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Title: Hints for painters, decorators, and paper-hangers

Author: An Old Hand

Release date: August 30, 2022 [eBook #68866]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: The Industrial Publication Company, 1882

Credits: Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HINTS FOR PAINTERS, DECORATORS, AND PAPER-HANGERS ***





NOW READY.

_Second and Enlarged Edition._

The Steel Square

AND ITS USES.

By FRED. T. HODGSON.


This is the only work on THE STEEL SQUARE AND ITS USES ever published.
It is Thorough, Exhaustive, Clear, and Easily Understood. Confounding
terms and scientific phrases have been religiously avoided where
possible, and everything in the book has been made so plain that a boy
twelve years of age, possessing ordinary intelligence, can understand
it from end to end.

The New Edition is Illustrated with over Seventy-five Wood-cuts,
showing how the Square may be used for solving almost every problem in
the whole Art of Carpentry.

The following synopsis of the contents of the work will give some idea
of its character and scope.

 --History of the “Square.”--Description, with Explanation of the
 Rules, Figures, Scales, and Divisions shown on good Squares.

 --Brace Rules, Octagonal Scale, Board, Plank and Scantling Rules,
 fully explained and described.

 --How to lay out Rafters, Hips, Jack-Rafters, Purlins, Bevel Works,
 etc., etc.

 --Backing for Hips, Lengths and Bevels of Valley Rafters. Laying out
 Stairs and Strings.

 --How to describe Circles, Ellipses, Parabolas and other figures, with
 the Square.

 --How to obtain Bevels for Hoppers and all kinds of Splayed Work and
 Spring Mouldings, by the Square.

 --Bisecting Circles, Proportion of Circles, Division of Widths,
 Bisection of Angles, Diminishing Stiles, Centering Circles, etc., etc.

 --Theoretical Rafters, Cuts for Mitre Boxes, Measurement of Surfaces,
 including Painting, Plastering, Shingling, Siding, Flooring, Rough
 Boarding, Tinning and Roofing.

 --Rules for describing Octagons and Polygons of every description and
 how to find their angles and areas.

 --Rules for finding the lengths of Rafters and Hips of Irregular
 Roofs, Cuts for Equal and Unequal Mitres, Trusses and Bevel Timber
 Work.

 --The Development of Hip and Curved Roofs; Veranda Rafters, Straight
 and Curved; Hopper Cuts of all kinds, Angle Corner-pieces, Splayed
 Work for Gothic Heads, etc., etc., and many other things useful to the
 Operative Mechanic.


  Handsomely Bound in Cloth with Gilt Title.
  Price ONE DOLLAR.

  INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION COMPANY.

  New York.




  HINTS FOR PAINTERS,

  DECORATORS,

  AND PAPER-HANGERS.

  BEING

  A SELECTION OF USEFUL RULES, DATA, MEMORANDA, METHODS,
  AND SUGGESTIONS FOR HOUSE, SHIP AND FURNITURE PAINTING,
  PAPER-HANGING, GILDING, COLOR MIXING, AND OTHER
  MATTERS USEFUL AND INSTRUCTIVE TO PAINTERS
  AND DECORATORS.

  Prepared with Special Reference to the Wants of Amateurs.

  BY

  AN OLD HAND.


  NEW YORK:
  THE INDUSTRIAL PUBLICATION COMPANY.
  1882.




PREFACE.


This little work is intended to furnish the PRACTICAL
HOUSE-PAINTER--THE EVERY-DAY WORKMAN--with information sufficient to
enable him to understand his business intelligently. One of its objects
is to deal with the nature, characteristics, qualities, and defects of
the materials employed by the class of artisans for whom it is written;
and to a limited extent this has been done with as little theory as
possible; high-sounding technicalities have also been avoided wherever
the author has been able to make himself understood without them.

It is thought the young painter may derive great profit and advancement
from a careful study of this book, as the hints, rules, and recipes it
contains are reliable, practical, and of every-day use.

The author has consulted many works on the subject, and is indebted
to many of them for much of the matter contained, among which may be
mentioned “Building Construction and Materials,” “House-Painter’s
Hand-Book,” “Artists’ and Tradesmen’s Companion,” “Painter’s Guide,”
“Chevreul’s Oils and Paints,” and several other works of more or less
note. To this has been added many things discovered by the actual
experience of the writer.




CONTENTS.


                                              PAGE

  Preface,                                     iii

  Preliminary,                                   7

  Preparation of Surfaces,                       7

  Materials Used,                                8

  Bases and Vehicles,                           10

  White Lead, Genuine and Adulterated,          10

  Linseed and other Oils,                       13

  Driers,                                       14

  Coloring Paints,                              15

  Blacks and Blues,                             16

  Yellows,                                      17

  Browns,                                       18

  Pinks and Reds,                               19

  Lakes and Orange,                             20

  Green,                                        21

  Proportion of Ingredients in Mixed Paints,    22

  Table showing the composition of the
  different coats of white paint, and the
  quantities required to cover 100 yards of
  new work,                                     23

  Operations,                                   24

  Preparing the Work,                           25

  Taste in Color,                               30

  Graining--General Remarks,                    32

  Graining in Oak, Mahogany, Rosewood, Walnut,
  Maple, Satin-wood, Granites, Marbles, etc.,   36

  Rules for Mixing Compound Colors,             41

  Miscellaneous Receipts, for Painting Iron,
  Stucco, Glass; Gilding, Gilding on Glass,
  Gilding Fretwork, Painting on Gilded Panels,
  Gilding on Wood, Gilding Letters, Gilder’s
  Size, Staining Wood, Staining Floors,
  Varnishing, Painting Brick-work and Masonry,
  French Polish, Wood-filling, Rules for
  Painters to Observe,                          43

  Paper-hanging,                                54

  Operations,                                   56

  Cleaning Paper-hangings,                      57

  Varnishing Paper,                             57

  The Making of Paste,                          58

  Useful Hints and Table for Estimating Cost
  of Work and Materials,                        59




HINTS FOR PAINTERS AND PAPER-HANGERS.


There is a general belief abroad that anybody can execute all that is
required of a house-painter. This is a very popular error; it is not
so easy to prepare and apply a coat of paint in a thorough workmanlike
manner as some may imagine. It is still less easy to paint in parti
colors; and very few can produce a good piece of graining.

The painter should not only be acquainted with the method of applying
paint when it is provided for him, and the brush placed in his hand,
but he should know the composition of the colors; the manner in which
they are made, and the colors which must harmonize with each other when
they are associated together. These observations being of a practical
nature and the result of experience, are commended for his perusal and
study.

=Preparation.=--All surfaces painted should be first thoroughly dry and
free from dust. All heads of nails should be punched or “set” below the
surface of the wood, and after the priming is dry, the holes formed
by the heads, as well as all cracks, defects, etc., should be filled
up with putty made of raw linseed oil and whiting. To prevent knots
or “fat” spots from showing through, they should receive two coats of
shellac varnish, and when dry rubbed down with sand-paper. The shellac
should be applied with a small brush. It dries soon and may be painted
over as soon as dry. Shellac prepared this way is called “knotting,”
and can be purchased wherever painters’ materials are kept for sale.

=Materials.=--The principal materials used for painting, _i.e._, white
lead and oxide of zinc, are so well known that it is unnecessary to
allude particularly to their manufacture at present. Before using them
they should be mixed with pure raw linseed oil. Turpentine may be
used in cold weather to make the paint work easy, as the oil is apt
to chill, which thickens it and makes it difficult to apply. In warm
weather, however, turpentine should not be used in priming any parts
where the sun shines upon. In cold weather it is always necessary
to use litharge or some other drier; or the work will remain a long
time before it hardens; in summer, however, driers in most cases are
unnecessary, for if the wood to be painted is as well seasoned as it
ought to be there is little danger of the paint being washed off by
rain, as it will mostly be absorbed in the surface.

To make satisfactory work it is imperative that all cans, pots and
brushes used in painting be perfectly clean at the start, and kept so
whenever the conditions will permit. A marble slab and muller will be
required to grind the finer colors used. Sometimes a small cast-iron
mill will be found useful not only to grind colors; but to pass the
tinted color through, so that it may be thoroughly mixed. It is
scarcely necessary to say that it is presumed the workman will know
what brushes he will require according to the work he has in hand.
His large ground paint brush, called a “pound-brush;” his half-size,
for smaller work; his fitch and sash tools, duster, pallet, putty and
hasp knives; oval and flat varnish brushes, varnish-pot, step-ladders
and long ladders, mahl-stick, pallet-board, gilding-knife, camel and
sable hair-pencils, whitewash brushes, jack for window work, cushion,
tip-pole, etc., etc.

Large brushes, such as 6-0 size, should be bridled when new by winding
good twine around them about one-third up the length of the bristles,
and as the brush wears, this binding can be unwound. Care should be
taken to use the brushes so that they will have a flat wedge-shaped
point, straight on the edge. This can be done by holding the brush
always in one position. If brushes are turned round and round in the
hand while in use, they wear round and stubby on the point and soon
become useless for fine or smooth work.

Brushes that are in use every day should be placed in water half the
depth of the bristles at night, taking care that brushes containing
different colors do not come in contact with one another. If they
are to be laid aside for any length of time, however, they should be
washed with warm water and soap after being thoroughly cleansed with
turpentine, and laid away in a moist place.

As a general thing it is better to buy putty already made at a regular
paint store, where you may depend upon its being made of good whiting
and linseed oil than to make it. Putty should not be used until the
work has been primed, for new paint holds the putty very firmly.

White lead is to be judged of by being well ground and possessing the
mellowness given to it by age.

It is well known amongst painters that the best article is the most
economical, as it works out with more ease, and repays the difference
of cost in its better appearance and extra durability. Linseed oil is
also better for having due age, for the same reasons as the white
lead, working with softness and advantage after parting with the water,
which is generally combined with new oil.

In most cases _driers_ are added to paints to cause them to dry more
quickly, and a _solvent_ is sometimes required to make the paints
work more freely. When the color required differs from that of the
main paint used, the desired tint is obtained by adding a staining
or coloring pigment. The materials generally employed may, for
convenience, be classed as follows:

=Bases.=--White lead, red lead, zinc white, oxide of iron.
_Vehicles._--Oils, spirits of turpentine. _Solvents._--Spirits of
turpentine. _Driers._--Litharge, acetate of lead, sulphate of zinc and
binoxide of manganese, red lead, etc. _Coloring Pigments._--Ochres,
lampblack, umber, sienna, and many metallic salts that will be
hereinafter mentioned.

White lead may be obtained either pure or mixed with various
substances, such as sulphate of baryta, sulphate of lead, whiting,
chalk, zinc white, etc. These substances do not combine with oil as
well as does white lead, nor do they so well protect any surface to
which they are applied. Sulphate of baryta, the most common adulterant,
is a dense, heavy, white substance, very like white lead in appearance.
It absorbs very little oil, and may frequently be detected by the
gritty feeling it produces when the paint is rubbed between the finger
and thumb.

=White Lead= is sold either dry, in powder or lump, or else ground
in oil in a paste containing from 7 to 9 per cent. of linseed oil,
and more or less adulterated, unless specially marked “genuine.” When
slightly adulterated with a very white sulphate of baryta, like that
of the Tyrol, the mixture is considered preferable for certain kinds
of work, as the barytes communicates opacity to the color and protects
the lead from being speedily darkened by sulphurous smoke or vapors.
White lead improves by keeping, and when of good quality, will go much
further and last much better than when employed fresh; moreover, paint
made with new lead has a tendency to become yellow. It should not be
exposed to the air or it will turn grey.

Of all the bases used for paints, white lead is the most commonly used,
and for surfaces of wood it affords in most cases the best protection,
being dense, of good body, and permanent. It has the disadvantage,
however, of blazening when exposed to sulphur acids, and of being
injurious to those who handle it.

Red lead is produced by raising _massicot_ (the commercial name for
oxide of lead) to a high temperature, short of fusion, during which
it absorbs oxygen from the air and is converted into red lead or
_minium_, an oxide of lead. The color is lasting, and is unaffected by
light when it is pure and used alone, but any preparation containing
lead or acids mixed with it deprive it of color, and impure air makes
it black. It may be used for a drier, as it possesses many of the
properties of litharge; it is also often employed in painting wrought
iron work, to which it adheres with a tenacity not equalled by any
other paints; it is sometimes objected to for this purpose, on the
ground that galvanic action is set up between the lead and the iron.
It is also frequently used for priming on wood work, and is especially
adapted for hard woods. It is frequently adulterated with brick dust;
this may be detected by heating the powder in a crucible, and treating
it with dilute nitric acid; the lead will be dissolved but the brick
dust will remain. It is also adulterated with colcother, a sesquioxide
of iron. Sulphide of antimony, or antimony vermilion, is sometimes
used as a substitute for red lead. It is sold in a very fine powder,
without taste or smell, and which is insoluble in water, alcohol, or
essential oils. It is but little acted upon by acids, and is said to be
unaffected by air or light. It is adapted for mixing with white lead,
and affords an intensely bright color when ground in oil.

Oxide of zinc, or zinc white, is durable in water or oil; it
dissolves in hydrochloric acid; it does not blacken in the presence
of sulphuretted hydrogen; and it is not injurious to the men who make
it, or to the painters who use it; but on the other hand, it does not
combine with oil well, and is wanting in body and covering power, and
is difficult to work. It is easily acted upon by the carbonic acid
in rain water, which dissolves the oxide, and it therefore is unfit
for outside work. The acids contained in unseasoned wood also have a
great effect upon it. When pure and used for inside work, it retains
its color well, and will stand washing for many years without losing
any of its freshness. When dry it becomes very hard, and will take a
fine polish. This paint is suitable for any place that is subjected
to vapors containing sulphur, or in places where foul air is emanated
from decaying animal matter. In such positions, of course, zinc paints
should not be mixed with “patent” or other driers which contain lead.
The best driers to employ with it are sulphate of manganese and
sulphate of zinc. This white is recommended as being preferable to
white lead for painting on a dark ground. The reason of this is that
the soap formed by the combination of the lead and oil in lead paints
is semi-transparent, and the dark ground shows through it. The want of
density, however, in zinc paints, is a great drawback to their use,
and the purest zinc oxide is not always the best for paint on account
of its low specific gravity; and in this respect, the American zinc
whites, which are frequently very pure, do not generally give as good
satisfaction as the zinc whites made in Belgium.

=Vehicles.=--Oils are divided into two classes--fixed oils and volatile
oils. Fixed oils are extracted by pressure from vegetable substances,
they are of a fatty nature, do not evaporate in drying, and will bear
a temperature short of 500° Fahr., without decomposing. They are
subdivided into drying oils, which become thick upon exposure to air.
Of these, linseed oil is most commonly used as an ingredient for paint.
Its qualities when pure are excellent, and it may be considered the
best of all oils for use in paint, putty, and other similar substances.
It oxidizes and becomes thick upon exposure to the air. This property
is very much increased by adding other substances to it and boiling
them together. It is superior in drying powers, tenacity, and body to
any other fixed oil. The best oil comes from the Black Sea and the
Baltic; that from the East Indian seed is inferior, as the seed is less
carefully cleaned, and contains too much stearine. Raw linseed oil is
clear and light in color, works smoothly, and is used for internal
works, for delicate tints, and for grinding up colors. Boiled oil is
much thicker, darker, and more apt to clog. It is used for outside
work, as its greater body and rapidity in drying make it a quicker and
more efficient protection.

=Volatile Oils= are generally obtained by distillation, and have an
odor resembling that of the plant from which they are obtained. They
are, as a rule, colorless at first, but upon exposure to air and light
they become darker, thicker, and eventually are converted into a kind
of resin. Spirits of turpentine is the best variety of this class for
mixing with ordinary paints. Naptha and benzine are sometimes used
instead of turpentine, but not often, and their use is not recommended
when the latter can be obtained. Good spirits of turpentine is lighter
in weight and more inflammable than bad. It is colorless and has a
pleasant pungent smell, whereas the smell of inferior qualities is
disagreeable. It is used as a solvent for resins and other substances
in making varnishes; also in paint to make it work more smoothly. It
is useful also in flatting coats, but will not stand exposure to the
weather.

=Driers.=--Driers are substances added to paint in order to cause
the oils to thicken and solidify more rapidly. The action of these
substances is not thoroughly understood. Chevreuil has shown that the
drying of linseed oil is caused by the absorption of oxygen; and there
can be no doubt that for the most part driers act as carriers of oxygen
to the oil, a very small quantity producing considerable effects.

The best driers are those which contain a large proportion of oxygen,
such as litharge, acetate of lead, red lead, sulphate of zinc,
verdigris, etc. They are sometimes used to improve the drying qualities
of the oil with which the paint is mixed, or they may themselves be
ground up with a small quantity of oil, and added to the paint just
before it is used.

Litharge or oxide of lead is the drier most commonly used, and is
produced in extracting lead from its ores. It can be produced on a
small scale by scraping off the dross which forms on molten lead
exposed to a current of air. _Massicot_ is a superior kind of litharge,
being produced by heating lead to an extent insufficient to fuse the
oxide. Sugar of lead, or, as it is more frequently called, acetate of
lead, ground in oil, and copperas and white vitriol (sulphate of zinc),
are also used as driers, especially for light tints. Oxide of manganese
is quicker in its effects, but is of a very dark color, and seldom used
except for deep tints. Japanners’ gold size and verdigris (acetate of
copper) are also much used for dark colors. Care must be taken not to
apply too much of the size, or it will make the paint brittle. Red
lead (oxide of lead) is often used as a drier when its color will not
interfere with the tint required. It is not so rapid in its action as
litharge or massicot. Sulphate of manganese is the best drier for zinc
white, about 6 or 8 ounces only being used for 100 lbs., of ground zinc
white paint. The manganese should be mixed with a small quantity of the
paint first, and then added to the bulk. If great care be not taken in
mixing the drier the work will be spotted. Sulphate of zinc is also a
good drier for zinc paint.

Patent driers contain oxidizing agents, such as litharge or acetate of
lead ground and mixed in oil, and therefore in a convenient form for
immediate use. There is great danger, however, in using such driers,
unless they are of the best quality from a reliable maker. Some of the
inferior descriptions depend for their drying qualities upon lime.

The following points should be observed in using driers:--

1st. Not to use them unnecessarily with pigments which dry well in oil
color.

2d. Not to employ them in excess, which would only retard the drying.

3d. Not to add them to the color until about to be used.

4th. Not to use more than one drier to the same color.

5th. To avoid the use of patent driers, unless known to be of good
quality.

6th. To avoid the use of driers in the finishing coat of light colors,
as they are liable to injure the color.

=Coloring Pigments.=--It will be impossible in a small work of this
sort to give anything like a complete list of the pigments used to
produce the colors and tints used by the house painter and decorator. A
few of the most useful may, however, be mentioned. It is not proposed
to give a detailed description of them, but merely to distinguish those
that are injurious from the others. Many of these, such as the ochres,
umbers, etc., are from natural earths; others are artificially made.
They may generally be purchased either in the form of dry powder or
ground in oil.

=Blacks.=--Lampblack is the soot produced by burning oil, resin, small
coal, resinous woods, coal tar or tallow. It is in the state of very
fine powder; works smoothly; is of a dense black color and durable, but
dries very slowly in oil.

Vegetable black is a better kind of lampblack made from oil. It is very
light, free from grit, and of a good color. It should be used with
boiled oil, driers, and a little varnish. Raw linseed oil or spirits of
turpentine keeps it from drying.

Ivory-black is obtained by calcining waste ivory in close vessels and
then grinding. It is intensely black when properly burned. Bone-black
is inferior to ivory-black, and prepared in a similar manner from
bones. Blue-black and Frankfort black of the best quality are made from
vine twigs; inferior qualities from other woods charred and reduced to
powder. In Europe some other blacks are used, but we seldom meet with
them in this country.

=Blues.=--Prussian blue is made by mixing prussiate of potash with
a salt of iron. The prussiate of potash is obtained by calcining
and digesting old leather, blood, hoofs, or other animal matter
with carbonate of potash and iron filings. This color is much used,
especially for dark blues, making purples, and intensifying black.
It dries well with oil. Slight differences in the manufacture cause
considerable variation in tint and color, which leads to the material
being known by different names--such as Antwerp blue, Berlin blue,
Hærlem blue, Chinese blue, etc. Indigo is produced by steeping certain
plants in water, and allowing them to ferment. It is a transparent
color; works well in oil or water, but is not durable, especially when
mixed with white lead.

Ultramarine was originally made by grinding the valuable mineral _Lapis
lazuli_. Genuine ultramarine so made is very expensive, but artificial
French and German ultramarines are made of better color, and cheaply,
by fusing and washing and reheating a mixture of soda, silica, alum,
and sulphur. This blue is chiefly used for coloring wall papers.

Cobalt blue is an oxide of cobalt made by roasting cobalt ore. It makes
a beautiful color, and works well in water or oil.

Smalt, Saxon blue and Royal blue are colored by oxides of cobalt.

There are a few other blues, such as Celestial or Brunswick blue, damp
blue and verditer, that are chemical compounds, compounds of alum,
copper, lime, and other substances; but they are so seldom used in this
country that it is unnecessary to describe them in detail.

=Yellows.=--Chrome yellows are chromates of lead, produced by mixing
dilute solutions of acetate or nitrate of lead and bichromate of
potash. This makes a medium tint known as “middle chrome.” The addition
of sulphate of lead makes this paler, when it is known as “lemon
chrome,” whereas the addition of caustic lime makes it “orange chrome”
of a darker color. The chromes mix well with oil and with white lead
either in oil or water. They stand the sun well, but like other lead
salts, become dark in bad air. Chrome yellow is frequently adulterated
with gypsum.

Naples yellow is a salt of lead and antimony, supposed to have been
originally made from a natural volcanic product at Naples. It is not so
brilliant as chrome, but has the same characteristics. King’s yellow is
made from arsenic, and is therefore a dangerous color to handle, or
use for internal work. It is not durable, and it injures several other
colors when mixed with them. Chinese yellow, arsenic yellow, and yellow
orpiment are other names for this yellow.

Yellow ochre is a natural clay colored by oxide of iron, and found
abundantly in many parts of the world. It is not very brilliant, but is
well suited for distemper work, as it is not affected by light or air.
It does not lose its color when mixed with lime washes as many other
colors do. There are several varieties of ochres, all having the same
characteristics differing only in color which varies from a golden to a
dark brown.

=Terra De Sienna=, or raw Sienna, is a clay, stained with oxides of
iron and manganese, and of a dull yellow color. It is durable both in
oil and water, and is useful in all work, especially in graining.

=Browns.=--Browns generally owe their color to oxide of iron. Raw umber
is a clay similar to ochre colored by oxide of iron. The best comes
from Turkey; it is very durable both in water and in oil; does not
injure other colors when mixed with them.

=Burnt Umber= is the last mentioned material burnt to give it a darker
color. It is useful as a drier, and in mixing with white lead to make a
stone color.

=Vandyke Brown.=--This color is an earthy dark brown mineral; it is
durable both in oil and water, and is frequently employed in graining.

=Purple Brown= is of a reddish-brown color. It should be used with
boiled oil--and a little varnish and driers for outside work.

=Burnt Sienna= is produced by burning raw sienna. It is the best color
for shading gold.

=Brown Pink= is a vegetable color often of a greenish hue. It works
well in water and oil, but dries badly, and will not keep its color
when mixed with white lead. Spanish brown and brown ochre are clays
colored naturally by various oxides.

=Reds.=--Carmine, made from the cochineal insect, is the most
brilliant red color known. It is, however, too expensive for ordinary
house painting, and is not durable. It is sometimes used for inside
decoration.

=Red Lead.=--This color has already been described on page 11.

=Vermilion.=--This is a sulphide of mercury in a natural state as
cinnabar. The best comes from China. Artificial vermilion is also
made both in China and in this country from a mixture of sulphur
and mercury. Genuine vermilion is very durable, but when mixed with
red lead, as it is sometimes, it will not stand the weather. It can
be tested by heating in a test tube; if genuine it will entirely
volatilize. German vermilion is the tersulphide of antimony, and is of
an orange-red color.

=Indian Red.=--This color is a ground hematite ore brought from Bengal;
it is sometimes made artificially by calcining sulphate of iron. The
tints vary, but a rosy hue is considered the best. It may be used with
turpentine and a little varnish to produce a dull surface, drying
rapidly, or with boiled oil and a little driers, in which case a glossy
surface will be produced, drying more slowly.

=Chinese Red= and Persian red are chromates of lead, produced by
boiling white lead with a solution of bichromate of potash. The tint of
Persian red is obtained by the employment of sulphuric acid.

=Venetian Red= is obtained by heating sulphate of iron produced as a
waste product at tin and copper works. It is often adulterated by
mixing sulphate of lime with it during the manufacture. When pure, it
is often called “bright red.” Special tints of purple and brown are
frequently required, which greatly enhance the value of the material.
These tints should be obtained in the process of manufacture, and not
produced by mixing together a variety of different shades of color.
When the tint desired is attempted to be obtained by this latter course
it is never so good, and the materials produced are known in the trade
as ‘faced colors,’ and are of inferior value.

=Rose Pink.=--This is made of a sort of chalk or whiting stained with
a tincture of Brazil wood. It fades very quickly, but it is used for
paperhangings, common distemper, and for staining cheap furniture.

=Lakes.=--These are made by precipitating colored vegetable tinctures
by means of alum and carbonate of potash. The alumina combines with
the organic coloring matter and separates it from the solution. The
tincture used varies in the different descriptions of lake. The best,
made from cochineal or madder, is used for internal work. Drop lake
is made by dropping a mixture of Brazil wood through a funnel on to
a slab. The drops are dried and mixed into a paste with gum water.
It is sometimes called “Brazil wood lake.” Scarlet lake is made from
cochineal; so also are Florentine lake, Hamburg lake, Chinese lake,
Roman lake, Venetian lake and Carminated lake.

=Orange.=--Chrome orange is a chromate of lead, brighter than
vermillion, but less durable. Orange ochre is a bright yellow ochre
burnt to give it warmth of tint; it dries and works well in water or
oil, and is very durable. It is known also as Spanish ochre. Orange red
is produced by a further oxidation than is required for red lead. It is
a brighter and better color.

=Greens.=--These, of course, may be made by mixing blue and yellow
together, but such mixtures are less durable than those produced direct
from copper, arsenic, etc. The latter are, however, objectionable
for use in distemper or on wall papers, as they are very injurious
to health. Brunswick green of the best kind is made by treating
copper with sal-ammoniac. Chalk, lead and alum are sometimes added.
It has rather a bluish tinge; dries well in oil, is durable, and not
poisonous. Common Brunswick green is made by mixing chromate of lead
and Prussian blue with sulphate of baryta. It is not as durable as
real Brunswick green. Mineral green is made from bi-basic carbonate of
copper; it weathers well. Verdigris is acetate of copper. It furnishes
a bluish-green color, durable in oil or varnish, but not in water; it
dries rapidly, but requires great care in using owing to its poisonous
qualities. Green verditer is a carbonate of copper and lime; is not
very durable. Prussian green is made by mixing different substances
with Prussian blue. There are a number of other greens made from
copper, but they all possess in a greater or lesser degree, the same
qualities as the foregoing. Emerald or Paris green is made of verdigris
mixed with a solution of arsenious acid. It is of a very brilliant
color, but is very poisonous; is difficult to grind, and dries badly in
oil. It should be purchased ready ground in oil, as in that case the
poisonous particles do not fly about, and the difficulty of grinding
is avoided. Scheele’s green and Vienna green are also arseniates of
copper, and highly poisonous. Chrome green should be made from the
oxide of chromium, and is very durable. An inferior chrome green is
made, however, by mixing chromate of lead and Prussian blue, as above
mentioned, and is called Brunswick green. The chrome should be free
from acid or the color will fade; it may be tested by placing it for
several days in strong sunlight.

=Proportions of Ingredients in Mixed Paint.=--The composition of paints
should be governed by the nature of the material to be painted. Thus
the paints respectively best adapted for painting wood and iron differ
considerably. The kind of surface to be covered, _i. e._, a porous
surface requires more oil than one that is impervious. The nature and
appearance of the work to be done. Delicate tints require colorless
oil; a flatted surface must be painted without oil, which gives gloss
to a shining surface. Again, paint used for surfaces intended to be
varnished must contain a minimum of oil. The climate and the degree of
exposure to which the work will be subjected; thus, for outside work
boiled oil is used, because it weathers better than raw oil. Turps is
avoided as much as possible, because it evaporates and does not last;
if, however, the work is to be exposed to the sun, turps are necessary
to prevent the paint from blistering. The skill of the painter also
affects the composition; a good workman can lay on even coats with a
smaller quantity of oil and turps than a man who is unskilful; extra
turps, especially, are often added to save labor. The quality of the
materials makes an important difference in the proportions used. Thus
more oil and turps will combine with pure than with impure white lead;
thick oil must be used in greater quantity than thin oil. When paint
is purchased ready ground in oil, a soft paste will require less turps
and oil for thinning than a thick paste. Lastly, the different coats
of paint vary in their composition; the first coat laid on to new work
requires a good deal of oil to soak into the material; on old work the
first coat requires turpentine to make it adhere; the intermediate
coats contain a proportion of turpentine to make them work smoothly,
and to the final coats the coloring materials are added, the remainder
of the ingredients being varied as already described, according as the
surface is to be glossy or flatted.

The exact proportion of the ingredients best to be used in mixing
paints varies according to their quality, the nature of the work
required, the climate, and other considerations. The composition of the
paint for the different coats also varies considerably. The proportions
given in the following table, must, therefore, only be taken as an
approximate guide when the materials are of good quality.

 _Table showing the composition of the different coats of white paint,
 and the quantities required to cover 100 yards of newly worked pine._

 --------------+-------+--------+---------+---------+--------+---------+
               |  RED  | WHITE  |   RAW   |  BOILED | TURPE- | DRIERS. |
               | LEAD. | LEAD.  | LINSEED | LINSEED | NTINE. |         |
               |       |        |   OIL.  |   OIL.  |        |         |
 --------------+-------+--------+---------+---------+--------+---------+
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 _Inside work, |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 4 coats       |  lbs. |   lbs. |    pts. |         |        |   lbs.  |
 not flatted._ |       |        |         |         |        |         |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 Priming**     |  ¹⁄₂  |    16  |     6   |     --  |    --  |   ¹⁄₄   |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 2d Coat       |   *   |    15  |   3¹⁄₂  |     --  |   1¹⁄₂ |   ¹⁄₄   |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 3d Coat       |   --  |    13  |   2¹⁄₂  |     --  |   1¹⁄₂ |   ¹⁄₄   |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 4th Coat      |   --  |    13  |   2¹⁄₂  |     --  |   1¹⁄₂ |   ¹⁄₄   |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 _Inside work, |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 4 coats and   |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 flatting._    |       |        |         |         |        |         |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 Priming       | 1¹⁄₂  |    16  |     6   |     --  |   ¹⁄₂  |   1-8   |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 2d Coat       |   --  |    12  |     4   |     --  |   1¹⁄₂ |   1-10  |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 3d Coat       |   --  |    12  |     4   |     --  |    0   |   1-10  |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 4th Coat      |   --  |    12  |     4   |     --  |    0   |   1-10  |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 Flatting      |   --  |     9  |     0   |     --  |   3¹⁄₂ |   1-10  |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 _Outside work,|       |        |         |         |        |         |
 4 coats       |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 not flatted._ |       |        |         |         |        |         |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 Priming***    |   2   |  18¹⁄₂ |     2   |    2    |    --  |   1-8   |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 2d Coat       |   --  |    15  |     2   |    2    |    ¹⁄₂ |   1-10  |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 3d Coat       |   --  |    15  |     2   |    2    |    ¹⁄₂ |   1-10  |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 4th Coat      |   --  |    15  |     3   |   2¹⁄₂  |    0   |   1-10  |
               |       |        |         |         |        |         |
 --------------+-------+--------+---------+---------+--------+---------+

* Sometimes just enough red lead is used to give a flesh-colored tint.

** Sometimes more red lead is used and less drier.

*** When the finished color is not to be pure white, it is better to
have nearly all the oil boiled oil. All boiled oil does not work well.
For pure white a larger proportion of raw oil is necessary, because
boiled oil is too dark.


For every 100 square yards, besides the materials enumerated in the
foregoing, 2¹⁄₂ lbs. of white lead and 5 lbs. of putty will be required
for stopping.

The area which a given quantity of paint will cover depends upon the
nature of the surface to which it is applied, the proportion of the
ingredients and the state of the weather. When the work is required to
dry quickly, more turpentine is added to all the coats.

In repainting old work, two coats are generally required, the old
painting being considered as priming. Sometimes another coat may be
deemed necessary.

For outside old work exposed to the sun, both coats should contain
one pint of turpentine and four pints of boiled oil, the remaining
ingredients being as stated in the foregoing table. The extra
turpentine is used to prevent blistering.

In cold weather more turpentine should be used to make the paint flow
freely.

=Operations.=--All priming should be rubbed out as far as possible,
for if it is flowed out loosely or laid on thick it will be apt to
blister and run. In priming over spots, however, where _patching_ is
being done, it may sometimes be necessary to leave the coat thick or
heavy, for new work can never be re-touched and look well, after the
work is second coated or finished; for such re-touching would show and
spoil the whole work. In priming the paint should flow easily, and the
brush should be pressed on to the wood so that the paint will be forced
into the pores. In all cases it is a great saving of time to cover as
large a surface as convenient before smoothing or finishing off. All
work on the same surface should be finished at the one application,
if possible, for “laps”--which form the junctions of work done at
different times--should be avoided wherever they can, as they are sure
to disfigure the work where they exist. Of course, it is sometimes
impossible to avoid laps, but where they must occur, care should be
taken to make the connection with as little “lap” as possible or it
will be certain to show through the work when finished. The defect, if
occurring during the second coating, will show much worse than in the
priming coat.

In painting, like everything else, a system must be followed to make
much headway. Experience, perhaps, is the only effective teacher in
this matter; and any rules laid down by us will have but little effect,
if the operator does not, or can not systematize. The workman who
follows a system will do nearly twice as much work with less labor,
than the man who works only by the rule of thumb. In painting blinds,
lattices, railings, cut brackets or other similar work, some method of
operation should be adopted. A little observation on the part of the
operator, will soon teach him the best methods to adopt in doing any
particular kind of work.

=Preparing the Work.=--In preparing work for painting, too much care
cannot be exercised, as succeeding coats and the final result depend
very much on the proper condition of the work when the priming coat is
applied. First, all the rough places in the wood should be rubbed down
with a block covered with sandpaper; and the mouldings and beads should
be well cleaned out with sandpaper. Then (and this is a matter of prime
importance) every knot, however small, every indication of sap on the
wood, or discoloration of any kind, and every appearance of pitch or
gum, should be carefully varnished over with white shellac varnish, if
the work is to be finished in white or light tints--or with varnish
made from unbleached or common shellac, if the work is to be finished
in dark shades. The common shellac, in the latter case, answers
equally well with the bleached article, and at less cost. This should
not, under any circumstances, be neglected, as it is impossible, in the
nature of things, otherwise to make good work.

When work is to be finished with two coats, the putty used for
stopping the nail-heads and other indentations should be made of white
lead, worked up with common whiting to the proper consistency, and
the filling should be done after the first coat shall have become
well dried. When more than two coats are to be applied, the filling
should be done between the first and second coats, with ordinary pure
linseed-oil putty.

It should be adopted as a rule, never to apply pure white as a priming
coat; no matter whether the work is to be finished with one or four
coats, the result will always be more satisfactory if the first coat be
stained. A little finely-ground lampblack answers as well for this as
anything.

The only way to produce solid, uniform work, is by making every
succeeding coat lighter in tint than the one which preceded it. This
is especially the case with walls, and other extended flat surfaces.
No matter what the finish is to be, the first coat should always be
darker than the one which succeeds it; and the darker the shade of
the finishing coat, the more important it is that this rule should be
observed. If the work is to be finished with black, prime with black.
If with green, let that be the color of all the preceding coats. If
with blue, let that color be the ground work. What can be more stupid
than applying to work which is to be finished in imitation of black
walnut a priming coat of white? All work should be primed especially
with regard to the finishing color.

There is not half enough of dark colors used in priming applications.
Venetian red, finely ground in boiled oil, deeply stained with
black--and used very thin, in order to stain the wood as much as
possible--is the best first coat for work which is to be finished
in imitation of black walnut or other dark wood. The succeeding
coats should be as dark as may be with a view to the proper shade of
ground-work for the graining. In such case, if (as must happen in the
ordinary course of events) the work becomes bruised or “chipped”--by
an accidental knock from a chair leg or other article of house
furniture--the general appearance of it is little impaired thereby.
Quite the contrary, however, is the case if the underneath coats are
white. Then, an accident of the kind before mentioned, shows a white
spot, which staringly proclaims the work to be a delusion and a sham.
Dark colors, too, as the Venetian red before mentioned, make better
foundations than white lead or zinc. They dry harder and “rub” better,
and, what is most important, cost less.

This matter having been duly considered, let us now proceed to the
coats succeeding the first. Before applying a second coat, the
first should be carefully rubbed, and all the nail-heads and other
indentations carefully stopped with pure linseed-oil putty--using
for flat surfaces a square-bladed putty-knife. Puttying with the
fingers should never be tolerated (good work is now the subject under
consideration). This done, the whole should be carefully examined
to ascertain if the oil in the former coat shall have revealed any
resinous or pitchy spots, not previously covered with the shellac.
These preliminaries being attended to, the work may be considered
ready for a second coat. The directions as to rubbing with sandpaper
are to be observed in all the succeeding coats. As a rule, on interior
work, paint should never be applied to a surface which has not been
previously rubbed.

Sandpaper for fresh work and pumice-stone for old work. Always distrust
the education of a painter in his trade who goes to work without a lump
of pumice-stone, a sheet of sandpaper, a putty-knife, and a rag to wipe
off the spatters--sparks, as the Irish not inaptly call them. Apropos
of spatters! Every painter has seen (the result too of unpardonable
negligence) plates of glass so covered with spatters, that to remove
them would require more time than would serve to paint the woodwork of
a “full-trimmed” window.

In priming work which is to be finished in oak, finely-ground French
ochre is recommended. The objection to this pigment, that it does
not work smoothly and easily under the brush, has arisen from its
coarseness. Finely ground in boiled oil, it works as smoothly as white
lead, and makes an excellent foundation for the succeeding coats.

For walls the first coat should be as dark in shade and as thin as
practicable, the object being to stain the plaster as much as possible.
Indeed, if the whole mass of plaster could be stained through and
through, it would be desirable to so stain it.

The use of glue in wall painting is of doubtful propriety. It should
never, under any circumstance, be put on until after the second coat,
and then rubbed on with a rag, very lightly. In first-class work,
however, its use is not recommended.

Plaster mixed with weak glue-size--which prevents its setting too
rapidly--is the best material for stopping walls preparatory to
painting, and each coat of paint should be carefully rubbed with worn
sand-paper, before the succeeding coat is put on. For preparing walls
a small pocket-trowel will be found a most serviceable tool, or a
trowel-shaped putty-knife, which article has come into general use.

The preparation of ceilings for whitewashing (or kalsomining as this
operation is sometimes pretentiously called) is an operation requiring
some skill and knowledge of “how to do it.” A dirty ceiling, which has
been subjected to successive coats of whitewash, whether of lime, or
of whiting and glue-size, cannot be made solidly and smoothly white by
additional whitewashing. The mass has become spongy, and sucks up the
water so quickly that the material cannot be evenly distributed. In
such case the only way is to begin anew, to go at once “down to hard
pan” by removing all the previous applications by washing and scraping.
This is best effected with a broad-bladed square-pointed putty-knife,
keeping the ceiling wet meanwhile. Plaster (hard-finish) is not of
uniform density, and some spots are much more absorbent than others. To
remedy this a mixture of soft soap and alum, dissolved in water, should
be applied with a broad kalsomine brush.

It is not assumed that mere verbal instructions can teach the art of
whitening or tinting walls and ceilings in water-colors. To produce
good results, great skill in preparing the materials and dexterity in
manipulation are required; and such work should be intrusted only to
competent hands. A mass of unsuitable material may be cheaply put upon
a ceiling; but when the same shall require repainting, the cost of
labor will be greater in removing the previous coating, than will be
the whole cost of repainting. These remarks, too, apply equally to all
kinds of painting; and reference is made to the whitening and tinting
of ceilings only, because of the general impression that this kind of
work may be performed by anybody.

The materials and tools used in painting are too costly to wasted and
worn by incompetent handling. “Painting just to keep the gardener or
hostler out of idleness,” will prove in most cases a left-handed
economy. Such experiments are prudent only when the services of skilled
workman cannot be obtained.

=Taste in Color.=--In rooms to be lived in, simple white for color
of walls and paint, as well as any extremely dark treatment, should
be avoided. The walls of rooms should be such backgrounds as will
best suit the complexions and dresses of the larger number of people.
Delicate white intensifies by contrast any unpleasantness or want of
perfection; extreme dark would make people look white and ghastly.
Neutral colors will be found the best--generally some grey or cool
color that will contrast with warmth of complexions. On no account let
an absolutely pure color be used for general surfaces. Nature provides
no such color in pigments. Her yellows are greenish or reddish, and
so on. Nor does she use it to any extent in inanimate nature. So much
so that you will find that if you have much difficulty in describing
a color, you may be certain it is good; the more difficulty the more
beauty. Nature trusts mainly to gradations of tone, using vivid color
in small quantities only, as in the touches on bright flowers and
butterflies. This teaching of nature will be found seconded in the
pictures of the greatest artists, and in following such teaching, it is
necessary to consider the object to which (in domestic work, say) the
rooms are to be devoted. A drawing-room, it is agreed, should be light,
festive and gay; dining-room at once more sober, and with more depth
and warmth, as befits its uses. You must also consider the light and
shade; openings, and the positions of them; for these may (or may not)
effect for you contrast of tone, and may even touch the question of the
good sense of your whole scheme of decoration.

In a lecture delivered before the British Architectural Association,
on this subject, the lecturer suggested that in the treatment of a
drawing-room the walls should be a light neutral grey, fawn color,
or pale green (not dark, but not white). Dados are suitable for all
rooms, even drawing-rooms. They may be made of wood, painted as the
room doors, or of stamped leather, or of the French paper imitations
of stamped leather. A frieze does not interfere with the heads of
sitters, and adds much interest if it has its sentiment or story. If
flowers form part of your decorations, have no relief, no imitation
of nature’s light and shade. A wall must be a wall; if, neglecting
this, you introduce illusions to the eye, the sense of solidity will
not be suggested. The Japanese decorate on correct principles, with
truth to the idea derived from nature, and truth in art, adaptation of
representation to materials and method. As regards the woodwork there
should be no graining anywhere; its aspect, however well executed,
is repulsive. Real woods are always beautiful. Plain painting may be
darker or lighter than the general wall surfaces; both will look well.
The doors may have stencilled decorations in angles of panels; birds or
butterflies, or plants, or any beautiful natural objects will supply
motives. The ceilings should rarely be wholly white, except of halls or
where the light is defective. Papered ceilings look well. The use of
gold is generally satisfactory; it reflects a warm tone on everything
below. Put a good amount of color on a ceiling--not, however, making it
so dark as to bring it too close to the eye. The carpet must be either
lighter or darker than the walls. This is following out the artist’s
rule, to make either background or foreground run into the figure. If
this is not done in painting, a woman in white satin, for instance,
against a dark floor and dark walls, will look like a cut-out figure
stuck on, and the same sort of result would occur in rooms. As in
ordinary life dresses are dark in color, where a light wall tone has
been recommended, the carpet will have to be darker than the walls. Not
too vivid in color, however, and of course, no flowers, ferns, birds’
nests, and such like fearful things. _Furniture and hangings_ should
not be too much alike in color; have, say, the carpet one tone, the
coverings of the furniture another, and the curtains and other hangings
a third. Have summer and winter hangings and furniture coverings; those
for the former light and cheerful, the others with more warmth, and
suggestive of comfort and home life. A table-cloth, occasional chair,
or a rug, may supply a bit of effective contrast with prevailing hues
of hangings, etc., and a spot of vivid color in a vase or some small
hanging will complete the formal decoration of the room.

=Graining.=--The art of imitating the grain of the more expensive
woods has been brought to a great degree of perfection, but of late
years so many unskilled workmen have undertaken to imitate the natural
grain of wood with such imperfect results, that this beautiful branch
of painting has fallen into partial disuse. A few remarks, therefore,
to the uninitiated may not be inappropriate in this work. Mahogany,
satinwood, rosewood, mottled and walnut roots, maple, and some
others, are frequently imitated; and it is seldom that a house is
finished without some graining being introduced. The imitation of the
above-mentioned woods are best performed in ground distemper (water
colors) which are always preferable and more economical purchased
ready prepared. Oak, chestnut, ash and similar long-grained woods, are
best executed in oil-color, particularly for outdoor work. For drawing
rooms, delicate party colors are preferable, as they harmonize better
with the neutral tints on the walls or delicate tinted papers. The
process of graining is very simple. To be an accomplished grainer,
practice and an artistic taste is very necessary. Too frequently
the imitation is overdone, the shading too deep and obtrusive, and
the work made too glaring with figure and varnish, has an unnatural
appearance; a grainer should always avoid attempting to over-do nature.
The following is an approved method:--The surface on new wood should
be prepared with three coats of oil paints for the ground color, and
regulated in shade by the color of the wood to be imitated, making due
allowance for the graining tint that is to cover it. The ground colors
should always be perfectly dry before the graining is commenced. The
painter then preparing small quantities of the colors he requires,
applies it thinly and evenly over the surface and proceeds to wipe
out with his thumb and a piece of white cotton cloth the figure of
the grain. Some grainers use rubber instead. We cannot here explain
all the different processes for the imitation of the grain of wood.
Many painters have a method of their own, which from long practice
produce excellent results. In some cases, graining in distemper may
be adopted with great success for indoor work, and if the colors are
put on thin, so that the varnish will penetrate through into the
ground color, this kind of graining is as durable as oil-color, and is
susceptible of being made far more beautiful, and soft looking in the
imitation of mottled woods. For blending distemper colors, a badger’s
hair blender should be frequently used to soften down and blend the
tints where necessary; but for blending oil-color, in order to produce
an elongation of the grain, we have found a flat varnish brush, kept
moderately damp and clean, preferable to the badger’s hair. When the
work is dry, the shades necessary for some woods should be laid on
in distemper-color (some use thin oil-colors) and then covered with
two coats of good oil varnish. Common varnish should never be used on
outside work.

=Oak Graining.=--In oak graining the color is made in the following
manner:--Procure some finely-ground burnt umber and raw sienna (or
Vandyke brown and raw sienna if a dark oak be required), and thin
with equal parts of linseed oil and turpentine. Add a large quantity
of patent dryer to make it stand the comb. The color is now ready
for use. The graining color is brushed over the work in the ordinary
way with a pound brush, care being taken not to put too much color
on, else it is liable to look dirty. A dry dusting brush is now used
to stipple with, which, if properly done, will distribute the color
evenly. It is now ready for combing. First take a medium or coarse-cut
gutta-percha comb, and draw it down one side of the panel, then use a
finer one to complete it. This comb will leave the marks of the grain
in clear unbroken lines from top to bottom of the panel. We now take
a fine steel comb and go over the whole of the previous combing; but
in drawing this comb down, we either move it in a slanting or diagonal
direction across the previous combing, or draw it down with a quick and
short wavy motion and curl. Both the former and latter motions will
break up the long lines left by the gutta-percha comb into short bits,
which, of course, represent the pores or grains of the real wood. Next
take out the lights of figuring or veining. This is effected by means
of a piece of washleather, held tightly over the thumb nail. Every time
a few lights are wiped out the leather should be moved slightly, so
that the same part of the leather will not be used twice, thus ensuring
clean work. There are various methods of doing this, but they require
much more practice. When the figures are all wiped out they will
require to be softened. By softening we mean the imitation of those
half shades seen upon and about the figures in the real wood. These
are imitated by doubling a piece of washleather into a small roll,
and with the side of this the grain is partly wiped away or softened.
Care should be taken not to wipe off the whole of the grain. If the
operator has a piece of the real wood to look at occasionally he will
be materially assisted. As soon as the oil color is dry it should be
over-grained. This is effected in water color. Next go over the work
with a bit of sponge and soap to prevent it “cissing.” Before laying
on the over-graining, wash out the sponge and wipe the work. It is now
ready to receive the color. Grind up finely a little vandyke brown in
water, and dilute it with table-beer and water. It is then ready. Take
a flat hog-hair brush, 3 in. to 4 in. wide, dip it in the color and
draw it over the work, in most cases in the direction of the combing,
but occasionally crossing. The hair of the brush, being thinly placed,
will separate into patches, and hence the color will be deposited in
streaks, resembling the natural gradations which the wood presents. If
you have not a brush of this kind a sponge may be used to put in the
streak and to soften off. Then dry varnish in the usual way.

=Spirit Graining for Oak.=--2 lbs. whiting, ¹⁄₄ lb. gold size, thinned
down with spirits of turpentine, then tinge your whiting with vandyke
brown and raw sienna ground fine. Strike out your light with a pitch
or piece of rubber dipped in turpentine, tinged with a little color
to show the lights. If your lights do not appear clear, add a little
more turpentine. Turpentine varnish is a good substitute for the above
mentioned. This kind of graining must be brushed over with beer with a
clean brush before varnishing. Strong beer must be used for glazing up
top graining and shading.

=Old Oak in Distemper.=--To make an exceedingly rich color for the
imitation of old oak, the ground is a composition of stone ochre or
orange chrome and burnt sienna; the graining is burnt umber or vandyke
brown, to darken it a little. The above colors may be used for oil as
well.

=Pollard Oak.=--Ground color, a mixture of chrome yellow, vermilion
and white lead, to bring it to a rich light buff. The graining colors
are vandyke brown and small portions of raw and burnt sienna and lake,
ground in beer or vinegar. Fill a large brush with color and spread it
over the surface to be grained, and soften with a badger hair brush.
Take a moistened sponge and dapple round and round in kind of knobs,
then soften very lightly, after which draw a softener from one set of
knobs to the other while wet, to form a multiplicity of grain, and
finish the knobs with a hair pencil, in some places in thicker clusters
than others. When dry, put the top grain on in a variety of directions,
and varnish with turpentine and gold size; then glaze up with vandyke
and strong beer. Finish with copal varnish. This is for distemper only.

=Mottled Mahogany.=--The ground is prepared with the best Venetian red,
red lead, and a small proportion of white lead. The graining colors are
burnt sienna, ground in beer, with a small portion of vandyke brown.
Cover the surface to be grained, soften with a badger hair brush, and
while wet take a damp sponge and go over the lights a second time, in
order to give a variety of shade; then blend the whole of the work with
the badger softener. Put the top grain on with the same color. When
dry, varnish. For distemper only.

=Rosewood.=--Mix vermilion and a small quantity of white lead for the
ground. Take rose-pink, tinged with a little lamp-black or vandyke
brown, and grind very fine in oil, then take a flat graining brush,
with the hairs cut away at unequal distances, and cut down the grain as
if wending round a knob. When nearly dry, take a graining comb that is
used for oak, and draw down the grain. This will give it the appearance
of nature. Then varnish. This makes an excellent and durable imitation.

=Another for Rosewood.=--This ground is prepared with vermilion and
small quantities of white lead and crimson lake. When the ground is
dry, and made very smooth, take vandyke brown, ground in oil, and
with a very soft tool spread the color over the surface in different
directions, forming a kind of knots. Before the work is dry take a
piece of leather, and with great freedom strike out the light veins;
having previously prepared the darkest tint of vandyke brown or gum
asphaltum, immediately take the flat graining brush with few hairs in
it, called a top grainer, and draw the grain over the work and soften.
When varnished, the imitation will be excellent.

=Curled Maple in Oil.=--Prepare a rich ground by mixing chrome yellow,
white lead and burnt sienna. For the graining color, grind equal parts
of raw sienna and umber with a little burnt copperas and turpentine,
and mix it with a small quantity of grainer’s cream, thin the color
with oil; then fill a tool and spread the surface even and rub out the
lights with sharp edge of a piece of buff leather, wiping it frequently
to keep it clean; soften the edges of the work very lightly, and when
dry, put on the top grain with burnt umber and raw sienna ground in
beer with the white of an egg beat into it. Varnish.

=Curled Maple in Distemper.=--Prepare a light yellow for the ground,
by mixing chrome yellow and white lead, tinged with Venetian red. The
graining color is a mixture of equal portions of raw sienna and vandyke
brown, ground in beer. Spread the surface to be grained in an even
manner; then with a piece of cork rub across the work to and fro, to
form the grains which run across the wood; soften, and when dry lightly
top grain with the same color. Varnish.

=Bird’s Eye Maple in Oil.=--The ground is a light buff, prepared with
white lead, chrome yellow and a little vermilion or English Venetian,
to take off the rawness of the yellow. The graining color is equal
parts of raw umber and sienna, ground in oil to the proper consistency.
Spread the surface of the work with this color, and having some of the
same prepared a little thicker, immediately take a sash tool or sponge
and put on the dark shades, and soften with a badger hair brush; before
the color is dry put on the eyes by dabbing the dotting machine on the
work, or by striking the colors short and sharp with the tips of the
fingers, then blend slightly the eyes in one direction only. When dry,
put on the grain with the camels hair pencil on the prominent parts to
imitate the small hearts of the wood. The same graining colors to be
ground in here for distemper.

=Walnut in Oil.=--The ground is formed with ochre, Indian red, umber,
and white. The graining coat is similar to that described under the oak
heading, and is prepared with vandyke brown; and for the darker shades,
fine ivory-black; the wiping out and blending to resemble that in
mahogany; the fine dark veins of ivory-black to be lightly and wavily
drawn over the work after it is blended. It is then ready for the
varnish.

=Satin-wood in Distemper.=--This ground is prepared with white lead,
stone ochre and small quantities of chrome yellow and burnt sienna. The
graining color is one-third of raw sienna and whiting, ground in pale
ale, very thin; then spread the color over the surface to be grained.
While wet soften, and have ready a wet roller or mottling brush, in
order to take out the lights; blend the whole with the badger hair
brush, and with the same color put on the top grain. Varnish.

=To Imitate Granite in Oil.=--For the ground color, stain your white
lead to a light lead color, with lamp-black and a little rose-pink.
Throw on black spots with a coarse brush or graniting machine. A pale
red also, and fill up with white before the ground is dry.

=Another for the Same.=--A black ground; when half dry throw in
vermilion, a deep yellow, and white spots.

=Marble.=--For _White Marble_, get up a pure white ground, then hold
a lighted tallow candle near the surface, and allow the smoke to form
the shades and various tints desired. This will make a very handsome
imitation. _Black Marble._--Imitation is made by streaking a black
surface with colors, using a feather and pencil. Another plan is to
get up a smooth black surface; then take the colors, green, yellow,
red, white, etc., ground thick in gold size, and streak the surface
with a stick or hair pencil. Allow it to dry, and apply a heavy coat
of lamp-black and yellow ochre mixed, mixed rough stuff. When all is
hard, rub down to a level surface with lump pumice-stone, varnish and a
beautiful variegated marble will be the result.

=Red Marble.=--For the ground put on a white tinged with lake or
vermilion; then apply deep red patches, filling up the intermediate
spaces with brown and white mixed in oil; then blend them together; if
in quick drying colors, use about half turpentine and gold size. When
dry, varnish, and while the varnish is wet, put in a multitude of fine
white threads, crossing the whole work in all directions, as the wet
varnish brings the pencil to a fine point.

=Jasper Marble.=--Put on a white ground lightly tinged with blue; then
put on patches of rich reds or rose-pink, leaving spaces of the white
ground; then partly cover these spaces with various browns to form
fossils, in places running veins; then put in a few spots of white in
the centre of some of the red patches, and leaving, in places, masses
nearly white. When dry use the clearest varnish.

=Blue and Gold Marble.=--For the ground color put on a light blue;
then take blue, with a small piece of white lead and some dark common
blue, and dab on the ground in patches, leaving portions of the ground
to shine between; then blend the edges together with a duster or a
softener; afterwards draw on some white veins in every direction,
leaving large open spaces to be filled up with a pale yellow or gold
paint; finish with some fine white running threads, and a coat of
varnish at last.

=Black and Gold Marble.=--This description of marble is very chaste,
and is in great demand. The ground is a deep black, or a dead color,
in gold size, drop black and turpentine; second coat, black japan.
Commence veining; mix white and yellow ochre with a small quantity of
vermilion to give a gold tinge; dip the pencil in this color, and dab
on the ground with great freedom some large patches, from which small
threads must be drawn in several directions.

In the deepest part of the black a white vein is sometimes seen running
with a number of small veins attached to it, but care must be taken
that these threads are connected with and run, in some degree, in the
same direction with the thicker veins. If durability is not an object,
and the work required in a short time, it may be executed very quickly
in distemper colors, and when varnished, it will look well.

=Compound Colors.=--The following tints can be formed by mixing the
colors as below. The shades can be made to suit any taste by the
exercise of a little judgment in proportioning the colors:

_Cream._--White lead, yellow and red.

_Drab._--White, Prussian blue and vermilion.

_Fawn._--White, stone ochre and vermilion.

_Flesh._--Lake, white lead, and a little vermilion.

_Grey_, Pearl--White lead, Prussian blue, and a very little black.

_Grey_, Flaxseed.--White lead, Prussian blue, and a little lake.

_Gold._--Massicot, or Naples yellow, with a small quantity of Realgar
and Spanish white.

_Green_, Light willow.--White, mixed with verdigris.

_Green_, Grass.--Yellow pink with verdigris.

_Green_, Pea.--White lead and chrome or Paris green.

_Green_, Dark.--Black and chrome green.

_Green_, Olive.--Prussian blue and French yellow; mix to the tints
required. This is a cheap and handsome color for outside work, such as
doors, carts, wagons, railway cars, etc.

_Jonquil._--Yellow, pink and white lead. This color is only for
distemper.

_Lead._--Prussian blue and white, with a light shade of white.

_Olive._--For distemper, use indigo and yellow pink mixed with whiting
or white lead powder.

_Olive._--Red, green, or black and yellow.

_Pearl._--White lead, Prussian blue and red.

_Purple._--Dark red mixed with violet.

_Purple._--White, Prussian blue and vermilion.

_Red_, Dark.--English Venetian, red lead and litharge.

_Red_, Light.--Venetian red, and red lead in equal parts.

_Red_, Deep.--Vermilion, with a very small quantity of red lead.

_Stone._--White, with a little spruce ochre.

_Straw._--White lead and yellow.

_Snuff._--Yellow, sienna and red.

_Slate._--White lead, black, red and blue.

_Steel._--Ceruse, Prussian blue, fine lac and vermilion.

_Salmon._--White lead, yellow and red.

_Walnut._--Tree color; two-thirds white lead and one-third red ochre,
yellow ochre and umber, mixed according to the shade sought. If veining
is required, use different shades of the same mixture. (See article on
graining).

_Yellow_, Light.--French yellow and white lead. A little red lead may
be used.

_Another._--French yellow, white and red lead.

_Another._--A mixture of a small portion of Prussian blue, French
yellow, white lead and Turkey umber and burnt vitriol, or litharge,
will produce different shades of yellow, according to the preponderance
of one of the above colors.

_Yellow._--Bright for floors, white lead, French yellow, chrome yellow
a little, some red lead and litharge; mix with equal parts of boiled
oil and turpentine and use it thin.

_Yellow_, Dark.--French yellow and a little red.

_Yellow_, Lemon.--Yellow pink, with Naples yellow. For distemper only.




MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS.


=For Iron.=--A good paint for preserving iron exposed to the weather,
is made as follows:

Pulverized oxides of iron, such as yellow and red iron ochres, or brown
hematite iron ores, finely ground, and simply mixed with linseed oil
and a dryer.

White lead applied directly to iron is thought to have a corrosive
effect. It may be applied over more durable colors.

Red lead, when pure, is very durable. An instance is recorded of iron
painted with it having been under water for nearly 50 years, and had
not been affected by rust.

Sheet iron, before being used for roofs or other outside purposes,
should be heated and dipped into hot linseed oil, which will penetrate
into it. Tinned iron in roofs has been found to corrode quicker than in
former years, owing to the more general use of coal.

=Paint for Rusty Iron.=--Black Japan varnish, mixed with turpentine,
to make it thinner if necessary, is one of the best preventatives; but
the iron must be dry when you put it on. If you can warm the iron when
painting it, so much the better. If not sufficiently opaque, you may
put in dry finely pulverized paint, such as lamp-black. Red lead, with
linseed oil is also a good paint for rusted iron; so are the mineral
reddish-browns which consist of oxide of iron; they become very hard,
and are used for the iron-work of the elevated railroads in this city.

=To Paint on Stucco.=--Great care is required in painting upon
stucco, for the work must not only be thoroughly dry, but free from
any liability of dampness; that is to say, the walls themselves must
be dry. It is, consequently, usual to allow the stucco to remain for
several months before it is painted; and this is especially necessary
when it covers over a large surface, as in the walls of churches,
chapels and theatres. If the paint be applied too soon, the work will
have a blotched appearance, and be probably filled with small vesicles,
formed during the evaporation of the water. When the work is dry, it
may be prepared by covering it with a coat of linseed oil, boiled
with dryer. This must be laid on very carefully, or the face will be
irregular. The color may then be applied, and four coats will not be
too much, the work being new. Persons are generally so anxious to have
their buildings finished, that they disregard the future appearance of
the work, and within a few weeks after the application of the stucco,
cover it with paint. But it would, in all cases, be sufficient to wash
the surface with distemper, as it would give a finished appearance to
the building, and make it less necessary to hurry the work. When the
work is sufficiently dry to receive the oil-colors the distemper color
should be removed by washing, and when the stucco is dry apply the
oil-color. The tints may be regulated by mingling different colors, as
in all other kinds of painting.

Plastered walls should not be painted until they are thoroughly dry,
and all settling in a new house has taken place. If painted too soon
they will blister.

Unseasoned wood should never be painted, as it stops the pores of the
wood and the sap acidulates, causing dry rot. Greasy surfaces must be
washed with water mixed with lime or soda, otherwise the paint will not
adhere to it.

=Mixing Quick Drying Paint.=--Venetian blinds should be painted to dry
dead, then varnish; but few take this trouble. Mix the paint as under:
White lead, boiled oil, and the least drop of turps; mix sufficient
of each to form a creamy mixture; then add about 1 oz. patent drier
to each 1 lb. of paint. If you want the paint darker use enough burnt
umber to give the required tint. If you want to varnish, omit the oil
and use turps.

=Transparent Paint for Glass.=--Take for blue pigment, Prussian blue;
for red, crimson lake; for yellow, Indian yellow; and for other shades,
a mixture of the appropriate primary colors. Rub them in a size made
as follows: Venice turpentine, 2 parts; spirits of turpentine, 1 part,
and apply with a brush. The colors are moderately fast unless exposed
too long to direct sunlight. A solution of the various aniline dyes in
shellac varnish has also been recommended.

=Gilding.=--Gold leaf is the only successful application. First put
on a coat of Japan gold size, and when that is “tacky,” and nearly
dry, lay on the gold-leaf and dab it with a small tuft of cotton-wool.
Where you buy the gold-leaf you can buy a gilder’s tool for applying
it; but in order to get a smooth surface it must (when perfectly dry)
be burnished with an agate burnisher, which you will also get at the
color-shop, but you will not be able to burnish gold-leaf on the bare
wood. You can, if you like, varnish with pale copal varnish.

=Gilding on Glass.=--Glass letters are gilt the same way as you would
a name on a glass door. You can easily get a good burnish if you take
a little trouble. Get some of the best cotton wool at a chemist’s, and
well polish the gold with it; the gold must be thoroughly dry. Then go
over it with your size boiling hot; do not touch the same place twice
with the brush, or you will bring the gold up; repeat the process three
or four times, being sure to have your gold dry each time, the hotter
the size the brighter will be the burnish; be careful, however, and not
break the glass with the heat.

=Gilding Fretwork, etc.=--The first thing to be done is to whiten the
work. To do this scrape some whitening very fine, place it in a pipkin
with a lump of gilder’s size, and water sufficient to make it of the
consistency of thick cream, when heated over a fire; then, with a
camel-hair pencil, paint it on the object several times, allowing
each coat to dry before applying the next. When the several coatings
have raised it to the thickness of ¹⁄₁₆ in., set it aside for twelve
or more hours, to harden; when hardened, smooth the surface with very
fine sandpaper first, and finally with a piece of cork; when using
the cork frequently dip it in water, and, when practicable, use it in
a circular motion. Thus far successful, the next thing is to lay on
the gold. To gild, then, dissolve some gilder’s--not common size--in
water, and heat, and with a full brush lay it on the surface of the
object. Cut the gold leaf, on a pad of buff leather, with a clean
cut of the knife (much easier said than done; perseverance, however,
with the cost of a book or two of gold mutilated, and a large amount
of patience exhausted, will overcome the difficulty), to the size
required; take these up on a tip (a row of long hairs placed between
two bits of cardboard)--the professional way to do this is to strike
the hair of the tip against the gilder’s own whiskers or hair--and
gently lay them on the surface of the object, taking care that each
succeeding piece slightly overlaps the preceding. When dry, a small
piece of fine sponge, dipped in a weak solution of size water, should
be gently passed over it to give a uniform appearance. If the bright
gold requires to be deadened, deep ormolu should be used in a similar
way after sizing. The yellow used for the ungilt portions consists of
gilder’s yellow, dissolved in size water, and is put on with a brush.

=Painting on Gilded Panels.=--There is no preparation needed to paint
in oils on a gilded panel. No mediums are required, the ordinary oil
colors being used unmixed. If required to dry flat and to remain so,
they are mixed with turpentine and left unvarnished. If the shiny look
of oils is to be retained, they are slightly diluted with boiled oil,
and varnish with white hard varnish when dry.

=Gilding on Wood.=--To gild in oil, the wood, after being properly
smoothed, is covered with a coat of _gold size_, made of drying linseed
oil mixed with yellow ochre; when this has become so dry as to adhere
to the fingers without soiling them, the gold leaf is laid on with
great care and dexterity, and pressed down with cotton wool; places
that have been missed are covered with small pieces of gold leaf, and
when the whole is dry, the ragged bits are rubbed off with cotton. This
is by far the easiest mode of gilding; any other metallic leaves may
be applied in a similar manner. _Pale leaf gold_ has a greenish yellow
color, and is an alloy of gold with silver. Dutch gold leaf is only
copper colored with the fumes of zinc; being much cheaper than gold
leaf, is very useful when large quantities of gilding are required in
places where it can be defended by the weather, as it changes color if
exposed to moisture, and it should be covered with varnish. _Silver
leaf_ is prepared every way the same as gold leaf; but when applied,
should be kept well with varnish, otherwise it is liable to tarnish; a
transparent yellow varnish will give it the appearance of gold.

Whenever gold is fixed by means of linseed oil, it will bear washing
off, which burnished gold will not.

=To Gild Letters.=--When the sign is prepared as smooth as possible, go
over it with a sizing made by white of an egg dissolved in about four
times its weight of cold water; adding a small quantity of fuller’s
earth, this to prevent the gold sticking to any part but letters. When
dry, set out the letters and commence writing, laying on the size as
thinly as possible, with a sable pencil. Let it stand until you can
hardly feel a slight stickiness, then go to work with your gold leaf
knife and cushion, and gild the letters. Take a leaf upon the point of
your knife, after giving it a slight puff into the back part of your
cushion, and spread it on the front part of it as straight as possible,
give it another slight puff with your mouth to flatten it out. Now cut
it to the proper size, cutting with the heel of your knife forwards.
Now rub the tip of the knife lightly on your hair; take up the gold
on the point, and place it neatly on the letters; when they are all
covered, get some very fine cotton wool, and gently rub the gold until
it is smooth and bright. Then wash the sign with clean water to take
off the egg size.

=Sign Writing in Colors, Etc.=--On an oak ground ornamental letters, in
ultra-marine blue, filled in with gold and silver leaf, blocked up and
shaded with burnt sienna. _Another._--Gold letters on a white marble
ground, blocked up and shaded with a transparent brown or burnt sienna.
_On glass._--Gold letters shaded with burnt sienna. _Another._--Gold
letters shaded with black on a _scarlet_ or _chocolate ground_. On a
rich _blue ground_ shaded with black, look very well. _On a purple_
ground, pink letters shaded with white. Mix ultra-marine and vermilion
for a ground color, white letters shaded with grey. _Vermilion
ground_, chrome yellow stained and vermilion and lake, for the letters
shaded with black.

A substitute for the above colors: Rose-pink and red lead; and for the
letters stone yellow, white lead and Venetian red. Mix your colors for
writing in boiled oil, and use for dryer gold size. Other good grounds
for gold letters are, blues, vermilion, lake and Saxon. When your sign
is ready for gilding, follow the directions under the head “_To Gild
Letters on Wood_.”

=Gilder’s Size.=--Drying or boiled linseed oil, thickened with yellow
ochre, or calcined red ochre, and carefully reduced to the utmost
smoothness by grinding. It is thinned with oil of turpentine.

=Staining Wood a Dull Black.=--The work required to be stained should
be colored with drop-black and size. When this is thoroughly set it
should be papered off and colored again, and then be papered off again.
The polish should also be stained with drop black and a little indigo.
Next polish to a perfect surface, and let it set. After the wood has
absorbed all the polish possible, polish again, and dull it with the
finger dipped in fine emery; a fine metallic surface will thus be
obtained.

=Staining Floors.=--The best and cheapest and only permanent stain
for floors is permanganate of potash. Buy it by the ¹⁄₄ lb., and at
a wholesale chemist’s; mix about ¹⁄₄ oz. in a quart of water. Apply
freely and quickly to a dry floor with either cloth or brush, the
latter if you care for staining your hand. Repeat the process for
a very dark oak color; when dry, oil with burnt oil or beeswax and
turpentine; you cannot wash this color out. Benson’s stain is only
permanganate of potash. At first for a few moments the color is bright
magenta, but this at once changes to a dark permanent brown. For fifty
cents a whole house may be stained.

=Varnishing Wood.=--After smoothing wood with veneer scraper, brush on
thick coat of shellac varnish; then use fine sandpaper, No. 0. Do this
three times for close grained woods, such as black cherry, and four
times for porous wood, such as chestnut. Have two dishes. Into one put
finely ground pumice; into the other raw or boiled oil. Apply a mixture
of these with a piece of hair-cloth or broad-cloth. Don’t rub too hard.
Finish up with rotten stone, which will remove pumice and oil. Above is
a good dead varnish. _Another._--Take encaustic wax, heat, and apply
with a cork; rub in well, brush on thin coat shellac varnish, finish
with pumice and oil.

=Solvent for Old Putty and Paint.=--Soft soap mixed with a solution
of potash or caustic soda, or pearlash and slaked lime mixed with
sufficient water to form a paste. Either of these laid on with an old
brush or rag, and left for some hours, will render the putty or paint
easily removable. _Another._--Slack three pounds of stone quicklime in
water, then add one pound of pearlash, and make the whole about the
consistence of paint. Apply it to both sides of the glass, and let it
remain for twelve hours, when the putty will be so softened that the
glass may be easily taken out of the frame. _Another._--Break the putty
up in lumps the size of a hen’s egg, add a small portion of raw linseed
oil, and water sufficient to cover the putty, boil this in an iron
vessel for about ten minutes and stir it when hot. The oil will mix
with the putty, then pour the water off and it will be like fresh made.
For removing hard putty from a window sash take a piece of square iron,
make the same red hot, and run it along the putty till it gets soft.
The putty will peel off without injuring the wood work.

=Wash for Outside Work.=--For woodwork slake half a bushel of fresh
lime, by pouring over it boiling water sufficient to cover it 4 or 5
inches deep, stirring it until slacked; add 2 lbs. of sulphate of zinc
(white vitrol) dissolved in water. Add water enough to bring all to the
consistency of thick whitewash; it may be colored by adding powdered
ether, Indian red, umber, etc. If lampblack is added to colors, it
should first be thoroughly dissolved in alcohol. The sulphate of zinc
causes the wash to become hard in a few weeks.

=Another for Brick, Masonry, and Rough-cast.= Slake half a bushel
of lime as before; then fill a barrel ²⁄₃ full of water, and add a
bushel of hydraulic cement. Add 3 lbs. of sulphate of zinc previously
dissolved in water. The whole should be of the thickness of paint. The
wash is improved by stirring in a peck of white sand, just before using
it. It can be colored as before described.

=French Polish.=--Coat with one or more coats of shellac and rub down
smooth; make a rubber by rolling up a piece of flannel about 3 or 4
inches wide until it is about 1¹⁄₂ inches in diameter, and tie it round
with cord. Lay the end of the rubber on the mouth of a thin necked
bottle and apply the varnish to it, having previously shaken up the
contents in the bottle; then enclose the end of the rubber with a piece
of soft linen doubled, and moisten the face of the linen with a little
raw linseed oil.

Pass the rubber with a quick, light and circular motion over the
surface until the varnish becomes dry, or nearly so, and charge the
rubber again with varnish until 3 coats have been laid on, when a
little oil may be applied to the rubber and two more coats laid on. In
the finishing coat wet the inside of the cloth with a little alcohol,
and rub quickly and lightly over the whole surface. Lastly wet the
linen cloth with a little oil and alcohol without varnish, and rub as
before until dry.

The varnish is the usual preparation of shellac. See cabinet maker’s
varnish.

=Wood Filling Composition.=--Boiled linseed oil, 1 qt.; turpentine,
3 qts.; corn starch, 5 lbs.; Japan, 1 qt.; calcined magnesia, 2 oz.;
mix thoroughly. _Another._--Whitening, 6 oz.; Japan, ¹⁄₂ pt.; boiled
linseed oil, ¹⁄₂ pt.; turpentine, ¹⁄₂ pt.; corn starch, 1 oz.;
mix well together and apply to the wood. Add coloring if required.
_Another._--Linseed oil, 1 qt.; spirits of turpentine, ¹⁄₂ pt.; lime,
the size of a base-ball, broken fine. Let the mixture simmer on a
stove, covered over, for two or three hours, then strain through a
coarse cloth. It is to remain on 24 hours, then rub off with a woolen
cloth and polish.

=German Filling.=--Fill the pores with raw tallow and plaster of Paris
well amalgamated before a fire in cold weather. Darken, if required,
with any coloring to suit. When well rubbed in give a coat of shellac
and French polish or varnish.

=Polish for Walnut Wood.=--Mix with two parts of good alcoholic shellac
varnish, one part of boiled linseed oil, shake well, and apply with a
pad formed of woolen cloth. Rub the furniture briskly with a little of
the mixture until the polish appears.

=Rules the Painter Should Observe.=--Never eat or sleep without washing
the hands and face and rinsing the mouth. Keep the buckets, brushes,
etc., clean, so that they may be handled without smearing the hands.
Never sleep in a paint shop nor in a newly painted room. Never allow
paint to accumulate on the clothing or finger nails. Never wash the
hands in turpentine, as it relaxes the muscles and injures the joints;
any animal oil or even linseed oil is better. Never drink water that
has stood any length of time in a paint shop or newly painted room.
Never use spirituous liquors as it unites with the mineral salts and
tends to harden them and causes inflammation of the parts where they
concrete. Milk, sweet oil and the like should be used freely, as they
tend to soften the accumulated poisons and carry them off. Vinegar and
acid fruits used constantly, unite.




PAPER-HANGING.


The art of putting on, or “Hanging” paper is very simple, and is easily
learned; but to make a tasteful choice of paper for various situations,
is not so easy, hence the following remarks, which may be of service to
the workman or others on whom the selection of paper may devolve.

Walls to a room should be regarded only in the light of a frame-work
to what the room contains, and should be decorated so as to bring into
prominence and not eclipse the other parts of the chamber. Nothing
destroys the effect of a room so much as a handsome but staring wall
paper, or a wall so profusely ornamented as to strike upon the eye to
the exclusion of the rest of the decorations, thus bringing forward
what should be the background into the most conspicuous place. A
modern drawing room is always difficult to decorate artistically,
because of the taste of its builders for heavy cornices, prominent
mantelpieces, and rooms too lofty for their size; and as all these
misnamed “embellishments” are too costly to remove by tenants, the only
plan to pursue is to destroy their effect by exercising both taste and
ingenuity. First, with regard to the ceiling, the ornamental plaster
boss in its center should be removed, and the ceiling tinted a color
that harmonizes with the wall paper, as no harmonies can be hoped for
when what produces them is surmounted with the glaring white of an
ordinary ceiling. The tint used must be one that softens into the wall
paper, not one that contrasts; thus, if the tone of the room is that of
a soft grey blue, the ceiling should be a clear flesh pink; or should a
grey gre picked out with black be the chosen color, then it should be
colored a subdued lemon.

Some people cover their ceilings with a whole colored paper, and border
it with a stencilled pattern representing the thin garlands so familiar
upon Queen Anne decorations, but this is a more troublesome plan than
the simple coloring, which answers all the purpose. The walls, if they
are lofty, require a high dado. These high dados give a look of comfort
and “home” that is absent from the modern high pitched room papered
with one uniform pattern. The dado is divided 3 feet to 4 feet from the
ceiling, and the coloring of the lower portion must always be heavier
than that used on the upper or a top heavy look will be given to the
room. When many pictures are to be hung up the lower part of the dado
should be of a whole color, either a whole colored paper or a painted
wall, as pictures are only shown off upon such a background. Where a
whole tint is used for the lower part of the dado, the upper portion
should be decorated with a frieze paper of a good bold pattern, but
of subdued coloring and of tint that harmonizes with the lower. Thus,
the color used about the frieze should be the same as that on the
lower part, but of a lighter shade, intermixed with some other colors
that form a harmonious link between the two shades. Contrasts must
be carefully avoided, but pale pinks, blue and ambers can be blended
together above a subdued grey blue ground. The two portions of the dado
should be joined together with a light wooden (black or brown) railing,
or with a line of paint.

The dado decoration can be altered by placing the pattern paper upon
the lower part and leaving the upper plain-colored with or without
a stencilled pattern upon it. This will suit a room where not many
pictures are required, or that is already rather dark. Some part of the
wall should always be in plain color, as the eye requires rest; and no
pattern, however subdued in hue, can give the relief to the mind that
a bit of plain coloring affords, and this scarcity of ornament in one
part of a room is amply repaid by the effect it gives to such parts as
are bright and should be bright. The true theory of effect is to use
but one or two bright colors in a room, and to surround them by soft
and subdued tints that throw up and do not destroy their brilliancy; a
number of bright colors placed together destroy each other, and leave
no impression upon the mind but glare and vulgarity. Having settled
upon your paper and ceiling, have the woodwork and cornice of the room
painted either a shade lighter or darker than the walls, and shroud up
the mantelpiece with curtains, etc., of satin sheeting embroidered with
crewels, and instead of the usual looking glass over the fire-place,
have a mirror surrounded with brackets holding china; or have a black
wooden mantelpiece made with squares of looking glass set in. The
back-ground of your room being thus completed in a manner really to be
a back-ground, your furniture will look twice as well as if it were
stared out of countenance by the walls, and one need hardly add that
all your friends will delight in a room that throws up and brings out
their dresses and faces, instead of killing them by its glaring tints.

=Operations.=--To prepare the walls, make a size of glue and water,
then give the walls a coat of a very weak solution of the same. To
make a paste, take two pounds of fine flour, put in a pail; add cold
water, and stir it up together in a thick paste. Take a piece of alum
about the size of a small chestnut, pound it fine and throw it into the
paste; mix well. Then provide about six quarts of boiling water and
mix while hot with the paste until the whole is brought to a proper
consistency. This makes an excellent paste, and fit for use when cold.

=Cleaning Paper-Hangings.=--A very good method to clean paper-hangings
is that used oftentimes in cleaning the margins of prints. Cut into
eight pieces a quartern loaf two days old, and after having swept all
the dust from the paper-hangings, commence from the ceiling downward,
and somewhat lightly rub the paper with a downward stroke with one of
the pieces of bread. Continue this round the room, and then commence
lower down in the same way till the whole of the surface of the paper
has been gone over. The bread will from time to time get dirty, and
it should be cut off as often as required. Care should be exercised
not to rub the paper with a cross or horizontal stroke, only with the
perpendicular movement of the hand or the paper may peel off the walls
from the joints. With careful manipulation, paper will look almost as
good as new.

=Varnishing Paper-hangings.=--When papers are hung in places where
there is much passing, they are subject to greater wear than in an
ordinary room, and varnishing is resorted to, to make them more
durable, as it prevents soiling; they may also be cleaned with a damp
cloth, and are not in wear so likely to be damaged by rubbing off the
wall. Halls, lobbies, staircases, and offices are sometimes varnished
for durability, but as a rule the appearance is not improved. The paper
must be sized twice, the first being dry before the next is applied,
when the varnish is laid evenly on. It is necessary to size the paper
twice, as the first time may not effectually cover it, when the varnish
would stain the paper as badly as if oil had been applied. The size
necessary for sizing the paper before varnishing should be clean and
transparent. Parchment cuttings boiled down in water and strained will
make excellent size for this purpose. Before it is cold it should be
either strained through calico, or poured off, leaving the bits at the
bottom. A patent size is sold for this purpose, but parchment size is
the most reliable. Use clean brushes for size and varnish.

=A Paste that will Keep Well.=--A correspondent writes to a journal
this formula for a non-poisonous paste that will keep well in hot
weather: Wheat flour, 1 ounce; powdered alum, ¹⁄₂ drachm; water,
sufficient, or 8 ounces; oil of clove, or wintergreen, 3 or 4 drops.
Rub the flour and the alum with the water to the consistency of milk;
place this over a moderate fire, and stir constantly, until the
paste drops from the wooden paddle in jelly-like flakes, and has the
appearance of glycerite of starch. While the mass is still hot, add the
essential oil, and pour the paste into an earthenware pot or open jar.
In the course of about an hour a crust forms on the top; pour gently on
this an inch of water, more or less. When some paste is wanted, decant
the water, take out the quantity needed, and put some water again on
the remainder, repeating the operation each time. Paste may be kept in
this way for months, and will never be troubled with flies.




USEFUL HINTS FOR ESTIMATING COST OF WORK AND MATERIALS.


All surface painting is measured by the superficial yard, girting every
part of the work covered, always making allowance for the deep cuttings
in mouldings, carved work, railings or other work that is difficult to
get at.

Where work is very high and scaffolding or ladders have to be employed,
allowances must be made.

The following rules are generally adopted in this country in the
measurement of work. Surfaces under six inches in width or girt are
called 6 inches; from six to 12 inches, 12 inches; over 12 inches
measured superficial. Openings are deducted, but all jambs, reveals or
casings are measured girt.

Sashes are measured solid if more than two lights. Doors, shutters and
paneling are measured by the girt, running the tape in all quirks,
angles or corners. Sash doors measure solid. Glazing in both windows
and doors is always extra. The tape should be run close in over the
battens, on batten doors, and if the stuff is beaded, add one inch in
width for each bead.

Venetian blinds are measured double. Dentels, brackets, medallions,
ornamented iron work, balusters, lattice work, palings or turned work
should all be measured double. Changing colors on base boards, panels,
cornices, or other work, one-fourth extra measurement should be allowed
for each tint.

Add five per cent. to regular price for knotting, puttying, cleaning
and sand-papering.

For work done above the ground floor charge as follows: Add five per
cent. for each story of 12 feet or less, if interior work; if exterior
work, add one per cent. for each foot of height above the first 12 feet.

It is impossible to give prices for painting that will be reliable in
any one section of this country for more than a month, as the cost of
materials and labor is continually varying, but we offer the following
hints, which may assist the workman to make a fairly just estimate of
work:

For plain colors on wood--

  First coat, per yard,    $--
  2 coats, add   ”          4-5
  3 coats,  ”    ”          1¹⁄₂

Now, by this rule, if the first coat was 10 cents, two coats would be
18 cents, and three coats would be 25 cents. This is a simple method
and easily understood, and is adapted to any sort of plain painting or
graining.

Graining, with one or two coats of good varnish, is worth, at this
writing, from 65 cents to $2.00 per yard, and marbling from $1.50 to
$2.75 per yard.

Marbling mantels is worth from $5.00 to $20.00, according to style of
marble and beauty of finish. All of the above prices are based on the
understanding that the workman furnishes all tools and materials.




Transcriber’s Notes

Missing and incorrect punctuation has been fixed.

Due to space restrictions, the data originally in a remarks column in
the table has been restructured into footnotes in the text version.

Page 8: “in cold whether” changed to “in cold weather”

Page 29: The 2 sentences beginning with “The materials and tools used”
are missing words in this and later editions and have been left as per
the original.

Page 52: “wollen cloth” changed to “woolen cloth”

Page 54: The sentence beginning with “The tint used” has an incomplete
word in this and later editions and has been left as per the original.



*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HINTS FOR PAINTERS, DECORATORS, AND PAPER-HANGERS ***


    

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