand and other Small Saws.—By FRED. T.

HODGSON, author of “The Steel Square and Its Uses,” “The Slide-Rule,

and How to Use It,” “The Builders’ Guide,” “Practical Carpentry,”

&c.—Illustrated by over Seventy-five Engravings.—Cloth, gilt $1

This work is intended more particularly for operative carpenters,

joiners, cabinet-makers, carriage-builders, and woodworkers generally,

amateurs or professionals.

THE PRACTICAL UPHOLSTERER.

Giving Clear Directions for Skillfully Performing all kinds of

Upholsterers’ Work in Leather, Silk, Plush, Reps, Cottons, Velvets,

and Carpetings.—Also, for Stuffing, Embossing, Welting, and Covering

all kinds of Mattresses, &c.—Rules for Measuring Valances, Curtains,

Tapestry, Window and Door Drapery, Curtain Rods, Persian Beds, Mantel

Drapery, Lambrequins, Cushions, Floor-Cloths, Festoon Blinds and

Curtain-Hangings, and all kinds of Upholstery.—Fully Illustrated with

Engravings of Tools, Sketches of Furniture, and numerous full-page

Illustrations of Original Decorative Designs.—By A PRACTICAL

UPHOLSTERER. 12mo, cloth $1

This work contains a number of original designs in drapery and

upholstery, with full explanatory text, and an immense number of

working illustrations. It gives a description of tools, appliances,

and materials. It tells how to upholster chairs, parlor furniture,

bedroom furniture, &c. It contains rules for cutting bed-hangings,

window-curtains, door-hangings, blinds, and for measuring and cutting

carpets. It gives arithmetical calculations for cutting carpets,

curtains, &c., mantle-board drapery, festoons, and, in short,

everything pertaining to upholstery.

There is nothing published in this country that is so thorough and

complete in the instructions given for upholstering, as this book. It

is invaluable alike to the practical workman and the amateur.

CABINET-MAKING, UPHOLSTERING, FURNITURE.

_Hints and Practical Information for Cabinet-makers, Upholsterers,

and Furniture-men Generally._—Together with a Description of all

kinds of Finishing, with Full Directions Therefor; Varnishes,

Polishes, Stains for Wood, Dyes for Wood, Gilding and Silvering,

Recipes for the Factory, Lacquers, Metals, Marbles, &c.; Pictures,

Engravings, &c.—Cloth, gilt $1

This book contains an immense amount of the most useful information

for those who are engaged in the manufacture, superintendence, or

construction of furniture or wood-work of any kind. It is one of the

cheapest and best books ever published, and contains over one thousand

hints, suggestions, and methods; and descriptions of tools, appliances,

and materials. All the recipes, rules, and directions have been

carefully revised and corrected by practical men of great experience,

so that they will be found thoroughly trustworthy. It contains many of

the recipes recently sold at from $5 to $500.

THE WORKSHOP COMPANION.—Part I.

A Collection of Useful and Reliable Recipes, Rules, Processes,

Methods, Wrinkles, and Practical Hints, for the Household and the

Shop. Paper, 35 cents.—Cloth, gilt title, 60 cents.

This is a book of 164 closely printed pages, forming a dictionary

of practical information for mechanics, amateurs, housekeepers,

farmers,—everybody. It is not a mere collection of newspaper clippings,

but a series of original treatises on various subjects, such as alloys,

cements, inks, steel, signal-lights, polishing materials, and the

art of polishing wood, metals, &c.; varnishing, gilding, silvering,

bronzing, lacquering, and the working of brass, ivory, alabaster, iron,

steel, glass, &c.

THE WORKSHOP COMPANION.—Part II.

A Collection of Useful and Reliable Recipes, Rules, Processes,

Methods, Wrinkles, and Practical Hints, for the Household and the

Shop. Paper, 35 cents.—Cloth, gilt title, 60 cents.

This is an extension of the first part, and contains subjects which

have not been discussed in the earlier volume. These two volumes

contain an immense amount of practical instruction on matters in regard

to which information is constantly desired by amateurs and practical

men.

=THE PRACTICAL ASSISTANT, AND WORKSHOP COMPANION.=—A Treasury of

Useful Information relating to the Arts and Sciences of everyday

life.—Containing Useful and Reliable Processes, Recipes, Wrinkles,

Methods, Rules, Data, Tables; and Hints for the Factory and the

Household, the Shop and the Farm.—Edited by JOHN PHIN.—Cloth, $1

This is Parts I and II of “The Workshop Companion,” described above,

handsomely bound together in cloth, with gilt title.

=THE AMATEURS’ HANDBOOK OF PRACTICAL INFORMATION, for the Workshop

and Laboratory.= Second Edition.—Greatly Enlarged.—Neatly bound.

15 cents.

This is a handy little book, containing just the information needed by

amateurs in the workshop and laboratory. Directions for making alloys,

fusible metals, cements, glues, &c.; and for soldering, brazing,

lacquering, bronzing, staining and polishing wood, tempering tools,

cutting and working glass, varnishing, silvering, gilding, preparing

skins, &c. The new edition contains extended directions for preparing

polishing powders, freezing mixtures, colored lights for tableaux,

solutions for rendering ladies’ dresses incombustible, &c. There has

also been added a Very large number of new and valuable recipes.

=The Workshop Companion, Part I=, above described, contains _all_ the

matter that is to be found in “The Amateurs’ Handbook.”

MECHANICAL DRAUGHTING.

_The Student’s Illustrated Guide to Practical Draughting._—A series

of Practical Instructions for Machinists, Mechanics, Apprentices, and

Students at Engineering Establishments and Technical Institutes.—By

T. P. PEMBERTON, Draughtsman and Mechanical Engineer.—Illustrated by

numerous engravings.—Cloth, gilt. $1

This is a simple but thorough book, by a draughtsman of twenty-five

years’ experience. It is intended for beginners and self-taught

students, as well as for those who pursue the study under the direction

of a teacher.

DRAWING INSTRUMENTS.

Being a Treatise on Draughting Instruments, with Rules for their Use

and Care; Explanations of Scales, Sectors, and Protractors. Together

with Memoranda for Draughtsmen; Hints on Purchasing Instruments,

Paper, Ink, Pencils, &c. Also, a Price-list of all Materials

required by Draughtsmen.—Illustrated with twenty-four Explanatory

Illustrations.—By FRED. T. HODGSON.—Paper. 25 cents.

THE SLIDE-RULE, AND HOW TO USE IT.

Being a Compilation of Explanations, Rules, and Instructions,

suitable for Mechanics and others interested in the Industrial

Arts.—Compiled and arranged by FRED. T. HODGSON.—25 cents.

Rules are given for the measurement of all kinds of boards and planks,

timber in the round or square, glaziers’ work and painting, brickwork,

paviors’ work, tiling and slating, the measurement of vessels of

various shapes, the wedge, inclined planes, wheels and axles, levers,

the weighing and measurement of metals and all solid bodies, cylinders,

cones, globes, octagon rules and formulæ, the measurement of circles,

and a comparison of French and English measures, with much other

information useful to builders, carpenters, bricklayers, glaziers,

paviors, slaters, machinists, and other mechanics.

Possessed of this little book and a good slide-rule, mechanics might

carry in their pockets some hundreds of times the power of calculation

that they now have in their heads, and the use of the instrument is

very easily acquired.

THE ENGINEER’S SLIDE-RULE, and Its Applications.

A Complete Investigation of the Principles upon which the Slide-Rule

is constructed; together with the Method of its Application to all

the Purposes of the Practical Mechanic.—By WILLIAM TONKES.—Paper.

25 cents.

THE LIGHTNING CALCULATOR.

_Practical Hints on Lightning Calculating._—To which are added Rules,

Tables, Data, Formulæ, and Memoranda, for making rapidly those

everyday calculations that are required in business, mechanics, and

agriculture.—Paper. 20 cents.

A CENTURY OF INVENTIONS.

An exact reprint of the famous “Century of Inventions” of the Marquis

of Worcester (first published in 1663).—With an Introduction, Notes,

and a Life of the Author.—With Portrait after a Painting by Van

Dyke.—Edited by JOHN PHIN.—Cloth. $1

This is one of the most extraordinary books ever published. The

famous “Century of Inventions” is of more than mere historical

interest. It contains numerous hints and suggestions of what might be

accomplished, and will be found of great interest and value to every

one interested in mechanics. Many persons claim that the Marquis of

Worcester anticipated many of our most important modern inventions and

discoveries. Great care has been taken to reproduce exactly (so far as

modern type, &c., could do it) the edition published by the Marquis

himself. It has been entirely out of print for many years.

THE ELECTRICIAN’S POCKET COMPANION.

Electrical Rules, Tables, Tests, and Formulæ.—By ANDREW JAMIESON, C. E.,

F. R. S. E.—Fully illustrated.—Cloth. 75 cents.

This is the most compact and thorough work in the market for the

practical electrician. It contains minute directions for all

calculations, tests, &c., with clear engravings of the apparatus

employed. The following list of contents will give an idea of its

scope:—

Formulæ of the Absolute Units.—Practical, Electrical, and Mechanical.

Heat and Light Units.

Electro-chemical Equivalents, Electrolysis, Heat and Energy of Combustion.

Practical Methods of Electrical Measurements.

Electric Conductors: Copper, &c.—Insulators: Guttapercha, &c.

Submarine Cables.—Aerial Land-lines.

Electric Lighting and Transmission of Power.

=LECTURES IN A WORKSHOP.=—By T. P. PEMBERTON, formerly Associate

Editor of _The Technologist_; author of “The Student’s Illustrated

Guide to Practical Draughting.”—With an Appendix containing the

famous papers by Whitworth “On Plane Metallic Surfaces of True

Planes”; “On the Uniform System of Screw-Threads”; “Address to the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Glasgow”; “On Standard Decimal

Measures of Length.” Cloth, gilt. $1

We have here a sprightly, fascinating book, full of valuable hints,

interesting anecdotes, and sharp sayings. It is not a compilation of

dull sermons or dry mathematics, but a live, readable book. The papers

by Whitworth, now first made readily accessible to the American reader,

form the basis of our modern systems of accurate work.

THE NEW POCKET CYCLOPEDIA.

A Compendium of General Knowledge, Useful and Interesting Facts,

Valuable Statistics, and Practical Information.—16mo., cloth.

50 cents.

This is a handy volume of 164 pages, printed in small but clear type on

very fine thin paper, so that the book may be readily carried in the

pocket or trunk. It contains all those facts and figures which are most

commonly referred to in everyday life, great care being taken to secure

accuracy and clearness. It is not a collection of “curious information”

made up from newspaper clippings, but a thoroughly arranged manual of

the most useful general knowledge.

HOW TO BECOME A GOOD MECHANIC.

Intended as a Practical Guide to Self-taught Men: Telling What to

Study; What Books to Use; How to Begin; What Difficulties will be

met; How to Overcome Them. In a word, how to carry on such a course

of self-instruction as will enable the young mechanic to rise from

the bench to something higher.—Paper. 25 cents.

This is not a book of “goody-goody” advice, neither is it an

advertisement of any special system, nor does it advocate any hobby.

It gives plain practical advice in regard to acquiring that knowledge

which alone can enable a young man engaged in any profession or

occupation connected with the industrial arts to attain a position

higher than that of a mere workman.

CEMENTS, GLUE, AND PASTE.

A Practical Treatise on the Preparation and Use of all kinds of

Cements, Glue, and Paste.—By JOHN PHIN, author of “How to Use the

Microscope.”—Paper. 25 cents.

Every mechanic and householder will find this volume of almost everyday

use. It contains nearly two hundred recipes for the preparation of

cements for almost every conceivable purpose.

HINTS FOR PAINTERS, DECORATORS, AND PAPER-HANGERS.

Being a Selection of Useful Rules, Data, Memoranda, Methods, and

Suggestions for House, Ship, and Furniture Painting; Paper-Hanging,

Gilding, Color-Mixing, and other matters useful and instructive to

painters and decorators.—Prepared with special reference to the wants

of amateurs.—By AN OLD HAND.—Paper. 25 cents.

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO

=SUCCESS IN THE USE OF RECIPES=, Formulæ, &c., with Hints on Chemical

and Mechanical Manipulation.—Intended as a supplement to all books of

recipes.—By JOHN PHIN.—12mo, paper. 25 cents.

While it is an undoubted fact that many of the recipes published in

the ordinary collections are erroneous, either from original blunders

on the part of the authors or from mistakes in copying, failure in the

use of others frequently arises from defective information and vicious

methods on the part of those who attempt to put them in practice. The

object of the present book is to give such hints and cautions as will

enable the worker to secure success where success is possible; and

where the products are intended for sale it gives special and valuable

advice as to the best methods of putting them on the market.

A MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION IN

THE ART OF WOOD ENGRAVING.

With a Description of the necessary Tools and Apparatus, and

Concise Directions for their Use; Explanations of the Terms used

and the Methods employed for producing the various classes of Wood

Engravings.—By S. E. FULLER.—Fully illustrated with engravings by the

author, separate sheets of engravings for transfer and practice being

added.—New edition, neatly bound. 50 cents.

A really thorough and practical work, written for those who want to

learn the art without the aid of a teacher.

=A GUIDE TO COLLODIO ETCHING.=—By Rev. BENJAMIN HARTLEY.—Illustrated

by the author.—12mo, cloth. $1.00

This volume gives complete and minute instructions for one of the most

delightful of amateur arts. It is fully illustrated by woodcuts of all

the apparatus used (which is very simple and easily made), and also by

actual photo-prints of the etchings themselves.

THE PRACTICAL POCKET COMPANION.

A Cyclopedia of the most useful Facts, Figures, and General

Information required by everybody in everyday life.—Edited by

JOHN PHIN, author of “How to Use the Microscope,” “The Workshop

Companion,” “Chemical History of the Six Days of Creation,”

&c.—Numerous illustrations. 10 cents.

CONTENTS.—Abbreviations in Common Use—Business Laws and Commercial

Rules—Acceptances—Agencies—Bills of Exchange—Checques—Common

Carriers—Corporations—Law of Finding—Indorsements—Innkeepers—Negotiable

Instruments—Partnerships—Promissory Notes—Protests—Receipts—Concrete

Walls for Houses—Copyrights—Rules for Correspondence—How to

treat Accidents to the Eye—Factors of Safety—Best Methods of

Extinguishing Fires—Language of Flowers—Significance of Gems

and Precious Stones—Periods of Gestation and Incubation—Legal

Holidays—Homestead Law—Distinguishing Characteristics and

Anxious Periods of Infectious Diseases—Prevention or Attacks

of Insects—Knots, and How to Tie Them, with full page of

illustrations—General Rules—Single Draw-knot—Galley-knot—Square-knot,

or Reefing-knot—Weaver’s-knot, or Sheet-bend-knot—Half-hitch—Two

Half-hitches—Clove-hitch—Timber-hitch—Bowline-knot—Fisherman’s-knot—Whipping

or Binding—Tying Parcels—Care of Leather—Lightning-rods,

general rules for—Best Materials—Proper Size and Best Shapes of

Rod—Painting—Points, or Air-Terminals—Ground Connections—Arrangement

and Mode of Attaching the Rod to the House—Value of Moneys of Foreign

Nations—Passports—Patents—Antidotes for Poisons—Postal Rules and

Rates—Railroad and Steamboat Signals—Rules for Spelling and the Use of

Capitals—Trade-marks—Weather Indications, &c.

=WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT IN CASE OF ACCIDENT.=—A book for

everybody.—Cloth, gilt. 50 cents.

This is one of the most useful books ever published. It tells exactly

what to do in case of accidents, such as severe cuts, sprains,

dislocations, broken bones, burns with fire, scalds, burns with

corrosive chemicals, sunstroke, suffocation by foul air, hanging,

drowning, frost-bite, fainting, stings, starvation, lightning, poisons,

accidents from machinery and from the falling of scaffolding, gunshot

wounds, &c. It ought to be in every house, for young and old are liable

to accident, and the directions given in this book might be the means

of saving many a valuable life.

COMMON SENSE IN THE POULTRY-YARD.

A Story of Failures and Successes, including a full account of 1,000

hens and what they did. With a complete description of the houses,

coops, fences, runs, methods of feeding, breeding, marketing, &c.,

and many new wrinkles and economical dodges.—By J. P. HAIG.—With

numerous illustrations.—Cloth, gilt title. $1

This is a lively and entertaining work, which embodies the actual

experience of many years in the keeping of poultry in large and small

numbers. It is the most thoroughly practical work on poultry in the

market, and contains an amount of solid information which, to even the

keeper of a dozen fowls, will make it worth many times its cost.

A DICTIONARY OF PRACTICAL BEE-KEEPING.

With Notes and Practical Hints.—By JOHN PHIN, author of “How to Use

the Microscope,” &c.—Numerous illustrations.—Cloth, gilt. 50 cents.

This work discusses thoroughly nearly five hundred subjects. Gives in

condensed form an immense amount of valuable information under the

different headings. Under the heads _Bee_, _Comb_, _Glucose_, _Honey_,

_Race_, _Species_, _Sugar_, _Wax_, and others, it brings together a

large number of important facts and figures now scattered through our

bee literature and costly scientific works, and are not easily found

when wanted. Here they can be referred to at once under the proper head.

PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR ACQUIRING

THE ART OF SHOOTING ON THE WING.

With Useful Hints concerning all that relates to Guns and Shooting,

particularly in regard to the art of loading so as to kill. To which

has been added several valuable and hitherto secret recipes, of great

practical importance to the sportsman.—By AN OLD GAMEKEEPER.—12mo,

cloth. 75 cents.

This book contains a novel and most valuable feature found in no other

work on this subject. This is a series of graduated lessons by which

the self-taught young sportsman is enabled to advance step by step

from such easy marks as a sheet of paper nailed on a fence to the most

difficult trap-shooting and the sharpest snap-shots.

=THE PISTOL AS A WEAPON OF DEFENCE=, In the House and on the

Road.—12mo, cloth. 50 cents.

This work aims to instruct peaceable and law-abiding citizens in the

best means of protecting themselves from the attacks of the brutal

and the lawless, and it is the only practical book published on this

subject. Its contents are as follows:—

The Pistol as a Weapon of Defence—The Carrying of Firearms—Different

kinds of Pistols in Market—How to Choose a Pistol—Ammunition, different

kinds: powder, caps, bullets, copper cartridges, &c.—Best form of

Bullet—How to Load—Best Charge for Pistols—How to Regulate the

Charge—Care of the Pistol: how to clean it—How to Handle and Carry the

Pistol—How to Learn to Shoot—Practical Use of the Pistol—How to Protect

Yourself and Disable your Antagonist.

The Hardwood Finisher.

WITH RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR FINISHING IN NATURAL COLORS, AND

IN ANTIQUE, MAHOGANY, CHERRY, BIRCH, WALNUT, OAK,

ASH, REDWOOD, SYCAMORE, PINE, AND ALL

OTHER DOMESTIC WOODS;

_ALSO FOR FILLING, STAINING, POLISHING, DYEING, GILDING AND

BRONZING_.

Compiled and Edited by FRED. T. HODGSON,

Editor of “The Operative Builder,” late editor of “The Builder and

Woodworker,” and of “The Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer.”

Illustrated, 12mo, Cloth, $1.00.

In these days of “Hardwood Finish,” the carpenter and joiner who does

not make himself acquainted with all the new and latest methods of

working and finishing our native woods is handicapped, and will not be

as likely to receive as much money for his day’s work as the workman

who “knows all about it.”

This work has just been brought out at the very time it is wanted the

most, for finishing in the natural woods has lately become the fashion,

particularly in the better class of buildings. This is a proper and

healthy fashion, for paint, while all right in its way, is neither in

as good taste as the natural finish, nor is it as clean or as handsome.

We know that most carpenters and joiners who have had no experience in

preparing wood for this kind of finish do not care to try it for fear

of failure; but we can assure such that if they follow closely the

methods laid down in this book they will be astonished and gratified at

the results.

Directions are given at length for the preparation of the wood and the

application of “fillers,” with some good and sound advice regarding

these important operations. Hints in fixing hardwood finish so that

nail or screw heads cannot be seen are clearly presented, and the whole

practice of scraping, rubbing and polishing are given with a clearness

and simplicity that the dullest workman may readily understand.

The work is equally useful to the cabinet-maker, painter and decorator

as it is to the carpenter and joiner.

This book is written to enable the workman to know, who does not know,

as well as the man who does know, but who desires to know more; and, to

the American workman’s credit be it said, in this last class there are

many.

The following are a few of the many commendatory press notices the work

has received since its publication:

“Should be in the library of every painter who aims to keep up with the

times in the practice of his art, as a work of this character will be

of great assistance and value. The formulas and suggestions laid down

are good, and we find much to admire in the general make-up of the work.

“The writer is well known as the author of many practical books of the

day, and thoroughly understands the wants of the trade and meets them

in a satisfactory manner.”—_National Builder_, Chicago, Ill.

“In order to make it as complete as possible, a variety of authorities

on the subject have been consulted, and every effort put forth to make

the work practical in all respects.”—_Carpentry and Building_, New

York, N. Y.

“This excellent work, with its very practical aspect, seems to cover

a field that has been, perhaps, somewhat neglected. It is exceedingly

practical, and with numerous formulæ for all kinds of stains and wood

dyes, as well as finishes, is one that is to be found of value to many

operatives.”—_Scientific American_, New York, N. Y.

PRACTICAL CARPENTRY.

BEING A GUIDE TO THE

Correct Working and Laying Out of all kinds

of Carpenters’ and Joiners’ Work.

With the Solutions of the Various Problems in Hip-Roofs, Gothic

Work, Centering, Splayed Work, Joints and Jointing, Hinging,

Dovetailing, Mitering, Timber Splicing, Hopper

Work, Skylights, Raking Mouldings, Circular

Work, Etc., Etc.

TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A THOROUGH TREATISE ON

“CARPENTER’S GEOMETRY.”

_ILLUSTRATED BY OVER 300 ENGRAVINGS._

By FRED. T. HODGSON,

AUTHOR OF “THE STEEL SQUARE AND ITS USES,” “THE BUILDER’S GUIDE

AND ESTIMATOR’S PRICE BOOK,” “THE SLIDE RULE AND

HOW TO USE IT,” ETC., ETC.

Handsomely Bound in Cloth, Price $1.00.

This is the most complete book of the kind ever published. It is

Thorough, Practical and Reliable, and at the same time is written in a

style so plain that any workman or apprentice can easily understand it.

The annexed table of contents will give a better idea of its scope and

value than can be had from any amount of notices or descriptions:

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART I.

GEOMETRY.—Straight Lines.—Curved Lines.—Solids.—Compound

Lines.—Parallel Lines—Oblique or Converging Lines.—Plane

Figures.—Angles.—Right Angles.—Acute Angles.—Obtuse

Angles.—Right-angled Triangles.—Quadrilateral

Figures.—Parallelograms.—Rectangles.—Squares.—Rhomboids.—

Trapeziums.—Trapezoids.—Diagonals.—Polygons.—Pentagons.—Hexagons.—

Heptagons.—Octagons.—Circles.—Chords.—Tangents.—

Sectors.—Quadrants.—Arcs.—Concentric and Eccentric

Circles.—Altitudes.—Problems I. to XXIX.—Drawing of

Angles.—Construction of Geometrical Figures.—Bisection of

Lines.—Trisection of Lines and Angles.—Division of Lines into

any Number of Parts.—Construction of Triangles, Squares and

Parallelograms.—Construction of Proportionate Squares.—Construction

of Polygons.—Areas of Polygons.—Areas of Concentric Rings and

Circles.—Segments of Circles.—The use of Ordinates for Obtaining

Arcs of Circles.—Drawing an Ellipse with a Trammel.—Drawing

an Ellipse by means of a String.—Same by Ordinates.—Raking

Ellipses.—Ovals.—Sixty-two Illustrations.