Gold lettering on black and white grounds may be effectively shaded

with almost any color but that of the yellow order. A well-known

authority advises the use of the richest and most permanent tones of

red, green, blue, and umber shades in shading gold letters placed on

colored grounds. Reds, especially the intense and most brilliant reds,

are warm, advancing colors for shading gold letters. Imagine, if you

please, a more strikingly handsome combination than a gold letter

shaded with red cast against a ground of some one of the fashionable

greens. Or reverse the style, and put the gold letter upon a ground of

carmine glazed over flamingo red, shading with green. Blue, as a shade,

produces a cool, distant effect.

Black letters may be usually shaded with any of the primary or

secondary colors. In shading it should be borne in mind that

complementary colors cannot always be tastefully combined. As, for

instance, yellow and orange would not look fetching to any extent when

shaded with blue, although regarded as complementary. The learner

should apply himself studiously to the study of happy and harmonious

color effects in the matter of shading.

PUNCTUATION.

A staid old axiom has it that "art and education are twin sisters,"

but the examples of punctuation as seen in wagon lettering often met

with suggest the inference that the vehicle letterer is not slow, at

times, to offer a startling contradiction to the axiom. The sense of

construction and meaning can be quickly and effectually destroyed in a

piece of lettering by a bit of bad punctuation. The simple misplacing

of a comma, period, or apostrophe,--about the only punctuation marks

deemed necessary at present to bring out the full meaning and make

symmetrical a job of vehicle lettering--often results in disfiguring

an otherwise really meritorious piece of work. The late Mr. Geo. W. W.

Houghton has defined the object of punctuation, "to so divide written

or printed sentences that the meaning may be made more visibly clear."

[Illustration]

In vehicle lettering as now practiced the more striking and

illuminative words and phrases are set forth in separate lines, each

line, as a rule, carrying a different size and a different style of

letter. This system of vividly illuminating and emphasizing vehicle

lettering has reduced the need of punctuation to the minimum; but

it renders the necessity of a wise and judicious use of punctuation

marks none the less imperative. In no way that we are aware of can

the information which a line of lettering is intended to convey be

so clearly perverted as through the medium of a flagrant error in

punctuation. A sweep of lettering done according to the most approved

standard of letter form and construction, but improperly punctuated,

is at best only a distorted and deformed example of workmanship. The

advertising pages of the big magazines offer fine advantages for the

accumulation of reliable "pointers" upon the accepted practice of

modern newspaper and magazine punctuation. To such sources the reader

is invited to go if he would profit by the examples set forth by

acknowledged masters of the art of punctuation.

ALPHABETS.

The Roman alphabet is easily the most beautiful and engaging of all the

alphabets used by the wagon letterer. It is an alphabet of impressively

graceful lines, curves flowing easy rather than exact, with nothing

about it to suggest a lack of freedom or easy repose. The Roman

letter, as conceived by the modern school of American sign writers

and letterers, is at once the most picturesque and the most difficult

to execute of any style known. It is a letter of severe requirements,

enforcing in its proper execution a very facile and skilled

manipulation of all the aids at the command of the workman. Inferior

quality of work cannot be concealed in the Roman letter. Every curve

of its noble form must be brought out and fully rounded if the letter

is to be what its name implies. Accompanying this chapter is a Roman

alphabet, and while there are a number of styles dignified under the

title of Roman they are all formed on the same general principle. The

Roman alphabet is deservedly held in high esteem by vehicle letterers

and sign writers the country over. It is most commonly adapted to the

needs of wagon lettering, especially. It is easily read and can be

greatly extended, if necessary, without injury to its bold and legible

characteristics. The distinctive features of the individual letters

contained in the Roman alphabet are briefly summarized as follows:

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

A has its cross bar drawn at two-fifths of its height. Properly it

should be wider than the H or N. The center bar of B belongs above the

center of the letter. C is not drawn in a perfect circle. Abrupt curves

should be avoided and the exact lines of the dividers discarded. D

requires care in execution, its large sweeping curve being a difficult

one to control. E goes a bit wider than its height, with bar above

center. F is frequently drawn a trifle narrower than E. Remarks made

concerning C apply to G. Keep cross bar of H above the center. Its

width should be about equal to its height. I is very easy to make and

needs no description. J is a little narrower than the other letters.

K is entitled to about the same space as H. The cut shows where the

angles of the letter meet. L and M occupy considerably more space than

other letters. N requires the same space as H. O is a little wider

than C. The necessity for this increased width will become immediately

plain to one who will first make C and then undertake to confine O

in the same circle. The proportion of P is shown in the alphabet. Q,

along with O, needs easy, sweeping curves to best display its form.

Make the appendage clean cut and bold. It has been said that a wagon

letterer's standard as an artist is determined by the quality of his

Roman R's. Be that as it may, R is rightfully regarded as a difficult

letter to execute. The cross bar usually goes in at the center of the

letter. The tail of the letter constitutes the difficult point to

control. S is a handsome letter, withal a difficult one to execute

properly. To ascertain the correctness of one's S, invert the letter

as drawn. Inverted the letter will be top-heavy but it should not be

built on awkward lines. T has the same height as width. It should not

be narrowed beyond the proportion here indicated, as one often observes

it in sign work. N and V may be passed without comment. W, practically

composed of two V's, is distinguished as the widest letter of the

alphabet. X occupies about the usual space and its upper part should be

smaller than the nether. Y is best known as a wide letter and like the

T, has a shape that tends to break the regularity of spacing and leads

the workman oftentimes to ruin the appearance of the letter through

the process of contraction. Z is ordinarily classed as one of the easy

letters of the alphabet to make.

The modified block alphabet herewith shown is executed by many Eastern

wagon letterers, and it may be said to be drawn upon pleasing and easy

lines. In display lines the modified block presents a glowingly fine

appearance, forcible, prominent, and plain enough for him who runs to

read.

The ornamental alphabets set forth in alphabets No. 1 and No. 2 require

no extended comment. They may be varied somewhat to meet certain needs

and necessities. The letters composing No. 2 have limbs projecting

above and below the regulation lines, and therein lies the chief beauty.

By the kind permission of Mr. Chas. B. Sherron, editor of _Varnish_,

the writer is pleased to illustrate a Grecian alphabet of decidedly

unique attractions. Wagon letterers have come to regard this alphabet

with much favor, and, if properly executed, it gives very striking

effects. The embellishments admit of innumerable changes and

modifications. In point of fact, the variations that are possible with

this design are only limited by the talent of the workman. The letters

may be shaded quite as handily as other styles. Done in gold against

any dark ground they furnish beautiful and rich effects.

Accompanying these alphabets are a few designs for business vehicle

panels in which examples of present day lettering are reflected from

variously ornamented grounds. From a study of them the apprentice

may perhaps find a suggestion that will lead him to originate more

pretentious examples. There are many unexplored fields of beauty in the

domain of ornamental wagon lettering, bear in mind.

CHAPTER XI.

MONOGRAMS--ANTIQUITY OF THE MONOGRAM--HOW TO DESIGN AND PAINT THE

MONOGRAM--TOOLS NEEDED--LEADING COLORS EMPLOYED--SOME ENGAGING

COMBINATIONS--ILLUSTRATIONS, ETC.

The designing and painting of monograms is an accomplishment which

the carriage painter should zealously strive to acquire. Years ago

the crest, coat-of-arms, and other elaborate forms of ornamentation

accompanied the monogram in its mission as a panel decoration.

Gradually, in response to the dictates of the vehicle-using public, and

encouraged, no doubt, by the stern mandates of competition, the use

of the lavishly wrought style of panel ornament has given way largely

to the monogram. Despite the apparent tendency toward plain effects

in the matter of pleasure vehicle ornamentation the fact remains

unassailed that a well executed monogram cast upon the panels of a

vehicle imparts a color effect, and breaks the monotony of a finish,

to a very satisfying extent. As my lamented friend Manchester was wont

to say: "That little patch of color warms up the entire job, relieving

that sense of sameness that one feels when contemplating a carriage. No

matter how nicely it is finished, there seems to be something lacking

if the ornament is omitted. That little color spot is like an oasis in

a desert--a resting place, as it were, for the eye." Most certain it

is that the dull uniformity, the eye offending lack of variety, in the

painting of a carriage panel is often relieved by the simple addition

of a monogram. The monogram is not of recent origin. Away back in those

alluring days of Greek heroes and Egyptian divinities the monogram

existed. Indeed, early in the fourth century, as ancient history

informs us, monograms were used to identify the pomp of power. In

France the monogram was early employed in the capacity of a signature

and inscribed upon seals and coins. In point of fact, the use and

purpose of the monogram was clearly established when the world was yet

young.

[Illustration]

The word monogram is said to be derived from two modest little Greek

words, _monos_, alone, only, and _gramma_, letter. Authorities differ

considerably in defining the word monogram. A modern authority refers

to it in this wise: "In the true monogram two of its letters, or all,

for that matter, should have some portion in common." Again it is said

to consist of "characters or ciphers composed of two or more letters

interwoven, being an abbreviation of a name." Still another authority

contends that the monogram is "a device formed by the assemblage of two

or more letters so as to form a single character." Probably the three

definitions here quoted determine the limits and significance of the

monogram as we wish to know it today. If the monogram is formed of but

two letters it is denominated a simple monogram. Composed of all the

letters of a name it is classified as a complete monogram. It is not

the writer's purpose to inveigh against the elaborate and complicated

monogram, which, in some respects, at least, partakes freely of the

mystifying characteristics of an oriental newspaper advertisement, but

he does wish to emphasize the value of a monogram devoted to the use

of vehicular adornment made sufficiently plain and simple to be easily

read by one not used to deciphering hieroglyphics. "Handsome is that

handsome does," runs the quaint old axiom, and, generally speaking,

the clean cut, unencumbered, legible monogram, serves its office as a

handsome ornament when it offers to the observer a tale soon told.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

The designing and painting of monograms constitutes an art mastered,

save in exceptional instances, only after long continued study and

practice. Some of our best monogram makers do not ascribe their success

to talent, but, rather, to hard work and practice. Works on monograms

furnish plenty of examples of the different styles (which consist,

principally, of the Florentine, script, and block,) for the guidance

of the beginner. With such examples before him the work of making

monograms may be begun. Mr. W. A. Thompson, probably one of the most

skillful monogram designers in the country, advises the student to

"begin practice with a slate and pencil for a time at least, as the

lines can be more readily erased than from paper." As some proficiency

is gained the slate may be discarded in favor of the writing pad,

pencil and eraser. The compass and dividers are not advised as aids

to be constantly relied upon. The general practice should be to let

these aids severely alone. Free-hand drawing produces, as a rule,

the most symmetrical and graceful monogram. Study of proportion and

balance should early engage the thought of the learner. Curves on one

side of a monogram, for instance, should be followed when possible by

similar ones on the opposite side. Also, as a rule, the base should

be a little sturdier than the apex. It would prove futile to attempt

to append any set of rules to govern the designing of a monogram. The

principle that would obtain in the laying out of one design would

probably fail of being a principle at all in the drawing of the second

one. This by virtue of the law of variation which rules in this as in

all other arts. The letter delected from its true course, (its standing

alone not being here considered,) either one way or the other, should,

as a matter of balance, be matched by a letter swung in an opposite

direction. If it were possible at all times to use only those letters

which admit of an exquisite arrangement, the problem of balance and

proportion would invite an easy solution. But such, unfortunately,

is not the case. Hence, the charm and beauty of the monogram must

necessarily be governed at times by the individual letters of which it

is composed instead of by their arrangement _en masse_. The perfectly

symmetrical monogram is not always possible under the masterful touch

of the most dashing originator of monogram architecture.

[Illustration: O. D. T.]

[Illustration: W. H. D.]

[Illustration: M. W. & CO.]

In designing a monogram for a carriage the size and formation of the

panel upon which the ornament is intended to be used must be reckoned

with. Any other details of general construction, as applied to the

vehicle, require consideration in order that the design may have an

especial adaptation to its surroundings. The style of the design ought,

properly, to be in strict harmony with the style of the vehicle, just

as in color the design should harmonize with the colors employed in

painting the carriage.

In preparing the design for a surface two methods are given for the

transference of the design from the paper to the surface. The design

being drawn on the paper, and all interlacings clearly denoted by

extra emphasized black lines, chalk or whiting is rubbed on the

back of the paper, after which it is placed upon the panel and held

carefully in position while the lines of the design are gone over with

a hard pencil. By the second method the design, after being drawn, is

perforated along its lines with a needle. It is then laid upon the

panel and with a pounce of whiting, in case of a dark ground, and

charcoal, in case of a light one, the small dots outlining the design

are left upon the surface.

[Illustration: L. J. F.]

[Illustration: M. C. H.]

[Illustration: C. H. B.]

Occasionally the workman will wish to paint the monogram upon paper in

such a way that it can be used as a transfer ornament. This plan is

recommended when monograms are called for upon vehicles so constantly

used that they cannot be taken from service long enough to admit of

painting the monograms in the usual way. Take first grade lithograph

paper and upon one side apply successive coatings of mucilage until a

firm gloss is established. Then outline and paint the monogram upon

the gloss side of the paper, using colors and effects that would be

appropriate if the painting were being executed upon the panel direct.

The unused portion of the paper is now cut off and moistened and the

monogram, face down, is pressed solidly upon it and maintained in that

position until dry. The monogram is now, both back and face, perfectly

sealed between the mucilage clad paper. The paper at the back of the

ornament is next dampened little by little until it is sufficiently

saturated to permit being lifted easily. This process completes and

finishes the shop prepared transfer monogram, and if deftly prepared it

should render satisfactory results.

To perform good work in painting monograms due attention must be

given the tools. These should consist of mahl stick, palette, palette

cups, a small palette knife, pounce bags, small bottles containing

japan, turpentine, etc., and a complete assortment of pencils. The

pencils should be red sable hair, set in metal, and outfitted with

cedar handles. The hair had best not exceed 1/4 inch in length, and

in size the pencils may run from knitting-needle bulk to what pencil

makers call No. 2. As a rule, a pencil somewhat smaller than the No. 1

pencil of commerce will be needed. In the way of pigments the workman

should provide himself with an array of the best tube colors. A finely

prepared color is a great aid to the workman--an aid, let me say,

too rarely appreciated. The most popular monogram colors are various

shades of greens, and reds having close relationship to vermilion and

carmine. In addition, such pigments as silver or flake white, drop

black, ultramarine blue, verdigris, burnt umber, burnt sienna, orange

chrome, Indian red, chrome yellow and Tuscan red are used.

[Illustration: O. D. T.]

[Illustration: G. W. B.]

[Illustration: A. M. N.]

The initial of the surname, invariably to be made more prominent than

the letters of the Christian name, will submit to strong color effects

without offending the visual sense. Perhaps it may be timely here to

say that, after recognizing the fact that the striping of the running

parts rigidly govern the color or colors of the monogram, there are no

arbitrary laws to restrict the color schemes employed. In this as in

other branches of ornamental painting the harmony by analogy and the

harmony by contrast are recognized and adhered to. The monogram painted

in relief is an illustration of harmony by analogy. Such a monogram

represents the employment of a single color and its blended tints and

shades. Harmony by contrast consists of painting each letter of the

monogram a different, but complementary, color. The relief monogram is

best done by first laying the design in a medium shade of the selected

color. Then the shades proper of the monogram are cast in with the dark

shades of the color, and the light ones with tints of the color. The

vital principle involved in shading is, in the words of an authority,

"to shade the under parts of the letter or object lapping it and the

opposite side on which the light falls--the shade of the overlapped

letter would naturally fall on the underlapped letter, giving the

former a raised appearance."

It has been said that the striping should govern the color or colors of

the monogram, as for example: If the gear be striped with carmine the

predominating color of the monogram should be carmine; if with orange,

then orange; if with green, then green, etc. Granting this, it may also

be conceded that the style and general conformation of the monogram

should in no small degree compel color effects especially adapted to

it. The symmetrical monogram calls for a precisely balanced color

scheme, while the clumsy and uncouth one, made so from necessity--and

what an inexorable task-master necessity is!--needs a color adjustment

that seeks to balance the light parts with the heavy ones, and the

heavy with the light.

Gold and aluminum have of late been largely used in connection with

colors and no departure from the correct color principles has thus

far been remarked, vehicle users being especially delighted, as well

they may be, with the innovation. A practice that has seemed to please

the public immensely permits laying the entire monogram with gold or

aluminum, as the painter may elect, and then glazing the first letter,

say, with ultramarine blue, the next with verdigris, and still the next

with carmine.

[Illustration: L. V. R.]

[Illustration: G. F. L.]

[Illustration: A. L.]

If done in gold or aluminum apply a coat of rubbing varnish over the

leaf before shading and washing with the transparent colors. Thus

will the varnish check the subsequent coatings from striking in and

tarnishing the brilliancy of the leaf. In the case of gold being used,

follow the varnish with shadings of asphaltum diluted with varnish.

The dark shades may be produced by recoating with the asphaltum until

the desired shade is reached. Once the asphaltum is quite dry, proceed

to coat those parts of the monogram desired to be in colors with such

glazing colors as carmine, ultramarine, or cobalt blue, verdigris, etc.

The shades of asphaltum are reflected through these transparent colors

to the measure of a beautiful appearance, and the sum total of effects

thus produced are particularly rich and brilliant. The letters of a

monogram painted vermilion glazed with carmine, and the carmine then

being shaded with asphaltum and high lighted with pale canary color

afford a splendid effect.

In executing the script monogram the workman will agree with us that

carmine and vermilion mixtures produce the finest color effects. In

fact, all lean bodied letters show at their best when done in some of

the gorgeous reds now popular. A very fetching monogram, as to color,

is made by laying the design in vermilion and then glazing part of it

with carmine. Or, if the striping suggests green for the color, lay

the design in a shade of green to harmonize nicely with the striping,

and glaze a portion of it with verdigris. Heavy bodied letters such as

are combined in some of the monograms accompanying this chapter show

admirably with the upper halves done in vermilion and the nether parts

put in Indian red, or, preferably, flamingo red. The vermilion should

be given a light wash of carmine, and the letters then outlined with

deep orange. In some of the large cities where the trappings and the

suits of fashion are ever in the foreground one may see the monogram

having one of its letters tricked out in all the finery of a graded

shade. The manner of shading consists of beginning at the top of the

letter with the palest shade of a certain color, and then gradually

deepening the shade as the painting descends until, when the base of

the letter is reached, the very deepest and darkest shade of the color

is developed. As for example, the striping indicates the employment

of green as one of the prominent colors in the monogram. Begin at the

top of the letter with the very palest shade of green then continuing

with the various gradations down to the deepest shade. A graded shade

is most successfully accomplished with color containing a binder of raw

linseed oil to give the pigment a free working property. A short stiff

pencil, lightly, very lightly, tipped with color works most effectively

in blending each shade into the next. Reds and blues respond splendidly

to the attractions of the graded shade.

The high lights are justly important features of a monogram. Many

monogramists contend that a high light is almost invariably improved by

the addition of a bit of the color of the letter being executed. As,

for instance, the letter is painted medium shade of green, and the high

light goes white. To the white add a dash of the green, and note the

restful, pleasing effect secured thereby.

[Illustration: C. H. B.]

[Illustration: T. B.]

[Illustration: L. G.]

High lighting, however, as it applies to nearly all styles of monograms

is not suited to the delicate features of the script monogram. The high

lighting of the script ornament should consist in merely flicking those

parts needing a relief touch with a color that will denote a slant of

light from above.

The provision that permits the striping colors used upon a vehicle to

govern, with but few exceptions, the predominating color or colors

of the monogram renders a presentation of the color scheme adapted

to the accompanying designs superfluous. Therefore, it only remains

for the writer to advise his readers to learn how to design and paint

monograms. It is a buoyant and fascinating art.

CHAPTER XII.

PAINTING THE BUSINESS WAGON: CONSIDERED AS A WORK OF ART AND AS AN

ADVERTISING MEDIUM--VARIOUS PRACTICAL PROCESSES GIVEN--POPULAR COLOR

COMBINATIONS EMPLOYED--PAINTING CANVAS TOPS, ETC.

Only a prophet of much temerity would attempt to bound the

possibilities of business wagon painting. It may be allowable to define

it as a limitless art, resourceful, restive, responsive to an admirable

degree to the ever-varying side-lights of technical skill. All that

art can be anywhere the broad surface of the modern business vehicle

invitingly offers to display. The time when the main requirement of

a business wagon was symmetry and strength of structure has gone by.

The merchant, the man of business, has found it to possess a value

beyond its mere capacity as a carrier of merchandise. Its worth as an

advertising medium, as an agency through which business stability and

enterprise may be widely heralded, has been fully learned. Thus the

evolution of the present elaborately painted and decorated business

wagon has come about. Is it not stating the truth too strongly to say

that the average business man is now quite as exacting and peremptory

about the style and appearance of his business wagon as he is of his

much prized pleasure vehicle. He aims to have his painter achieve a

distinct individuality in the painting of his (the business man's)

vehicles, so that so-and-so's delivery wagons are readily distinguished

from all others met with along the highways and by-ways. To this end

he not only seeks to have his vehicles so painted and decorated that

unsurpassed advertising effects are commanded, but he also makes

careful selection of a combination of colors, and strictly adheres to

that combination throughout the list of his business vehicle equipment.

This manifestation of exclusiveness on the part of business men has

created a spirit of rivalry that has greatly redounded to the painter's

benefit in that more beautiful and dashing color effects are now in

vastly greater demand than formerly.

And the gratifying aspect of the case is that these original and

artistic styles of painting the business vehicle bid fair to continue

in popularity. It furnishes the wagon painter, and most especially

the apprentice in the wagon paint shop, an incentive to excel in this

branch of painting.

The reader may here note, perhaps, an inclination to separate

wagon painting, which we have in preceding chapters treated as an

inclusive feature of vehicle painting in its broad interpretation,

from other branches of the painting art. Necessarily, in the small

provincial jobbing paint shop it is all grist that comes to the

hopper; consequently carriage and wagon painting are judiciously

included under one head. In the city establishment, however, an abrupt

division is made, and we find business wagon painting practiced as a

specialty--reduced to a fine art. Many argumentative discussions have

been conducted by specialists in the two branches to prove the superior

skill required in one branch as against the other, and a wide diversity

of opinion remains prevalent as to which side has the best of the

controversy.

Certain it is, at any rate, that the exactions of fine wagon painting

are at present very pronounced. Granting that elegant general effects

take precedence over all other features of wagon painting, the fact

remains that the quality of the surface must be carefully looked

after. It is seldom needful to obtain as fine and satiny a surface

as is required on the panel of the jaunty brougham or the luxurious

landau, the color scheme employed, united with dignified and artistic

ornamentation, being depended upon as the irresistable attraction.

However, this statement is not intended to belittle the importance of

the surfacing system. Upon the finest class of business wagons it is

a common experience to observe surfaces which in point of smoothness

and general excellence are second only to those observable upon heavy

pleasure carriages of the finest class.

The wagon painter is confronted by many difficulties concerning which

the carriage painter pure and simple, knows little. He must know well

how to build beautiful and durable surfaces. He should be a first-class

colorist, understanding all the features of color mixing and fully

conversant with the laws of harmony and contrast. He will likewise

find it necessary to be an unexcelled master of the varnish brush, a

skilled striper, wagon letterer, and decorative painter of established

ability. The chief disadvantage under which the wagon painter labors is

presented to him through the agency of the many lead-weighted colors

which he is usually compelled to employ. Many of the light colors

extensively used in wagon painting at this time contain keg lead, or

lead of another form, as the main ingredient. In doing jobs with light

colors containing much lead, roughstuff is not generally used, the lead

medium being relied upon to furnish a sufficiently smooth, compact,

and close-textured surface; and naturally, therefore, this surface is

freely flexible and elastic. Amid the stress and strife of competition

and swift processes, these coats are often crowded on so fast that

reliable drying is not assured, and then to lend additional uncertainty

to the outcome of the work, rather quick and fairly unelastic varnish

coats are employed, so that at the completion of the work a thread of

weakness gleams through the whole paint and varnish structure. Surface

building fallacies of this nature the wagon painter is forced to

contend with, and his ability to surmount them is repeatedly shackled

by rigid contrary decisions coming from the business office. By this

token, then, it is plain beyond the need of further demonstration,

that wagon painting is an art that bespeaks for its successful practice

technical knowledge and skill of a high order. Its varied phases, none

of which are uninteresting and most of which are really fascinating,

invite study, and the cultivation of talents, both artistic and

mechanical, not required in any other recognized branch of painting.

Probably the

PAINTING OF A FULL-PANELED TOP BUSINESS WAGON

offers more difficulties than any other style of wagon. The workman

first proceeds to clean off all the grease smears, and then takes full

care to get the job thoroughly sandpapered. Then prime job throughout,

running parts and body inside and out, top, bottom, etc. If the job

is to be painted in dark colors use the priming formula No. 1, given

in Chapter III. of this series, and if light colors are desired prime

with white (keg) lead thinned to working consistency with raw linseed

oil, tempered as to drying with a teaspoonful of japan to each pint of

the primer. If no time limit intervenes omit the japan. The running

parts, in due time, are next given careful sandpapering, and then rub

lead, as fully detailed in Chapter III., is applied. The body receives

sandpapering and a lead coat adapted to the final color, mixed, if the

job is to go roughstuffed, with 3/8 oil to 5/8 turpentine, half and

half. Apply to inside as well as outside of body and top, then when

these applied mixtures are dry, putty, using as mixture ingredients dry

white lead, 3 parts; keg lead, 1 part; and rubbing varnish and japan,

equal parts.

For the running parts, if to be painted in light colors, use the

next coat of pigment mixed to a brushing consistency with a trifle

less than 3/8 oil and a corresponding increase over 5/8 turpentine.

Thus gradually reduce the percentage of oil as the final color is

approached. In case dark colors are to prevail, apply over the red lead

a coat of lead pigment carrying a firm binder of oil, say one-sixteenth.

Upon the body, if it is to be painted in dark colors, next apply

four coats of roughstuff, choosing from among the formulas given in

Chapter III. one suited to the time allowance to be reckoned with. If

light colors are to be used, and stuff coats tabooed, all the open,

coarse-grained sweeps of the surface require an application of knifing

lead (again refer to Chapter III.) put on with a bristle brush and

then pressed into the minute wood orifices with a broad blade putty

knife. Then in the next coat of pigment, colored fittingly to meet the

final color, reduce the oil to the proportion of one-fourth oil to

three-fourths turpentine. In the next coat which will have practically

a full percentage of the desired color the quantity of oil used, as

compared to that contained in the preceding coat, should be cut in

twain. The next reduction should bring the pigment down to possessing

simply a good binder of oil. Then, in easy procession, follow the final

color coat, color-and-varnish, if the system permits it, clear rubbing,

and finishing.

On large top paneled jobs, however, when strictly high class results

are desired, it will be quite necessary, regardless of the colors

employed, to employ roughstuff as the body surfacing agent. The

surface is brought up to the roughstuff stage as above advised, and

then, in case of a white job, resort is had to the white roughstuff,

formulas for mixing which will be found in Chapter V. of this work. The

colors used over the stuff coats are either japan ground or washed with

benzine to free them as much as possible of the oil carried.

THE CHEAPER CLASS WAGON

is painted by various processes in all of which the several knifing-in

pigments are esteemed factors. A moderate cost method affording very

neat surface results upon small paneled bodies, ribbed ones, etc., is

executed by first giving the body a coat of some P. W. F., the filler

being applied freely and at the proper time removed and the surface

dried and cleaned up nicely with clean rags. The chamfers on ribbed

bodies are gone over with the filler. The day following, the surface

is given an application of knifing-in lead, the chamfers getting the

same treatment as the flat surface. This knifing-in lead receives a

very clean and smooth knifing, the labor of sandpapering being thus

reduced to the minimum. This coat having dried, the nail holes and

other indentations are next puttied. Sandpapering, first with No. 1/2

paper, lastly with No. 0, follows. This is made to suffice for a base

to color upon, if a light color is desired. If a dark color is wished,

a coat of lead, colored to a full slate color and mixed to dry "dead"

or gloss free, is put on with a camel's-hair brush. This effectually

dresses over and obliterates surface irregularities which might command

attention upon dark surfaces, whereas upon light colored ones, built

with a strong percentage of lead, they would pass unheeded.

The running parts get a primer consisting of lead, 2 parts; yellow

ochre, 1 part; floated in raw linseed oil. The outer or more exposed

parts are next draw-puttied with the regulation knifing lead, this to

be followed in due course with regular carriage putty, being smoothly

placed in nail holes and other cavities. Sandpapering next ensues and

this, in turn, is followed with a gloss-lacking lead coat in which the

final color is well represented.

Perhaps a still cheaper system, as practiced in a factory shop, may

be wanted. If so, prime job throughout, body and gear, with a pigment

strongly colored with the color to be used in painting the vehicle.

This primer, for its liquid ingredients, should have raw linseed

oil, 3/4; turpentine, 1/4; japan, 1 teaspoonful to each quart of the

mixture. Stand the work aside in a warm room for at least 48 hours.

Then thoroughly sandpaper with No. 1 paper, after which putty holes,

etc. Now take the body surface and give it a coat of knifing lead made

of dry white lead, 5/8; keg lead, 1/4; finely ground roughstuff filler,

1/8; rubbing varnish, 1/2; japan, 1/4; turpentine, 1/4; color this lead

to meet final color. Exercise great care in cleaning off all surplus

lead so that a very light polish with No. 1/2 sandpaper will suffice

to insure adequate surface smoothness. This knifing lead will require

thirty-six hours in which to dry reliably. Then reduce the consistency

of quick rubbing varnish somewhat with turpentine, and apply a coat to

the surface. With clean linen cloths wipe off the surface immediately.

This varnish coat serves to act as a stopper and sealer-up of the

knifing lead and putty, in addition to holding forth the subsequent

color and varnish coats becomingly. One day after putting on this

varnish coat rub the surface lightly with No. 0 sandpaper to flick off

dirt atoms, etc., dust carefully, and lay the first coat of color, a

strong binder of varnish being used in both the first and second coats

of color. From this out, color, ornament, and finish in the usual way.

The running parts are draw-puttied on the priming coat, puttied,

sandpapered in good shape, colored, and from thence out carried rapidly

to a finish. This method affords a pretty acceptable finish, especially

if tricked out with a neat turn of ornamentation and a fine show of

varnish.

Again the practice is observed in some establishments of painting the

running parts as just described and doing the body as follows: After

priming as usual, a coat of roughstuff mixed of lead and filler, equal

parts by weight, and rubbing varnish and japan, equal parts, thinning

to an easy brushing consistency with turpentine, is applied. After

giving this coat twenty-four hours to dry, sandpaper with No. 1/2

paper to clear off lumpy substances, etc. Clean off surface carefully

and draw-putty with a mixture composed of dry white lead, 2/3; keg

lead 1-1/3; liquids, rubbing varnish 2/3; japan, 1/3. This coat can

be worked over in ten hours if necessary. Then apply two coats of

roughstuff mixed as above suggested, the two coats being applied in one

day if the limitations of time so demand. If it is wished to avoid the

use of a guide coat, and at the same time enjoy whatever advantages are

afforded by such a coat, give the last coat of roughstuff a strong dash

of yellow ochre.

PAINTING HEAVY TRUCKS AND FARM WAGONS.

At present this class of vehicles is painted in a way differing

considerably from that practiced formerly. Then durability was the

chiefly considered virtue. Now that fickle and flighty feature of

painting is an attainment no more earnestly worked for than is a high

degree of excellence in color effects.

For trucks, while a wide range of colors are popular, radiant reds

and yellows are apparently in the greatest favor. The wheels of such

vehicles are best given a coat of raw linseed oil before the tires

are set. The remaining running parts and the body parts are likewise

coated with oil before the irons are fitted, whenever it is possible

so to do. It is then easier to clean off grease daubs and finger marks

left by the athletic blacksmith and his coy young assistant. Moreover,

there is a saving of time gained by this method. The next coat should

be a half-oil, half-turpentine lead coat tinted or shaded stoutly with

the color to be used in painting the vehicle, unless the color is to

be a yellow, in which case a pure white will be an entirely correct

ground. If a better job is desired apply an extra coat of lead and an

additional coat of rubbing varnish. Beautiful canary yellows are now

seen on a great number of city truck running parts. These yellows

can be purchased of the manufacturers ready for use, barring a simple

thinning down with turps and the addition of a little varnish for a

binder. Upon the first coat of lead, puttying should occur. If red or

some equally positive color is to be used, color putty accordingly.

If yellow, let the putty go white. Sandpaper and smooth surface down

finely upon the first, and, if used, the second coat of lead. In using

light colors, the mechanic will find it needful to keep clean hands,

as the slightest smear makes a disfigurement not easily remedied. For

first-class, solid jobs of canary or other delicate yellow, two coats

of the flat color, and one coat of color-and-varnish will quite surely

be required. The varnish coats when used clear should be very pale,

in fact, colorless. Happily, it is now a comparatively easy matter to

obtain varnishes specially adapted to light, sensitive yellow and white

surfaces.

Many of my readers located in the provincial jobbing paint shop will

have more or less of farm wagon painting to do. As a possible means

of aiding them somewhat in getting the job ready for the color stage

of the process, it may be said that when the job arrives at the paint

shop, the first and most important thing is to prepare the surface for

the first coat of oil and pigment. When possible it is advisable, as in

case of heavy trucks, to coat the job, prior to fitting the irons with

raw linseed oil. If anything, the average country blacksmith is given

to a more lavish surface adornment of soot smears, valve oil chromos,

and scorched quarter-sections than his city brother of hammer and

tongs. Such surface defacements are all violent enemies of durability.

Their sleek and clean removal is therefore imperative. To banish the

oil and grease and soot smears, saturate a cloth in benzine and lightly

wash the surface. This fluid will loosen and quickly remove, with the

aid of a clean cloth for a final drying up, all the greasy substances.

The scorched patches require a very thorough cleaning out, a piece of

glass nicely answering, usually, for slicking off the carved wood.

When the parts are freed from the burnt particles, touch them lightly

with raw linseed oil, wipe dry with a bit of cloth, subsequently

touching the places with shellac. The priming coat, or first pigment

coat, rather, should be controlled by whatever color the job is to

be painted. Putty on this coat. Then a lead coat still more heavily

fortified with the final color is in order. A coat of color-and-varnish

should suffice for a suitable base to stripe and finish upon, save in

case an extra color coat and an extra varnish coat will be needed.

Farm wagon bodies may get priming, a coat of knifing lead, a very

smooth sandpapering on this coat, then a coat of color, one of

color-and-varnish, then finishing varnish. If a little better surface

is wished, a coat of clear rubbing varnish, surfaced closely, will

give the desired result. Dark rich browns for the bodies harmonize

effectively with almost any of the popular yellows for running parts.

Indian red, five parts; Prussian blue, one part; with a dash of yellow

to tone the mixture, give a beautiful brown. Chocolate, maroon, and

wine color, also furnish strikingly handsome results for farm wagon

bodies, when shown over running parts attired in gay coats of yellow.

COLORS FOR BUSINESS WAGONS.

As already suggested, a wide variety of colors of striking brilliancy

are being used in painting business wagons. Perhaps the prevailing

colors may be referred to as the various shades of yellow, reds, and

greens. Chocolates, maroons, browns, and rich shades of blue are also

extensively employed. Many light delivery wagons are painted solidly

throughout, body and running parts, with some one of the beautiful

shades of canary yellow. The lettering and ornamental work upon the

body may be done in aluminum leaf, the shadings and striping being

placed in green or blue. A full-paneled top business wagon may be

painted in this way and the color effects will be handsome. The main

body panel, lower and front panel, rich wine color; center panel,

moldings and other spaces, medium carmine; inside edge of moldings go

black, striping white. Letter in gold and shade in blue, light and

dark. Running parts, carmine; striped 1/4 inch black line, and fine

line of white. Or the body panels may be done in deep ultramarine

blue, moldings black, with letters in gold and ornaments and striping

in gold and white. Running parts, light ultramarine blue striped two

round lines of white, five-sixteenths of an inch apart. Again the main

panel of body may go sage green or a fine cream yellow. If sage green,

paint lower panels merrimac green; running parts still lighter shade of

green. Lettering done in fine gold outline, striping and ornamenting

done in gold. In case main panel is done in cream yellow, throw lower

panels in carmine. Letter in gold. Running parts go a lighter tint of

cream, and stripe black to correspond with black moldings on body.

The fine line should be carmine. If desired, paint body and running

parts carmine, letter in gold or aluminum, and stripe with vermilion.

Moldings on body, black. Another combination shows the upper panel

black, lower panels and running parts, cherry red; or upper panel

black, lower panels amber brown, or deep green, with belt panel olive

green; running parts, a trifle lighter green. The upper and lower body

panel, in case of a three-panel job, may go Indian red, center panel

white; running parts Indian or Tuscan red. Letters and striping done in

gold and white.

A popular style of painting the ribbed body wagon is to paint body

panels dark, rich green; chambers, black; running parts, vermilion.

Panels of body striped primrose or orange yellow; running parts, black.

However, to mention in detail a very small part of the charming color

schemes which are sought and displayed in painting the modern business

vehicle would reach beyond the alloted limit of this chapter. Suffice

it to say that the painter has a richly blossoming and variegated field

of colors from which to select those combinations sanctioned by the

esteemed and appropriate standard of the colorist's art.

PAINTING CANVAS AND CLOTH TOPS.

_Formula No. 1._--Use of white vitriol one-quarter lb. in three quarts

of soft water, adding whiting until a good spreading consistency is

reached. Prime outside of top and curtains. This leaves the material

nicely flexible and coats the texture up so dense and full that a

couple of coats of paint are saved. Then with an elastic paint coat and

finish in the usual way.

_Formula No. 2._--Coat the canvas, barring curtains, with rye flour

paste, inside and out. Permit this paste to dry thoroughly. With

No. 1/2 sandpaper polish cloth lightly to knock off nibs, etc. Then

coat with white lead paint mixed with one-third raw linseed oil and

two-thirds coach japan, the mixture cut a little with turpentine. Next

coat reduce the oil to a trifle less than one-quarter oil to one-half

japan, one-quarter rubbing varnish, the remainder, turpentine. Next

give coat white color-and-varnish. Rub this coat lightly with water and

pumice stone (pulverized), letter, ornament, and finish with a durable

finishing varnish.

_Formula No. 3._--Size with hot glue water, using two coats twenty-four

hours apart. Then apply coat of keg white lead mixed two-thirds raw

linseed oil, the remaining one-third being japan and turpentine, equal

parts. After five days apply coat of lead containing three-eighths

oil, two-eighths japan, three-eighths turpentine. Then apply white

color-and-varnish. Rub lightly, letter, and finish. This is not adopted

to a limited time allowance.

_Formula No. 4._--Sponge with water top and side panels or curtains;

permit to partly dry and then coat with lead and oil coloring strongly

in the direction the final color is to be. Reduce the quantity of

oil in the next coat, and in lettering use enough oil in the colors

employed to give the requisite elasticity.

To paint on enameled drill, mix the pigment with raw linseed oil and

gold size japan, equal parts, and thin to the proper consistency with

turpentine. In judging the quantity of oil used, a close determination

of the percentage of oil contained in the lead should be made,

otherwise an excessive quantity of oil is apt to be used.

The wagon painter frequently has to letter on canvas, duck, or some

other material of similar texture not dressed in the raiment of paint.

To do this successfully various expedients are resorted to. Some

workmen practice moistening the cloth with water and then putting

on the letters in paint having plenty of oil in it. Others draw the

cloth tight and firm and size it with a solution of starch and water.

Proportions, 3/4 water; 1/4 starch. Allow this size to dry considerably

before beginning to letter. Mix the lettering pigment to a paste form

in elastic rubbing varnish and thin with turpentine. Still others make

a size of cooked starch and glue water, and sponge the parts that are

to be lettered. After the letters have been placed, if the cloth should

prove to be stiff and inelastic, sponge with moderately warm water, in

this way abstracting the surplus size.

CHAPTER XIII.

VEHICLE REPAINTING: HOW THE VARIOUS CLASSES OF WORK ARE DONE--MATCHING

COLORS--BURNING OFF PAINT--MATERIALS USED IN PAINTING--TREATMENT OF

TOPS AND DASHES--WASHING FINISHED WORK--SCHEDULE OF PRICES, ETC.

The re-varnishing, re-painting, etc., of vehicles constitutes an

important source of revenue for the carriage and wagon painter.

Many first-class paint shops connected with high grade carriage

manufacturing establishments do a heavy business in re-painting

vehicles. The writer has in mind a firm of carriage builders located

not far from the office of THE WESTERN PAINTER, which employs a force

of from sixty to eighty painters. In addition to painting and finishing

the manufactured output of the establishment, consisting, it may be

said, of anything in the carriage line from a tiny road buggy to a

dashing four-in-hand coach, the force is yearly credited with from

$30,000 to $40,000 worth of re-painting, etc. From this it will be

assumed that vehicle repainting, rightly directed, affords substantial

profits. Were it otherwise the firm in question would not make it a

part of their business.

TOUCH-UP-AND-VARNISH.

The touch-up-and-varnish job is supposed to reach the paint shop

showing but few evidences of grim-visaged service. The fact that it

doesn't uniformly do so furnishes the painter with about as much

difficulty in satisfactorily handling this class of work as he

encounters in doing those classes which have a more troublesome look to

them.

The best profits to be gleaned from this class of work are realized

when the room space will admit of locating the job in a position where

it can be handily worked at without much unhanging, and where plenty

of light may be secured. A simple removal of the shafts, wheels, and,

if necessary, top, together with such interior furnishings as carpet,

cushion storm apron, etc., will, in a majority of cases, suffice to

clear the way for active work upon the job, provided sufficient room

space is at command. The unhanging of some of these "touch ups" is

sometimes an expensive item, especially when rusty bolts are to be

taken out and replaced. Therefore, the least possible unhanging should

be practiced. Once the necessary parts are removed, proceed to clean

off the grease smears, wiping axle arms bright, and looking well to

the fifth wheel. Benzine is a good, quick liquid agent for loosening

grease, etc. If top is left upon the job (and it should be in most

cases, when possible), dust out the lining carefully, clean outside

well, then clean out the body interior, after which give the outside

body surface a light pumice flour and water rub as the most effective

means of ridding it of possible greasy patches, dirt nibs, etc. A

close, hard rubbing should be avoided, as upon a majority of surfaces

it is prone to disclose checks and fissures, minute or otherwise, which

a single coat of varnish will only serve to bring out more clearly,

rather than to conceal. The body rubbed and washed thoroughly, the

running parts are given a careful rinsing and drying off with the

chamois skin.

TOUCHING UP.

Matching colors preparatory to touching up is probably the most

difficult process related to this class of work. To match colors

successfully one must have a correct eye for colors. To distinguish

between closely related tints, shades, hues, and tones, in an accurate

and conclusive way, brings into play talents, or a gift--call it what

you please--not vouchsafed to the average mortal. This is one important

feature of the trade that practice does not make perfect. The colorist

does not acquire his skill by practice merely.

If the fading of colors tended in one general way and to something like

a uniform degree, the successful matching of colors might be controlled

in due time by all painters interested in experimental work. Chemistry

and other scientific aids to color-making have wrought mysterious and,

to the practical man, undemonstrable factors in carriage colors. As

a result, colors fade in all the varying degrees imaginable, and are

subject to so many influences that their control, as a rule, is quite

beyond the skill and practical knowledge of the painter.

Many of the colors, notably the radiant reds lately so fashionable,

are naturally so fugitive that unless extraordinary care is exercised

in preparing the groundwork, they quickly fade; and, their original

identity once lost, it is a feat beyond the ability of the most

masterful colorist or color matcher to restore. To a less extent,

perhaps, other colors operate in the same way.

The question, therefore, presents itself:--Is not the best way to match

colors to prevent their fading, so far as prevention can be made to

apply? One's doctor will affirm that a mound of prevention is worth a

mountain of cure.

It is not expected to make this prevention so sweeping and effectual as

to merit the title of a cure-all. But preventive measures, diligently

practiced, will lessen the fading evil, and thus reduce the work of

matching colors to the minimum. The mixing of colors, as already

alluded to in these chapters, should, so far as it is within the

power of enlightened paint shop knowledge, be made an exact process.

Carelessness and guess work are not to be tolerated. Exact measurements

of all the ingredients which go into a batch of color or paint are

necessary. Then a firm insistence upon hardy, durable grounds,

regardless of the hurrying shouts of the populace, is in order. A

fugitive red, or any other fugitive color, as a matter of fact, is

given a support that will add to its permanency, by adjusting the

ground color with such a strong binder of varnish that the color has a

"live look" to it--an approach to a faint egg-shell gloss, let us say.

The retention of the final color's original purity and strength is in

this way made more permanent.

In color matching, however, which, despite our best efforts, must

continue to be a part of paint shop practice, it is best to take over

to the mixing bench a certain part of the work to be touched up, and,

touching a few inches of space with varnish so that it can be seen what

the spots and what the color as a whole will look like under a fresh

coat of varnish, proceed to gauge the matching color to it. It is a

principle adhered to by many skilled workmen in the matching of colors

that the touch-up color should contain sufficient varnish to cause it

to dry with a stout gloss. A color furnished with a strong varnish

gloss will reflect more light than it will absorb, and _vice versa_.

And the color which in process of drying absorbs more light than it

reflects, will, as a rule, when varnished over, be a different color

(or a different shade, hue, or tint of that color) than it looked to be

in the mixing pot or on the surface after it had simply dried free from

"tack." An absorption of light has effected a chemical or other change

in it, and what was judged as a close match proves a wide departure

from it. Even with the counteracting agency of varnish, a color is

pretty sure to dry out lighter than it appears in the mixing cup, so

that close calculation and the exercise of the colorist's art in a fine

way is needed to get the desired match.

The touch-up color having been satisfactorily prepared and tested, the

felloes and all places on the job worn bare to the wood being, in the

meantime, touched with lead and oil, the work of touching first the

body and then the running parts is carried along.

Then the dressing of the top, side curtains, and, if need be, the dash,

ensues. The interior of the body is next varnished, then the outside

surface is flowed, and, finally, the running parts.

Coming next to the touch-up-and-varnish job, and by many painters

regarded as belonging to the same class, is the job that gets one

coat of color, striping, and one coat of varnish. This job offers an

opportunity for deception of which the paint shop graduates in the

school of intellectual villainy are quick to take advantage. They

solemnly assure the prospective customer that they will _paint_ his

vehicle for, say, $6, the price asked ordinarily for the color and one

coat varnish job. The stranger, caught by the price and the alluring

prospect of getting the job _painted_, responds to the "hold up" until

the dishonesty of the thing is revealed, as it is sure to be, by the

exacting needs of service. The color, stripe, and varnish job calls

for no little dexterity in many cases, in placing the color directly

over a hard, flinty surface of paint and varnish and making it stay

for a reasonable term of service. The surface once cleaned, as per

directions in the preceding case, the body is given a light rub with

water and pumice stone flour, and the gear is treated to a smart

smoothing off with fine sandpaper. These fine, and, to the naked eye,

almost invisible scratches and furrows, suffice to afford a foothold,

a gripping place, for the color. These hard, adamantine surfaces over

which quick colors are often necessarily placed may be classed as

prolific sources of color flaking and chipping. In addition to the

sandpapering as a means of promoting durability, the use of a strong

binder of varnish in the color is advised. The one coat color, stripe,

and varnish job is quickly done and should afford a good profit.

The color, color-and-varnish, stripe, and finish job simply means a

coat of color-and-varnish applied over the color after it has been

placed as just described. Then a "mossing" or rubbing with hair to the

extent of knocking of the gloss of the color-and-varnish, striping,

and finishing, the body surface, of course, to get a rather light rub

with water and pumice stone, both before applying the color and after

applying the color-and-varnish. Should the body surface show signs

of being fissured and cracked somewhat, it were better to forego the

rubbing with pumice stone and water, substituting therefor a dressing

down with No. 1/2 sandpaper. This provides against moisture getting

into the checks and causing trouble.

Following in the wake of the above class of work come the jobs that

are afflicted with all sorts and conditions of surface ailments; jobs

that ought properly to be burned off if the owners could be convinced

of the economy of the process. One way of treating a body surface

threaded with fissures consists of taking a two-inch scraper, such

as car painters use, made of a file cranked over at both ends so as

to give two cutting blades, and scraping the varnish completely off

down to the undercoatings of color and paint. Follow the scraping with

a quick rubbing with lump pumice stone or a fine grade of brick and

water, avoiding even a close approach to the wood. In most cases the

cracks will, by this process, be pretty cleanly removed; when they

are not entirely slicked off the remaining vestiges are, as a rule,

so faintly traced as to give no further trouble when bridged over by

the coats of lead, color, and varnish. The rubbing once completed, the

surface is given time to dry out thoroughly; then sanding with No. 0

ensues, this, in turn, giving way to a coat of facing lead mixed to dry

without gloss, the lead being colored to a decided slate shade with

lampblack. Apply with a camel's-hair brush. Sandpaper this coat with

No. 1/2 paper; then apply color, and finish out as previously advised

in these chapters. If a different plan of filling up is preferred, cut

down the surface with No. 2 sandpaper, and first apply a lead coat

mixed of 1/3 raw linseed oil to 2/3 turpentine. In 48 hours give a

coat of roughstuff made of keg lead and filler, equal parts by weight,

thinned to a stiff paste with rubbing varnish and japan, half and half,

and then reduced to a free brushing consistency with turpentine. First

puttying should be done on the lead coat, and the second one on the

first filler coat. A couple more of roughstuff coats will suffice to

give the needed body of rubbing pigment. Thus the old flinty foundation

is furnished with the requisite elasticity through the medium of the

oil lead coat. The roughstuff foundation is made to dry hard and firm,

like unto the condition of the old foundation itself, and in this way

an affinity between the old and the new is established.

Another foundation is quickly builded by taking any good roughstuff

filler and reducing it to a spreading consistency with shellac,

the first coat, however, being made a bit thinner in body than the

succeeding coats, so that it will more readily penetrate the cracks.

Three coats of this preparation usually suffices to yield the necessary

foundation free from fissures or other blemishes. The roughstuff filler

and shellac make a compound remarkably quick setting; hence, it must be

worked very quickly if smoothness of application would be achieved.

Again, it is the practice in some quarters to sandpaper the old surface

down as close as possible, giving a stout coat of lead mixed with 1/4

oil to 3/4 turpentine, and when this coat has dried for a couple of

days, putty all the deep cavities, following, the day after, with a

glazing of putty over the surface, the glazing being done with a broad

putty knife, and the putty being worked out to a uniform film and as

smooth as possible.

In respect to the running parts, all flaky, shelly patches of surface

should be scraped. All torn and shredded places require smoothing down

nicely with scraper and sandpaper. The old remaining paint should be

perfectly solid and secure. The parts cleaned and scoured to the bare

wood had best be given a lead coat containing, as one of its liquid

ingredients, at least 1/3 linseed oil. The second coat, applied, like

the first, with a camel's-hair brush, may contain merely a binder of

oil, avoidance of gloss being a strictly observed rule. Then putty

deep holes and indentations, following this with draw puttying all

parts in need of such treatment. Upon this lead coat, or a second one

if the owner is not averse to paying for it, the finish is reached in

the usual way, as advised in a former chapter. In painting over these

cracked, flaky, and insecure foundations, the first principle to be

observed is to get the shaky, shelly material completely removed,

leaving nothing but the firm and securely fastened pigment. The second

one is to secure as thorough an amalgamation of the old and new

materials as practical paint-shop knowledge and skill will insure.

BURNING OFF PAINT.

However good the crack-filling formulas may be, they are at best only

expedients of temporary value. Burning off the paint, thus getting a

sure foundation from the wood itself, is effective and free from those

injurious effects which are so often characteristic of paint removing

preparations, etc. As in the past affirmed by the writer, "with the old

more or less shaky foundation, concerning the exact nature of which

no man knoweth, fairly and cleanly removed, the painter is enabled to

work from the foundation coat to the finish with the bright light of

knowledge concerning the preparation and application of the materials

used, drying, action, etc., flashing through his mind." This is why

burning off is so much more satisfactory, usually, to the painter. In

the lingo of the street, he knows "where he is at," and the measure of

security afforded him.

To do first-class paint burning--and the other kind is not to be

considered in these chapters--the workman must be provided with a

strictly reliable and good-working lamp, burning gasoline or naphtha.

To be maintained in a condition to render satisfactory results, the

flues and mechanism require thorough cleaning and inspection before

the lamp is laid away after use. No unused fluid should be allowed to

remain in the reservoir of the lamp when it is not in use, as the vapor

arising therefrom will very shortly deposit a film of sticky substance

on the surface of the flues that will prevent a smooth and even flame

when the lamp is again put into use. And eventually, if the flues are

permitted to become more or less choked up in this way, the lamp will

refuse to work at all. Explosions and accidents of many kinds are

possible with the lamp that is allowed to clog and gum up. The burning

lamp should be kept in a clean place, and show a clean, bright surface,

both interior and exterior. A couple of putty knives, one narrow and

one broad blade, a good, serviceable glove or mitten provided with a

wrist and half-arm sleeve, and a leather apron reaching well up to the

workman's chest, belong to the burner's kit, and should be kept in

close company with the lamp.

The operation of burning consists in simply directing the flame upon

the surface long enough to soften up the pigment and permit of its

easy removal with the knife. In a way, "burning off" is a misnomer. To

literally burn the paint off, as the apprentice might possibly construe

the term if not otherwise enlightened, would result in charring the

wood to a harmful extent. Begin burning at a part of the surface which

will allow the softened paint to be thrown off over a portion of the

surface still coated with paint. As the knife is usually handled with

the right hand it is best to begin burning on the left side of the

panel. Thus the softened paint is thrown to the right and across the

unburned portion of the surface. It is a wise rule to remember, in

connection with this work, that a job burned right is in a fair way

to be painted right. If through an accident or otherwise the surface

should get scorched in places, a complete scraping out of the burned

wood fibres will be necessary. Then with equal parts of raw linseed

oil and turpentine touch just the charred patches. After a solid block

sandpapering, the surface may be taken in hand and conducted to a

finish in the usual way.

TABLE OF MATERIALS USED IN PAINTING VEHICLES.

For a landau:--

BODY.

Priming 2 quarts

Lead 1-1/2 "

Putty 3/4 to 1-1/2 lbs.

Sandpaper 10 sheets

Roughstuff (four coats) 1 gallon

Guide coat 3/4 quart

Color (per coat) 1 pint

Color-and-varnish (2 coats) 1-1/2 quarts

Clear rubbing (1 coat) 1-1/2 pints

Coat of finishing 1-3/4 "

RUNNING PARTS.

Priming 1-1/8 quarts

Rub lead 1-1/4 "

Lead coat 1 "

Putty 1/2 lb.

Sandpaper 12 sheets

Color 1 pint

Color-and-varnish (per coat) 1-1/2 pints

Clear rubbing 1-1/2 "

Coat finishing 1 quart

In the case of a Berlin coach, perhaps the quantity of each item of

material should be increased over the above to the extent of 1/4 for

the body surface. Running parts require the same quantity. The body of

a six-passenger rockaway will need, approximately, 1/8 less material

than the body of the landau or coach. The body of the coupe-rockaway

1/4 less. Running parts consume about the same quantity as the heavier

vehicles here named.

The quantity of varnish named for the above vehicles provides for

toe-boards, checks, steps, bottoms, etc.

For buggies of the various styles:

BODY.

Priming 5/8 pint

Lead 1/2 "

Putty 1/4 lb.

Sandpaper 6 sheets

Roughstuff (4 coats) 1 quart

Color (2 coats) 1 pint

Lampblack (for bottoms) 1/2 "

Color-and-varnish 5/8 "

Clear rubbing (2 coats) 1 "

Finishing varnish 2/3 "

Varnish in color and filler 1 "

RUNNING PARTS.

Priming 1 pint

Lead (2 coats) 1-3/4 "

Putty 3/8 lb.

Sandpaper 12 sheets

Color 1 pint

Color-and-varnish 1-1/4 "

Clear rubbing 1-1/4 "

Coat of finishing 1-1/2 "

Such light pleasure vehicles as surreys, cabriolets, etc., require an

increase in the quantity of each item of material over that accorded to

the buggies and phaetons of about one-half.

The above tables may be of benefit to some of my readers who desire a

practical basis upon which to estimate the cost of the material to be

used upon a certain vehicle. Labor is said by competent authorities to

represent 75 per cent of the cost of painting a vehicle. With the cost

of material at hand--a computation made comparatively easy by the aid

of the tables here set forth--and with 75 per cent of the whole cost

credited to the labor item, a very close estimate upon general vehicle

painting can be made.

Guess work in gauging the price of a job of vehicle painting paves the

way to an unprofitable business venture; more surely in these days of

uproarious competition than in times past. Careful estimates, which

include cost of labor, material, shop rent, wear and tear of tools,

and such other incidental features of business which may properly be

taken note of in an estimate, have come to be imperative necessities in

carriage and wagon painting. Verily, it is true that it is not all of

painting to paint--_estimating_ should be included therein.

TOPS AND DASHES.

The proper care and treatment of carriage tops and dashes forms one of

the significant features of the re-painting business. About every class

of citizens who have to do with carriages--the trimmer, harness-maker,

livery man, blacksmith, hack-driver, and jockey--regularly come forward

bubbling over with advice and formulas for the preservation of tops;

but usually the paint shop is resorted to as the Court of Appeal. The

aim of the painter should be to impart to the top and dash a finish

which will correspond to that given the other parts of the vehicle, at

the same time furnishing the leather or rubber a preservative agent

that will provide reasonable durability.

In every jobbing paint shop a space should be set apart for the safe

and clean storage of tops and dashes; also cushions, carpets, and

other interior furnishings. In the space selected for the purpose a

rack made to conform to the size of the space may be erected. Build it

to consist of two tiers, with a half-story tier above for the holding

of cushions, carpets, etc. If the space is large enough, make the

rack, say, 12 feet long, 10 feet high, and 4 feet wide. The two first

tiers will hold six buggy tops. The rack is made of 1-inch and 2-inch

stuff, hemlock, say, and need not cost to exceed $1.50. Tops that are

regularly calashed will require only half space. Under no circumstances

should a top be calashed and stored away in the shop unless it has

been used and subject to such treatment. The top (and the dash also,

when removed), upon removal should be cleaned thoroughly before being

set away. If the top joints need a coating of lead it should be given

them prior to placing them in the rack or permanent storage place.

It is bad policy to defer painting and finishing such parts until it

is nearly time to hang off the other parts of the vehicle. A uniform

quality of finish cannot in this way be secured. The irons on tops, if

chipped, rusted, etc., require lead, often a facing with putty, color,

color-and-varnish, a light rub with pumice stone flour and water,

and finishing with a good hard drying varnish. A few days before the

vehicle is finished the top belonging to it may be taken in hand, the

lining carefully dusted out, and the leather or rubber sponged off and

dried over with a chamois skin. The further treatment may depend upon

the material of which the top is composed. A great many vehicle owners,

livery men in particular, prefer to have leather tops--except the badly

worn ones--go without a dressing of any kind, a simple washing with

castile soap and soft water being thought to amply suffice. Hand-buffed

leather tops in good condition, in the writer's estimation, require no

dressing; the machine-buffed ones, however, are benefited by a thin,

evenly-applied coat of some strictly reliable enamel top dressing.

And it is pertinent here to say that even the best of dressings,

those which long usage has sanctioned as of established value, are of

such a nature that they are beneficial only when applied sparingly.

A dressing, to be genuinely useful to the carriage painter, should

preserve the enamel of a top, strengthen the leather or rubber, and

enable it to retain its natural flexibility for the longest possible

period.

If, then, the top be rubber or machine-buffed leather, apply dressing,

not forgetting the side curtains. If a leather top and the owner wishes

it to be given some preparation other than the regulation enamel top

dressing of commerce, the following formulas may be used, the two first

being particularly beneficial to the leather.

_Formula No. 1._--Neatsfoot oil, 1 pint, beef suet, 1/8 lb. Melt the

oil and suet together. Then add a tablespoonful of melted beeswax,

mixing the ingredients carefully, and confining in an air-tight vessel.

The beeswax has a cooling property greatly to be desired in a leather

preservative.

_Formula No. 2._--Darken neatsfoot oil with a drop black. Apply

sparingly and rub out well with soft rags. This formula does not give

the brilliancy of finish that an enamel dressing does, but it gives to

the leather a softness and pliability not obtained otherwise.

_Formula No. 3._--Adapted for either rubber or leather. Of finishing

varnish, 1 quart; beeswax, 1 oz; drop black, sufficient to color

mixture properly. Thin to a brushing consistency with the turpentine.

The worth and reliability of No. 3 is vouched for by a jobbing shop

painter of twenty-five years' experience.

_Formula No. 4._--This provides for the use of boiled linseed oil

stained with drop black thinned with turpentine. Apply this preparation

with a brush, rubbing it out well and uniformly. Set aside for 30

minutes; then with clean soft rags, rub the mixture off, polishing

until a clean cloth shows no stain when rubbed over the leather. Places

which show cracks and hard service will need a second coating with the

mixture. The leather is not thickened with this mixture, has no unusual

attraction for dust and dirt, and will remain soft and flexible.

Fine grained leather dashes, fenders, etc., which do not look worn or

rusty, appearing only soiled and somewhat smeary, may be gone over with

a cloth saturated lightly with kerosene oil, and then polished with

soft woolen rags.

The commoner grades may be given patent enamel dressing, or, if

preferred, a thin coat of drop black rubbed off immediately with soft

rags and then flowed with a first-class finishing varnish. If much

worn, they may be greatly freshened up and renewed if treated with some

of the formulas given herewith.

MARKING AND METHODS OF IDENTIFYING VEHICLES AND THEIR PARTS.

The jobbing paint shop requires and should be given a system of marking

and tabulating all work taken in, so that when the finish is reached

and hanging off occurs, valuable time need not be wasted in searching

for mislaid and unidentified parts, such as cushions, carpets, storm

aprons, and the like. Unless each part is carefully marked with a

properly filled out tag attached to said part, and an itemized entry

made in the receiving book fitted with printed forms, a filled out form

being given the vehicle owner and a duplicate copy retained by the

painter, "confusion worse confounded" may be expected to occasionally

occur. The following is a blank form which the writer several years ago

published and, having seen it in use in the painting business, he can

cheerfully endorse its merits as a practical working form:

--------------------------------------------------------------

RECEIVED FROM_________________________________________________

BY____________________________________________________________

--------------------------------------------------------------

DAY MONTH DATE

RECEIVED ON___________________________________________________

TO BE FINISHED ON_____________________________________________

--------------------------------------------------------------

ARTICLES LEFT WITH____________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

REMARKS_______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

--------------------------------------------------------------

WASHING FINISHED WORK.

The duty of the painter does not end with the hanging off of the

finished vehicle. He has still one other important mission to perform,

namely, proffering advice to the vehicle owner upon the preservation

of carriage surfaces. Such advice may be directed along the following

lines:--

Carriages require storage in apartments free from dampness, furnished

with plenty of light, invited if possible, from all sides, and entirely

removed from the stable and its attendant emanations of ammoniacal

gases. Ammonia, make the vehicle user understand, is a deadly enemy to

colors and varnish. Brick walls may also correctly be classed as paint

and varnish enemies causing loss of lustre and general deterioration.

A newly-varnished vehicle surface is greatly benefited, once the

varnish is sufficiently hard to permit it, by frequent washings with

clean cold water. Premature water baths, however, are to be avoided,

save when made absolutely necessary by reason of mud spotting or other

accidents of that order. The suggestion one hears occasionally offered

to the effect that a surface may be safely rinsed with water three

days after being finished is not founded upon practical paint-shop

or varnish-making philosophy, so long as it is made to apply to a

high-grade elastic varnish. Such a varnish may be, to a mere finger

touch, quite dry, but in reality only the outer film is partially dry,

and putting it into service or submitting it to a cold water bath are

each in their turn risky experiments. The fact that an elastic varnish

has reached the free-from-dust drying stage should not be taken as a

trustworthy indication that the time for washing has arrived.

There is no question concerning the benefit of a cold water rinsing to

a varnish surface that has well hardened as to its outer film. Frequent

washings will then improve its lustre and durability. It must always

be taken into consideration that in the case of first-class painting,

assimilation of the various varnish coats ensues, and a fair measure

of time is therefore necessary after the application of the finishing

coat ere the washing can be safely given. In washing a varnish surface,

gaseous impurities which so readily accumulate, are removed.

Varnish, when at a certain temperature, is susceptible of contraction

when any colder body is brought in contact with it. This is the

controlling principle of varnish washing. The contraction of a

not properly hardened varnish, after cold water is applied to it,

causes the liquid gas of the varnish to escape through the medium

of evaporation. Drying, according to the natural laws of drying, a

varnish retains those elements which add to its brilliancy and elastic

properties. When forced to dry by virtue of premature cold water

flooding, unfavorable results may be expected to follow.

Washing a newly-varnished vehicle should never occur under the bright

glare of the sun. Plenty of water flooded gently upon the surface

with a soft sponge is a necessity in the washing process. Dirt

accumulations, if any, are softened and carried from the surface under

the volume of water. After a careful sponging, the surface may be dried

off nicely with a clean lint-free chamois skin. If a hose be used, it

should be adroitly wielded, and the stream so gauged that no harm can

come to the surface from the water pressure. The hose in the hands

of an incompetent coachman is the cause of a great many accidents to

freshly laid varnish.

Caution the washer against wetting the inside of the carriage body.

Glue joints, etc., do not strongly resist the attacks of water. Under

no circumstances permit water to dry on the surface. Stains more or

less pronounced are almost sure to follow. Hot water, soapy water, or

water not strictly clean should not be allowed to come in contact with

a surface of varnish. Do not allow mud to dry upon the surface. Wash it

immediately upon its return to the carriage house after being run in

the mud.

SCHEDULE OF PRICES FOR RE-PAINTING.

The prices here given are presented in the nature of a working plan

for the benefit of painters located in the smaller towns and villages

of the country. The schedule is subject to revision or correction in

localities where the prevailing grade of work does not warrant the

adoption of the prices herein set forth.

Touch-up and varnish buggy or phaeton (dress top if necessary) $5.50

Rubbing bodies of above jobs, give coat of color throughout

bodies and gears, stripe and finish 7.00

Extra coat of varnish to above jobs 2.00

Burning paint off body of phaeton or buggy, surfacing gears with

lead and re-painting throughout 15.00

Burning paint from gear 3.00

Touch-up and varnish surrey 7.00

Extra coat of varnish for above job 3.00

Extra coat of varnish for body 1.50

Painting surrey throughout 14.00

Burning paint off entire job and re-painting 20.00

Touch-up and varnish cabriolet 10.00

Extra coat of varnish for above job 4.00

Extra coat of varnish for body 2.00

Painting cabriolet first-class throughout 23.00

Burning paint off body 3.00

Burning paint off job entire and painting 30.00

Touch-up and varnish a four or six passenger rockaway 20.00

Additional coat of varnish for above job 10.00

Surfacing upon the old paint structure and re-painting 40.00

Burning off body and re-painting job 50.00

Touch-up and varnish brougham or landau 25.00

Surfacing and painting over the old paint structure 48.00

Burning paint off body, re-painting, and finishing throughout 60.00

Touch-up and varnish Berlin coach 30.00

Surfacing and painting upon the old paint 55.00

Burning paint off body, re-painting and finishing entire 70.00

Painting and finishing hearse 45.00

Burning paint off body, re-painting, and finishing job entire 55.00

Touch-up and varnish hearse 20.00

Platform wagons: surfacing and painting upon old paint structure 12.00

Color, color-and-varnish, stripe, and finish 10.00

Varnish light business wagon 6.00

Painting light express or business wagon without top 10.00 to 12.00

Painting top light express or business wagon 2.00

Painting heavy express or business wagon 12.00 to 15.00

Painting top heavy express or business wagon 3.00

Lettering on vehicles, per foot, plain paint .15 to .20

Lettering, per foot, shaded .20 to .25

Lettering, per foot, shaded and ornamented .35 to .40

Lettering, per foot, plain gold .45 to .50

Lettering, per foot, shaded .60 to .70

Lettering, ornamented gold .80, .90, and 1.00

CHAPTER XIV.

A STUDY OF MATERIALS: WHITE LEAD, ITS PURITY, ETC.--QUALITY OF COLORS

IN GENERAL--ADULTERATION PRACTICALLY CONSIDERED--PURITY OF RAW LINSEED

OIL--TURPENTINE--TESTING COACH JAPAN--VARNISH.

The name of a thing should not be accepted for all there is to the

thing itself. The carriage painter has very pronounced reasons for

bearing this fact in mind when engaged in studying and passing judgment

upon the materials he finds it needful to use in his business. Probably

the most important pigment which finds its way into the carriage and

wagon paint shop is white lead. This pigment has afforded a theme for

increasing discussion, its qualities and adaptability having been

extensively canvassed. Numerous substitutes have been introduced during

the past two decades, but white lead still retains its pre-eminent

popularity. Lead compounds and various adulterated brands have given

the painter plenty of trouble, and caused him to devote more attention

to the quality of his white lead stock than formerly. Because of its

soft, pliable, grain-filling property, its established elasticity,

density, body, fine working quality, and its merits as a reliable

drying pigment, white lead is the filling up and foundation material

_par excellence_.

The purity of lead deserves the carriage painter's first consideration.

It has been practically determined that a pure lead, endowed with all

the virtues which should distinguish pure lead, when mixed and used in

combination with other pigments or colors, holds its quality better

and is less susceptible of change than a compound or adulterated lead.

Moreover, pure white lead, with its soft, fine, elastic texture, has a

natural adhesiveness, a surface-filling and leveling-up property, which

the impure lead carrying a percentage of gritty, flinty ingredients

does not possess. The pure lead works out under the brush more

pleasantly and with less brushing than the compound, and it dries with

greater uniformity, etc.

At the same time it is well to remember that a strictly pure lead may

have a number of features in its make-up decidedly objectionable to

the carriage painter. It may be imperfectly washed, or it may be too

coarsely ground, etc. In his study of white lead, then, the painter

will find it a matter of value to determine the adaptability of the

lead to the requirements of his business. After convincing himself

of the purity of the lead, it remains for him to test for fineness

of grinding. A lead ground fine--impalpably fine, if it please my

readers--lightens the labor of sandpapering, strikes into the wood

fibres stoutly, and covers the maximum surface space. It has good

coloring and covering power when mixed with colors to form tints, and

for other important parts which a white lead plays in vehicle painting

it is especially adapted.

Nor should a carriage lead be ground in too large a percentage of

oil. For coats between priming and color but comparatively little

oil is needed, and washing out with benzine or turpentine entails an

unnecessary amount of labor. Hence, it should be insisted upon that

carriage painters' lead be ground moderately stiff in oil, so that

protracted washing-out may be avoided on the one hand, and extended

mixing and breaking-up operations shunned on the other. A practical

and, at the same time, a conclusive test of fineness is furnished by

taking two pieces of plate glass 8×8 inches in size, setting them

securely in blocks of wood, and then smearing a couple of small flakes

of the lead, rubbing the pieces of glass together. Continue rubbing

with a firm, even pressure until a uniform distribution of the pigment

and a thorough impact is established. The glasses should then disclose

the nature of the grinding. To learn the drying power of the lead, take

the palette knife and slick a small quantity over the glass and set

aside, noting the time consumed in drying. A lead ground in the proper

proportion of oil for carriage work should, as taken from the keg and

smeared in a thin film over the glass, dry in twelve hours so that the

finger may be passed over it without sticking.

What has here been said in reference to chemical purity or strictly

pure as a necessity in the white lead product does not apply to all

the pigments so useful to the vehicle painter. For reasons here shown

lead extenders and lead compounds should be emphatically objected to.

A disavowal of their worth as carriage painting pigments, however, in

no wise lessens the significance of the fact, as already pointed out,

that a strictly pure lead is very often an expensive, if, indeed, it

be not a worthless, lead to buy. Chemically pure is not invariably an

accurate gauge of quality. A chemically pure lead that has not fineness

to recommend it lacks an essentially vital quality. In respect to the

pigments and colors following in the wake of white lead it has been

made plain on many a hard-fought field of experiment that the color

consumer, the practical painter, the workman far removed from the

analytic gentleman of the laboratories, is chiefly concerned in getting

a pigment or color adapted to his needs more completely than any other

available one. It may not be chemically pure as the chemists would

construe the term; but if it responds satisfactorily to a practical

test, it is then serving the painter's practical need. As declared by

the writer, in an article published some time ago, "a color or pigment

may be pure in the sense that it is not adulterated, and still fall

short of being chemically pure. It is the duty of the consumer to avoid

buying, under the label 'strictly pure,' an adulterated color. The real

color contained in such a product is then costing him considerably

more than would a color in a state of purity." The chemist and the

practical painter do not agree oftentimes upon what may be called

adulterants. Once upon a time, as the fairy books say, at a painters'

convention the chemist employed to make an analysis of chrome yellow

stated in substance that practically everything outside of the chromate

of lead should be classed as an adulterant or as a matter out of

place. The practical painter who has looked up the subject of chrome

yellow manufacture could tell the chemist in this case that he has

signally failed to take into consideration the necessary constituents

of the different shades of chrome yellow. As, for example, acetate and

nitrate of lead, bichromate of potash and bichromate of soda, sulphate

of soda, etc., are constituents of a pure chromate of lead. And our

friend, the chemist, would tell us that a chromate of lead composed

of some of the above ingredients is not a chemically pure article.

What the carriage painter, the consumer, will find it of value to ask

himself is this: Does a given pigment or color suit the requirements

of my business? If in doubt as to the utility of the given pigment

or color, then an immediate practical test should be resorted to.

It is not the purpose of the writer to belittle the position or the

usefulness of the chemist. The value of a chemical analysis in the

detection of adulteration and in explaining how a color is made is

cheerfully acknowledged; but after the chemist's deduction must follow

the practical test. In conducting a practical test the foremost aim of

the painter should be to consider the color or pigment to be tested in

relation to the object for which it is intended. Shade, brilliancy,

working property, durability, etc., are entitled to a careful and

chief consideration in a test for quality. And a test for quality, if

conducted painstakingly and thoroughly, will disclose the real value

of the material to the consumer. When extenders are added to a pigment

for the sole purpose of enriching the manufacturer at the expense of

the consumer, the practice becomes adulteration, pure and simple.

If, however, such extenders are used to, and actually do, increase a

pigment's usefulness, fortifying it in a way and to an extent that it

needs to be fortified, the painter will not attempt to question its

commercial value.

The study of the pigments which the vehicle painter calls to his uses

is a feature of business deserving the most rigid attention. Carried on

watchfully and with a vigilant regard for details, it cannot well fail

to increase paint shop profits.

LIQUID MATERIALS.

In the consumption of liquid materials the vehicle painter has no use

for extenders. Unfortunately, however, the thrifty and shifty sons of

adulteration, after the manner of Marco Bozzaris, in the Fourth Reader,

are struggling, tooth and nail, to adulterate linseed oil and the

turpentine product in a way to defy detection.

What the cathode ray is to a certain branch of science, pure raw

linseed oil is to carriage and wagon painting. Back in a somewhat

indefinite period of the past, linseed oil pre-empted the chief claim

in the domain of paint and varnish, and its right to a royal office in

that domain has never yet been successfully disputed, notwithstanding

the fact that a flood of substitutes and counterfeits have been turned

loose upon the market. In the language of another, "Raw linseed oil is

the king of the paint realm. There are lots of usurpers in the field

but they are short lived. The true homage of the brotherhood of the

brush continues to be paid to the old stand-by. It is the gold of the

paint shop currency."

In the basic stage of carriage and wagon painting, pure raw linseed

oil is conceded to be the life of the pigment. Impure or adulterated

linseed oil--the spurious, fraudulent article, if you please--has

more to do with the premature decay of paint and varnish than one at

first thought might concede. During the process of painting there

are numerous complications which, by the harsh reality of scientific

analysis, could be directly traced to the insidious effects of an

adulterated brand of oil. Investigations conducted by competent

experts have shown that the self-assertiveness of adulterated oil

is determined, not so much by apparent unfavorable effects upon the

under coats, but rather from its resistless attack upon the lustre

and durability of the finishing varnish. Some of the oils used to

adulterate linseed oil are pronounced by such authorities as Hurst and

Terry to be good driers, although, as in the case of rosin oil, they

may seemingly dry good upon the surface only to soften up later on.

And provided these adulterant oils are not good driers, the people

engaged in floating them along the avenues of trade have simply to add

a certain proportion of drying japan to O. K. them in this respect.

The vehicle painter's practice of using raw linseed oil insures him

somewhat against oil adulteration, as it is much more difficult to

adulterate the raw linseed product than the boiled and have the fraud

go undetected. A raw linseed oil when fresh and new is of a bright

yellowish-green color, and as it grows older it becomes paler in color

and perhaps a little brighter. When spread on a surface in a thin film

and exposed to a pure dry air it will harden quite solidly in from

forty-five to fifty hours. It ranks as reliable drying oil, promptly

solidifying when acted upon by peroxide of hydrogen or by subnitrate

of mercury. A non-drying oil refuses to show a change of this kind.

Combining powerfully with oxygen, it offers, when dry, a stronger

resinous character than any other oil.

Probably the chief adulterants of linseed oil should be listed as

rosin, mineral, and fish oil; cottonseed oil being looked upon with

less favor than formerly, while hempseed oil, owing to its pronounced

tendency to change color, is not much in evidence at present.

Rosin oil is strictly an unreliable drier. It toughens the working

property of paint and is deficient in all the essentials which should

distinguish a good paint oil. Its low flash point, as indicated by

Hurst,--300° to 330° F.--together with its strong rosin odor when

heated, would appear to make it an easily-detected adulterant.

Deodorizing processes have of late served to fortify this oil, and

fish oil as well, against detection by the sense of smell. Fish oil,

chiefly the product of the menhaden fishing industry flourishing so

vigorously along the Atlantic coast, has naturally an offensively fishy

odor, particularly when heated. Its main recommendations as a linseed

oil adulterant are tersely summed up by Terry as follows: The rapidity

with which it oxidizes, and its good body, render it not unsuitable as

a vehicle for paint.

The low cost of mineral oils, including coal oil and petroleum, has

caused them to become highly regarded as linseed oil adulterating

mediums. Mineral oils more unfavorably affect the drying property of

paint than its working and spreading property.

Cottonseed oil belongs to the non-drying class of oils, but since

recent processes have made possible the elimination of the pronounced

acrid taste, its presence in linseed oil by the sense of taste is not

easy to expose.

Hempseed oil is a mean tasting, mean smelling, but good drying oil,

and only because of its rapid color changes, wearing finally to a dull

brown, is its employment in linseed oil restricted to narrow limits.

In testing for linseed oil adulteration, ammonia is often effectively

used, equal parts of the ammonia and oil being employed. Cottonseed

oil under the ammonia treatment shows an opaque brown. When it is

present in linseed oil the liquid goes to an opaque yellow. Fish oil

under the effects of ammonia goes white. Rosin oil will disclose its

presence in linseed oil if confined in a bottle, with alcohol added in

the proportion of five parts of alcohol to one part of oil, and smartly

shaken, the alcohol afterwards being poured off. A clear sugar-of-lead

solution is added to the oil, and should rosin oil be an ingredient a

cloudy precipitate will manifest itself. A practical and simple test

often used in the carriage paint shop consists in taking a couple of

test tubes and putting a quantity of linseed oil of known purity in

one tube and a quantity of suspected oil in the other, then immersing

the tubes in warm water for, say, 1/4 of an hour, and immediately upon

removal from the water pouring the pure oil into the tube of suspected

oil. If any impurity exists, different colors will form in layers. And

it may be here proper to say, in passing, that in making tests and

comparisons of materials, an article of established purity and quality

should be used as a standard. Some time ago a well-known paint firm

issued a card giving some easy and practical tests for the detection

of linseed oil adulterants, and knowing their value to the vehicle

painter, the writer herewith appends three tests:

No 1.--Shake equal parts of oil and strong nitric acid in a small white

glass vial or bottle, and allow to stand from fifteen minutes to two

hours.

UPPER LOWER

STRATUM STRATUM

Pure } Muddy Almost

Linseed oil } olive green colorless

Presence of } Decided deep Deep red or

Fish oil } red brown cherry color

No. 2.--Shake with concentrated solution of potash or soda, and then

add warm water and shake again. Allow to stand half an hour, and if any

petroleum (paraffine oil) is present it will separate from the soap.

No. 3.--Put samples of oil in tubes and place them in a freezing

mixture (2 parts ice or snow, 1 part salt). If the oils solidify at

0° or 10° to 13° F., then cottonseed oil is probably present. (Pure

linseed oil solidifies at 17° F.)

The hydrometer should be among the possessions of every well-regulated

paint shop. It is an inexpensive little instrument, and for testing

turpentine it is unsurpassed, while for the detection of cottonseed and

mineral oil in linseed oil it is a quick and active agent. First test

a brand of linseed oil of absolute purity; and such an oil, bear in

mind, should not vary 1/2 degree from 20° to 60° Fahr. In the case of a

20% addition of mineral oil to linseed oil (the same temperature being

maintained in testing both the pure and the suspected samples) the

specific gravity will be 1-1/2° less than the pure oil. A 25% addition

of cottonseed oil will be 1° lower. Fish oil being of about, if not

quite, the same specific gravity as pure linseed oil, the adulterator

can beat the hydrometer.

Pure raw linseed oil is so essentially a part of durable carriage and

wagon painting that especial attention should constantly be directed to

the oil supply.

In respect to his purchases of turpentine the painter should be

likewise cautious and investigating. The adulteration of turpentine

with headlight oil, or a lower grade of kerosene, and with 112 fire

test oil has been, and continues to be, actively carried on. This 112

fire test oil, as employed in small southern distilleries not shadowed

by inspectors, shows a list of ingredients closely corresponding to,

heavy paraffine oil 1/3; kerosene, 1/3; light oil, 1/3. Thus a gravity

is provided which registers about the same as pure turpentine and is

therefore very difficult to detect. The naval authorities practice--and

it is said, successfully--the old-time test of dropping the suspected

turps on a piece of white paper alongside of a pure brand of turps

and watching the result. The turps containing the 112 fire test oil

will leave, upon evaporation, a faint but decided _greasy_ stain. Pure

turpentine not too rapidly distilled will leave no spot. The turpentine

containing traces of the crude gum due to too rapid distillation

will impart a sticky, yellowish-white stain to the paper and this

the painter should not confound with the afore-mentioned _greasy_

stain of the adulterated turps. In our Eastern, Middle, Western, and

Northwestern cities the practice of kerosene oil injection is the

favorite method of cheating the consumer. The sense of smell will

sometimes detect the presence of kerosene; the white paper test will

sometimes expose it; and again both tests will fail, along with the

other usual ones. While so keen an authority as Mr. Geo. B. Heckel,

of _Drugs, Oils and Paints_, has acknowledged that the adulterators

can cheat the hydrometer to a certain extent, it cannot be done with

the same measure of profit and impunity as formerly. Mr. Heckel has

publicly advised consumers to insist on 31° turps, prefacing the advice

with the following noteworthy declaration: "If I were a painter I would

never accept a gallon of turpentine without sticking a hydrometer into

it, and if it registered above 31-1/2° or below 30-1/2° I would not

accept it from the United States Treasury."

What vehicle painter vested with the authority of purchasing the

turpentine supply for a painting business, be that business big or

little, can afford to disregard Mr. Heckel's admonition? To pay

turpentine prices for kerosene oil is a disastrous drain upon the

resources of a painting business, in addition to furnishing the

materials used an element of insecurity, a germ of decay, sure to

disturb the durability and comeliness of a painted surface. For it is,

or should be, in fact, clearly understood that the kerosene or fire

test oil adulterants do not evaporate like turpentine when put into a

pigment and spread upon a surface. They strike into the wood or pierce

the nether coat of pigment, causing, later on, the flaking and peeling

of the pigment; or they retard the drying of colors; and again, they

lend a peculiar roughness to the surface, like unto that imparted by

benzine when used in a fine coach color.

The carriage and wagon painter has substantial reasons for being

interested in coach japans, for upon their quality and judicious

employment the durability of his work greatly depends. The many and

beautiful colors which he uses almost daily are japan ground, and

the pigments and colors shop-mixed are invariably fortified with the

ever-useful coach japan. The wide variety of names applied to the

drying materials used in the painting business has been the source of

annoyance and confusion to the practical mind. In reality, however,

there are but three kinds--coach japan, specially adapted for colors

to be quickly dried and containing no oil; liquid drier (or dryer)

intended for the drying of oil and oil paint; and patent driers

purchased in paste form, effective only when used in conjunction with

oil. The patent driers are so little used at present that they scarcely

merit a notice.

Coach japan, with the merits of which the carriage painter has a

right to be concerned, being chiefly used, as before stated, in

colors containing no oil require, for purposes of protection and as a

service-insuring medium, blanketing under one or more coats of varnish.

It is not to be understood that coach japan will not combine with and

dry oil colors; its power in this capacity, however, is less than

that of a liquid drier, while its gummy nature shows a tendency to

cause surface disturbances of the cracking and blistering order--most

emphatically so when strictly exact proportions are not maintained. Its

adaptability, therefore, is best confined to colors containing no oil.

So much of uncertainty, so much that is injurious and fatal to the

durability of colors, is embraced in the employment of japan in

excessive quantities or of an inferior grade that the painter should

not be slow in determining, by practical tests, both strength and

quality. And to make such tests easy, not to mention other convincing

reasons, need we invoke the purchaser's attention to the importance of

buying only standard makes?