FACTS AND FORMULAS FROM THE PAINT SHOP DIARY.
Many Practical Matters and Methods Briefly Stated--Blending of
Colors--Spontaneous Combustion--The Best Varnish Room--Remedy for
Rusted Carriage Springs--Painting Metallic Surfaces--Thinning
Varnish--Painting a Natural-Wood Finished Job--Repairing Bruised
Surfaces--How to Make Varnish Go Wrong, Etc., Etc. 148
INDEX TO ADVERTISERS.
Pratt & Lambert ix
Chicago Varnish Company x
Murphy Varnish Company xi
John W. Masury & Son xii
Surrey Varnish Works xiii
Standard Varnish Works xiv
National Lead Company xv
Berry Bros. xvi
John Lucas Company xvii
The Western Painter xviii
Edward Smith & Company xix
William Sedgwick xx
John L. Whiting & Son Co. xxi
Geo. E. Watson Company xxii
Valentine & Company xxiii
_INTRODUCTORY._
In many of its elementary principles the art of carriage and wagon
painting as at present exemplified does not materially differ from the
art as it was interpreted in the remote past. Processes and systems
have changed and adapted themselves to the swifter modes of life,
but not a few of the paint materials, especially those used in the
foundation and surfacing coats, remain practically the same as used
in former times. The P. W. F.'s, as surfacing agents expected to
take the place of white lead and oil and their assistant pigments,
tossed merrily upon the topmost wave of favor for a brief period some
two decades ago, but the fiat of their decline went forth and at
the present time the great majority of carriage and wagon painters
still adhere to white lead, raw linseed oil, ochres, and regulation
roughstuff pigments for their foundation materials, as did their
instructors and predecessors.
The abbreviated time allowance accorded the painter for the painting
and finishing of a vehicle has made necessary a readjustment of
proportions of both liquid and pigment ingredients which, it must be
confessed, has operated in a way harmful to the natural durability
of the material employed. The painter, however, can in no wise be
held responsible for the general lack of durability which is said
to distinguish the painting of the present as compared to that of
the past. The great inexorable Public is the master, the painter its
unwilling but submissive servant.
Nevertheless, conditions of permanency and durability are still wrought
and achieved in the modern field of carriage and wagon painting,
conditions which conform, with a large measure of credit to the art of
painting, to the other resultant durable effects obtained along nearly
all other lines of industrial activity.
Our painting today fails to excel the painting of tradition simply
because the exactions of a wonderfully fast age tend directly to
promote failure rather than to aid success.
The job of painting which withstands fierce and continuous attacks
of service for a reasonable length of time must be justly registered
durable, regardless of what it would have been termed in the past. Past
conditions and circumstances cannot fairly be used as yardsticks to
measure what we at present call beautiful and enduring in the art of
painting.
In the matter of tools, appliances for handling work, colors and
varnishes used, carriage and wagon painting, amid the advances made
in all the other constructive departments of industry, has enjoyed
improvement. Brushes in greater variety, finer in quality, and better
adapted to the practical needs of the painter, are in evidence. Colors
of a wider range of hues, tints, shades, and incomparably finer as to
quality than were obtainable formerly, are now at the disposal of the
painter. And the varnishes--surely they have been improved, made more
reliable, more uniform in quality, better behaved and more suited to
the ever-varying requirements of service.
Carnage and wagon painting has become as much of a business as an
artistic venture. Commercial conditions have of late years so shaped
themselves that the painter, to successfully conduct a painting
business, must of necessity study the profound science of business
quite as thoroughly as he does the science of building paint structures
and developing color effects. He imparts a moral, business, and
mechanical force to the community. He now has available sources of
education more easily within his reach than at any former time. Paint
trade literature, so far as it is represented in magazine form at
least, is at hand to render him aid and encouragement. He is rapidly
becoming better fitted to meet the expanding limits of competition,
to critically analyze both the theory and practice of painting, to
become, in short, a greater power for good in the community as well as
a studious and original mechanic.
In the inseparable community of business interests, the painting of the
vehicular equipment has reached the level of a prominent industry.
Its chief attainments are, firstly, to preserve the structural parts
of the vehicle from the action of the elements; secondly, from the
remorseless and gnawing tooth of service; thirdly, to aid in making the
vehicle really beautiful, a work of art.
The mission of the following chapters will be to record the systems,
methods, and processes practiced in modern carriage and wagon painting,
to the end that the apprentice--good luck to him, and may he pluck the
peach from the sunniest side of the fence always--may be enlightened,
that the already skilled workman may be interested somewhat, and
that the trade of carriage and wagon painting may be welcomed as a
delightful guest, worthy of enthusiastic entertainment.
CHAPTER I.
THE SHOP AND ITS EQUIPMENT.
"Give ample room and verge enough."--Gray.
It would not be fit nor seemly to lay down any arbitrary rules for the
guidance of the painter in the selection or construction of the paint
shop. Conditions and circumstances here control. But so far as the
painter is able to have authority in the matter it should be directed
in favor of large, roomy apartments, high ceilings, and a fine outfit
of windows. Light is an indispensable commodity in the paint shop.
And room--there is never an excess of it. To do good work at a profit
invokes an easy, commodious working space. To this end, therefore, the
painter may well direct his best endeavors. Nor should the ventilation
be neglected. A ventilator in quite common use, old-time but effective
when the construction of the shop permits of its use, consists of the
regulation stove pipe, say 12 inches in diameter and extending 18
inches or 2 feet above the roof of the building, furnished at its upper
extremity with a revolving hood or cap. The local tinsmith usually
has an invention of his own in the way of revolving ventilators which
is workable and nicely suited to the needs of the paint shop. Where
ceiling ventilators are not practicable, apertures some 8 inches in
diameter may be made in the walls well up toward the ceiling, one or
two on each side of the room, according to the size and location, and
into these apertures insert tin frames, both ends of which are covered
with wire gauze, the gauze on the inside or room end of the fixture
being fitted to a hinged lid frame. Into this tin and gauze compartment
put clean curled hair or moss. Metal caps may be fitted to cover the
inside opening of these ventilators, so that if necessary the air can
be shut out entirely so far as entrance through these channels is
concerned. There are numerous other styles of ventilators, but they do
not call for mention, as local and individual needs will suggest the
kind most feasible to adopt.
[Illustration: FIG. 1--WHEEL JACK.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2--WHEEL JACK.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
The mixing bench should be located in a light corner of the room. It
should be furnished with a slab of marble or stone, preferably marble.
A cupboard with tightly fitting doors should be over, or at the side
of, the bench with specially prepared boards on which to wipe brushes
near at hand. A first-class paint mill should be a fixture in close
proximity to the paint bench.
[Illustration: FIG. 4--LONG-ACRE BODY TRESTLE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5--BODY TRESTLE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6--BODY AND GEAR TRESTLE.]
The varnish room (sacred temple of the painter's hopes shall we say?),
over which men rarely fail to disagree, needs to be every inch as large
as conditions will permit. It should have ventilators, such as above
described or similar, in plenty. The gauze and tin funnel ventilators
might well be used near the floor and ceiling, thus driving the room
impurities up and out. The varnish room cannot well be too large, nor
too light, nor too cosy. Nor can it follow too closely the Quaker's
code as to furnishings, for "unadorned, adorned the most" strictly
applies to this historic apartment. It is agreed that the northeast
corner of the shop is the best location for the varnish room. The
north light is the most restful and the easiest light to work by, and
it is esteemed the best drying light. The room ought not to be placed
immediately over the smith shop. It should have plenty of windows,
north and east, and made to lower at the top. If possible, have a
hardwood floor, and oiled, with ceiling and side walls of matched
lumber, good quality and preferably painted white or some very light
color, that it will reflect the light. Personally, I am in favor of
blue colored shades for north windows and yellow ones for east and west
windows. If possible, connect a "set room," provided with abundance of
light, with the varnish room, into which the work may be removed the
morning after finishing. The varnish room requires a small cupboard for
holding varnish, cups, dusters, brushes, chamois skins, sponges, etc.,
a body trestle or two, a few wooden, low-cut horses for supporting the
varnished work, a stove, if the shop be not heated by other means, a
sliding door or two, and--that's all.
[Illustration: FIG. 7--GEAR FRAME.]
[Illustration: FIG. 8--SEAT FRAME.]
The colors, pigments, and brushes will be considered in their
appropriate order as the chapters proceed. Many shop fixtures will be
similarly presented.
[Illustration: FIG. 9--FRAME FOR BODIES.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10--GEAR HORSE.]
The work-handling appliances here furnished have been observed,
studied, and many of them used by the writer in his travels up and down
the land of paint shops. The revolving wheel jack is an indispensable
fixture in the paint shop. Fig. 1 has a plank base, and an axle for a
standard. The cut shows how it is made. Many shops use it. Fig. 2 is
frequently seen in provincial paint shops. It consists of a hardwood
scantling of the size noted in the cut, with a 5/8-inch or 3/4-inch
round iron stuck into one end and projecting 7 inches out. A hole
to nicely take the iron is bored through the floor into a joist, a
floor plate is placed over it, and the upright is ready to revolve. A
tapering piece of round iron 3/4 inch at the base is driven through
the upper end of the standard, having a projection of 7 or 8 inches.
A thick metal washer is then slipped over the arm, thus completing
the fixture. Fig. 3 is largely used in factory shops. It is the finest
wheel jack extant. Observe the bottom. Almost any foundry will cast one
at from $1.25 to $1.50 each. Weight, from 40 to 60 lbs.; diameter, 18
to 20 inches; hole for insertion of arm, 1 inch to 1-1/4 inches. Weld
stub axle to the round arm. Have varying sizes of axle stubs, from 3/4,
7/8, and 1 inch to 1-1/4 inches. This is a particularly fine jack for
wheel striping purposes. Can be easily transferred to any part of the
shop, and runs true.
[Illustration: FIG. 11--RUBBING DECK.]
[Illustration: FIG. 12--ASPHALT OR CEMENT DECK.]
The Long-Acre body trestle, a London production, is often met with
in the paint shop. Fig. 4 shows it in working order, on rollers,
and the wheels connected with a wooden pin for a pivot. Fig. 5 is a
second body trestle, neat, easy to work, and the cut quite completely
explains how it is built. Height, and proportion of parts can be made
to suit the individual fancy. Fig. 6 represents a combination body
and gear trestle largely used in factory paint shops. Height, 3 ft.,
2 in.; length of revolving frame pieces, 27 in., 2×2 in. in size. A
4×4 inch piece 9 in. long supports the frame. Inclined pieces are 25
in. long; size, 2×2 in. The trestle is of hardwood, or should be,
bolted together. Fig. 7, a gear frame, fits onto the frame of Fig. 6.
It should be 4 ft., 6 in. long and 14 in. wide. It easily takes the
shortest gears as well as the longest, and the workman is enabled to
always obtain the best possible light. Fig. 8 is a seat frame made to
fit the trestle, Fig. 6. Make it of 1-inch stuff. Length, 2 ft.; height
at rear, 9 in.; front, 2 in.; width, 13-1/2 in., to fit frame. This
holds a carriage seat in capital shape for painting and finishing. Fig.
9 is a frame for holding bodies while varnishing them or while rubbing
the varnish. One-inch pine boards 6 in. in width afford good material
for the frame. Let it be from 32 to 36 in. high, about the same in
length, and 27 in. wide. At top of standards bolt 7×1-inch pieces 6
in. long, containing steel brads to hold the work in place. Fig. 10 is
a horse for holding carriage gears during the process of painting and
finishing. Gear horses can't all be revolving ones, and this one is
strong and handy to work around. Make the legs of 3×1-1/2 pine or ash
and the bed piece, to which the iron standards are bolted, of ash 3×3
inches. Bolt the legs to the bed piece and stay them in the middle. The
iron standards, 5/16 in. thick and 1-1/2 in. wide, are cranked over
at right angles, as shown in cut, bolted firmly to bed piece, and at
upper ends are hollowed out to hold the axle arms. Height of horse,
30 to 34 inches; width, wide enough to take a gear from 4 ft. to 5
ft., 4 in. Let the iron standards go 30 inches long, cranked at the
middle. A rubbing deck for roughstuff and varnish rubbing, washing up
work, etc., is a necessity even in the small shop. Fig. 11 explains an
inexpensive one. A A is the shop floor, D the wall, B B the false or
double floor inclining to the center, where a shallow metal gutter is
let into the floor opening to a waste pipe which conveys all the waste
matter outside the shop. The outer edges of the double floor rest upon
stoutly-secured blocks of wood. Fig. 12 shows an asphalt or cement
rubbing deck in general use in many leading shops. G is the shop wall,
F the waste pipe, E the deck. The asphalt deck is not an expensive
fixture, neither wears nor rusts out, and, like Fig. 11, is a practical
time saver. And along with the rubbing deck the painter should adopt
measures for securing a plentiful supply of clean soft water for shop
uses, and, if possible, have it piped directly to the rubbing deck.
These are days of hard-fought business battles, and any aid that will
out-foot one's competitor is an effective aid. A good water supply
right at hand helps mightily. Fig. 13 is a deck barrel for holding a
ready supply of water for the rubber; also for holding certain styles
of carriage and cutter bodies while rubbing. The slit cut at an angle
lets a buggy, surrey, or other carriage seat in, and holds it fast
while the rubbing proceeds.
[Illustration: FIG. 13--DECK BARREL.]
[Illustration: FIG. 14--VARNISH ROOM STOVE.]
The varnish room stove, when one is forced to use such a fixture,
gives the painter much concern. In Fig. 14 is to be observed a way of
enclosing the stove in sheet-iron, after the fashion of the railroads
once upon a time. Cut an opening in the wall separating the varnish
room from some one of the other apartments, set the stove just inside
the varnish room, inclose it in the sheet-iron cylinder, making the
cylinder fit close into the wall opening, and have the opening to the
stove, and the stove door, reached from the room adjoining the varnish
room. Even when wholly located in the varnish room such a cylinder,
enclosing the stove all over, is a practical reducer of stove dirt, etc.
NOTE.--Figs. 3, 5, 6, and 14 of this chapter, and Figs. 1, 2, and 3
of Chapter II. are published by permission of the _Hub_.
CHAPTER II.
BUYING AND SELECTING BRUSHES--CARE OF THEM--SOFTENING HARD
BRUSHES--BRUSH KEEPERS--PRESERVING LIQUIDS--BRUSHES USED IN VEHICLE
PAINTING, ETC.
One conspicuously famous brush maker has declared the art of brush
making to be "an art preservative." The carriage and wagon painter
is deeply concerned in the achievements of that art, because every
distinct advancement made therein makes possible an equally distinct
advancement in the art of painting. To a greater extent, perhaps, than
any other class of painters, the carriage and wagon painter should
be interested in making up his brush equipment of tools of the best
quality. The brush made of reliable stock, having the proper "hang"
and point, and which balances like a "thoroughbred," is an economical
tool to buy, regardless of the price. The vehicle painter requires a
brush made scientifically, by the outlay of honest workmanship, and
of material that is wholly above suspicion. A brush that has simply
the price to recommend it is usually an unreliable article and worketh
evil, like a thief in the night, unexpectedly. In making choice of a
brush for putting on priming, lead, and roughstuff, and for such other
features of general use as require a round or oval bristle brush,
the painter may properly look at the filling of the tool. Deception,
if practiced at all, is usually placed where it shows the least.
The first-class brush is distinctively the brush that shows good
quality--uniform quality--from center to outside. Other things being
equal, the brush that is made up uniformly as to its bristle equipment
will develop a good point, and all carriage painters are alive to the
importance of this virtue in both paint and varnish brushes.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
Much of the usefulness of a brush depends upon the manner of caring
for it when it comes into the paint shop. The bristle brushes used
for priming, lead, and roughstuff require bridling until worn down
somewhat. There are many patent brush bridles now procurable at a
nominal cost which tend to give a brush much better shape than the
shop-made bridle. If these are not at hand, the painter can take
"tufting cord" (our friends, the carriage trimmers, keep it) and wind
the brush securely but not too tightly; or he can take a piece of light
weight rubber cloth and, extending the piece well down on the handle,
tie it at the proper distance around the bristles. The rubber side of
the piece should be fastened next the bristles. Then, from where it is
tied around the bristles, fold the piece back onto the handle and tie
securely. Trim off, and a bridle is furnished that is perfectly water-
and paint-proof, the cloth side of the rubber being folded inside.
For a shop-made bridle the writer finds this a serviceable one. After
bridling, drop a little oil paint into the heel of the brush and set
it away in a dustproof compartment for a few days. Then use the brush
for a time in oil paint, suspending the brush when not in use in raw
linseed oil. In the course of two or three days the brush may be put
into other paint if desired and suspended in water. Suspend the brush
just up to the butts of the bristles, or so they are just covered, and
invariably keep the water up to that point. Under no circumstances
permit a brush to rest upon its point when not in use. It destroys the
form of the tool and lessens its spring and elasticity. The bristle
paint brushes require a clean storage quite to the extent that the
color or varnish brushes do. Therefore, the receptacle in which they
are kept should be fitted with a cover and should be tight enough to
keep out all forms of dirt. A common tobacco pail procured of the local
grocery, painted inside and out, fitted with a cover, and having nails
driven at certain distances apart all around it, one-third of the way
down from the top, on which the brushes may be suspended, makes a cheap
and excellent keeper for the ordinary paint brushes.
[Illustration: COMPLETE SET OF FINISHING (FLOWING) BRUSHES.]
[Illustration: CAMEL-HAIR FLOWING BRUSH.]
[Illustration: COACH DUSTER.]
[Illustration: CHISELED PAINT BRUSH.]
Camel's hair color brushes may well have a little paint, one-half oil
and one-half turpentine, dropped into the heels of them. These brushes,
used in japan ground colors, need to be kept suspended in water. Change
the water frequently and make sure that it is clean. A brush keeper
such as is recommended for varnish brushes is one of the best possible
keepers for color brushes. It insures cleanliness. And vehicle painting
without cleanliness is like unto a landscape painting with the beauties
of nature left out. The brushes kept in water do better in rain water
than in hard water. During the cold months, especially in shops where
freezing is liable to occur, it is advisable to add a little glycerine
to the water. The glycerine delays the freezing point and does not
injure the brushes. Never soak a brush in water before using it in
paint. Animal fat circulates in the capillary tubes of all bristles
and hair, and if water is soaked into these arteries, the spring and
elasticity of the brush is not only destroyed, but it speedily becomes
a very much water-logged tool. To swell up a brush which for some cause
has become dried out and shrunken, part the bristles so that the end of
the handle is exposed, and pour in a small quantity of water, say three
or four teaspoonfuls. Then stand it away, bristles up, handle down,
for two or three hours and the brush will have returned to its normal
condition. If a brush handle gets smeared with paint or varnish, a wire
scrub brush dipped in a solution of sal soda will clean off the sticky
substance in short order. To test the bristles in a brush, remove some
of them and submit them to a smart flame. Bristles, the real animal
product, will curl and writhe and emit a peculiar odor. No known
adulterant burns this way.
[Illustration: ROUND PAINT BRUSH.]
A brush that has been allowed through accident or neglect to get
"soggy" may be limbered up nicely by soaking in heated turpentine.
Hardened brushes may often be softened into workable condition
again by soaking the bristles in hot linseed oil. A simple soaking
in turps or benzine will sometimes effect the needed softening up.
Brushes, however, that have dried up, saturated with quick drying
colors or paint, can at best never be restored to a first-class
working condition. The best form of economy, therefore, is to throw
such brushes away. Remedies in impressive array have been marshalled
wherewith to restore varnish brushes that have become lousy, but the
vehicle finisher recognizes no reliable or economical remedy for the
purpose named. A dirty varnish brush can be cleaned by washing in oil
first, then in turps, and lastly worked in for putting on first rubbing
coats, and thus gradually brought back to its original cleanliness. But
the varnish brush once lousy, look you! _always_ lousy. Better
"To the fire I now consign thee,
Peace unto thine ashes be."
When a varnish brush is accidentally dropped on the floor while being
used, pick it up carefully and, holding it at an acute angle, bristles
down, pour a small quantity of turpentine over it, thus flooding the
accumulated dirt completely off.
[Illustration: CAMEL-HAIR COLOR BRUSH.]
[Illustration: OVAL CHISELED VARNISH BRUSH.]
There is a considerable diversity of opinion as to the best preserving
liquid in which to keep the varnish brushes. Local needs and
requirements are probably the safest guides in the matter of choosing
preserving liquids for varnish brushes. When the brushes are used
daily, as they are in big shops, it is a very good way to keep them in
raw linseed oil. Then, every morning before beginning work, the brushes
may be rinsed out in turpentine, wiped out clearly over the edge of the
cup, and an elastic brush full of life is assured.
[Illustration: BADGER-HAIR FLOWING BRUSH.]
Brushes used daily upon clean surfaces are, or should be, clean, and
rinsing in turpentine can do no harm to a clean brush. But in the case
of brushes used every two or three days or occasionally, different
treatment is needed. Such brushes are liable to be used upon surfaces
and amid surroundings less cleanly than those which obtain in the
fine factory or custom shop, and the rinsing in turps, consequent
upon preserving them in oil, would merely serve to loosen and set in
motion the dirt and flocculent matter gradually collected and forced
up into the body of the tools. For this reason it were better to keep
them in finishing varnish or, preferably, brush keeping varnish, i.
e., varnish minus its driers. Whatever the preservative, the brushes
require the most watchful attention. If kept in finishing varnish, the
liquid should be changed frequently. So delicate a tool, of which so
much is expected, makes imperative the observance of gentle, cleanly
treatment. Varnish brushes ought never to be left lying around for
any considerable length of time when not in use. Dust is never idle,
but always moving and, like the dew of the evening, it falleth upon
the just and the unjust, varnish brushes included. Have a stiff,
partly-worn brush to clean the handles of varnish brushes. Wiping them
with cloth distributes lint.
[Illustration: SPOKE BRUSH.]
[Illustration: CHISELED FITCH TOOL.]
In Fig. 1 is shown a double compartment brush keeper. It can be made
of tin or zinc and is not expensive. Attach lock and key to it, and
the brushes conditioned to a peerless trim are secure. Make the keeper
8 in. long, 5 in. wide, 9 in. deep; outfit with spring fasteners, run
wires through 3 in. from top, and 3/4 in. from bottom of the can locate
a rack made of small wires criss-crossed on a light wire frame. The
dirt which collects in the keeper goes to the bottom beneath the gauze
rack, and should a brush fall into the preserving liquid it is held
aloof from the dirt accumulations. These are regulation brush keepers,
clean, durable, and cost in the neighborhood of $1. Fig. 2 represents
the famous thirty-cent brush keeper, several times illustrated but
still deserving a place here. It is claimed to be made upon scientific
principles, namely, the break between the body of the keeper and
its lid or cover occurs at the bottom and below the point of brush
suspension, instead, as in the ordinary keeper, at the top and above
the point of suspension. It can be made of any size to meet individual
needs. Such a can affords a splendid keeper for camel's-hair color
brushes and for color-and-varnish brushes. Fig. 3 displays what has
been somewhat widely heralded as the western idea of a brush keeper,
although the gentleman who first published a cut of the keeper and who,
I believe, was the inventor of it, has seldom, if ever, been given
credit for his ingenuity. My veteran brother of the brush, Mr. V. B.
Grinnell, is deserving of the thanks of the trade for his invention.
It consists of an ordinary glass fruit can (a metal top with rubber
attachment is best), in which is located a tin cup, having a heavy
wire soldered to it and projecting up to near the top of the can.
This allows the cup to be easily removed from the top of the can. A
second wire is soldered onto the first one so that it projects out
horizontally over the cup, allowing for the suspension of the brushes
in the liquid contained in the cup. The illustration shows how the
keeper is made completely. Two or three brushes may be kept in each
can, and they may be kept air-tight, too, a matter of moment to the
vehicle painter.
[Illustration: PEAR FLOWING VARNISH BRUSH.]
The vehicle painter's brush equipment should consist of a good
assortment of round or oval bristle brushes for putting on priming,
lead, and roughstuff. For the best grade of carriage painting, the
chiseled brush is advised for the priming and lead coats. In size they
should run about 4.0. For working upon large surfaces, however, larger
brushes will be needed, hence any exact size cannot be advised to meet
all cases. Spoke brushes, dusters in plenty, flat chiseled bristle
paint brushes, extra thick camel's-hair color brushes, varying in size
from 1 in. to 3 in., camel's-hair flowing brushes, 1-1/2 to 2-1/2
in. in size, for applying color-and-varnish of some kinds, chiseled
badger hair brushes, double thick, 1 in. to 2 in. for varnishing gears,
oval chiseled sash tools for cleaning up surfaces and painting when
needed certain parts of a vehicle, chiseled fitch tools for cleaning
up panels, and lastly not less than four sets of varnish brushes
for varnishing vehicle body surfaces, along with some oval or round
chiseled varnish brushes required especially in wagon painting.
The painter needs a set of at least three brushes, 1 in., 1-1/2 in.,
and 2-1/2 in. in size, for varnishing the inside surfaces of bodies,
these to be used for no other purpose. Then, properly, he should have a
set of brushes for putting on first rubbing varnish coats, consisting
of a 1-inch chiseled badger hair brush, and a 2-1/2 in. and one 3-in.
bristle brush. Then another set of the same number for the remaining
rubbing coats.
[Illustration: LONG-HANDLED SPOKE BRUSH.]
The finishing kit of brushes may properly consist of five chiseled
half elastic flowing brushes, as follows: One 1-in., one 1-1/2-inch,
one 2-in., one 2-1/2-in., one 3-in. Some finishers prefer a 1-in.
badger hair brush for flowing the edges of the panels, but the set of
flowing brushes herewith illustrated answers every purpose fully and
completely. The art of fine brush making has so far advanced within
recent years that it is now possible to get varnish brushes which
require but very little working in varnish to prepare them for flowing
on the finishing coats.
To clean a new varnish brush preparatory to using it as a finishing
brush, first draw the stock of the tool through the fingers, continuing
this operation until the loose dirt is quite fully worked out. Then
repeatedly submerge it in clean linseed oil and wipe out over the edge
of a cup, after which use it for a week or two in rubbing varnish. The
brush may then safely be used for applying finishing coats of varnish.
[Illustration: OVAL CHISELED SASH TOOL.]
All brushes not specially mentioned in the foregoing as round or oval
brushes are assumed to be flat, this style of brush being the one
chiefly employed in vehicle painting.
[Illustration: CHISELED FLOWING VARNISH BRUSH.]
In the matter of camel's-hair, badger hair, and flowing varnish
brushes, the painter desires said brushes to be tough, durable fibre,
having soft ends, elastic, and which wear soft until worn out.
In selecting the brush equipment, it is a most happy mental exercise
to remember that the highest type of brush, if not mightier than the
sword, at least hath its victories.
The numerous accompanying excellent illustrations of brushes specially
adapted to the needs of the carriage and wagon painter are the result
of valuable and courteously extended assistance tendered by that
celebrated brush making firm, John L. Whiting and Son Co., Boston,
Mass.
CHAPTER III.
PRIMING--LEAD COATS--RUB LEAD--KNIFING LEAD--PUTTY AND
PUTTYING--SANDPAPERING--ROUGHSTUFF, APPLYING AND RUBBING
IT--MATERIALS USED IN FOUNDATION COATS--MIXING FORMULAS, ETC.
Fine and durable carriage and wagon painting cannot be accomplished
upon foundations in anywise weak or unstable. The supreme aim of the
painter, then, should be to begin at the base of the foundation and,
with patient toil and skill, aided by materials of recognized value,
bring up a surface of uniform excellence and quality.
MATERIALS.
White lead and raw linseed oil; an invincible combination in the old
days--shall we not say invincible still? Assuredly, nothing surpasses
it today when conditions are favorable to its proper treatment;
nothing upon the horizon of coming events bids fair to surpass it. It
is only when the limitations of time intervene, when we must perforce
bow down and worship the great American idol, Hurry, that the sinewy
strength and permanency of white lead, linseed oil, and the few other
constituents which enter into the foundation coats, are seriously
shattered.
White lead, for example, must of necessity figure as an elemental part
of the lead coats, if not of the priming, of putty, and of roughstuff.
It is not now impossible to find primers being used entirely devoid
of lead, but the burden of proof remains favorable to the excellence
of lead. A pigment filler is quite as necessary as a liquid one. And
pure white lead, Dutch process, if it please my readers--observe its
properties in this respect: It is of great density, body, permanent
to a rare degree, of impalpable smoothness when properly ground, and
chemically unites with oil, forming a kind of varnish, which makes it
a filler and pore sealer of great value. In addition, it absorbs more
oil, solidifies it, and remains elastic for a greater length of time,
except red lead perhaps, than any other pigment so far discovered.
Moreover, it mixes happily with all other pigments which do not contain
a sulphur ingredient. Briefly, these are the properties which recommend
it to the carriage painter. Its noble running mate, raw linseed
oil--what of it as a paint oil? Its chief virtue lies in the fact
that when exposed to the air it gradually, in drying, absorbs a large
proportion of oxygen, which, it is declared by Hurst, "forms a new
compound of a resinous character," remarkably elastic and stable.
Since the failure of the P. W. F.'s and various other substitutes for
the historic lead and oil surfacing agents, to meet the exacting needs
of the trade, the swift processes now practiced have pressed into
service time quickening aids which, in a work of this kind, it would
scarcely seem fit to omit.
Many painters have adopted yellow ochre as a main ingredient for
priming, and in particularly hurried instances, or, in fact, in the
priming of a certain grade of regular factory work, varnish and,
to some extent, turpentine are used. Ochre of good quality, finely
ground (a coarse ground ochre is worthless in carriage painting), and
containing a strong percentage of silica, is a valuable component of
priming. Silica is an acknowledged pore filler, and in many of the wood
fillers heralded along the highway of commerce it is the _piece de
resistance_. A high grade ochre is a good drying and a very permanent
pigment. It is a first-class surfacing material and not easily affected
by atmospheric or other impurities. Thus we have the ingredients which,
properly combined and manipulated, form the basis of all beautiful and
durable carriage painting as gauged according to present day standards.
Let us now consider the separate parts of the foundation building.
PRIMING.
Priming is the agent required to go into and saturate the minute cells
and pores of the wood, getting a firm grip of the fibers, sealing them
against moisture, and affording the painter a tough, elastic ground for
his leveling materials to follow.
Primer No. 1.--White lead and raw linseed oil, darkened to a lead color
with lampblack. A teaspoonful of coach japan to be added to each pint
of the mixture, or omitted, as the time limit may impose.
No. 2.--White lead, 2 parts; yellow ochre, 1 part. Liquid, raw linseed
oil. The use of japan to depend upon circumstances.
No. 3.--White lead, 1 part; yellow ochre, 2 parts. Liquid, raw linseed
oil.
No. 4.--White lead, 1 part; yellow ochre, 2 parts. Liquids, rubbing
varnish 1/4; turpentine 1/4; raw linseed oil 1/2. A tablespoonful of
japan to each quart of the mixture. This is a very quick primer, that
can be sandpapered the day following its application.
No. 5.--White lead, shaded with lampblack. Liquids, rubbing varnish 1
part; raw linseed oil 5 parts.
In the above formulas keg lead is referred to.
Priming should contain just enough pigment to stain the oil. Only in
this form does it perform the functions of a primer. Some hardwood
surfaces, negative in composition, require a priming thinned somewhat
with turpentine; otherwise such close textured spaces of wood are not
sufficiently penetrated by the oily particles of the priming. The
durability of the priming rests largely upon the penetration of the oil
into the arteries of the wood along with a certain necessary per cent.
of the pigment.
It is a good plan not to follow the surfacing of a job in the wood
shop too closely with the priming. Immoderate pressure of the wood
fibres usually results from the pressure of the wood worker's leveling
methods. Give the wood time to expand before priming, but not time to
absorb moisture. Graining out of surfaces often results from priming
a surface too soon as well as too late. Many factors must necessarily
be considered in order to have the priming coat do all that it should
do. The condition of the wood, the climate, season, atmosphere, etc.,
all require diligent study. The application of the priming to the
surface deserves particular attention. Granted that first-class filling
and surfacing pigments, combined with liquids rich in gummy resinous
matters, make the ideal primer, the coating fails of its mission when
practices of neglect mark its application to the surface. Therefore,
apply the priming smoothly and in a uniform film to the surface. Coat
all parts of a job, outside, top, bottom--everywhere. Insist upon its
being well brushed out--just as any coat of paint should be.
[Illustration: PUTTY-HOLDER.]
THE LEAD COATS.
What we shall be pleased to term "first lead" was formerly made of
white (keg) lead thinned to a brushing consistency with linseed oil
and turpentine, half and half. That was at a time when egg-shell gloss
coats were in demand. A different principle has been established of
late years in reference to the composition of the lead coats, and the
egg-shell gloss is now regarded with suspicion and, to a large extent,
abandoned altogether.
Consequently, the first lead should be mixed of 3/8 oil to 5/8 turps,
or even with a still smaller percentage of oil if the limitations
of time so direct. Apply this lead with a bristle brush and enforce
rigidly the rule of smoothness and sleek brushing out.
"Second lead" means in modern paint shop lingo "flat lead"--a lead
that dries to a dull, lustreless appearance, practically "dead lead."
It is composed of white lead, thinned to a working consistency with
turpentine, and given a binder of oil to the extent of, say 2/3 of a
tablespoonful of oil to a pint of the lead. These lead coats should
properly contain 1 teaspoonful of japan to a pint of the lead, and be
shaded with lampblack. The flat, or dead, lead is best applied with a
camel's-hair brush.
RUB LEAD.
In connection with these lead coats attention must be directed to
the rub lead process as a part of the system of lead surfacing now
practiced in the leading shops of the country. The rub lead is usually
used directly upon the priming coat. There are several formulas in
circulation for the mixing of the lead, but the writer thinks the
one here given (used in the leading factory paint shops) covers the
painter's practical needs fully. Mix dry white lead to a grinding
consistency in 3/4 raw linseed oil to 1/4 japan, the liquids to be
carefully measured. Add enough lampblack to give the mixture a clean
slate color, then run through the paint mill, after which reduce to
a brushing consistency with the proper proportions of oil and japan.
Make the lead just stiff enough to brush on with a fairly stiff bristle
brush. Apply to the surface and, after permitting the mixture to take
on a "tack" for a quarter of an hour or more as the drying conditions
of the apartment may be favorable or otherwise, proceed to rub the
lead into the surface with the palm of the hand. For getting a fine,
velvety, and very dense surface of pigment, the rub lead system has no
rival. However, it cannot be worked over and re-coated so soon after
being applied (it should be given 48 hours in which to dry) as can the
knifing lead. This
KNIFING LEAD,
or "glazing lead," or "draw putty," as it is variously and locally
known, renders it possible to quickly fill and level up a surface,
making it compact and solid as to texture.
Knifing lead, No. 1.--Dry white lead 2/3; keg lead 1/3. Liquids,
rubbing varnish and japan, thinning to the exact working consistency
with a little turps.
No. 2.--Dry white lead, mixed in equal parts of rubbing varnish and
japan.
No. 3.--Dry white lead 5/8; keg lead 1/4; roughstuff filler (finely
ground) 1/8. Liquids, rubbing varnish 1/2; japan 1/4; turpentine 1/4.
This last for large panels.
These leads should all be colored slightly in the direction of the
final color to be used upon the work. Carriage and wagon painters use
knifing lead on running parts very largely, and especially upon work
that must be gotten out quicker than the rub lead would permit. On the
panels of business wagons of the medium grade, knifing lead is used to
the exclusion of roughstuff. On such panels it is advisable to apply
the lead with a bristle brush, applying the lead to the surface a
little heavier in body than ordinary paint, and then shortly going over
it with a broad blade putty knife, pressing the pigment into the wood
and removing the surplus.
Knifing lead deserves to be used and applied with circumspect care
and skill if the best and most durable results would be achieved.
It demands a firm pressing into the cellular fabric of the wood,
accompanied by a clean, tidy removal of all the pigment not actually
necessary to the full and complete development of the surface.
But little sandpapering should be needed to fit it for any of the
succeeding coats of material.
In the painting of running parts of the best grade, when rub lead or
knifing lead is employed, the second lead, previously designated as
"flat" or "dead" lead, should be employed over the rub or knifing lead,
the puttying of the deep cavities and indentations being done directly
upon said rub or knifing leads.
PUTTY--MAKING AND USING IT.
Putty No. 1.--The putty of history--past, present, and shall we say of
the future?--so far as history applies to carriage painting, is this
putty No. 1. Dry white lead, japan and rubbing varnish, the liquids
of equal proportions. Probably the best known putty in the jobbing
carriage paint shop today.
[Illustration: SPATULA.]
No. 2.--Dry white lead 3/4; keg lead 1/4. Rubbing varnish and japan,
half and half.
No. 3.--Keg lead, 4 parts; dry white lead 1 part. Rubbing varnish and
gold size japan, equal parts.
No. 4, a putty for white work.--Dry white lead 1/2; pulverized steatite
or soapstone 1/4; dry oxide of zinc 1/8; dry silica 1/8. Liquids, very
pale rubbing varnish 1/2; light (in color) japan 3/8; turpentine 1/8.
No. 5.--Dry white lead 2/3; keg lead 1/3. Rubbing varnish and japan,
equal proportions. Into this mix the woof or fine pickings of velvet
or plush. This is especially intended to be used around glass in heavy
vehicles.
No. 6.--This is a putty to be used on old work having rough cavities,
splintery crevices, and the like. It cannot be sandpapered, but will
dry tough, neither chipping nor flaking. Keg lead 1 part; whiting 2
parts. Mix stiff in thick varnish and raw linseed oil, equal parts;
then thicken up to the right consistence with dry white lead.
No. 7.--For shallow cavities requiring a filling that dries quick and
hard. Dry lead 3 parts; plaster of paris 1 part. Equal parts of quick
rubbing varnish and japan.
No. 8.--Deep hole putty. Whiting mixed with raw linseed oil and japan,
equal parts. Then into this mixture mix plush woof. Drive a small head
tack or two in bottom of hole and then fill in nearly level with the
surface with this putty. Slash a couple of openings into it with putty
knife to quicken the drying, and then in due time level up with regular
putty.
[Illustration: SQUARE POINT PUTTY KNIFE.]
No. 9.--Expansive shallow dents in a carriage surface require a
peculiar kind of putty or cement. Finely ground pumice stone 3 parts;
dry lead 1 part. Mix to a working condition in thick glue. Apply the
putty so that it will show some above the surface. After 10 hours rub
down with lump pumice stone and raw linseed oil.
No. 10.--Here is a putty that will stick and at the same time sandpaper
nicely. Shade dry lead with a little lampblack, and mix with 3/4 coach
japan and 1/4 rubbing varnish, along with a dash of turpentine.
The carriage painter will do well to use sparingly of whiting--even
gilder's whiting--in making a putty intended for use upon fine
surfaces. Whiting, or, in the speech of the chemist, carbonate of
calcium, is a hard drying, tenacious, stout sticking pigment, but
possesses the ever present property of granulating and working coarse
and gritty under the putty knife.
When coloring matter is added to putty, be governed by what the final
color of the job is to be. Hammer putty well on the mixing block to
make it tough and elastic. Do this at the time of making it and before
use in order to expel the accumulated moisture. Make it in sufficient
quantity to last for some time. Keep the putty in water in a dust
proof holder--an air tight one is better. See putty-holder illustrated
herewith.
The way in which putty is applied has largely to do with making it
serve the surface good or ill. Good puttying is not accomplished by
nimble feats of jugglery. The putty knife demands to be skillfully
handled and wisely directed. Putty, in the economy of carriage
painting, is quite as indispensable as paint or varnish. In point of
fact, each is dependent upon the other. Just enough is a critical point
in deciding how much and how little of putty a surface requires. Here
are four rules for guidance in the art of puttying:
1.--Never putty on the priming coat.
2.--Putty all work as smooth as possible. It is economy and increases
the chance for producing first-class work.
3.--Avoid, _always_, puttying a crevice, depression, or cavity in the
wood, or a joint between two pieces of wood, that is subject to diverse
forms of resistance. The wrenching and twisting of the vehicle will
loosen the putty and eventually eject it.
4.--In puttying over nails, plugs, etc., press the pigment firmly into
the hole, filling just level with the surface, and carefully slick up
all surplus putty.
The painter will need for general puttying purposes, in addition
to a spatula or two (which see), at least four different styles of
putty knife; one large or wide blade knife, a two-inch blade say, one
square point blade, ordinary size, one beveled point, and one oval
point. Knives of different shapes will greatly facilitate the labor of
puttying, which at best is often tedious.
SANDPAPERING
If it were feasible, sandpaper would, no doubt, be voted down and out
of the paint shop. At present, however, it cannot well be removed
from the system of carriage surfacing. The task of sandpapering,
viewed from its rosiest side, is toilsome, dirt-inviting, girt up by
a waistband of unpleasant features, but, alas! we must have level and
smooth surfaces if we would have beautiful ones, and sandpapering
affords the means of getting them. It is one of the aids--one of the
great aids, let us bear in mind--to the admirable surface effects
sought for in the art of carriage painting. It cannot be slighted or
to any extent be done imperfectly without marring the appearance or
subtracting from the durability of the surface when finished.
[Illustration: BEVELED POINT PUTTY KNIFE.]
The use of sandpaper begins before even the priming coat has taken its
position. A surface well sandpapered ahead of the priming coat saves
a great deal of time and leaves plenty of the priming film on the
surface where it is needed. No. 1 paper is the proper size to surface
the priming coat, if the surface has previously been well smoothed.
The No. 1/2 will do for first lead. This coat requires a very thorough
and uniform going over, touching completely all places that need it,
touching none with a coarse hand, and never laying bare a flicker of
wood needing a full depth of protecting pigment. The second lead, or
"dead lead" as we know it, should require only a light going over with
No. 0 paper, this to be followed by polishing with curled hair or fine
moss used by trimmers.
The rub lead and knifing lead coats usually respond to the smoothing
caress of No. 1/2, or finer, paper, the size depending upon the quality
of these coats. All along through the system of painting, sandpaper
must needs sound its smoothing monotone, but particularly upon the
primary coats does the painter use it as the fulcrum by which, among
other aids, he seeks to rear his paint foundation into a tower of
strength.
[Illustration: OVAL POINT PUTTY KNIFE.]
Mouldings, clips, bolt heads, difficult places to work up to,
everywhere bespeak the same thorough touch of the sandpaper. There
are many sharp edges about a vehicle which may be denuded of pigment
at a single rasp of the paper. Such parts require a good measure of
protection, otherwise flaking and chipping of the paint and varnish
must naturally follow. The painter may well strive to make the work of
sandpapering an exact operation--exact as to thoroughness as applied to
all parts of a surface, and exact as to a uniformity of results.
In company with the labor of sandpapering must be considered dusting.
The latter should be cleanly and tidily done, quite as thorough,
indeed, as the sandpapering or any other of the operations, all alike
important. We now come to an article indispensable to the painter in
arriving at a state of perfection regarding smoothness of surface.
ROUGHSTUFF--HOW MADE, APPLIED, AND RUBBED.
Webster defines "rough" as "having inequalities, small ridges, or
points on the surface," and "stuff" as "refuse or worthless matter."
But, combining the two words into one--roughstuff--the painter
construes the term to mean something different from the construction
put upon it by the eminent lexicographer when he cleaved it evenly in
twain.
Without the coarse mineral pigments known as "fillers," white lead, and
the liquid mediums used to properly unite and weld them together and
denominated roughstuff when ready for use, the painter, in his effort
to make satisfactorily level and smooth surfaces, would be in almost
as sorry a plight as the mariner bereft of his compass. For, mark you,
gentle _confrères_! roughstuff _is_ essential to carriage body surface
elegancies and mirror-like effects.
FAVORITE FORMULAS.
No. 1.--To 3 lbs. of any American filler add 1 lb. keg white lead. Beat
well together; then reduce to a thick paste with rubbing varnish and
japan, after which thin to brushing consistency with turps. This is a
safe one-coat-per-day 'stuff.
No. 2.--Equal parts of filler (excepting English) and keg lead, by
weight, reduced to a heavy paste in quick rubbing varnish and japan,
and then cut with turps to the proper consistency. Two coats per day
may be safely applied.
No. 3.--Five lbs. filler (still excepting English); 2-1/2 lbs. keg
lead; 1/3 elastic rubbing varnish; 2/3 japan. This is a 'stuff for
fine, heavy coach work. Apply coat every 72 hours. Do not rub out under
three weeks.
No. 4.--(A London formula.) Dry white lead, ground stiff in turpentine,
1-1/2 lbs.; ochre, or English filling, ground stiff in turpentine, 4
lbs. Mix the two and add 1/2 lb. of tub lead. Add 1 pint of japan gold
size and about 1/2 pint of the bottoms of wearing varnish. Reduce with
a little turpentine if necessary. This is a very durable and elastic
'stuff.
No. 5.--(M. Arlot's formula.) "Grind separately lump white lead with
essence of turpentine, and do the same with unwashed yellow ochre; then
mix the two pastes in the proportion of 3/4 of white lead and 1/4 of
ochre. Allow the mixture to stand exposed to the air or to a gentle
heat in order to evaporate the excess of liquid, and add gradually
small portions of good drying oil, taking care to stir and beat the
mixture well with a brush, as in distemper painting. The paste thus
acquires more body." Concerning this 'stuff the author adds: "It is
possible with this composition to give three coats in a day's work, but
after the last coat we must wait 48 hours for drying."
No. 6.--English filler 3 lbs.; keg lead 1 lb. Rubbing varnish and
japan, half and half, to make a stiff paste. Thin with turpentine.
No. 7.--English filler, mixed stiff with rubbing varnish, 1/2; japan
1/2. Thinned with turpentine.
Probably genuine English filler has but few, if any, equals, and
certainly no superiors as a roughstuff pigment. It polishes down very
close and compact as to texture, giving a glass-like, non-porous
surface. It requires less lead than other fillers, because of which
property it was specially mentioned as excluded from formulas 2 and 3.
It does not surface down as easily as some of the American fillers, a
fact that has probably limited its use largely.
In using keg lead for roughstuff, a moderately stiff ground lead is
advisable. A lead ground in an excess of oil will necessitate washing
in turps to expel a portion of the oil, if the proper proportions of
ingredients would be maintained. In mixing roughstuff, it pays to be
exact as to proportions and quantities. Use first-class materials,
varnish, japan, etc. Slops and refuse from varnish and japan cans are
to be avoided. They leave the user in a state of uncertainty as to the
composition of his 'stuff. If made in considerable quantities at a
time, the pigment should be stored in a tight, dust-free receptacle and
well covered with water or turps, else it will very soon become gummy
and unsuitable for good work.
[Illustration: PAINT STRAINER.]
The chief mission of roughstuff is to enable the painter to get a
firm, hard, level surface. It requires putting on with a good brush,
and a skilled and painstaking wielder of the tool. Roughstuff should
be carried to a surface a little heavier in body than ordinary paint,
but its spreading and flatting property should in no wise be made
sluggish and "ropy" by the absence of thinning mediums. Better an
additional coat of 'stuff than one coat less because of the excessively
thick coats used. Roughstuff, like all quick setting pigments, needs
to be applied, brushed out, and leveled quickly under the brush, so
that brush marks may not intrude or uniformity in depth of film be
wanting. Use a brush suited to the size of the panel; likewise a brush
with a softness and fineness of point and sufficient elasticity to
insure, if properly wielded, freedom from brush marks. Too heavy a
pigment is no more a prolific cause of brush marks than a too nearly
worn out brush. If the first coat of 'stuff is laid on the panel with
horizontal strokes of the brush, let the second be laid with vertical
ones, and _vice versa_. On a well-surfaced job, four coats should
suffice. Where greater inequalities of the surface exist, more coats
will be necessary. But it is an established maxim in both the practice
and theory of carriage painting that the less roughstuff used upon a
surface, granted that the quantity accords perfectly with the needs
of the surface, the greater the durability of the paint and varnish
structure.
The successful user of roughstuff is one who duly considers the
importance of having a correctly-proportioned, finely-balanced mixture
skillfully applied to the surface amid surroundings favorable to its
prompt and thorough drying.
A guide coat to be used over roughstuff is made of a little of the
'stuff colored a bit with yellow ochre or Venetian red and thinned down
considerably thinner than the 'stuff, with turpentine.
The workman who has roughstuff to rub requires, as an outfit, plenty of
clean water right at hand, a good sponge, chamois skin, and a varied
assortment of rubbing stones and bricks. The rubbing brick product, of
German origin, has been considerably improved of late years; to such
an extent, in fact, that it is now possible to obtain it as fine as
wished for, and running from that up to a very coarse quality. However,
for the very high class work, the natural lava, or pumice stone, is
not to be surpassed. The quality of the rubbing accomplished depends
much upon the selection of the blocks of pumice stone. The blocks of
light weight, open grain, tunneled with innumerable air cells, are
to be preferred for good cutting properties. Immersed in water, they
float instead of sinking. The buoyancy of a piece of lava determines
its porosity and its cutting power. This kind of stone may be used
until the surface is well reduced, when, preferably, the stone of
closer texture and tighter grain may next be used and continued in use
until the final dressing up has been concluded. Select stones of large
cutting surface. After the sawing, filing, and necessary dressing up of
the stone in preparing it for the surface, it merits a thorough washing
and rinsing to cleanse it from all minute atoms of grit, etc. In the
actual work of rubbing a surface, keep the surface well washed to
prevent gumming of the stone and to enable the eye to see just what the
mind and muscle are doing; but do not flood the work with water. The
rubbing stone is doing its work properly when, under an even, gentle
pressure, it cuts smooth and free with a clinging, adhesive motion.
When a particle of grit becomes lodged under the stone there will be a
rolling, jarring motion, easy for even an unpracticed hand to detect,
provided vigilant attention is being directed upon the work. When
scratching of the surface occurs, the rubbing stone requires smoothing
off with another stone, and the surface, stone, etc., given a thorough
rinsing with clean water. Circular, zig-zagging motions of the stone
are ill-advised. Straight, clean strokes, all directed in one general
direction, are best and most effective. A surface is not always rubbed
sufficiently fine when the guide coat disappears. The guide coat may be
but a mere wash and disappear almost completely under a few strokes of
the stone. The disappearance of such a guide(?) coat is not evidence
that the proper surface has been reached. By repeatedly drawing the
hand, with a good pressure, across the surface at right angles with the
direction that governed the laying off of the final coat of filler, the
workman can very accurately decide when an adequately fine surface has
been reached.
To determine when a surface has been rubbed just enough usually gives
the inexperienced rubber no little difficulty, but with practice he
will master the accomplishment. On moulded panels it is advisable to
rub the edges of the surface first, as it will lessen the tendency to
thrust the stone forcibly against the moulding, thus chipping off atoms
of stone to be ground into the surface later on.
Rubbing the roughstuff is the final process in the art of developing
the comely and durable foundation. Does not the work, then, merit a
full measure of skill, alertness, and patience in its execution?
CHAPTER IV.
PRISMATIC AND OBJECTIVE COLOR--HARMONIZING AND CONTRASTING
COLORS--MIXING COLORS--TESTING THEM--ASSAYING FOR OPACITY, COLORING
STRENGTH, BRILLIANCY, ETC.--TABLE FOR COMPOUNDING COACH COLORS,
HUES, AND TINTS.
While colors, as we know them, differ from each other, they exist,
according to the generally accepted theory, as simply different
movements of the same element. The immense ocean of ether, which is in
all space, is one, and the colors are all waves of that one ocean.
When a ray of light undergoes a change of direction it is divided into
many minor rays, which to our visual sense are represented as colors.
As, for example, if a ray of white light be directed through the edge
of a triangular prism so that its course is bent or refracted, the ray
is divided into several different rays of colors, these being thereby
termed spectrum colors.
It is practically agreed by authorities that the rainbow affords the
most complete illustration of spectrum colors, these being formed by
the passage of light through the spray or drops of water in a shower.
Color, then, may be said to be due to the action of light. Hence the
established dictum, namely, white is a reunion of all the colored rays
of the prismatic spectrum. It is a basic element in every color except
black, and, as a color, black figures as an absolute neutral, it being
devoid of white light.
The conditions and circumstances which unite to produce the varying and
various color sensations have never yet been unanimously agreed upon by
the eminent color theorists. The practical man may thread the remotest
confines of color theories as expounded by Newton, Brewster Jones,
Field, Rood, Young, and others, until his adventures bring him out on
the toil-won heights and stupendous summits of the modern science of
colors, and what he beholds will simply tend to confuse his intellect
and more than ever convince him that the mastery of color laws remains
yet to be accomplished; that no unalterable rule can be successfully
applied to the theory of color. To those of my readers who desire to
explore deeply into the recesses of color science, I would recommend
the works by the afore-mentioned colorists. It is the purpose to deal
in this chapter, so far as possible, with the more practical aspects of
the science.
Objective color, as distinguished from what is termed illusive or
prismatic color, is confined to those substances or materials endowed
with the selective property for absorbing the colored rays from the
light which is imparted to them, and which, in the technology of
painting, are known as pigments.
The colors which make up the three orders usually, but not invariably,
recognized by modern colorists, and which practically apply to the
needs of the vehicle painter, may be placed as follows:[A]
Primary Colors Secondary Colors Tertiary Colors
Red Green Russet
Yellow Purple Citron
Blue Orange Olive
Carmine, ultramarine blue, and lemon chrome yellow most nearly
approach to the prismatic colors, and, taking them for the primaries,
we find, according to the deductions of Chevreul and others, that in
proportional strength they rank thus: Yellow, the weakest, 3; red,
medium, 5; blue, strongest, 8. To form the secondary colors, yellow,
3 parts, and blue, 8 parts, produces green, which is the contrasting
color to red, the contrasting primary being always the color not
contained in the secondary. Purple, the contrast to yellow, contains
red, 5 parts; blue, 8 parts. Orange, the contrast to blue, has red,
5 parts; yellow, 3 parts. Any color in the secondary column opposite
a color in the primary column is the contrasting color to that
primary, and in the tertiary column, the tertiary opposite any given
secondary may be accepted as the harmonizing color to that secondary's
contrasting primary; as, for example, yellow, the primary, has purple
as its contrasting, and citron as its harmonizing, color. In like
manner russet harmonizes with red and olive with blue. The tertiaries
may be produced by uniting the secondaries in equal proportions, or
by the primaries being combined in the proportion of 2 parts of any
given primary and 1 part of each of the two remaining primaries. For
instance, olive is made of purple and green, both secondaries, or it
may be made of blue, 2 parts, and 1 part each red and yellow. Citron is
made from green and orange; russet from orange and purple. Referring to
the three different orders of colors, it will be found that experiment
will enable one to effect many changes in the development of color
harmony. Any one color of any of the three orders will harmonize with
the colors which contrast with the remaining two colors of the same
order. Take the primary, blue. The contrasting colors to the remaining
two primaries are purple and green, with which blue harmonizes. The
contrasts to the primaries, red and blue, are respectively green and
orange, with which the third primary, yellow, harmonizes. Or red will
harmonize with the contrasts to the primaries, yellow and blue, which
are purple and orange. Continuing the experiment to the secondary
colors, it is found that green harmonizes with citron and olive, the
contrasts to the two remaining secondaries, purple and orange; purple
harmonizes with russet (russet contains a double share of red, bear in
mind) and olive, both being contrasts to orange and green, the other
secondaries. Orange harmonizes with citron and russet, the contrasts to
purple and green.
These experiments in the domain of color contrasts and harmony might be
pursued indefinitely, but the above will suffice to afford the student
who essays the colorist's art (and what vehicle painter doesn't aspire
to that art?) a practical working plan for the acquirement of such
information as will enable him ultimately to successfully meet the
exacting requirements of modern vehicle ornamentation. Knowledge of
the harmony of analogy, a simple, effective, and ready way of varying
painting, together with a knowledge of contrasts, the finer, higher,
and superior system of effecting the most adorable and fetching color
adornment, is an indispensable help to the painter, to attain which he
can well afford to make many sacrifices.
The harmony of color as it applies to the use of two or more colors
with reference to the relationships which should exist between them,
requires to be further intensified by a strict and vigilant regard for
the season, conditions, and circumstances which obtain when certain
combinations of colors are employed. And for this reason: Blue is a
cold color, chilly in the extreme at some seasons of the year, upon
certain surfaces. It may be called a space color and imparts a retiring
effect to form. Red, applied to form, appears stationary and gives a
warmth of sentiment. Orange is, if anything, warmer in its effect than
a full red. Bright yellow tends to excitement of the vision. Green has
a conspicuous or advancing appearance.
The primary colors have no established hues, tints, or shades, but
in every compound of the primaries a hue is recognizable. Green,
for instance, as a compound of blue and yellow, can be made to vary
surprisingly in hue as the proportion of one primary is increased and
the other reduced, and _vice versa_.
In every compound of the primaries the predominating primary fixes
the hue thereof. Hue, then, as an authority has well said, may be "a
mixture of two or more colors of any order, but the mixture should not
depart from the original color."
Tone, as applied to a color, measures the depth of the hue of that
color.
Dilute a color, or the hue thereof, with white, and a tint of that
color or hue is the result. To illustrate: By adding white to chrome
yellow, the yellow is reduced along down through the long lists of
tints until it reaches white.
A color or hue deepened by the addition of black becomes a shade of
that color or hue; or, in other words, a shade is any color made deeper
by the addition of black. The positive colors contain no white or black
by mixture, while the negative colors do contain white or black or both.
THE MIXING OF COLORS,
in view of the fact that the manufacture of them has now reached a
very high state of perfection, would seem to be a comparatively easy
matter, but it must be understood that in vehicle painting, business
vehicle painting especially, there are many hues, tints, and shades
demanded which the color maker does not furnish. Such mixtures have to
be prepared by the painter, and the work becomes a skilled operation.
First he must be fortified with a clear knowledge of the proportions of
the ingredients required to form the desired color or hue thereof, or
tint or shade. Then he must skillfully and _perfectly_ combine them.
The word "perfectly" is emphasized because if the constituents be not
perfectly combined, a long train of evils is invited. A most minute
and perfect incorporation of all the particles of the paint material
must be made, otherwise a lack of uniformity in strength, coloring,
and covering power results. Certain colors have a property of unduly
asserting themselves when combined with certain other colors in the
mixing cup, and if allowance be not made for this assertive strength
and a very thorough mixture of the parts effected, the color, when
applied to the surface, is apt to show streaks. Some pigments require
grinding upon the slab under the muller to obtain an absolutely perfect
commingling of the particles.
This rule applies to the mixing of pigments: The more perfect the
mixing, the more perfect the product; perfect not only as regards its
strength, permanence, and brilliancy of color, but perfect also as
regards its working properties.
While two or more pigments may mix nicely together, they may not
liquify readily, and unless the workman be thorough in his mixing
operations, lack of a uniform film of color ensues, a condition
which later on develops the faded and bleached out surface, and in
many instances the flaking and shelly one. The painter who would
become a skilled mixer of pigment will insist upon exact quantitative
measurements of all the ingredients he may employ, both liquids and
solids, when such measurements are possible, and he will further see
that the ingredients are perfectly united.
The attainment of a high average of results in the use of colors
depends greatly upon the achievements of the color maker and upon the
uniform quality of his product. Fineness of grinding, uniformity of
color in respect to its coloring and covering power, and brilliancy,
are valued essentials. It is necessary that the painter should get
from the color maker not one, two, or three successive lots of color
that are of standard color, tint, or shade, but _every_ lot should
correspond to the exact standard. When the painter opens a new lot of
color, he desires it to be exactly like the last in every particular,
provided, of course, the last lot was standard. Hence, uniformity of
color, of tint, of shade, of quality throughout, is a requirement with
which the color maker may properly be expected to comply. It will thus
be observed that the purchase of colors is one of the really important
steps leading up to fine and durable color effects.
In testing a color for covering power or opacity, for coloring
strength, and for brilliancy, comparison should always be made with a
strictly standard color.
To assay for covering power or opacity, weigh out, say 50 grains, of
the standard color and the same number of grains of the color under
examination, and to each sample add 10 grains of fine china clay, if
the colors be dark, or 10 grains of the highest grade of lampblack
(this being a pure black) should they be light, and mix intimately. The
sample which departs the least from its own color has the best body or
covering power. Or mix exactly equal quantities of the standard color
and the color to be assayed, in equal quantities of raw linseed oil,
incorporating the oil and the pigment thoroughly, and then apply to
glass surfaces (small panes of window glass answer the purpose fully),
spreading the pigment as evenly as possible. The sample covering the
glass most solidly has the strongest covering power.
Coloring power is determined by mixing a given quantity of a standard
sample of color with a certain quantity of china clay or, if preferred,
zinc white. Of the sample to be assayed take the same quantity of color
and mix with exactly the same quantity of china clay or zinc white used
with the standard. The sample showing the greatest depth of color may
be accepted as having the strongest coloring power.
The durability or permanency of a pigment may be tested by mixing the
pigment with raw linseed oil, spreading on a piece of glass, exposing
it to the rigors of the weather, and noting its condition from time to
time.
The fineness of a color or pigment can be judged by rubbing the
material between two thick pieces of glass or subjecting it to a
powerful microscopic examination. Or a common fruit can with a tight
cover may be two-thirds filled with clean water, half an ounce of color
put therein, and the contents vigorously shaken. The finer the sample
is ground, the longer the time it will require to settle out.
The following table is intended to aid in the compounding of the
principal hues, tints, and shades of colors used in carriage and
wagon painting. It would prove futile to try to make the proportions
arbitrary, because the uniformity of colors advocated above does not
universally obtain, the product of one firm differing from that of
other firms and very often, unfortunately, lacking uniformity in itself.
Moreover, color sense has not reached a uniform development, and the
proportions which would, for example, make a cherry red as accepted by
one person might not appear that color to the second person. However,
in most of the formulas proportions are indicated, and the table is
presented not as an infallible guide, but more in the nature of a
reliably helpful one.
TABLE OF HUES, TINTS, AND SHADES OF COLORS.
REDS.
Transparent Red--No. 40 carmine.
French Red--Indian red and vermilion glazed with carmine.
Carnation Red--Red lake, 3 parts; white, 1 part.
Wine Color--Carmine, 3 parts; ultramarine blue, 3 parts.
Claret--Carmine and ultramarine blue, or red and black.
Imperial Red--Yellow lake, 1 part; solferino lake, 5 parts.
Cherry Red--Carmine, 1 part; English vermilion, 2 parts.
Maroon Red--Lampblack, 1 part; Venetian red, 8 parts.
Solid Crimson--English vermilion, 1 part; carmine, 2 parts.
Superlative Vermilion--English vermilion, 3 parts; orange mineral, 1
part.
Deep Rose--Victoria lake, 1 part; flake white, 6 parts.
Brick Red--Yellow Ochre, 2 parts; English vermilion, 1 part; white, 1
part.
Metropolitan Red--Carmine and vermilion, glazed with carmine. A
stunning and saucy panel color.
YELLOWS.
Primrose--Add a dash of white to lemon yellow. Or, according to
Standard Dictionary, 58% of white, 24% of yellow, and 18% of green. It
should be of a very pale yellow tint; is fashionable and originally
English, you know.
Maroon Yellow--Carmine, 3 parts; yellow, 2 parts.
Rich Yellow--Orange chrome, 1 part; white, 6 parts.
Buff--White, 2 parts; yellow ochre, 1 part.
Oak--Yellow ochre, 1 part; white, 8 parts.
Jonquil Yellow--Flake white and chrome yellow, with a bit of carmine
added.
Sulphur Yellow--Lemon chrome, 1 part; white, 1 part.
Amber Yellow--Chrome yellow (medium), 8 parts.
Canary Yellow--White, 6 parts; lemon chrome, 1 part.
Naples Yellow--White, 150 parts; golden ochre, 9 parts; orange chrome,
1 part.
Straw Color--White, 5 parts; lemon yellow, 2 parts; vermilion, a drop
or two.
Lemon Color--Lemon yellow, 2 parts; white, 5 parts.
Cream Color--White, 5 parts; red, 1 part; yellow, 2 parts.
Cream Tint--White, 150 parts; orange chrome, 1 part.
Gold--White and medium chrome yellow. Add a little vermilion and French
yellow ochre.
Pale Orange--Orange chrome, 1 part; white, 5 parts.
Acorn Yellow--White and raw sienna, equal parts.
BLUES.
Changeable Blue--Prussian blue.
Ocean Blue--White, 15 parts; Prussian blue, 1 part; raw sienna, 2
parts.
Ultramarine Blue--Three shades, light, dark, and medium.
Grass Blue--White, 6 parts; emerald green, 2 parts; Prussian blue, 1
part.
Azure Blue--White, 35 parts; ultramarine blue (medium), 1 part.
Cerulean Blue--White, colored with ultramarine blue.
Bird's-Egg Blue--Add ultramarine blue to white until a tolerably
intense blue is reached; then give a dash of light chrome green.
Cobalt Blue--A fine pale blue, and a most beautiful panel color. Very
permanent.
Brunswick Blue--Made in three shades. Popular in some sections.
GREENS.
Sage Green--White, 60 parts; light chrome green, 2 parts; raw umber, 1
part.
Bottle Green--Dutch pink and Prussian blue, glazed with yellow lake; or
medium chrome green, 5 parts; drop black, 1 part.
Nile Green, otherwise Body Green--Milori green, Prussian blue, and
black, mixed to the desired shade and glazed over with yellow lake.
Tea Green--Made of blue chrome green and raw umber. A striking panel
color for business wagons.
Pea Green--White, 5 parts; chrome green, 1 part.
Willow Green--White, 5 parts; verdigris, 1 part.
Grass Green--Yellow, 3 parts; Prussian blue, 1 part.
Marine Green--White, 30 parts; chrome green, 1 part.
Brilliant Green--Paris green, 4 parts; chrome green, 1 part.
Bronze Green--Chrome green, 5 parts; burnt umber, 1 part; black, 1 part.
Scheele's Green--Paris green.
Milori Green--A fine panel color for business vehicles; is rich in
color and of good covering power.
Olive Green--Golden ochre, 5 parts; coach black, 1 part.
Quaker Green--Chrome yellow, 5 parts; Prussian blue, 2 parts;
vermilion, 1 part.
The greens form a class of colors very extensively employed in the
painting of all classes of vehicles. There are two orders of green,
namely, cold and warm. In cold greens, blue or black predominates;
the warm greens contain an excess of yellow. As a class, the greens
contrast with reds and colors containing red, and harmonize with colors
having yellow or blue in their composition.
BROWNS.
Olive Brown--Burnt umber, 3 parts; lemon yellow, 1 part.
Bismarck Brown--Dutch pink, burnt umber, and lake. Or, with a mixture
of burnt umber 2 parts, white lead 1 part, make a ground, over which
put a coating of burnt sienna, and then glaze with carmine, 1-1/2
parts; crimson lake, 1 part; gold bronze, 1 part. An English vermilion
makes a base over which the glazing makes a considerably lighter brown.
Orange Brown--Orange chrome, 2 parts; burnt sienna, 3 parts.
Coffee Brown--Yellow ochre, 2 parts; burnt sienna, 1 part; burnt umber,
5 parts.
Dark Brown--Indian red, 5 parts; Prussian blue, 1 part.
Amber Brown--Burnt sienna, 4 parts; medium chrome yellow, 5 parts;
burnt umber, 8 parts.
Indian Brown--Indian red, 1 part; yellow ochre, 1 part; lampblack, 1
part.
Seal Brown--Burnt umber, 4 parts; golden ochre, 1 part.
Tan Brown--Yellow, 2 parts; raw umber, 1 part; burnt sienna, 5 parts.
Japan Brown--Black japan, to which is added a little vermilion.
Umbers--A class of natural earths, affording varying shades of brown,
the Cypress mines yielding rich, warm, olive colors. Calcined, this
umber reaches a positive violet shade. Burnt umber used alone or in
connection with red and black, gives a very striking panel color for
business vehicles.
Vandyke Brown--A product of natural deposits of brown color. Vandyke
brown is a warm color of a reddish hue and is permanent. Most of the
Vandyke browns with which the carriage painter is familiar are made,
however, from black, red, and yellow.
Burnt Sienna--A fine, warm, reddish brown, if the sienna be of good
quality. A very close imitation of Bismarck brown.
Chestnut Brown--Red, 2 parts; chrome yellow, 2 parts; black, 1 part.
Chocolate Color--A little carmine added to burnt umber.
MISCELLANEOUS.
London Smoke--Red, 1 part; umber (burnt), 2 parts; white, 1 part.
Plum Color--White, 2 parts; red, 1 part; blue, 1 part.
Salmon Color--White, 5 parts; burnt umber, 1 part; yellow, 1 part.
Chamoline (wet chamois skin)--White, 5 parts; raw sienna, 3 parts;
lemon chrome, 1 part.
Cane Color--White and ochre shaded with black.
Dove Color--Medium chrome yellow, 1 part; blue, 1 part; white, 4 parts;
vermilion, 2 parts.
Fawn Color--White and ochre with a bit of vermilion.
Burgundy--A bright lake given a small percentage of asphaltum.
Silver Color--White, indigo, and black.
Leather Color--Burnt sienna, 2 parts; burnt umber, 1 part; a little
white added.
Lilac--Blue, 1 part; carmine, 4 parts; white, 3 parts.
Plum Color--White, 2 parts; blue, 2 parts; red, 1 part.
Maroon--Carmine, 3 parts; yellow, 2 parts. Or crimson lake and burnt
umber.
Copper Color--Yellow, 2 parts; red, 1 part; black, 1 part.
True Lead Color--White, 8 parts; blue, 1 part; black, 1 part.
Normal Gray--White, black and purple; or simply white and black.
Pearl Gray--White, black, and blue.
French Gray--White, tinted with ivory black, the mixture warmed with a
pinch of vermilion.
Drab Color--Burnt umber, 1 part; white, 9 parts.
Medium Gray--White, 8 parts; black, 2 parts.
Light Gray--White, 9 parts; black, 1 part; blue, 1 part.
Wine Color--Ultramarine blue, 2 parts; carmine, 3 parts.
Blue Black--Ivory black, 15 parts; Prussian blue, 1 part.
Snuff Color--Yellow, 4 parts; Vandyke brown, 2 parts.
Peach Blossom Color--White, 8 parts; blue, 1 part; red, 1 part; yellow,
1 part.
Lavender--White, 15 parts; mauve lake, 1 part; rose madder, 1 part.
FOOTNOTE:
[A] With apologies to Mr. W. G. Scott and others who have published
similar but more elaborate and scientific presentations.
CHAPTER V.
THE APPLICATION OF COLORS TO
SURFACES.--GREENS--BLUES--REDS--YELLOWS--BROWNS--BLACKS--WHITE.
The greens comprise a class of colors many of which are leaders in
popularity as panel colors on heavy pleasure vehicles, such as landaus,
broughams, rockaways, etc. Nearly all the greens are used as solid
colors, requiring no specially prepared ground work color. The ease,
however, with which solidity and density of color is obtained upon
a surface is greatly overshadowed by the difficulty--the extreme
difficulty, perhaps I should say--of applying most of the fine carriage
greens now fashionable. Such greens as olive, Quaker, Brewster, and
Merrimac green, individually and collectively favorites, require very
deft and painstaking manipulation in the cup and under the brush in
order to insure workman-like results. Probably olive green manifests
the most pronounced disposition to assert the strength of some one or
more of its color constituents independently and to the detriment of
the remaining ones. To overcome this difficulty, the color in the cup
should be stirred frequently after having been mixed thoroughly when
in preparation for the surface. In applying greens to the surface--and
this statement is intended to cover the entire list of greens used in
carriage and wagon painting--cross brushing at the final conclusion
of laying off the color may well be avoided. The tendency of cross
brushing at the ends of a panel is to show two or more different shades
of the same green. The rule holds good, when using the greens, to
adhere to thorough methods of mixing, to keep the color well stirred in
the cup, and to desist from cross brushing at the extremities of the
panels in finishing up.
These characteristics so conspicuously developed as opportunity offers
have prompted a majority of carriage painters and colorists in our best
shops to use most of the greens employed on fine carriage surfaces
in the capacity of flat color coats (two coats in nearly all cases
covering solid) and then applying clear rubbing varnish, thus doing
away with the color-and-varnish coats altogether. The greens which
are used as glazing colors comprise ultramarine green, verdigris, and
transparent bronze green.
THE BLUES.
Next to the greens in popularity as fine panel colors come the blues,
ultramarine blue ranking as the most widely used of the various
varieties. The elegance and aristocratic effects obtained by the
employment of ultramarine blue are secured only by the development
of a ground work free from imperfections. As a matter of fact,
the successful use of almost every coach color, whether used as a
glazing color or otherwise, is contingent upon the quality of the
ground color and upon such a harmonious assimilation of the different
coats as will promote the greatest elasticity and permanence. Of the
ultramarine blue there are three shades, light, medium, and dark.
Most color manufacturers prepare and sell ground colors adapted to
the different shades of the blue, the ultramarine being invariably
used as a color-and-varnish or glazing coat. Nevertheless, it is often
necessary, even if not desirable, to shop prepare the ground color for
the ultramarine blues when wanted.
For the light shade of ultramarine blue, Prussian blue and a superior
grade of white lead are so combined as to produce a blue of good
depth and body, unusual care being taken to have the blue and white
thoroughly united and beaten into one indivisible pigment. If keg lead
be used in making the ground, the oil should be first completely washed
out of the pigment with benzine or turpentine, and varnish, instead of
oil, be employed as the color binder. This practice provides for sure
and reliable drying of the ground color. The ground for the medium
ultramarine blue may be made of the ingredients above stated, the color
being simply adjusted to a deeper shade of blue, more blue and less
white being used in the admixture. In both the light and the medium,
the ground color should approximate the glaze color and enhance the
richness of effect. For the dark shade of ultramarine blue, a coat of
lampblack furnishes a most excellent and effective ground color.
Probably the richest effect in blue is furnished by glazing ultramarine
blue over a ground of very deep green. Transparent cobalt blue, a
glaze color always, requires a ground of Prussian blue and white.
Body cobalt is used as a solid color, and for a panel color on traps,
breaks, and vehicles of that order it produces admirable and fetching
effects. The glaze colors are best used in a flowing medium of elastic
rubbing varnish, especially when body surfaces are being coated, and
the brushes adapted to applying such colors are the 1-1/2-inch and
the 2-inch badger flowing brush or a soft, half-elastic bristle brush
suited to the size of the panels being coated.
REDS, WINES, AND OTHER COLORS OF THE RED ORDER.
For warmth and brilliancy of color effects, carmine among a long
list of gorgeous reds, is without a rival. Carmine is a glaze color
exclusively, and the splendor of its radiance is governed entirely by
the ground color. Carmine, along with its near relatives of the red
order, has a decided tendency to fade, flake, and chip off. The ground
color, therefore, must, in addition to being faultless in color density
and surface features, be possessed of great enduring qualities. It may
be accepted as a rule worthy of practice that the ground colors for
the general order of reds should be mixed with a binder of varnish
sufficiently strong to impart to them when dry at least a faint
gloss--an egg-shell gloss, if it please my community of readers. A
ground so prepared is fortified to counteract the fading and flaking
properties of such of the reds as are used as glaze colors.
To secure a first-class job of light carmine, bring the surface up
level and smooth, and then apply a coat of peach-blow color, made
of white and some one of the ordinary reds. Over this apply a coat
of deep English vermilion, using the vermilion stoutly charged with
rubbing varnish. Polish this coat, when dry, with curled hair and
apply a second coat of the vermilion, adding a sufficiency of varnish
to convert the mixture to the color-and-varnish class. At the proper
time this coat should, preferably, be rubbed lightly with pumice stone
and water. Next apply a coat of clear rubbing varnish, which in due
time also demands rubbing with pulverized pumice stone and water. Then
to rubbing varnish, elastic or quick, hard drying, as the size of the
surface may dictate, add enough of No. 40 carmine to fully stain the
liquid, say 3/4 of an ounce of carmine to one full pint of varnish
(many first-class painters use 1/2 oz. carmine to 1 pint of varnish),
and apply to the surface, be it body or gear, with a soft badger or
bristle brush. For a less expensive job, omit the coat of clear rubbing
varnish and apply the carmine directly to the vermilion.
A method easier to carry into execution in painting a carmine job
consists in adding a little carmine to the last coat of vermilion
color-and-varnish. This coat is rubbed with curled hair; then carmine
is added to varnish, as in the first method, after which a _small_
quantity of vermilion is put in to give the mixture opacity or
covering power. Clouding and such other incidental imperfections to
be considered in connection with the work of one not really an expert
in the manipulation of glaze colors, is thereby avoided. For a darker
carmine, use a ground of flamingo red, carmine red (a solid color),
road-cart red, Kalliston red, or permanent scarlet, dark shade, the
latter color requiring a light vermilion ground.
In applying carmine to wheels, it is advisable to flow the whole
wheel at once, instead of doing them in sections, as by this practice
a cleaner, clearer, and more satisfactory job is secured. For the
gear, do the whole of one end of it before wiping up, then the final
end, finishing with the reach and side bars, if there be side bars.
To obtain the real purple and fine linen of carmine effects, the
color-and-varnish requires to be flowed on freely and quickly, and
promptly slicked up. Pottering and sectional patching up invites
inferior results.
The vermilions, of which there is at present quite a formidable list,
ranging from the glaring light shades to the glowing dark ones, all
bespeak carefully prepared and durable grounds, if satisfactory wearing
and appearing qualities are to be attained. Vermilions may properly, it
would seem, be classed among the fugitive colors, and their retention
of purity of color is therefore dependent upon the grounds employed
to support them. As previously stated, a peach-blow color forms a
good ground for vermilion. It should be made to dry with an egg-shell
gloss so as to overcome the fading propensity of the vermilion. Then
let the first coat of vermilion have a decided gloss. The final coat
of vermilion is placed as color-and-varnish. Linseed oil should not be
used in vermilion, as it darkens the color and destroys its brilliancy.
Ditto japan.
The large class of modern reds known under such alluring titles as
C. P. red, flamingo red, brilliant coach red, Ottoman red, Kalliston
red, etc., are usually applied over ground colors specially supplied
by the manufacturer. With but few exceptions, such reds are used in
this way: One coat of color, one coat of color-and-varnish, "dead," or
lustreless, coats being carefully avoided.
Indian red in at least two distinct shades, pale and deep, and Tuscan
red in three shades are largely used for running parts and panel colors
on certain _fin de siecle_ pleasure vehicles, and they are painted as
solid colors, one coat flat color and one coat color-and-varnish.
In wagon painting, wine colors in half a dozen shades are used. They
also need the supporting strength of very stable grounds. Indian red
and Tuscan red, of shades suited to the shades of the wine color
afford excellent ground colors. If ample time be at the command of
the painter, mix these grounds with a binder of raw linseed oil. For
hurried work, use a binder of varnish.
Among carriage painters generally, the lakes have never been classed as
strictly permanent pigments. At the same time, in the creed of modern
carriage and wagon painting they are indispensable. Of those probably
the best known in the vehicle paint shop, may be mentioned maroon lake,
Munich, carriage part, permanent scarlet, scarlet, red, English rose
lake, purple lake, carmine lake, and crimson lake.
Maroon lake is best glazed over a deep Tuscan red ground; Munich lake
over extra deep Tuscan red or lampblack; carriage part lake over the
same ground as Munich; permanent scarlet over vermilion; scarlet lake
over light vermilion; red lake over pale Tuscan red; English rose lake
over extra deep Tuscan red; purple lake over a ground made of Tuscan
red and Prussian blue. Carmine lake furnishes many of the gleaming and
beautiful effects of No. 40 carmine when used over such grounds as are
best adapted to genuine carmine. Crimson lake is used over vermilion
grounds and furnishes a color of great warmth and richness.
It is advisable, when perfecting the ground for the lakes, to add to
the last coat of ground color some of the lake to be used over it, as
a mellowing, toning ingredient. The non-elastic quality of the lakes
suggests the use of elastic rubbing varnish when preparing the lake
color-and-varnish. This will impart elasticity and adhesiveness.
THE YELLOWS.
Among the yellows are many delicate shades which require strong basic
color coats to support them properly. In the painting of a yellow
surface, be it of the most delicate or the most powerful shade of
yellow, the initial coats of color may very correctly be white. Have
the surface smooth and clean, and if it be the running parts of the
vehicle, and the priming coat is already on, mix the keg lead in, say
one-half raw linseed oil and one-half turpentine, using a teaspoonful
of coach japan to each pint of the paint. Apply this coat with an
oval bristle brush. When dry, sand off lightly with No. 1 paper,
putty with white putty wherever necessary, doing the work so smoothly
as to require no sanding, and then with a camel's-hair brush apply
a second coat of the white containing a strong binder of oil and
thinned to a free working consistency with "turps." Over this ground
most of the yellows can be brought to the proper depth and density of
color with two coats of color and one coat of color-and-varnish. This
for the running parts. Upon body surfaces having a roughstuff base,
wash the keg white lead free of oil with benzine or turps, adding a
binder of rubbing varnish, and apply two coats of the white with a
two-inch camel's-hair brush, polishing each coat with clean curled
hair. Then apply the yellow, using the final coat in the capacity
of color-and-varnish. There is economy of time, labor, and pigment
in using a white ground for yellow. Moreover, the natural bleaching
propensity of the yellows is distinctly checked through the agency of a
white ground. All colors in light shades evince a natural tendency to
darken as they fade and lose their original purity of tone. The white
ground operates to overcome this tendency, to arrest this deepening
process, to hold the yellow to its true color; and it does this by
reason of the fact that it offers the yellow a white base instead of a
positive, assertive one, to strike through. In other words, the yellow,
as it responds to the process of drying, is influenced by the lighter
color beneath, the one counteracting the other.
That renowned French authority on coach painting, M. Arlot, is upon
record as advising primary coats of white lead as a base for yellows.
The writer has personal knowledge of the value of white basic coats
for the numerous family of colors in question, and therefore strongly
advises their employment. Primrose, canary, and sulphur yellow are
among the most fashionable of the pale yellows and require careful
working out under the brush. With the yellows must be considered yellow
lake. This is used only as a glaze color. Put over the solid greens,
it gives to them depth and richness. Placed over Brewster green, for
example, it renders a particularly elegant effect. Put over many of the
brilliant reds, it imparts a fine and exquisite effect.
THE BROWNS.