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Painter, by W. F. White
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Title: Practical House, Wagon and Automobile Painter
including sign painting, and valuable hints and recipes
Author: W. F. White
Release Date: January 5, 2022 [eBook #67109]
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRACTICAL HOUSE, WAGON AND
AUTOMOBILE PAINTER ***
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
This book has no footnotes; it has one ‘NOTE.’ which has been
placed at the start of the relevant text.
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Practical House, Wagon
and Automobile
Painter
INCLUDING SIGN PAINTING, AND VALUABLE
HINTS AND RECIPES
BY
W. F. WHITE
[Illustration: (Publisher colophon.)]
SHREWESBURY PUBLISHING CO.
CHICAGO
COPYRIGHT, 1919
BY
SHREWESBURY PUBLISHING CO.
INDEX.
PAGE.
Analysis of Yellow Ochre, 3
Brown Hard Spirit Varnishes, 89
Blistered Doors, to Repaint, 85
Brass, to Clean, 88
Black Varnish for Iron, 87
Blinds, to Handle when Painting, 33
Brass and Copper, to Clean, 35
Bronze for Metal, 85
Benzine, to De-odorize, 82
Bronze, 144
Blackboard Slating, 83
Blackboard Slating, Cheap, but Good, 83
Blackboard, to Make on Common Plaster, 83
Brush Cleaning Trough, 25
Brick, to Clean, 38
Brick Painting, 28
Crawling Paint, 5
Cracks in Walls, to Fill, 131
Cleaning a Room, 29
Cherry Stain, 44
Cracks in Paint and Varnish, 20
Cleaning Phaeton Cushions, 142
Carriage Painting, 134
Damp Walls, to Treat, 73
Dipping Paint, 88
Door Plates, to Clean, 84
Damar Varnish, 26, 91
Dry Ochre for Priming, 2
Estimating Work, 14
Enameled Letters, to Apply to Glass, 95
Furniture Varnish, 91
Fire-proof Paint for Roofs, 86
Fluoric Acid, to Make, 132
Gold Varnish, 90
Guessing on Work, 8
Glass, to Crystallize, 93
Gilding on Glass, 8
Gilding on Wood, 38
Grease Spots, to Kill, 34
Hard Wood Floors, to Finish, 33
Hard Putty, 121
Japan, Testing, 19
Kalsomine, 34
Kalsomine, to Make and Apply, 121
Liquid Wood Fillers, 133
Lacquers for Brass and Tin, 91
Leather Varnish (black), 91
Lead Poisoning and Symptoms, 53
Liquid Glue, 93
Lamp Black, to Mix, 87
Liquid Glue for Kalsomine and Wall Sizing, 123
Measuring a Job, 17
Mahogany Stain, 44, 45
Midsummer Painting, 67
Marking Ink, 146
Natural Wood Finishing, 47
Old Carriage Work, 140
Oil Size for Old Whitewash, 37
Old Wall, to Prepare for Paint, 124
Oak Stain, dark, 45
Oak Wood Stain, 94
Oil Rubber Paint for Cloth, 83
Painting Cars at Home, 153
Plastered Wall, to Paint, 127
Paste to Hold Labels on Tin, 31
Paint to Prevent Rotting under Ground, 82
Paint, to Remove, 35
Paper Hanger’s Outfit, 91
Price List and Measurement, 62
Paint, to Clean, 84
Porcelain Finish, 52
Paper Hanger’s Paste, 92
Putty, to Soften, 18
Putty, to Color, 50
Paste for Painted or Varnished Walls, 93
Rust Spots on Marble, 145
Red Saunders Stain, 45
Red Wood to Finish, 145
Rough Stuff, 142
Rough and Sandy Walls, 129
Sizing Walls, 94
Sign Painting, 99, 117
Scaled Work, to Repaint, 77
Sixteenth Century Oak, 55
Spots on Paint, 50
Sandpapering, 76
Stencil Border, 77
Spirit Varnishes, 88, 90
Size Muslin for Lettering, 78
Slowing the Drying of Paint, 85
Stir Your Paint, 41
Stencil Ink (black), 144
Signs on Colored Glass, 131
Strainers, 34
Silver, to Clean, 35
Stencil Staining, 26
Success in Painting, 7
Symptoms of Lead Poison, 55
Tin Roofs, to Paint, 2
Tents, etc., to Make Weather-proof, 32
Tacky Paint, to Cure, 18
Tortoise Shell, to Imitate, 61
Varnish to Fix Pencil Drawings, 145
Varnish to Imitate Ground Glass, 60
Varnish for Rustic Work, 61
Varnish Stains, 44
Varnished Paint, to Clean, 85
Very Dirty Brass, to Clean, 61
Wax Polish, 26
Whitewash, to Soften, 145
Water Glass for Floors, 145
Walnut Stain, 44
White Hard Spirit Varnishes, 89
Walnut, to Stain Like Mahogany, 46
Water Colors, to Mix, 78
White Shellac, to Make, 49
White Enamel, 60
Wall Sizing for Kalsomining, 97
Why Do Wall Papers Crack, 36
Whitewash for Outside, 33
Wax Floor Finish, 88
Zinc, to Clean, 38
Zinc, to Paint on, 32
PRACTICAL HOUSE PAINTER.
The following is an infallible and simple commercial test of the
purity of white lead:
“Take a piece of firm, close-grained charcoal, and near one end of
it scoop out a cavity about half an inch in diameter and a quarter
of an inch in depth. Place in the cavity a sample of the lead to be
tested, about the size of a small pea, and apply to it continuously
the _blue_ or _hottest_ part of the flame of the blow-pipe; if the
sample be strictly pure it will, in a very short time, say in two
minutes, be reduced to metallic lead, leaving no residue; but if
it be adulterated, even to the extent of ten per cent. only, with
oxide of zinc, sulphate of baryta, whiting or any other carbonate
of lime (which substances are the principal adulterations used) or
if it be composed entirely of these materials, as is sometimes the
case with cheap lead (so-called), it cannot be reduced, but will
remain on the charcoal in an infusible mass.
“A blow-pipe can be obtained from any jeweler at small cost. An
alcohol lamp, star candle, or a lard oil lamp furnishes the best
flame for use of the blow-pipe. This test is very simple and any
one can very soon learn to make it with ease and skill.”
JAPAN.
Always cut your japan in a little turps before you add it to the
paint. An ounce of japan, cut with turps, will do better work than
two ounces in _oil paint_, if put in clear. _Don’t add dryer to
any more paint than you can use up in a few hours_, because it
will soon commence to fatten your paint in the pot and lessen its
covering and wearing properties. Many a job has been spoiled by
using old color, doped with japan. Such paint is liable to mildew.
OBJECTIONS TO THE USE OF CHEAP DRY OCHRE AS A PRIMER.
1st. It is too dark for light colored work, because sooner or later
it will show through in spots, or darken the entire work.
2d. It leaves a rough, coarse surface which the succeeding coats
fail to completely level up.
3d. Succeeding coats are liable to scale from cheap coarse ochre
priming.
PAINTING TIN ROOFS.
When paint scales from a tin roof it is not always the fault of the
paint. It stands the painter in hand to carefully examine a new tin
roof before painting it. When the tinner uses rosin as a flux to
make his solder flow, the rosin is melted and cools again on the
tin. When such is the case, carefully scrape it off with a knife,
otherwise it will be liable to scale off, and take the paint with
it.
When acid is used in the place of rosin it is apt to corrode the
tin, hence it is best, if you want a permanent job, to clean off
the acid. To do this, first rub the seams with kerosene oil, then
wash with soap suds and rinse with clean water. If the roof is
quite new, and the tin feels greasy, go over it with a wash made of
one pound of sal-soda to six quarts of water, let it stand one-half
day; then wash the tin with clear water.
Instead of this method, I have given new tin a good rubbing with
No. 1 sandpaper to make it hold the paint.
ANALYSIS OF OCHRE.
Below is an analysis of a sample of French ochre, which is about
the average of that pigment:
_Parts._
Hydrated oxide of iron 42
Alumina 20
Silica 38
The oxide gives the color; the parts as given above are in the
right proportion to give the most stable color and durable body to
be found in ochre.
Here is an ochre, which was ground in a linseed oil substitute,
and sold to the trade at four cents per pound in twenty-five pound
cans, and retailed to the painter at _seven cents per pound_ in
cans, to-wit:
_Parts._
Barytes 58
Whiting 15
Oxide of iron, silicate and alumina 24½
Chrome yellow 2½
This so-called ochre could be ground in one-half the oil it would
take to grind yellow ochre.
ANOTHER.
_Parts._
Poor chrome yellow 8
Ochre 25
Whiting 67
Ground in snide oil, and sold to jobbers at five cents per pound,
to painters _eight and ten cents_.
ANOTHER.
_Parts._
Barytes 62.90
Ochre 40.00
Barytes is not ochre, and this was _sold as pure ochre_.
ANOTHER.
Sold as French ochre, and recommended for priming:
_Parts._
Oxide of iron, alumina 19.79
Silica 40.93
Whiting 11.57
Barytes 26.64
ANOTHER IN OIL.
_Parts._
Chrome yellow 12
Whiting 25
Barytes 63
Oil 13
The markets are flooded with such imitations of ochre, both dry
and in oil. The quantity of oil required to grind pure French
ochre makes it high-priced, hence there is a motive for putting up
barytes, which takes but little oil in grinding.
YELLOW IRON ORE.
Much of the so-called dry ochre on the market is a _yellow, iron
ore and not yellow ochre_. When mixed in oil and put on a tin roof
it will turn brown inside of ninety days. I presume you have had
experience with such stuff. This makes a bad primer; it is very
liable to scale.
CRAWLING PAINT.
When paint crawls it is because there is not sufficient adhesion
between the undercoat and the new coat, caused usually by too much
gloss on the undercoat. To prevent crawling subdue the gloss on the
undercoat by sandpapering, rubbing, or by the application of some
material which will have the desired effect; or, if on the outside,
wait until the gloss has been subdued by the elements. There is
nothing more trying to one’s patience than to have the paint let go
and crawl up in bunches after it has been carefully brushed out.
Hence, it is well to provide against such trouble in advance. The
observing painter has no doubt noticed that paint is more liable
to crawl under cornices, and upon other sheltered positions, than
elsewhere; hence, it is best in all _such sheltered places, where
the elements do not have full play, to use sufficient turpentine
to prevent a high gloss on the undercoats_.
TO PAINT BLINDS AND NOT DAUB YOUR HANDS.
First, have a stick to open and shut the slats with after you
commence to paint. Second, leave a place on each stile, or side
rail, half way between the hinges, six or eight inches long,
unpainted, except to cut in the edge next the end of the slats to
take hold of when you turn the blind over or set it aside; also
leave the bottom hinge unpainted. After you have set up the blind
hold it up by the unpainted hinge until you finish the stiles; then
lean it up against its support and touch up the hinge. In this way
you need get no more paint on your hands than you would in painting
a door. No time will be lost, because you can touch up the stiles
in less time than it would take to wipe your hands and brush handle.
LEGLESS STEP-LADDERS.
Step-ladders without legs for outside work are good things to have
on the job. Say, three of them, 6, 8 and 10 feet long. A man of
good height can paint 14 feet high from the 10-foot ladder. They
are much easier on the feet than a “round” ladder. You can stand
straighter and reach farther when standing on a step than you can
while trying to balance on a round stick; besides, a step is a
handy place to set your pail on.
SUCCESS IN PAINTING.
Painting don’t pay, eh? No wonder it don’t pay, because here you
are spending half your time growling. The facts in the case are,
“You are not up-to-date.” If there is no possibility of making
money at the trade, how is it that your competitor gets along so
well? Why is it that he accumulates and you lose? He goes into the
same market for labor, material and jobs that you do. He comes out
every fall with his pockets full, and you round up poor as a church
mouse. There must be a screw loose somewhere in your management.
Will I point one out? Certainly, we have always been friends,
and I can never do too much for a friend. In the first place you
are too impetuous. You forget for the time that bills for labor
and material will fall due, that you must live--and you take the
job at losing figures. You ought to realize that the success of
a contracting painter depends upon his business qualifications.
To-wit: Correct and careful estimates, coolness in bidding, care in
selecting materials and men, systematizing his work so as to keep
each man in the right place. I don’t know how much you are getting
for this job, but it looks to me that you are losing money every
day by using poor material and improper handling of your men. The
good business man prefers the strictly pure Dutch process white
lead to the adulterated brands. He uses pure linseed oil instead
of adulterated mixtures and imitations of it, and he never loses
sight of the fact that a good reputation is a mine of gold to him.
If he finds a man is a good hand on a ladder or swing stage he
keeps him there, and if he finds a man an expert at inside work
he keeps him there, and if he finds a man is a poor stick in any
place he lets him go, rush or no rush. If he has high work he
provides a safe and easy way to get there. If he has inside work
his step-ladders are equal to the work. He knows when a man has
to reach too far or stand on top of a ladder he can’t half work.
Learn to manage your men, to keep the right man in the right place.
Stop making ruinous bids. Open your eyes to the fact that a man who
makes a losing bid on a job, to beat his competitor, acts like an
idiot, and is meaner than flies in paint.
GUESSING ON WORK.
The practice of estimating work by guess has brought many a painter
up with a round turn in the fall in debt. The curious part of it is
that the lesson is rarely, if ever, learned. Don’t be too smart.
Guessing on work is very uncertain business.
GLASS GILDING.
A practical expert in an English journal, the “Plumber and
Decorator,” gives the following as his process acquired and tested
by many years’ experience.
The tools and materials required for glass gilding are the same as
used for gilding in oil, excepting the gold size. Oil gold size
would never do for glass work. In glass gilding the object is to
get a size or mordant which will have the least possible tendency
to destroy or mar the burnish of the gold leaf. This is absolutely
necessary, when we consider that in this kind of work the size is
before the gold, not as in oil gilding--behind it. For a mordant
nothing can be better than the best isinglass. To prepare this
for use the utmost care and cleanliness should be exercised. The
water must be quite pure--free from grease or impurities of any
kind. In preparing the size the following may be relied upon as a
first-class recipe: Boil about one pint of water in a perfectly
clean pan. Should any scum rise during the operation remove it
with a large spoon. Then add about as much isinglass as will lie
on a dime to the boiling water. This is best done a little at a
time to prevent it gathering in a mass before it has a chance
of dissolving. When the isinglass is dissolved strain the size
through a fine silk handkerchief, folded double or fourfold, or,
better still, through some white blotting paper. This straining or
filtering will remove any bits or impurities that may have lodged
unperceived in the isinglass. When cool the mordant is ready for
applying to the glass. Some gilders like to add spirit in some
form--generally spirits of wine--to their size. Their reasons for
doing this are not always very explicit. Some do it because they
have seen others do it. Others add it, they say, to give the gold
a better burnish, or to make it better adhere to the glass. This
is a delusion. The most sensible reason for its use was imparted
to me by a veteran in the trade. He used spirits of wine to take
out or kill any slight greasiness that may have been in the water
or isinglass. I must confess that until I learned this, spirits
always formed part of my mordant, because others used it. However,
on further consideration, its use has been discarded, and, if
anything, a better burnish on the gold is the result. In making
the size it must be borne in mind that the less isinglass used the
brighter will be the gilding when completed. Of course, if too
little be used, the gold will not adhere to the glass as it should,
and this would cause much damage and annoyance when the isinglass
size was floated on again to proceed with the second gilding. When
the size is too strong, or contains too much isinglass, no amount
of burnishing will remove it altogether from before the gold. These
are important points and should be carefully studied. But a little
practice soon teaches the gilder how to arrive at the happy medium.
There are a variety of purposes to which ornamental glass gilding
may be applied besides sign work, shop fronts or glass doors. It is
now much used for show cases, window tablets, druggists’ bottles,
fixtures and pilasters for shop fronts. Very often the design is
embossed or bit into the glass, and worked up with gold and silver
leaf, besides being picked out in colors. This is both a costly and
effective method of decorating, which shall have full consideration
in a future chapter. For the present it will, no doubt, be
advisable to consider the simpler form of glass gilding. When this
is thoroughly understood very little further instruction is needed
for high-class work.
For the sake of example we will suppose a glass slab about three
feet six by twelve inches is the subject to be treated. This is to
have black letters without thickness or shadow on a gold ground.
There are two methods of doing this. One is to first paint on
the glass the letters with japan black and afterwards gild the
plate. The other consists in first gilding the plate solid and
then painting in the background with japan black. By this method
the lettering is left untouched. The gold on these is then washed
off, the edges trimmed, and the letters themselves painted black
or any other desired color. This latter is, perhaps, the most
satisfactory. However, a few lines of explanation will be devoted
to each process.
First in order comes a plate, the letters on which are painted
with japan black previous to gilding. To the learner, no doubt,
the plain block letters will prove an attraction, because of
their simplicity. This should be set out correctly on a sheet of
lining paper. It will only be necessary to run in an outline of
the letters. When completed to the satisfaction of the operator it
may be pasted round the edges and fixed on the face of the glass.
The back of the glass, that is the side upon which the work is
done, should be quite clean. When the plate is fixed on an easel or
stand, which is the most convenient place for working, the letters
will, of course, read backwards. In this form they must be painted.
When quite dry and hard, should the outlines of the letters be
irregular, they may be set right in a very simple manner. All that
is required to accomplish this is a metal straightedge and a sharp
quarter inch joiner’s chisel. The straightedge is laid across the
tops and bottoms of the letters and the chisel is employed to cut
them sharp and true. The sides of the straight letters are then
similarly treated; curves must be perfected with a writing-pencil.
The paper may now be taken from the face of the glass and the plate
examined all over. Should any specks of black be found on it they
must be removed before the gilding is gone on with. The smallest
speck shows up before the gold leaf. If convenient, before gilding,
have the plate fixed at an angle of about 45 degrees. While in this
position take a flat gilder’s mop and float the isinglass size over
the glass. Then take up the cushion, take out a few leaves of gold
from the book, and whilst the glass is wet cover it with gold,
lifting the gold from the cushion as described in the last chapter.
If possible lift a whole leaf at once, but should this at first
prove troublesome try half a leaf. Keep the glass wet with the size
and overlap slightly each successive leaf of gold until the whole
of the glass is covered.
The glass must now dry before it can be re-gilded, and must then be
gently rubbed with the finest cotton wool. It is an easy matter to
ascertain whether it is dry or not. When wet the gold, if looked at
from the front of the glass, has a dead look, but if dry it shows
up bright. If possible leave the plate till next day before giving
it a second coat of gold. The advantage of this delay is obvious.
The gold has time to get hard, which materially reduces the risk of
its being removed when a second application of size is necessary.
To the novice it will, no doubt, appear at first sight both a waste
of time and gold to gild all over the work again, but if the plate
be held up to the light it will show many imperfections in the
shape of small holes, cracks and imperfect joinings. Another coat
of size floated on and another layer of gold over the whole of the
work should turn out a so far satisfactory finish. Let the glass
dry again and be subjected to a further examination for faulty
places. Should any be found cover them with more gold. But if the
work is satisfactory it is ready for the burnishing process. The
first stage is to polish the gold by gently rubbing with fine
cotton wool, care being taken not to scratch the gold. This is, of
course, only a repetition of the polishing after the first layer of
gold.
There are several methods in general use for obtaining that
brilliant burnish so much admired in glass gilding. But the one
that meets with most favor and success is what is called the “hot
water burnish.” It will be advisable to practice on the glass under
consideration. After the cotton wool polishing is completed warm
the glass either by holding it before a fire or gently pouring
warm water over it. This is only a precaution against breakage by
sudden expansion. Now let it dry, and while warm polish again with
the cotton wool. Repeat the pouring of water, hotter than the last,
and when the glass is dry, after this operation, gently rub it
again with cotton wool. This hot water flushing should be carried
on until the burnish is quite satisfactory. But it must be very
carefully done, else the gold runs a risk of being washed off in
patches.
HOW TO ESTIMATE WORK.
Measure your work with the tape-line and be sure you get all there
is in it; projections, depressions, mouldings, edges, etc.
Many a painter has dropped his profits by not taking in these
little particulars. Every bead, sunken or raised panel makes an
edge to paint. The edges of ordinary weather boarding _add ten
per cent_. to the surface, to say nothing of the edges of the
corner boards and window and door casings--the projections and
depressions in the panels of an ordinary four-paneled door, _add
at least ten per cent. to the surface_ to be painted. Then let me
say to you again, look closely for edges, projections, depressions,
hollows and rounds. They all count when you paint them; and it
is your fault if they are not included in the estimate. When you
have multiplied the number of feet around a house by the average
height and reduced it to yards you have only made a start. Measure
the cornice, follow the hollows, rounds and edges with the line.
_There is lots of surface in mouldings._ The tape-line is good
as far as you can make it go, but it can’t do it all. You must
use judgment in connection with it; and carefully estimate the
condition of the work, what per cent. is _slow_ to paint, or high
and difficult to reach. For instance, what is the condition of the
surface, is it porous and full of cracks? Is every joint gaping for
putty? Is the putty on the windows rough and broken? Is the old
paint cracked, blistered and scaling? Is the cornice ornamented
with dentils, brackets and panels? You may lose a day or a week of
extra time on a high tower or cupola if you fail to put it into
your estimate as extra hard to reach. Make the price accordingly.
Are the blind-slats stuck fast and difficult to paint? Is the
work to be done in the busy season when labor and material are
high priced and good men are hard to get; or in the dull season,
when dealers will cut prices and good men are hunting for work?
Bidding on specifications must be done with care. You can figure
the number of yards to be painted, but there are many points which
the completed job can alone disclose. A provision in your contract
to cover all changes in specifications comes mighty handy on the
day of final settlement. It is not safe to make anything like a
close bid on specifications, until the following questions have
been settled and put in your contract. To-wit: Will the building be
delivered to you at a specified time, finished and _cleaned out_
and put in good condition for the painter; or will you be expected
to commence before the work is finished and paint as the work is
put up, and spend as much time dusting and sweeping as you do at
painting? Will the machine-dressed lumber, including mouldings,
doors, window-stops, etc., be put in as it comes from the factory
rough and fuzzy, or will it be redressed and made smooth and ready
for the paint? These points may look to you like small matters, but
they count when you come to paint the work. If you are to do a fine
job stipulate in your contract that the wood-work, etc., shall be
finished in good shape. If you are to paint the work as you find
it have it so stated in your contract. Paste this motto in the top
of your hat and read it often: “It is always better to lose a job
than to get it and lose money on it.”
Two houses may be of equal dimensions, yet it may be worth 50 per
cent. more to paint one than the other; hence any definite scale
of prices for work by the yard is liable to be misleading. We may
determine by the line how much there is of the work, but we must
rely upon our judgment and experience to determine how much it will
cost to do it.
ONE WAY TO MEASURE A JOB.
Find the surface measure of the entire job, including all edges
and projections, and estimate how much it is worth per yard, on
the basis that it is all plain work, easy to get at. Next we will
proceed by what we may call special measurement. Suppose the
cornice measures 60 yards, and is finished with blocks, moulded
panels and brackets, and we estimate that the cost of painting it
will be three times that of a plain cornice, hence we will add
two measures or 120 yards to the general or first measurement.
Next, suppose each window and casing measures three yards, and
there are 20 of them to be trimmed in colors, we estimate the
work of painting them double that of plain work; hence we add to
our special measurement 60 yards. If there is a cupola high and
difficult to reach we estimate that it will be worth double the
cost of painting ordinary work to do it. Say, it measures 50 yards,
we will add 50 yards to the general measurement, and so we will
go on until we have taken in all parts of the work which will cost
more than ordinary plain work.
To illustrate: The building measures 600 yards, and as plain work
we estimate it worth twenty cents per yard to paint it. We amount
our special measurement which we will say adds up to 300 yards,
which added to the 600 yards general measurement, makes 900, which
at twenty cents per yard, makes $180. The same system may be used
inside.
TO SOFTEN HARD, LUMPY PUTTY.
Break the putty into lumps; put it in a kettle with enough water to
cover it; add a little raw oil, and boil and stir well while hot.
The putty will absorb the oil; pour off the water, let the putty
cool, then work it, and your putty will be as good as new.
TACKY PAINT ON CHURCH SEATS, ETC.
During my experience as a painter, I have been called upon to
repaint tacky seats in at least half a dozen churches. Such seats
are an unmitigated nuisance. Tacky paint may be the result of
putting too much japan in oil paint, or of using fat oil, or paint
which had been mixed a long time, especially if it had very much
japan in it, or by mixing oil and varnish, or by putting varnish on
oil paint, especially if the paint had not been given time to dry
hard before it was varnished. To harden tacky paint try this: Take
one part japan and three parts of turpentine, and give the work a
coat of the mixture. That will usually effect a cure, unless the
paint is soft clear to the wood. A coat of shellac will sometimes
do the work all right. Such seats usually seem all right until
warmed by the heat of the body; hence we may be satisfied that
the fault is in the oil used in the paint or varnish. It is best
on that account to use but little if any oil when painting seats
of any kind. Coat up with color ground in japan and thinned with
turps; varnish the part which comes in contact with the body with
shellac varnish.
I have painted seats this way, and never heard of any further
trouble with them.
To repaint tacky seats the best way is to burn off the old paint,
and coat up as above; because, if a hard drying paint is put over
the old soft paint it is liable to crack. It is well, however, to
see if the turpentine and japan will work a cure, or if a coat
of shellac will stop the trouble. To do this it is well to first
experiment on one seat, or upon a small surface.
I have killed tacky paint by rubbing it with a cloth wet with
ammonia; when dry, try it, and see if the “tack” is gone; if not,
go over it again; when dry, put on a coat of shellac varnish; this
is a pretty sure cure.
TESTING JAPAN.
If japan smells of benzine don’t buy it. Mix it with clear oil; if
it curdles, you don’t want it. Mix drop black with some of it; as
stiff as good drop black ground in japan; then thin with turps and
make a painting test, to see if it is a good binder. To see if it
will crack, paint on glass, let it dry and hold the glass between
your eye and the light. If you see fine cracks don’t buy any of it.
When you go to buy japan, ask the dealer who made it. If he don’t
know, make up your mind at once that it is a _fatherless waif_
without _a name_, and likely to be worthless. When a man makes
a good thing he is apt to send his name along with it as an
advertisement. This applies to all material. There is a great deal
of bad japan on the market, and a great amount of work ruined by
it. Buy none unless it bears the brand of a reputable maker and
will stand these tests.
I do not need to tell the practical painter that there is a great
amount of bad japan on the market, and that a great deal of paint
is ruined by it. Buy no japan unless the can bears the name of some
reputable manufacturer, and will stand the above tests.
WHY DO PAINTS AND VARNISHES CRACK?
The following paper was read by Mr. A. P. Sweet, of Iona, Mich., at
a meeting of master car painters:
SUBJECT:
“_Why do paints and varnishes crack, and what is the reason that
cracks in the latter are usually at right angles to the grain of
the wood?_”
The subject, as I understand it, relates to the cracking of
varnishes, etc., as experienced in connection with passenger
car work, and as such I introduce it for discussion before this
association.
There are many theories as to the cause of the cracking of
paints and varnishes. Some are well defined, others are not
satisfactorily explained.
I do not anticipate being able to add much to what is already
known, but will advance a few thoughts, which may call forth the
views of others on the subject.
The old adage, “It takes two to make a quarrel,” is as true when
applied to paints and varnishes as it is to individuals. A single
coat of either seldom, if ever, produces cracks. These make
their appearance only after two or more coats have been applied;
consequently, it is necessary to have a body of color or varnish,
consisting of two or more coats, before any trouble of this kind
makes itself manifest.
This being the case, it follows that the cause of the difficulty
must be sought for in the coatings themselves, either in the
quality of the material employed or in the mode of applying them.
Poor and cheap oils and japans--especially the latter--are
a fruitful source of cracking in paint; but by far the most
prolific one, in my opinion, is the hurried application of the
succeeding coats before the preceding ones are dry enough to
receive them. If sufficient time is not given, cracks will
inevitably follow such a mode of procedure.
I am of the opinion, also, that very little blame can be attached
to the wood used in the construction of cars, as most of it is
comparatively well seasoned, and its expansive and contractive
force is not sufficient to cause serious trouble. If green wood
was used there might be room for this excuse, especially where
the cracks run in the direction of the grain, and are large and
deep.
Before pursuing this subject further, it may be well to examine
a little into the theory of the drying of paint. It is purely a
chemical process, not a mechanical one, as some suppose. Paint
dries by the evaporation of its volatile parts and its absorption
of oxygen; it is heavier when dried than when in the liquid form,
having attached to itself a sufficient amount of oxygen to very
perceptibly increase the weight some 6 per cent.
The best grades of linseed oil are said to contain from 70 to
80 per cent. of substance called linoleine, a resinous and
slow-drying oil and acid which imparts to the oil its elasticity.
In the process of drying, contraction occurs. The various atoms
of which the coatings are composed move closer and closer
together; and as this contracting force is easier with than
across the grain, cracks at right angles to it are formed. This
fact suggests the necessity of so adjusting the elasticity of
the various coats that the force exerted in drying may be as
nearly equalized as possible, as their contracting force is
continued until all elasticity has left the paint and oxygen
ceases to be absorbed, all the oil acid has disappeared, and
nothing but a hard, brittle surface remains.
Under the microscope, in the first stage of cracking, the surface
presents nothing unusual except that the cracks appear clean cut
and sharp on the edges. As months pass by and the surface is
exposed to the atmospheric changes of heat and cold, wet and dry,
the cracks become more numerous; and in the last stage, when the
oil is entirely destroyed, the surface assumes the appearance of
innumerable rectangular masses, higher in the center than at the
edges, like small mounds raised by the process of contraction and
adhesion.
Cracking in color coats may, by careful attention to
preliminaries, be reduced to a minimum, provided good first-class
materials are used and sufficient time is given to each coat to
dry.
Where varnish is to be applied as a finish, all coatings should
have oil in their composition and yet be mixed to dry flat. They
should be applied very evenly and thinly, even if it necessitates
an extra coat, to cover and make a solid job.
Striping and ornamenting should be done on flat color, which
gives time for hardening, and fits it for the varnish coats to
follow. If work is done in this way, I think very little fear
of premature cracking need be entertained; at least, not until
time and weather have sufficient opportunity to play havoc
with its beauty, and natural decay of the materials themselves
necessitates a thorough overhauling and repairing.
Rubbing varnishes are another source of trouble, causing the
succeeding coats of finishing varnish to show signs of cracking
long before they otherwise would, as it does not agree with
the slower drying varnishes usually applied above it, being of
a harder and more brittle character, serving the purpose of
producing a fine, smooth surface, but sacrificing the durability
of the job.
Concerning the cracking of varnish, I have not much to say. It
seems to me that many of the reasons given above will apply to it
as well as to the paint.
Poor material in the shape of varnish is poor indeed. A
first-class article only will give first-class results.
It must be elastic, or it will crack easily and badly, no matter
how good the undercoats of paint may be.
Good varnish on good color coats will not give any signs of
cracking until, by repeated varnishings, it has accumulated a
thick coating of brittle, unelastic gum.
No painter can say truthfully that his cars never crack, as it is
a natural consequence of decay, and will come, sooner or later,
to the best of material.
That varnish cracks to a great extent at right angles to the
grain of the wood, I think is due, in some degree, to the same
reasons as given above for the cracking of paint, and after its
elasticity is destroyed by age. Vibration has a great effect upon
the hard and brittle coating of gum that remains, coupled with
expansion and contraction caused by variations of temperature and
the disintegrating influences of the weather.
BRUSH CLEANING TROUGH.
To make such a trough, take a piece of planed board, 6 inches wide
and 18 inches long, and nail on side pieces 2 inches wide; this
makes the trough. Nail this trough on a bench, box, or table, and
let one end of it project over the edge of the bench, box or table,
and place your slush bucket under the projecting end of the trough.
To clean a brush, lay it in the trough, keep hold of the handle
with one hand and with the other take a dull scraper and press the
paint out of the brush and shove it off into the slush bucket. The
advantage of this method is that you clean the whole length of the
brush and save the paint, instead of daubing it on the walls of
your shop.
FLOOR WAX.
A good preparation for waxing floors may be obtained as follows:
Yellow Wax 25 oz.
Yellow Ceresin 25 oz.
Burnt Sienna 5 oz.
Boiled Linseed Oil 1 oz.
Turpentine 1 gill
Melt the wax and ceresin at a gentle heat, then add the sienna
previously well triturated with the boiled linseed oil, and mix
well. When the mixture begins to cool add the oil of turpentine, or
so much of it as is required to make a mass of the consistence of
an ointment.
The burnt sienna may be used in smaller or larger quantity,
according to the tint desired, or may be replaced by raw sienna,
etc.
DAMAR VARNISH.
Never use damar varnish over oil paint.
Never put oil in damar varnish. See to it that your dealer does not
draw it into an oil measure, and that you do not keep it in an oily
or rancid can. Why? Because it is liable to dry tacky under any of
the above conditions.
STENCIL STAINING.
Ordinary plain staining can be done by almost any one who can
handle a common paint brush. Yet it is not generally known, even to
skilled decorators, that stain, on sound white wood, evenly planed,
can be applied to imitate the most intricate of artistic designs;
such, however, is the case. A decorator if asked to imitate in
stain on white wood a piece of parquetry or inlaid wood, might
reply that such a thing was impossible, alleging as a reason that
by employing liquid stain in the same way as a distemper--that
is to say, by the aid of a stencil to reproduce the pattern--the
stain, as soon as it became absorbed would be found to “run,” and
so giving to the pattern imitated an indistinct or blurred edge.
Yet the most elaborate patterns are successfully stenciled direct
on to pine, and the figured work on this wood has invariably come
out distinctly and naturally as to be almost indistinguishable
from the inlaid work they have so successfully sought to imitate.
The great difficulty to be overcome in stenciling with stains is
undoubtedly the “running,” but with a very little care and patience
this can be easily obviated. Say a painter has a border to stain
round an ordinary pine floor in imitation of a selected pattern of
parquetry, the colors of which are generally in two or more shades
of oak, the first thing he has to do after having properly prepared
the floor--namely, making the part to be stained as smooth and as
even as possible by filling up the crevices and nail holes--is to
stain over the work in the lightest shade shown in his pattern;
this can be done by diluting the ordinary liquid oak stain with
water to the desired tint. Next let him cut out of a piece of
lining, paper in the form of a stencil--the pattern he has to
reproduce on the floor--care being taken to oil the stencil in
order to strengthen and preserve it. He should then mix the stain
into a stiff paste or to the consistency of a distemper used for
ordinary stenciling; place a portion of this mixture on a smooth
piece of wood, take up a very small quantity of it on a stencil
brush and apply through the stencil plate in the same way he would
a distemper. If a very dark shade is required apply more stain
before removing the stencil plate.
PAINTING BRICK.
Objections: Chipping of the brick, and scaling of the paint.
The chipping may be on account of defective brick or otherwise.
Scaling may be caused by poor paint, or by _dampness in the brick_.
When called upon to paint brick, first see if the brick is dry.
See that there is no place where water leaks in from the roof or
cornice and soaks into the brick. A brick wall may look dry and
still be damp inside. If you want paint to stay on brick, give the
brick time to dry, after heavy and driving rains. It is always a
bad plan to paint brick in the fall, after the autumn rains. The
only real safe time to paint a brick wall is in summer, after a
spell of hot, dry weather. You can not always wait for that, but
you can tell the owner that it is unsafe to paint a brick wall
until it has had time to dry. Why? Because in winter the moisture,
which is shut in by the paint, will freeze, expand and throw off
the paint or chip the brick.
Prime brick work with a thin coat of good paint mixed in pure
linseed oil. Flow on the priming freely, and brush it well into the
brick; for second coat, whatever paint you use, put in at least
one-fourth white lead; make this coat one-third turps, and rub it
well out. Give it a good body. For the last coat, use your color
regardless of lead, unless you want it in to get your color. If
you want a gloss, mix this coat with all boiled oil, and flow on.
For flat, if your colors are ground in oil, use one-fourth oil and
three-fourths turps, and if it don’t show flat when painted, it
will flat in a short time. The last coat may admit of more oil or
may not take as much, and flat. This depends upon the work when
started, etc. Some painters make brick flating by breaking up the
pigment in japan, and elastic varnish for a binder, and thin with
turps. I prefer the oil for a binder, and have made the last coat
one-half oil, and had a nice flat in a few weeks. I always ridicule
the idea of painting brick flat, because it will not stand as long
as an oil finish, and the oil finish will be flat enough in a few
months.
CLEANING UP A ROOM.
Now, if I were going to teach a boy to clean up a room, the first
thing would be how to prepare himself for the job. In the first
place, he wants a damp sponge with a string through it to tie over
his head, to hold the sponge over his mouth and under the nose to
catch the dust, because it is a great deal more pleasant and a
“sight” more healthful to carry lime and other dust in a sponge
than in nostrils and windpipe. Then he wants a cotton cloth cap,
large enough to draw down over his head and ears, bib overalls and
jacket to button close about the neck and he is well fixed. In such
a rig he may look peculiar, but he had better look like a monkey
than to skin his nostrils with dust and fill his ears and hair with
lime, sand and sawdust.
For tools, he needs a good, new, fine corn broom, a wide bristle
sweeper (a ten or twelve-inch paper-hanger’s smoothing brush will
do), a good duster, a sharp tool to pick out corners, a two-inch
chiseled brush for corners. A sprinkler only turns dust to mud,
to dry in a few hours and become dust again. When you have swept
the floor with your broom and dusted your wood-work and gone over
the floor carefully with your wide bristle brush to take what you
brushed from the casings and what the broom left on the floor, look
at the air across this ray of sunlight; it is full of dust, soon
the most of it will settle on the floor and casings and window
stools. What then? Wait till it settles and _wipe it off with a
cloth_ and don’t forget the tops of the doors and casings. “Why use
a cloth?” Well, if you go in and begin to use a dust brush after
the dust settles you throw a portion of it in the air again and
it will settle on the work. And by the way, I want to say that a
wiping cloth is a very important article for a painter to carry. It
always makes me “red hot” to see a painter (?), after he has daubed
a key shield or a hinge, try to wipe it off with his thumb; I could
forgive him for the daub; the best man in the trade may sometimes
do that, but the man who will rub part of it off with his thumb and
let the rest dry ought to be sent off the job or suspended long
enough to take a lesson in the art of wiping off daubs.
I want to say further that every well regulated dusting kit ought
to have a dust pan hitched to it in some way. It will save sweeping
the dust out on the steps to be tracked in again, save the time you
would lose in sweeping the dust over thresholds, or save the time
it would take to borrow one.
PASTE FOR LABELING ON TIN.
Make a stiff flour paste in the usual way, with flour and water,
then add 2 ounces tartaric acid, and 1 pint of molasses; boil the
mixture until stiff, and put in ten or fifteen drops carbolic acid.
ANOTHER.
Wheat flour 1 pound
Alum 2 drams
Borax 2 drams
Hydrochloric acid 1½ ounces
Mix the flour, alum and borax in the usual way, to a smooth paste
in water, then add the acid and cook in the usual way with hot
water.
TO MAKE TENTS, ETC., WEATHERPROOF.
To prevent tents, wagon covers, etc., from rotting dissolve 4
ounces sulphate of zinc in 10 gallons of water, then put in
one-fourth pound sal-soda, stir well until dissolved and add
one-fourth ounce tartaric acid. Let the cloth lie in this one day
and night and hang up to dry. Don’t wring it.
TO PAINT ON CANVAS OR MUSLIN WITHOUT SIZING.
First stretch, then wet the cloth. Wipe off the drops and letter
while the cloth is damp with color mixed with japan and turps.
TO PAINT ON ZINC.
A difficulty is often experienced in causing oil colors to adhere
to sheet zinc. Boettger recommends the employment of a mordant,
so to speak, of the following composition: 1 part of chloride of
copper, 1 of nitrate of copper and 1 of sal-ammoniac are to be
dissolved in 64 parts of water, to which solution is to be added 1
part of commercial hydrochloric acid. The sheets of zinc are to be
brushed over with this liquid, which gives them a deep black color;
in the course of 12 to 24 hours they become dry, and to their now
dirty gray surface a coat of any oil color will firmly adhere. Some
sheets of zinc prepared in this way, and afterwards painted, have
been found to withstand all the changes of winter and summer.
PAINTING BLINDS.
When painting a blind never turn it upon edge when cutting in the
inside of the rail, because the paint will be likely to run into
the pivot-holes and stick the slats. When you set a blind up to
dry, set the bottom end up, and be sure to have the slats lie flat
side up. Why? Because the bottom end of the blind when hung is more
apt to drag on the window sill than the top end is to touch the jam
above. If set bottom end up, that end will dry solid and if there
are any sags it will be at the top. Keep the slats flat side up to
avoid flat edges.
TREATMENT FOR HARDWOOD FLOORS.
First see that the floor is clean and smooth; then give it a coat
of best oil, with japan sufficient to make it dry; cut the japan in
turps. Then put on a good mineral paste, filler in the usual way
by rubbing the filler well into the wood; then clean off all the
surplus. When dry, sandpaper and putty up well with colored, hard
putty, and put on a coat of shellac; if too glossy, rub down with
powdered pumice and oil. Be careful to have the putty match the
floor.
WHITEWASH FOR OUTSIDE WORK.
Take one-half pound of fresh burnt lime. Dip it in water and let
it slack in the open air. Melt two ounces of bagundy pitch by
gentle heat, in six ounces of linseed oil; then add two quarts of
skim milk while the lime is hot, add the mixture of pitch and oil,
a little at a time while hot, and stir it in; then add three pounds
of bolted whiting and stir. Add more milk if too thick for the
brush.
THE STRAINER.
Don’t forget to use the strainer. After you have put in your best
licks to clean up and sandpaper a job, it is the height of folly to
daub it up with paint full of skins and specks. Oil paint is liable
to be “skinny” in the keg. Miller’s bolting cloth makes a good
strainer, and common cheese cloth at five cents a yard does very
well for ordinary purposes.
TO KILL GREASE SPOTS ON WOOD.
Use a wash of saltpeter or a thin lime wash, then rinse with clear
water. Treat blacksmith’s smoke in the same way.
KALSOMINE.
To please an old friend I give the following recipe for kalsomine.
_He says it is good._ I never used it, so you will have to take his
word for it.
Fifteen pounds good paris white, mixed up in lukewarm water, add
one-fourth pound good glue, dissolved in the usual way, strain
through a fine sieve, then dissolve one-fourth pound white hard
soap in hot water and one-half pound of alum in cold water and mix.
Add water to give the right consistency for putting it on the wall.
TO TAKE OFF THE PAINT.
If you have an old, roughly painted door to cut down for a fine
job, don’t fool away your time, and fill your nose with dust,
trying to do it with dry sandpaper, but take the door off its
hinges, lay it flat on horses, and keep the surface under your
sandpaper wet with benzine, and you can do in an hour what would
otherwise take half a day. The benzine softens the paint, and keeps
the paper from gumming up. If it is not practicable to take the
door off the hinges, put your benzine in a small spring-bottomed
oil can and squirt it on the work as needed to keep the paper
clear of paint and make it cut fast. Wipe off the loose paint with
rags. It works equally well on old varnish. Try it once on an old
carriage body.
If the old paint is extra hard use a mixture in equal parts of
benzine and ammonia.
CLEANING SILVER, BRASS OR COPPER.
In the course of our work we often meet with tarnished metal
ornaments, which must be cleaned to make our work look well.
This preparation is a good one:
Paris white (fine) 1 pound
Carb. magnesia 2 drams
Cyanuret potash 7 drams
Sulph. ether 3 drams
Crocus martis 1 dram
Soft water 1½ ounces
or sufficient to make a stiff paste.
Mix by rubbing, add the paris white last, then stir into the water.
Apply with a rag or sponge, and rub dry and polish with a rag or
canton flannel.
WHY DO WALL PAPERS CRACK?
Some papers are more inclined to crack than others, because they
are made of more brittle material. When selecting a paper for a
whitewashed wall or ceiling, take a pattern which feels soft and
pliable. Papers which crackle or rattle when crumpled in the hand
are liable to crack. Papers which stretch or expand the most when
wet are the most apt to crack; because when they dry and shrink
the pull is so great that the fibers give away, if great care is
not taken in putting it on. Cracking may be the fault of the paper
hanger. He may use his paste too thick, or too thin, or put on too
much or too little. Paste should be put on even and of the proper
consistency and thickness to cement the paper to the walls. Paper
is more liable to crack on rough and uneven walls. On a smooth
wall, if properly put on, it becomes, as it dries, so fastened to
the plaster that it cannot contract enough to break the fibers, but
on a rough and uneven wall there are apt to be loose places where
the air gets in, and the contraction of the paper so weakens the
fibers that it cracks.
Now, if the paper hanger will be careful to secure the paper
uniformly by using sufficient paste on rough places to hold the
paper, and be careful to brush or pound the paper down firmly, he
will greatly reduce the chances of cracking. A roller can not be
depended upon for a rough wall. Too much or not enough sizing on a
wall may be a cause of cracking. Hot paste, which thickens as it
cools, is not safe to use on such walls, because it may appear just
right when hot but will be too thick when cool and cause the paper
to crack.
OIL SIZE FOR WHITEWASH.
Oil size is good to use on a whitewashed ceiling before papering
if you don’t overdo it. A friend of mine thought, if a little was
good, a great deal would be better; so he gave his ceiling two
flowing coats of clear oil, and when dry put on his paper, but it
did not stay. Why? Because he put on so much oil that he made a
glossy surface _and the gloss could not hold the paste_. An oil
size on whitewash is all right if used right. It is a mistake to
use clear oil; 1 pint of oil, 1 pint japan and 1 quart turpentine
is better, because it will penetrate further, dry faster, flat the
surface, and have sufficient binding power to hold the whitewash
from coming off. Don’t size a wall with paste. Paste and whitewash
don’t go well together. The fact that you have to size your wall to
make paper stick proves this.
Oil size should dry hard before the paper is put on.
I find glutol, manufactured by the Arabol Manufacturing Co., No.
13 Gold street, New York, a first-class substitute for glue in wall
size and kalsomine, and prefer it to glue, because it will not
attract flies, nor spoil by standing in hot weather, and can be
mixed in cold water.
TO CLEAN BRICK.
The white powder which comes on brick can be removed by sponging
with a mixture of muriatic acid and water, equal parts. Wash the
brick in clear water and let them become well dried before painting.
TO CLEAN TARNISHED ZINC.
Mix 1 part sulphuric acid with 12 parts water and rub the zinc with
it with a rag, then rinse with clear water.
TO GILD ON WOOD.
First get a good body and a smooth surface. The work should be flat
with three coats at least on wood, and not less than two on iron
or tin. The best size for outside work is oil gold size (fat oil),
mixed with a little medium chrome yellow toned down with white
lead; put in a very little japan gold size, and thin to workable
consistency with turps; let it stand until tacky. It must be hard
enough to prevent rubbing up or sweating. The method with the tip,
gold knife and cushion requires considerable dexterity as well as
practice to do good and rapid work. The tip, or lifter, is only
a few camel hairs glued between two pieces of paste board, or
other material. The knife is a long narrow flexible blade, and
the cushion is made on a block, 6 by 8 inches, first covered with
a thickness or two of woolen cloth, and finished by stretching
a piece of chamois skin over it. Hold the gold book in the left
hand, and turn back a leaf of the book, leaving the gold exposed
on the next leaf; press the leaf of gold against the cushion and
it will remain. Then straighten out wrinkles by a slight puff of
the breath from above, cut the leaf into the required size with the
gold-knife, and lift the leaf to its place with the tip. The tip
will lift the gold better if occasionally drawn over the hair of
your head.
Another way to prepare the leaf: Cut the book through at the
binding with a sharp knife, which will leave all the leaves free
and separate. Now take up the top paper or cover, which will leave
the gold leaf on the book; lay the paper on a board and rub it over
with a piece of wax, paraffine candle, or a piece of hard soap;
either will do. Place the waxed side on to the gold, and smooth the
paper down gently; repeat until you have as many leaves prepared as
you need. Then, with good sharp shears cut them in such shape and
size as will best cover your work, and not waste the gold. Lay the
pieces on your board, gold side up. When ready, lay the pieces on
the work, rub down with the fingers, or a ball of cotton, take off
the paper and the gold will stay on the size. In this way the gold
adheres quite firmly to the waxed paper, and the size must have a
strong tack to take the gold off the paper. Experts lay the leaf
directly from the book, and you had best learn to do it that way
for general work, if you spoil half a dozen books while catching on
to the knack of it. Try it this way: Now, here is a stripe half an
inch wide, and the size is ready for the gold. Now hold the book
flat in your left hand with your thumb on top, hold the top paper
firm with your thumb. (If you let it slip, the leaf under it will
be spoiled.) If the stripe is one-half inch wide, turn back enough
of the paper to ex-pose three-fourths of an inch of the gold leaf,
crease the turned back cover down with the fingers of the right
hand, and hold it with the thumb on the back. Now cut the leaf with
the finger-nail, first rubbing it dry on your pants; then turn
the book carefully and quickly over on to the stripe, and press
the gold down gently by pressing the book. Then turn down more of
the paper, and repeat until that leaf is gone; then take another
and so on. If the book gets too limber towards the last to handle
well, have a square of cardboard to lay under the book next to the
hand; you will find this is a help even with a full book. You will,
perhaps, waste more gold in this way than by the transfer method,
but you will more than make it up in time, if you become expert.
1st. Be sure of a good foundation.
2d. Have your gold size right, and study to know when the tackiness
is just right. If your surface is not perfectly free from
tackiness, pounce with a bag of gilder’s whiting before putting on
the size, to keep the gold from sticking outside of the size.
When you lay the leaf from the book and cut the leaf with your
finger nail, turn the ball of the finger toward you and the nail
towards the gold, and run the nail close to the edge of the turned
paper; then, if the nail is not too long, the end of the finger
will hold down the paper while the nail cuts the leaf.
To prepare paper for the transfer method I rub the paper on my
hair, then lay it on the gold leaf, gently rub it with my finger
tips, and the leaf adheres to the paper.
It can then be cut with shears in any desired shape to cover the
work.
Some gold leaf is now packed in paper so prepared that the leaf
will adhere to one side of it and can be taken up in that way.
Some gilders take up the leaf by wetting the paper on the back with
turpentine to make the leaf adhere to the other side, when it can
be cut to the required shape with shears. This is done instead of
waxing the paper.
STIR YOUR PAINT.
It isn’t always your material that makes a bad job, but it seems an
easy matter to make even the best of paint the scapegoat for bad
work. The heedless workman who primes a plastered wall without
sweeping down the loose sand, or is careless about taking the
sand and dust from the tops of casings and the floors, will, if
he stops to examine, find some in the brush and some of it in his
paint pot; and then, to cover up his carelessness, he can lay the
blame on the paint. The careful painter will, when using heavy
pigments, carry a paddle, and not neglect to use it. To prevent
white lead and other heavy pigments from settling in the pot the
paint must be well mixed, and kept mixed by stirring with a paddle
as often and as much as may be necessary to _keep_ the oil or other
vehicle, and the pigment well incorporated. No one out a novice,
or a careless painter will permit a sediment to accumulate in the
bottom of his pot; no matter whether the pigment is coarse or
fine; or whether the vehicle used is linseed oil, turpentine or
benzine. The painter who goes to work without a stirring paddle in
his pot will be liable to do uneven work, and find more or less
sediment in the bottom of his paint pot at quitting time, because
there is no white lead made which does not contain more or less
particles sufficiently heavy to _commence settling_ the minute
the paddle stops, and go to the bottom of a pot of flating, as
ordinarily mixed, inside of thirty minutes, and other particles
of smaller size will follow later. If the pigment is mixed with
oil the process of settling is slower, but no less sure to take
place, and continue, if undisturbed, until clear oil stands on
top of the pigment. Don’t try to use your brush for a paddle; it
isn’t a good tool to stir paint from the bottom. Paint made of
heavy pigment must be frequently stirred with a paddle to keep it
of uniform consistency, but this operation is too often neglected.
For instance, a man starts out with a full pot in the morning and
neglects to stir his paint as he works, hence the heavier particles
commence to settle and soon get below the dip of the brush, and by
continual settling keep out of the reach of it until they reach the
bottom. When the paint is nearly all out, and the sediment at the
bottom don’t work well, he refills his pot, leaving in the coarse
pigment. At night the boss finds an inch or less of coarse paint in
the bottom of the pot, and without further inquiry complains that
the lead is sandy.
Another instance: The paint for a job stands mixed over night; the
painters fill their pots from time to time during the day, but
never stir the paint from the bottom, hence the last pot or two
filled will have all the coarse pigment of the batch. There are
cases, I admit (too many of them), where not only white lead, but
dry colors and colors in oil, are too coarse to work well, but the
best white lead and heavy colored pigments in oil or turpentine are
liable to be called sandy unless frequently stirred by the painter.
TO MAKE CHERRY STAIN.
Take annotto, 4 ounces, and clear rain water, 3 quarts. Boil in a
brass or copper kettle, new tin or galvanized iron will do, until
the color of the annotto is imparted to the water; then add ⅛ ounce
potash, and keep the mixture hot for 30 minutes; then, as soon as
cool enough to handle, it is ready for use. Now, have the work free
from dust, and spread on your stain with a brush or sponge and rub
it well into the wood.
When the work is dry, rub lightly with fine sandpaper, because the
water stain will raise the grain unless the wood has been filled.
You can suit the taste of the owner as to depth of color by
repeating the operation, or by making the stain weaker or stronger,
as the case may require.
VARNISH STAINS.
These often come very handy to the painter, not only in toning up
new wood, but in renewing the freshness of old work.
MAHOGANY VARNISH STAIN.
Spirits 1 gallon, gum sandarac 1 pound, shellac ½ pound, venice
turpentine 2 ounces, dragon’s blood 4 ounces.
WALNUT VARNISH STAIN.
Shellac 1½ pounds, spirit 1 gallon, Bismarck brown 1 ounce,
nigrosine ½ ounce. You can, by varying the proportions of the two
colors, make the shade as you like it.
(Spirit in this connection means either wood or grain alcohol.)
MAHOGANY VARNISH STAIN.
Spirits 1 gallon, shellac 1½ pounds, Bismarck brown R ½ ounce,
nigrosine 30 grains. More nigrosine will make the stain darker. If
this is too thick to work well, thin with spirits.
TO MAKE NEW OAK LOOK OLD.
Sponge it with a strong hot solution of common soda in water. This
will raise the grain, hence it will require cutting down with
sandpaper.
DARK STAIN FOR OAK.
Make a solution of bi-chromate of potash, 1½ ounces to 2 quarts
soft water. Lay on the solution with a good clean sponge and keep
the wood wet with the solution until it is dark enough to please
you. Then wash off the potash with clean soft water.
ANOTHER.
Apply with a brush, strong aqua ammonia until you get the desired
shade.
RED SAUNDERS STAIN.
Fill a bottle ⅓ full of red saunders, then fill the bottle with
either wood or grain alcohol. The more red saunders you put in,
the stronger will be the stain; you can dilute it for the lighter
shades. The longer it stands, the more color will be extracted.
Always strain through muslin before using.
Red saunders makes a good cherry stain. When used on the bare wood
it requires no binder, but when used over filled or oiled wood, put
in one-fourth as much shellac varnish as you have stain, to act
as a binder for it. If you want it to act as a filler as well as
a stain, for pine or other close-grained wood, add 1½ pounds corn
starch, to each gallon of the mixture of stain and shellac. Try a
little and if it rubs up when dry, add more shellac.
You can mix red saunders stain with asphaltum varnish, to make
black walnut and mahogany stains, using more or less of either to
give the desired shade by using turpentine to make them mix. The
asphaltum acts as a binder in place of the shellac.
The practical painter can get the shades he wants by experimenting
on this line.
TO CHANGE THE COLOR OF WALNUT TO DARK MAHOGANY.
First give it a coat of very thin asphaltum varnish, then, when
dry, give it a coat of red saunders and shellac.
You can mix the red saunders and asphaltum stain with any
turpentine varnish, or with spirit varnish, if you use turpentine
to make them mix.
Burnt umber and burnt sienna in oil or varnish make a walnut
stain. Use but little of the pigments in proportion to the oil. Too
much pigment gives the work a muddy color.
NATURAL WOOD FINISHING.
Clean up all soiled places on the wood. To be sure of a good job on
open grained wood use a Bliss Rock Wood Filler. If you use a ready
made filler, thin as per directions on the can. Whatever filler
you use, put it on with a good brush. As soon as the filler begins
to set, or show flat, commence to rub it into the grain with a pad
made by gluing a piece of harness leather onto a block; always when
practicable rub across the grain of the wood. For round work have
a long piece of leather to draw back and forth around the work.
Remember the main thing at this stage is to get as much of the
filler as possible rubbed into the wood.
Another important point is to take off the surplus filler before
it becomes too hard to wipe off, and another point is to wipe off
the surplus filler and leave the pores of the wood level full.
Hence, it is important that the filler does not dry too fast, that
the painter puts on no more filler at a time than he can handle
before it dries, and that in wiping off the surplus filler he works
his rags across the grain. Some very open grained wood requires a
second application of filler to make a good job, or at least to be
looked over and touched up. The filler should have at least two
days to dry. When dry go over it lightly with fine sandpaper to
take off all particles of filler left on the surface.
Walnut, mahogany, chestnut, oak, ash and butternut may be classed
as open grained woods, which need to be well filled with paste
filler colored to match the color of the wood. When the filler
is dry put on a coat or two of white shellac and rub down smooth
with No. 1 sandpaper, and follow with two or more coats of hard
oil or varnish, as you like; give each coat plenty of time to dry
and rub each coat with curled hair or hair cloth, except the last
coat. If you want an egg shell or half gloss, rub the last coat
with pulverized pumice stone and raw linseed oil. If you want a
dead finish rub down with pulverized pumice stone and water instead
of oil. If you want a polish, first rub with the pumice stone and
water; then with rotten stone and water, and polish with rotten
stone and oil, or furniture polish and rotten stone. If you want
a gloss finish, flow on the last coat and omit rubbing. Treat the
close-grained woods as above stated, with the exception of the
filler. The shellac also may be omitted, but it will take at least
one more coat of hard oil or varnish for the job.
Cherry, sycamore, maple, birch, gumwood, redwood, cypress, pine,
whitewood, poplar and hemlock are all close-grained woods, and need
no paste filler. Pine especially should have a coat of shellac to
keep back the pitch.
For an extra fine job of gloss finish, rub next to the last coat
with pumice stone and water, flow on a coat of good varnish, and
leave it in the gloss. In this case great care is required in
cleaning the work to keep it from showing specks.
It stands the beginner in hand to be careful and not use his
shellac too heavy to work well; shellac has good body and an
apparently very thin coat will be a good heavy one.
To do a fine job the room and work must be clean, the clothing free
from dust, and the work, brushes and varnish free from specks. If
specks show on your gloss coat call a halt, and find where they
come from.
Soft cotton rags are the best material for wiping off surplus
filler.
A felt pad of convenient size to handle is the best for rubbing
work. Get one at the furniture shop. For a cheap job omit the water
rubbing, and rub with pumice stone and raw oil.
TO MAKE BLEACHED OR WHITE SHELLAC VARNISH.
Take powdered white shellac 1½ pounds, best grain alcohol 1 gallon.
Add the gum to the alcohol, set it in a warm place and shake your
jug or bottle occasionally. Don’t put it in tin or iron; either of
them will discolor it. You can hasten the process by setting your
jug in a sand or water bath, and gently heating it; or set it by
the stove, or in the sunshine.
To make the common orange shellac of commerce, dissolve 1½ pounds
orange shellac in 1 gallon methylated spirit or grain alcohol.
This will dry in ten or fifteen minutes, and makes a hard lustrous
varnish when dry, and stands the weather better than most gum
varnishes. It makes a turbid liquid of orange brown hue and dries
rather a pale brown. For use on dark wood this is equal to the
white shellac, if not superior.
TO COLOR PUTTY.
There is no use in trying to color common putty to match the color
of natural wood. The whiting in it will not take clear tints. Use
lead putty, which you can tint with raw sienna for pine, yellow
ochre for oak, burnt umber and burnt sienna for walnut, and burnt
sienna for mahogany. Better have the putty too light than too dark.
SPOTS ON PAINT.
Poor lumber and thin painting are often the cause of spots on
paint, especially on two-coat work. On cross-grained and other
extra-porous places more of the oil sinks into the wood than on the
general surface, and the result is flat places in the paint, which
fade sooner than the glossy paint; hence, the work looks spotted.
To provide against this kind of spotting use more care in priming
and see that all extra-porous places are well filled with the prime
coat, or touch them up before the second coat goes on. A little
extra work with the brush when putting on the prime will save
trouble.
Another cause may be traced to the practice of putting on a coarse
dark priming coat, which will show through in places where the
paint is thinnest.
Mildew, or fungus growth, is another cause. This sometimes comes
from the use of too much japan, _poor or fat oil_, or when the
paint dries tacky or soft.
Adulteration of linseed oil with mineral and other non-drying oils,
has a tendency to make paint dry soft. Linseed oil, kept for a few
days in an old sour tank or in an old rancid can in the paint shop,
is liable to cause fermentation to take place, which may result in
mildew in damp weather in shaded places.
When an oil can smells sour, or there is a deposit of foots at the
bottom, it is unfit to keep oil in.
Another cause of spotting may be found in insufficient and improper
brushing or spreading the paint; especially the priming, which
requires as much care in putting on as any other coat on the job.
For instance, here is a job which shows “laps.” Now, if this prime
is right when it is put on single, it is wrong when it is put on
double, because, where the laps are, the work has at least one more
coat than the balance of the job, hence the paint is liable to
fade spotted.
PORCELAIN FINISH.--CHINA GLOSS.--GLOSS FINISH.
All different names for about the same thing. To make a fine job:
If the work is new, see that it is smooth, free from dust and
stains. Then give it a coat of priming, put on thin, so as not to
show brush marks, and rub down with No. 0 sandpaper. Next, get a
good body with keg lead, mixed in turpentine and a very little
linseed oil; put on thin coats, so as not to show brush marks;
use a fitch brush, or at least a _fine_ bristle chiseled brush.
When dry, rub down with sandpaper and flow on a coat of thin white
shellac. This is to keep back the oil in the lead coats, and
prevent chemical action between the lead and zinc coats. Next, put
on two or more coats of French zinc ground in damar varnish; enough
at least, to get a clear white. Thin with turps and a little damar
varnish, and put on thin enough to show no laps or brush marks.
Then put on a coat or two of French zinc ground in damar varnish,
thinned with 1 part damar varnish and 2 parts turpentine. Next
put on a coat of damar varnish mixed with a little zinc ground in
damar, just enough to make the varnish white. Flow on a coat, and
be careful that it does not run on your work. To avoid runs always
commence at the top of a panel with a full brush and work down so
as not to have a surplus in the lower corners of the panels; this
applies to all parts of the work. It is quite a knack to put on a
full coat of this varnish and zinc, and not have it run.
In all cases put on enough zinc coats to make a clear white before
you put on the varnish. The small quantity of zinc is put in the
varnish to take off the yellow tinge, and to keep it from turning
yellow. Use lead putty. See recipes to make it on another page.
ANOTHER WAY.
Very hard and white, for parlors.--To prepare the wood for
the finish, if it be pine, give one or two coats of the
“Varnish--Transparent for wood,” which prevents the pitch from
oozing out, causing the finish to turn yellow; next, give the
room, at least, four coats of pure zinc, which may be ground in
only sufficient oil to enable it to grind properly; then mix to a
proper consistency with turpentine or naphtha. Give each coat time
to dry. When it is dry and hard, sandpaper it to a perfectly smooth
surface, when it is ready to receive the finish, which consists of
two coats of French zinc ground in, and thinned with damar varnish,
until it works properly under the brush.
LEAD POISONING--HOW TO AVOID IT.
White lead may enter the human system in three ways, to-wit:
Through the stomach, the lungs and the skin. In other words, it
may be eaten, inhaled or absorbed, hence the stomach, lungs and
skin should each be carefully guarded against it. To guard the
stomach, through which you are in the most danger of taking in the
poison, make it a rule to keep the mouth closed as much as possible
when using white lead, and _especially when sandpapering_. Make
it a rule to never eat or drink without first carefully cleansing
your lips, and carefully removing the paint from your hands before
eating. Tobacco chewers, who carry tobacco in their pockets, are in
especial danger of lead poison, if working in paint, because the
tobacco becomes more or less poisoned with lead from the fingers,
if the painter is not careful to clean his hands before taking a
chew. There is no great danger from inhaling white lead, except
when sandpapering, or when dusting after sandpapering.
It is a pretty good thing to carefully guard the nose with a damp
sponge while sandpapering, and to carefully free the nostrils
from lead. There is no danger of poisoning by absorption through
the skin, unless the painter is careless. When T see some men at
work, I wonder how they can possibly escape lead poisoning. Their
clothing glazed with oil paint, their hands daubed to the wrist by
grasping the brush by the head, instead of by the handle; or by
general carelessness in mixing and handling paints.
SYMPTOMS OF LEAD POISON.
Tired feeling, wakefulness at night, neuralgic pains, “shaky”
hands, constipated bowels, bad taste in the mouth, and pain in the
bowels, a blue edge on the gums, and a coated tongue. If you get
the colic, see a doctor; for the other symptoms, get away from
paint for a while if possible, and take the following: Iodide of
potash, ½ oz.; syrup sarsaparilla, 8 oz. Dose:--Teaspoonful three
or four times a day in half a cup of milk. Eat graham mush and
drink milk.
TO FINISH FURNITURE AND OTHER WORK IN SIXTEENTH CENTURY OAK.
First fill the wood with any good filler. Fill it well, then take
Vandyke brown 3 parts, and burnt sienna 1 part, and mix to a stiff
paste with boiled oil and japan, and thin with turpentine, until
you can brush it on the wood, and not have it look dauby or muddy.
Give the work a light coat, and brush it out well and carefully.
Too much pigment will make your work too dark. Wherever you want
the light or worn spots to appear, wipe off the stain with a cloth,
and with a badger blender carefully blend the stain into the edges
of the worn or light spots. Don’t stain too much at once, for fear
your stain may set so you cannot wipe out and blend. When the stain
is dry, sandpaper lightly with No. 0 paper. Finish with two coats
rubbing varnish, or with hard oil finish. Polish with rotten stone
and raw oil.
A SUPERIOR GLUE (WATERPROOF).
A very superior article may be made by dissolving 3 parts of india
rubber in 30 parts of naphtha; heat and agitation will be required
to effect the solution; when the rubber is completely dissolved,
add 64 parts of finely powdered shellac, which must also be heated
in the above mixture until all is dissolved. This mixture may be
produced in sheets like glue by pouring it while hot upon plates
of metal, where it will harden. When required for use, it may
simply be heated in a pot till soft. Two pieces of wood or leather,
joined together with this glue, can scarcely be sundered without a
fracture of the parts.
A VALUABLE CEMENT.
We find the following recipe good: The compound of glycerin,
oxide of lead, and red lead, for mending cast-iron that has been
fractured with the happiest results. It takes some little time to
dry, but turns almost as hard as stone, and is fire and waterproof.
For mending cracks in stone or cast-iron ware, where iron filling
cannot be had, we think it is invaluable. Take litharge and red
lead, equal parts, mix thoroughly and make into a paste with
concentrated glycerin to the consistency of soft putty, fill the
crack and smear a thin layer on both sides of the casting so as
to completely cover the fracture. This layer can be rubbed off, if
necessary, when nearly dry, by an old knife or chisel.
LINSEED OIL AND IRON RUST.
The oleaginous principle of linseed oil is said to be in the nature
of neutral salts called linolein, consisting of linoleic acid
combined with a glycerine base. Linolein is said by some writers to
constitute three-fourths of the volume of linseed oil, and that the
drying properties of the oil reside in the acid principle of the
linolein; that is, linoleic acid has the property of attracting and
combining with oxygen to form the substance known as dry linseed
oil. This acid is said to be a compound of several different acid
principles, combined in definite proportions. Writers seem to
disagree as to what the acids are, and in what respect they differ
from the acid properties of the non-drying fixed oils, but that is
a question which need not be discussed here. The glycerine base of
linolein seems to be common to all fixed oils, and is set down as
an oxide consisting of one equivalent of water and five of oxygen;
hence the affinity between the linoleic acid and its glycerine base.
Linoleic acid, like other acids, has an affinity for alkalies and
the ordinary metallic oxides. It unites with them, forming _neutral
compounds_. This affinity is said to be electrical; the alkalies
and oxides electro-positive, and the acid electro-negative. The
greater the contrast in this respect, the stronger the affinity;
hence, some acids separate others from their bases and form new
salts by precipitation. As an instance:
Drop sulphuric acid into a solution of acetate of lead. It will
displace the acetic acid, form sulphate of lead and precipitate,
leaving the liberated acetic acid in solution. In linolein, this
acid is so constituted that the affinity, or attraction between
it and its glycerine base, is too feeble to resist and keep back
the oxygen of the air; hence, when linseed oil is exposed to the
air in a thin layer, oxygen unites with its linoleic acid, and
this process continues until the oil becomes dry to the touch.
Beyond this point the process is slower, because the oil is now
less penetrable; but the process goes on until the layer of oil
becomes hard and brittle, no matter with what pigment it may be
mixed, although the pigment may for a time retard the action of the
destroying elements.
Linseed oil dries too slowly for general use by the painter, hence
various ways have been devised to hasten the drying process. If
the foregoing theory is correct, the process which will cause the
oil to dry to a good wearing body in the time desired, and leave
it in the best condition to resist the action of the elements and
the absorption of oxygen, is the best. I regard the lead oxides
as the best dryers for this purpose--at least according to my
experience. When we add an oxide to linseed oil as a dryer in the
small quantity which experience has taught us is best to use, it is
evident that it is not sufficient in itself to oxidize the whole of
the oil to an appreciable extent. Writers differ as to the peculiar
action of the oxides upon the oil, but I think it safe to say
that the dryer sets up some chemical reaction which increases the
affinity between the linolein and the oxygen of the atmosphere; at
any rate, there is no dispute upon the point that linseed oil in
drying absorbs a large per cent. of oxygen.
A knowledge of this unanimously conceded point led me to believe
that a coat of pure linseed oil might make the best possible
priming coat for iron work which had commenced to rust. Why?
Because iron rust is an oxide of iron, having an excess of oxygen.
Spread on rusty iron, it penetrates the rust, absorbs its excess
of oxygen and dries with the remaining neutral oxide held fast in
its body. This is my theory; whether correct or not, numerous tests
have proved to me that a coat of linseed oil will stop the rusting
of iron if applied under proper conditions. When rust is _thick or
scaling_ there is no safety short of taking it off. Iron rust is
more or less hydrated; to free it from moisture, give it the flame
of the gasoline paint burner.
WHITE ENAMEL (SELECTED).
First, the wood is primed with a composition consisting of three
parts of turpentine and one part of oil, japan gold size being used
as a dryer. On this drying thoroughly the work is rubbed down until
perfectly smooth. Next are applied two or three coats of pure white
lead mixed entirely flat; each coat is rubbed down, time being
allowed for it to dry. Equal parts of lead and zinc are used for
the next coat, and three-fourths zinc and one-fourth lead for the
one succeeding. After this has become thoroughly hard it is rubbed
down very smooth. A thin coat of color made of zinc and turpentine
is now rubbed on; for the next coat the same flat color is used,
with the addition of about one-half the quantity of good light
coach varnish. For the last coat enough zinc is used in the varnish
to make it white if the last coat of zinc is not white and solid
before varnishing. If the work is to be gilded or striped the zinc
must be left out of the last coat of varnish.
VARNISH TO IMITATE GROUND GLASS.
An expert has sent the following to the _British Journal of
Photography_: To make a varnish to imitate ground glass, dissolve
90 grains sandrac and 20 grains of mastic in 2 ounces of washed
methylated ether, and add, in small quantities, a sufficiency of
benzine to make it dry with a suitable grain--too little making the
varnish too transparent, and excess making it crapy. The quantity
of benzine required depends upon its quality--from half an ounce
to an ounce and a half, or even more; but the best results are got
with a medium quality. It is important to use washed ether, free
from spirit.
VARNISH FOR RUSTIC WORK.
One quart of boiled linseed oil and two ounces of asphaltum, to
be boiled on a slow fire until the asphaltum is dissolved, being
kept stirred to prevent its boiling over. This gives a fine dark
color, is not sticky, and looks well for a year; or, first wash
the article with soap and water, and when dry, on a sunny day do
it over with common boiled linseed oil; leave that to dry a day or
two, then varnish it over once or twice with hard varnish. If well
done this will last for years and prevent annoyance from insects.
TO CLEAN VERY DIRTY BRASS.
Rub some bi-chromate of potassa fine, pour over it about twice its
bulk of sulphuric acid, and mix this with an equal quantity of
water. The dirtiest brass is cleaned in a trice. Wash right off in
plenty of water, wipe it and rub perfectly dry, and polish with
powdered rotten stone.
TO COUNTERFEIT TORTOISE SHELL VERY FINELY.
In order to do this well, your foundation or ground-work must be
perfectly smooth and white, or nearly so, you then gild it with
silver leaf with slow size, so as to have it perfectly smooth with
no ragged edges, cleaning the loose leaf off. Then grind cologne
earth very fine, and mix it with gum water, common size; and with
this, you having added more gum water than it was ground with, spot
or cloud the ground-work, having a fine shell to imitate; and when
this is done, you will perceive several reds, lighter and darker,
appear on the edges of the black, and many times lie in streaks on
the transparent part of the shell. To imitate this finely, grind
dragon’s blood with gum water, and with a fine pencil draw those
warm reds, flushing it in about the dark places more thickly,
but fainter and fainter and thinner, with less color towards the
lighter parts, so sweetening it that it may in a manner lose the
red, being sunk in the silver or more transparent parts. When it is
dry, give it a coat of varnish, let it stand for a few days, then
rub it down with pumice stone and water. Then grind gamboge very
fine, and mix with varnish, giving of this as many coats as will
cause the silver to have a golden color, then finish with a clean
coat of varnish.
PRICE LIST.
The prices of labor, and cost of material vary so much in different
localities that it seems impossible to make a reliable price list
for general work. The position, condition, and shape of different
jobs all go towards making a general price list, an unreliable
guide; also the quality of work demanded may make 50 per cent.
difference in price. I have half a dozen printed price lists before
me, and they generally agree to about the following prices for
painting and glazing, to-wit:
_Per Yard._
1 coat on new work 8 to 10 cents
1 coat on old work 10 to 18 cents
2 coats on new work 18 to 20 cents
2 coats on old work 20 to 25 cents
3 coats on new work 25 to 28 cents
Brick walls, 2 coats 20 to 30 cents
Penciling 10 to 15 cents
PRIMING AND GLAZING SASH.
_Per Light._
10 × 14 and under 5 to 6 cents
12 × 16 7 to 9 cents
14 × 24 10 to 12 cents
18 × 24 15 to 18 cents
24 × 30 20 to 25 cents
30 × 40 35 to 50 cents
For old work where the old putty is in the sash, multiply the above
figures by 3 or 4. When called out to the house to set a light or
two charge for time and material. Most work of this kind is done at
least 30 per cent. below the above prices.
I quote below a price list for sign painters, from a very complete
report on painters’ prices and measurements, generally, by one of
the ablest of local associations of master painters and decorators:
JAPANNED TIN SIGNS.
_Gold._ _Plain._
3 × 14 inches $1.25 $ .75
6 × 8 inches 1.50 .75
8 × 10 inches 1.75 1.00
10 × 14 inches 2.50 1.50
11 × 17 inches 3.00 2.00
11 × 17 inches, 3 lines 3.50 2.55
14 × 20 inches 4.00 2.50
14 × 20 inches, 3 lines 4.50 3.00
18 × 24 inches 6.00 3.50
18 × 24 inches, 3 lines 7.00 4.00
Frames additional.
GLASS SIGNS ON WINDOWS AND DOORS.
_In Silver or Gold_ _Per Foot._
Letters up to 6 inches in height $ .75
Letters 6 to 10 inches in height 1.00
Letters 10 to 14 inches in height 1.50
Shaded, one color, 25 per cent. extra.
DRUM SIGNS.
_Gold._ _Plain._
10 × 14 inches $ 3.50 $ 2.50
11 × 17 inches 4.00 3.00
14 × 20 inches 5.00 3.50
18 × 24 inches 7.00 5.00
20 × 24 inches 8.50 6.50
24 × 30 inches 10.00 7.00
30 × 30 inches 12.00 8.50
30 × 48 inches 15.00 10.00
The above include moulding and urns and putting up.
Drilling holes in iron extra.
MUSLIN SIGNS.
_Per Foot._
Up to 1 foot high, black 8 cents
1 to 2 feet, black 10 cents
2 to 3 feet, black 12 cents
Colored one-half extra.
Muslin furnished.
Frames extra.
OIL CLOTH SIGNS.
_Per Foot._
Up to 1 foot 20 cents
1 to 2 feet 25 cents
2 to 3 feet 30 cents
Oil cloth furnished.
Frames extra.
BOARD SIGNS.
Including three coats of paint and lettering.
_Gold._ _Plain._
6 inches × 4 feet $ 4.00 $ 2.50
8 inches × 6 feet 5.00 3.50
10 inches × 8 feet 6.00 4.00
1 foot × 12 feet 7.50 5.00
1 foot × 15 feet 8.50 5.00
14 inches × 16 feet 8.50 5.00
14 inches × 18 feet 9.00 6.00
14 inches × 20 feet 9.50 6.00
16 inches × 16 feet 9.50 6.00
16 inches × 18 feet 10.00 6.00
18 inches × 18 feet 10.00 6.00
18 inches × 20 feet 12.00 7.00
18 inches × 24 feet 15.00 7.00
18 inches × 30 feet 18.00 8.00
Board extra.
Irons and putting up extra.
Shading, 25 per cent. additional, one color.
WALL SIGNS.
Two coats of paint and lettering. Extra coat, 1 cent per square
foot additional.
2 × 16 feet $ 6.00
2 × 20 feet 7.00
2 × 24 feet 8.00
2 × 30 feet 10.50
3 × 16 feet 8.00
3 × 20 feet 10.00
3 × 24 feet 12.00
3 × 30 feet 14.00
4 × 16 feet 9.00
4 × 20 feet 12.00
4 × 24 feet 13.00
4 × 30 feet 15.00
6 × 16 feet 12.00
6 × 20 feet 14.00
6 × 24 feet 16.00
6 × 30 feet 18.00
8 × 16 feet 14.00
8 × 20 feet 16.00
8 × 24 feet 18.00
8 × 30 feet 20.00
10 × 12 feet 10.00
10 × 16 feet 13.00
10 × 20 feet 16.00
10 × 24 feet 19.00
10 × 30 feet 22.00
12 × 16 feet 14.00
12 × 20 feet 18.00
12 × 24 feet 20.00
12 × 30 feet 25.00
14 × 20 feet 20.00
14 × 24 feet 24.00
14 × 30 feet 28.00
16 × 24 feet 26.00
16 × 30 feet 39.00
20 × 24 feet 30.00
20 × 30 feet 35.00
20 × 40 feet 40.00
21 × 30 feet 37.00
24 × 36 feet 42.00
24 × 40 feet 48.00
30 × 40 feet 60.00
30 × 50 feet 70.00
30 × 60 feet 80.00
SHOW CARDS.
1 sheet, 22 × 25 $ 1.50
1 sheet, 14 × 22 .75
1 sheet, 11 × 14 .50
The above prices are based upon white lead at 7 cents per pound
and wages at 33½ cents an hour.
MIDSUMMER PAINTING.
All things considered, which is the best time of the year to do
outside painting? Spring and fall, did you say? Well, yes. I know
nearly all painters think so, and the people outside the trade are
almost, if not quite, unanimous in holding the same opinion. But
why? Do the winds of March, the frequent showers of April and May
add very much to the pleasure and profit of doing outside work
in spring? Do the soaking rains, which come along about the time
of the vernal equinox and drive you off your job for a week or
two and watersoak your unprimed work, add much pleasure to your
recollections of spring painting? Do you remember anything about
the clouds of midges and thousands of little moths which filled the
air, ready and willing to decorate your paint with their little
bodies on every still, warm mid-day in April and May? Of course, we
are speaking now of climatic conditions from our own standpoint,
the great Northwest, which may also be true in the Middle and
New England states. The mornings and evenings of spring and fall
are apt to be cool--often frosty; then the oil stiffens and the
paint rubs out hard and goes on slow, and we lose time and work
harder. Practically, I favor midsummer for outside work, because
the temperature is more uniformly warm and the paint spreads
easily and evenly at any time of day, and as a rule the rains are
less frequent and give a longer warning of their approach. The
little black flies are not so plentiful in the hot days of summer
as they are in spring and early fall. They are either dead or
seek the shade of trees and grass. The dew is all gone in summer
before seven o’clock a. m., and does not commence to fall until
after quitting time. A carpet of grass and other vegetation covers
a large portion of the ground in summer, holding down the dust.
The winds are not usually so high and gusty in summer as they are
in the spring and fall. In the warm days of summer your work is
more apt to dry quickly, cleanly and evenly; and when you “knock
off” from work at six p. m., and the sun is yet two hours above
the horizon, you know that your last ground stretch will soon be
out of the way of dust and rain. In the hot weather of summer the
pores of the wood are all open, and the oil, which is then soft
and thin, goes farther into the wood than in spring and fall, when
the weather is cool. There are, it is true, some fine days in the
fall for outside work, but the rainy season of the autumnal equinox
and the frosty nights of the later months often retard your work
and mar the finish of your job. One objection urged against summer
painting is the flies, but really are the flies which injure paint
any more numerous in midsummer than they are in spring and fall? It
is true the festive house-fly is in his glory in the summer, but,
as a rule, he is too smart to get stuck in outside paint. To get
inside is his ambition, and the molasses-cup and sugar-bowl are his
objective points. If the house-fly is an objection in the summer,
it certainly is a greater one in the fall, for in September and
early in October they are thicker, saucier and more familiar than
at any other time of year; then they want not only to get at the
sugar, but to get in and warm.
A correspondent asks: “Does the reader know from practical
experiment that one season is better than another for applying
outside paint?” I suppose the writer means the effect upon the
wearing qualities of the paint and the permanency of the color.
I have been experimenting for a practical solution of this
question for my own satisfaction and guidance, and have come to
the conclusion that paint put on the outside in the hot weather of
summer will wear as well and hold its color as long as paint put on
in the cooler days of spring and fall. I know the idea that paint
dries too fast in hot weather is almost universal, but I think it
grows largely from the fact that a quick-drying paint is not as
good for outside as a slow dryer; but you must remember that there
is a great difference between a quick-drying paint and drying a
slow paint as quickly as the ingredients will admit of. Linseed
oil dries or hardens by absorbing oxygen from the air, and that
process goes on more rapidly in hot weather than in cool weather,
because the air in hot weather is in a condition more freely to
part with its oxygen, or because the oil is in a better condition
to receive it, or both. In other words, a warm atmosphere hastens
the process of absorption and a cool air retards it, but in either
case the result is the same: the air gives up enough of its oxygen
to solidify the oil. Now, the question arises, can any difference
be discovered (chemical or otherwise) in the composition of the
paint, whether dried in warm or cool air? From a business-point of
view, I have long advocated summer as a good time to paint outside,
and have usually succeeded in converting customers to my views upon
the subject, and as a consequence have not often had a dull time
in midsummer. We painters in the country know how unpleasant
and unprofitable it is to have all the work of the year rushed
upon us in the spring and fall, and I think if painters generally
could convince themselves by practical experiment that, all things
considered, summer time is the best season of the year to do
outside work, and advocate the same to their customers, backed by
argument and practical illustration, there would soon be less need
of complaint about a dull season in midsummer.
TO REMOVE PAINT.
1. An expeditious way is by chemical process, using a solution of
soda and quicklime in equal proportions. The soda is dissolved in
water, the lime is then added, and the solution is applied with a
brush to the old paint. A few moments are sufficient to remove the
coats of paint, which may be washed off with hot water. The oldest
paint may be removed by a paste of the soda and quicklime. The wood
should be afterwards washed with vinegar or an acid solution before
repainting, to remove all traces of alkali.
2. Wet the place with naphtha, repeating as often as required; but
frequently one application will dissolve the paint. As soon as it
is softened, rub the surface clean. Chloroform mixed with a small
quantity of spirit ammonia, composed of strong ammoniac, has been
employed very successfully to remove the stains of dry paint from
wood, silk, and other substances.
3. To remove paint from floors.--Take one pound of American
pearlash, three pounds of quickstone lime. Slake the lime in
water, then add the pearlash, and make the whole amount about the
consistency of paint. Lay the mixture over the whole body of the
work which is required to be cleaned, with an old brush; let it
remain for twelve or fourteen hours, when the paint can be easily
scraped off.
TO SOFTEN PUTTY AND REMOVE OLD PAINT.
1. Take three pounds of quickstone lime; slake the lime in water,
then add one pound of American pearlash; apply this to both sides
of the glass and let it remain for twelve hours, when the putty
will be softened, and the glass may be taken out without being
broken. To destroy paint, apply it to the whole body which is
required to be cleaned; use an old brush, as it will spoil a new
one; let it remain about twelve or fourteen hours, and then the
paint may be easily scraped off.
2. To remove paint from old doors, etc., and to soften putty
in window frames, so that the glass may be taken out without
breakage or cutting, take one pound of pearlash and three pounds
of quicklime, slake the lime in water and then add the pearlash,
and make the whole about the consistency of paint. Apply 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 taken out of the
frame without being cut, and with the greatest facility. To destroy
paint, lay the above over the whole body of the work which is
required to be cleaned, using an old brush, as it will spoil a new
one. Let it remain for twelve or fourteen hours, when the paint can
be easily scraped off.
3. Paint stains on glass.--American potash, 3 parts; unslaked lime,
1. Lay this on with a stick, letting it remain for some time, and
it will remove either tar or paint.
TREATMENT OF DAMP WALLS.
There are two classes of damp walls, first where the water comes
in from the outside from defective roofs, bad gutters, defective
pipes, and where it comes through the walls from the ground, as
in basements. In the other class we may include walls which are
dampened by condensation of moisture, in places shut off from the
general artificial temperature of the room, behind stationary
furniture. Such walls may dry out during hot weather, or they may
be kept damp by a growth of mold or fungus.
When water comes in from the outside, it is impossible to keep
paint or paper on the wall in good shape. Look around for the
places where the water comes in, point it out to the owner, and
if he fails to stop the leak have it _understood_ that the work
is done at _his risk_; or, what is better, refuse to do the work;
because, when a job comes off, or turns out badly, you will take
the blame generally, no matter whether it is your fault or not.
A job may be made to last awhile by a waterproof coating, or by
sheathing with thin lumber, but it is only a question of time when
the lining material will become water-soaked and spoil the paint or
paper, to your discredit. I have usually been _too busy_ to take
jobs of this kind. If the water can be cut off, the next thing is
to dry the wall, which you can do at the surface only by setting
a stove near it, or with the flame of a paint burner; then, after
all your trouble, the water, which remains in the wall, if of brick
or stone, may find its way to the surface, and destroy your work.
Sheet lead cemented to the wall will answer a good purpose for a
time, but the dampness will finally destroy the cement and let the
metal loose.
Battening out for lath and plaster is the best for basement or damp
stone walls, but that is the plasterer’s work, and is rarely ever
done except in private residences.
Battening and canvasing is next best; nail your battens up and down
18 inches apart. Have the canvas stitched in sheets the right size
to cover the large blank spaces of the wall. Then stretch and tack
it on the battens, and give it a coat of glue and alum size.
When dampness is caused by condensation the best remedy is to
remove the cause and dry the wall.
TO PAPER ON A BOARD PARTITION.
When paper is pasted on boards, it must crack, when the lumber
shrinks. If you paste cloth over the cracks, it must crack, if the
cracks open further than the cloth will stretch. When you tack
cloth on a partition and size it, if the size goes through the
cloth and sticks it fast to the boards, it will be likely to crack
when the lumber shrinks. For a good job I would advise that you
first cover the partition _with paper tacked on_, then when you
size the cloth, it will stick to the paper, and not to the boards.
I have met with uniform success in this way; because the boards
are left free to shrink and swell without breaking the cloth or
paper. I like to sew the cloth together with a running seam in
pieces large enough to cover all broad spaces, turn the smooth side
out, stretch well, and fasten the edges only; drive the tacks an
inch from the edges of the cloth, so that you can fasten them down
smoothly with paste. When a man has been unwise enough to put a
board partition across one end of an otherwise fine room, and is
willing to pay for his folly: first, take measurements of the blank
spaces, and sew together some fairly strong _unbleached_ muslin,
stretch on frames, and give it a coat of glue and alum size, and
whiting; when dry, carefully fit each piece in its place and tack
it an inch from the edges and fasten the edges down smooth with
strong flour paste. Tack only at the edges, and if you are careful
to butt edge the different pieces over the doors, etc., you can
make a nice smooth job in this way. By using this method the paste
will not stick the cloth to the wall. Use tinned tacks to prevent
rust.
SANDPAPERING.
This is a job none of us like very well, but since it must be done,
it is worth while to be able to do it to the best advantage. The
first thing to look for is good paper. To test the strength of the
sand, rub two pieces together, and if the sand don’t fly off, it
is good in that respect; next see if the paper is tough and will
not tear easily. Chalk the back of your paper before you double it
and it will not slip. Don’t lose time using old, worn-out paper.
New paper will, of course, cut faster than old paper, and the
difference in the time gained by using sharp paper will pay for the
new paper twice over. Using old dull paper is like trying to save
money by using an old stub brush. Better use up fifty cents’ worth
of paper than to fool away dollars’ worth of time trying to save
money by using old paper.
If you have old, hard paint to cut down, which dry sandpaper
will not touch, keep the work wet with benzine, and you will be
surprised to see how fast the sandpaper will cut the paint. To put
on benzine use a small spring-bottomed can, such as is used for
oiling machinery. You can use any grade of sandpaper, and it will
not soak up or gum. No. 1 paper is the best for this purpose. A
good deal of time may be lost where scrapers could be used to much
better advantage. A broad, flat scraper to shove endwise is always
in order, and a few narrow ones with various shaped ends to fit in
headings, moldings, etc., are a great help.
A STENCILED BORDER.
This makes a nice finish for a painted or kalsomined room. To make
it look at its best, paint a stripe as wide as your stencil in a
pleasant contrast to the paint on the room and put the stencil on
that in soft harmonizing colors.
REPAINTING SCALED WORK.
To repaint a job which has commenced to scale, without taking off
all the old paint, is very uncertain work, but if you have to try
it, have it understood in writing, or before witnesses, that it is
done at the owner’s risk. First scrape off the loose paint, then go
over the job with raw oil; put it on freely and let it stand until
dry; then scrape off all the paint loosened by the oil, and coat
up with strictly pure white lead and oil. Avoid zinc, and mixtures
of zinc, and barytes, on jobs of this kind; because they are more
or less liable to crack, and pull off more of the old paint. White
lead and oil lightly tinted will hold it if anything will. Use raw
oil and a little good japan.
TO MIX WATER COLORS.
Light weight colors which will not mix well with water may be
easily mixed to a stiff paste with molasses or sirup, then mix in
glue size for a binder and thin with water.
TO SIZE MUSLIN FOR LETTERING.
Use a thin size of white glue in water, or a thin starch paste. For
a sign to stand weather, dissolve white wax in turpentine by heat.
Melt the wax in a kettle, then take it outside and by degrees add
sufficient spirits of turpentine and make a thin size.
One ounce of wax to the quart of turps is about right. Put it on
warm with a brush.
ANOTHER FOR WHITE WORK.
Slake a little good, fresh lime in hot water and mix a size with
skim milk. Then strain through cheese cloth. This size is, when
dry, insoluble in water and will hold lettering as long as the
cloth lasts. May be tinted.
[Illustration: No. 4. OLD STYLE EXTENDED.
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z & , .
a b c d e f g h
i j k l m n o
p q r s t u v
w x y z 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 0
]
TEST OF THE PURITY OF WHITE LEAD.
The following is an infallible and simple commercial test of the
purity of white lead:
Take a piece of firm, close-grained charcoal, and near one end of
it scoop out a cavity about half an inch in diameter and a quarter
of an inch in depth. Place in the cavity a sample of the lead to be
tested, about the size of a small pea, and apply to it continuously
the _blue_ or _hottest_ part of the flame of the blow-pipe; if the
sample be strictly pure it will, in a very short time, say two
minutes, be reduced to metallic lead, leaving no residue; but if it
be adulterated, even to the extent of 10 per cent. only, with oxide
of zinc, sulphate of baryta, whiting or any other carbonate of lime
(which substances are the principal adulterations used), or if it
be composed entirely of these materials, as is sometimes the case
with cheap lead (so-called), it cannot be reduced, but will remain
on the charcoal an infuscatible mass.
A blow-pipe can be obtained from any jeweler at small cost. An
alcohol lamp, star candle, or a lard oil lamp furnishes the best
flame for use of the blow-pipe. This test is very simple and anyone
can very soon learn to make it with ease and skill.
POLISH TO RENOVATE VARNISHED WORK.
One quart good vinegar, 2 ounces butter of antimony, 2 ounces
alcohol, 1 quart oil. Shake before using.
BRONZES--COLORS.
White,
Light Gold,
Lemon,
Copper,
Lilac,
Silver,
Dark Gold,
Orange,
Carmine,
Violet,
Flesh,
Rich Gold,
Fire,
Crimson,
Brown,
Light and Dark Greens.
BLACK VARNISH FOR IRON.
Asphaltum, 2 pounds.
Boiled linseed oil, 1 pint.
Spirits turpentine, 2 quarts.
Melt the asphaltum with the oil in an iron kettle. Stir well before
removing from the fire. When partly cool add the turpentine and a
little good japan.
TO FREE BENZINE FROM ITS OFFENSIVE ODOR.
To deodorize benzine, add 3 ounces quicklime to the gallon of
benzine; shake well. Let the lime settle and pour off and filter
the benzine.
PAINT TO PREVENT WOOD EXPOSED TO THE GROUND FROM ROTTING.
Take of linseed oil, 4 parts; whiting, 40 parts; rosin, 50 parts;
clean sand, 300 parts; heat together in a kettle until the rosin
melts; then add 2 parts sulphate of copper; the mass to be well
stirred, and thinned to workable consistency with linseed oil.
RECIPES FOR BLACKBOARD SLATING.
Dissolve 1 pound shellac in 1 gallon 95 per cent. alcohol; then add
½ pound best powdered ivory black, 5 ounces finest emery flour, 2
ounces ultramarine blue; mix well and keep air tight. When using
stir frequently. If thick enough to show brush marks, add more
alcohol; work quick with a fine brush.
TO MAKE A BLACKBOARD ON COMMON PLASTER.
Stop all cracks and holes with plaster paris mixed in glue size.
When dry sandpaper until all is smooth; then paper the wall with
white blank wall paper, butt the edges, put on with strong paste,
and be careful to rub out all blisters. When dry prime with oil
paint, then sandpaper with fine paper, and put on two coats of
above slating. This makes an excellent blackboard. Boards which I
made in this way twenty years ago are in good shape yet, and will
last for years to come with an occasional repainting.
CHEAP SLATING, BUT GOOD.
Mix lamp black, 4 parts; ultramarine blue, 1 part, by weight, in
turpentine, with sufficient good japan and a very little oil to
bind it, then add one part by weight of _fine pumice stone_. Have
it thin enough to flow on and not leave brush marks.
WATERPROOF OIL RUBBER PAINT FOR CLOTH.
Melt 2½ pounds of india rubber in ½ gallon of boiled oil by
boiling. If too thick, add more oil; if too thin, add more rubber,
and a little japan to dry it. Apply warm.
TO CLEAN PAINT.
Have some whiting on a plate, then dip a piece of flannel in warm,
soft water and squeeze nearly dry, then take up some of the whiting
by dipping the flannel in it, and rub the paint until it looks
clean, then rub dry with a soft cloth or chamois skin.
GOOD QUICK STAIN FOR A BRICK CHIMNEY.
For red stain, take Venetian red, 2 parts; yellow ochre, 1
part--both dry--and mix with skim milk. For yellow stain, use
water-lime, tinted with yellow ochre. Mix as above.
Skim milk when mixed with common quicklime, Portland cement, or
Venetian red, is converted into an insoluble binder, which renders
the mixture waterproof, so that it will not wash off when wet;
neither will it rub up when dry. Other pigments can be added,
by way of coloring, up to 25 per cent., without affecting the
insolubility of the paint.
For a brick wall, which has not been rubbed or painted, Venetian
red toned down with yellow ochre, beats any glue and acid mixture
for durability.
TO CLEAN DOOR PLATES.
Put on with a rag a weak solution of ammonia in water, and rub to
dryness.
TO CLEAN VARNISHED PAINT.
In a gallon of water, boil a pound of wheat bran, and wash the
varnish with the water.
SLOWING THE DRYING OF PAINT.
In wall painting or otherwise, especially in hot weather, if the
paint dries so fast as to show laps in spite of your best efforts
with the brush, the addition of a little cotton seed oil will make
the paint dry slower without hurting the gloss; or if you are using
flat color, and it dries too fast, a little cotton seed oil will
make it dry slower, and not make a gloss. You can, by a little
experiment, determine how much of cotton seed oil to use in each
case.
FINE BRONZE FOR METALS.
Red aniline (fuchsine), 20 parts; purple aniline, 10 parts; 95 per
cent. alcohol, 200 parts; acid benzoic, 10 parts. Dissolve the
colors in the spirit in a porcelain vessel in a water or sand bath;
add the acid and boil until the mixture changes from a greenish
color to a beautiful bronze color. Lay it on the bright metal with
a brush.
REPAINTING BLISTERED DOORS.
When the paint commences to blister or scale on a door, it is very
liable to keep on blistering and scaling from time to time, as
long as any of the old paint is left on the door, no matter how
carefully it may be repainted, because in most cases whatever
caused the paint to scale off in spots, weakened the entire coat
of paint on the door, making it liable to raise up, or come off
in other places, whenever exposed to any extra strain, such as
sun heat, or the drying of new coats of paint or varnish over it;
hence, to have a sure thing on painting a scaled or blistered door,
take off all the old paint. Put on a thin prime of pure white lead
and linseed oil; use the priming sparingly _and rub it out thin_;
let the prime dry and coat up with lead and oil paint, mixed with
good body; put in a little turps and spread the _paint out thin_,
so it will dry solid; rub each coat in the same way; give each coat
time to dry solid. For work to be varnished, prime as above, and
coat up flat. I think blistering is often caused by flowing on too
much paint having too much oil in it, in proportion to the pigment,
hence it does not dry solid, the oil is softened and expanded by
heat, and the coating, which is more of an oil skin than a body
of paint, lets go its hold on the wood and puffs out in a blister
to make room for the softened and expanding oil skin. If painters
will mix their paint with good body, and use more elbow grease in
rubbing it out, they will have less trouble with blisters.
FIREPROOF PAINT FOR ROOFS, ETC.
A recipe published thirty years ago in the Maine _Farmer_:
Slake stone lime by putting it into a tub to be covered to keep
in the steam. When slacked pass the powder through a fine sieve,
and to each 6 quarts of it add 1 quart rock salt, and water, 1
gallon; then boil and skim clean. To each five gallons of this add
pulverized alum, 1 pound; pulverized copperas, ½ pound; then slowly
add powdered potash, ¾ pound; then add hardwood ashes sifted, 4
pounds; now add any color and apply with a brush. This paint stops
small leaks in roofs, prevents moss, is incombustible, and renders
brick waterproof. It is durable as stone.
VARNISH FOR IRON.
Genuine asphaltum 8 pounds, melt in an iron kettle, slowly adding
boiled linseed oil, 5 gallons; litharge, 1 pound, and sulphate of
zinc, ½ pound; continue to boil three hours, then add dark gum
amber, 1½ pounds, and boil two hours longer. When cool thin with
turpentine to good working consistency.
BLACK VARNISH FOR IRON.
Genuine asphaltum (not coal tar imitation), 1 pound; lamp black, ¼
pound; rosin, ½ pound; spirits turpentine, 1 quart. Dissolve the
asphaltum and rosin in the turpentine, then rub up the lamp black
with linseed oil, only sufficient to form a paste, and mix with the
others.
TO MIX DRY LAMP BLACK.
First cut it up in benzine or turpentine to a thick paste, stir
well and add linseed oil; if the black is to be used as an oil
paint, a little at first, stir well and you may add more. In this
way you will have no trouble in mixing it with other paint, if you
do it when the paint is rather stiff.
TO CLEAN BRASS.
One-half ounce oxalic acid, 3 ounces rotten stone, ¼ ounce gum
arabic, each in powder; made into a paste with sweet oil. Use
sparingly and rub dry with flannel.
DIPPING PAINT.
Grind dry colors in japan and turps, with only enough japan to bind
the pigment. When dry varnish, use any pigment you like, or use
bolted whiting and color as you like.
TO MAKE WAX FINISH FOR FLOORS.
Take 2 ounces pearlash and 2 pounds white wax. Slice the wax thin,
and boil it with the pearlash in 2 quarts of water; stir until the
wax is melted and unites with the water.
Put on the finish with a brush, and polish with cloth or plush.
This finish will be good only for light service.
SPIRIT VARNISHES.
There are numerous recipes which might be given here for making
the fine elastic varnishes, but it would not be practicable for
the painter to make them, even if he had the requisite skill and
experience, but with spirit varnishes it is very different, and
the painter can make them by a formula as well as an expert can.
(For formulas for white and orange shellac varnish see article on
wood finishing.) For inside work, where the family is living at the
time the work is being done, the alcohol varnish is preferable.
First, because it dries very quickly, and second, because it is
free from sickening or disagreeable odors.
Below are several recipes for making varnishes, which dry hard and
lustrous. The spirit used is wood or grain alcohol; in either case,
the spirit should be 95 per cent. proof.
BROWN HARD SPIRIT VARNISH (SELECTED).
1. Sandarac, 1 pound; shellac, ½ pound; gum elemi, 4 ounces; Venice
turpentine, 4 ounces; spirit, 1 gallon.
2. Gum sandarac, 1½ pounds; shellac, 1 pound; spirit, 1 gallon.
After the gums are dissolved, put in rosin turpentine varnish, 1
pint. This makes a good varnish, not as quick drying as pure spirit
varnishes.
A brown varnish may be made by mixing shellac, 1½ pounds; pale
rosin, 1½ pounds; spirit, 2 gallons.
WHITE HARD VARNISH.
1. Sandarac, 2½ pounds; gum thus, 1 pound; spirit, 1 gallon.
2. Mastic, ½ pound; sandarac, 2 pounds; elemi gum, 4 ounces;
spirit, 1 gallon.
3. Mastic, ½ pound; sandarac, 1 pound; turps, 2 ounces; spirit, 1
gallon.
These are all prepared by mixing and setting in a warm place
until the gums are dissolved, then they are ready for use. Shake
occasionally. For fine work strain carefully.
PURE WHITE VARNISHES.
1. Pale manila copal, 8 ounces; gum camphor, 1 ounce; mastic, 2
ounces; venice turpentine, 1 ounce; spirit, 1 quart.
2. Sandarac, 8 ounces; mastic, 2 ounces; Canada balsam, 4 ounces;
spirit, 1 quart.
3. Sandarac, 8 ounces; damar, 4 ounces; gum thus, 8 ounces; manila
copal, 8 ounces; elemi, 8 ounces; spirit, ½ gallon. This is a good
pale article.
4. Gum thus, 8 ounces; gum benzoin, 4 ounces; manila elemi, 4
ounces; spirit, 1 quart.
VARNISH PAINTS.
These are made by mixing opaque pigments with almost any varnish,
using sufficient turps to make them spread well.
GOLD VARNISH.
Shellac, 8 ounces; sandarac, 8 ounces; mastic, 8 ounces; gamboge,
2 ounces; dragon’s blood, 1 ounce; turmeric, 4 ounces; spirit, 1
gallon.
FURNITURE VARNISH.
Shellac, 1¾ pounds; sandarac, 4 ounces; mastic, 4 ounces; spirit, 1
gallon.
DAMAR VARNISH.
Damar, 1 ounce; sandarac, 5 ounces, mastic, 1 ounce; turps, 20
ounces. Digest at gentle heat until dissolved. If necessary add
more turps to bring down to the proper consistency.
LACQUERS FOR BRASS AND TIN.
Pale gold lacquer.--Spirit, 1 gallon; orange shellac, 1 ounce;
gamboge, ½ ounce.
Deep gold.--Orange shellac, 10 ounces; turmeric, 4 ounces; gamboge,
4 ounces; dragon’s blood, ½ ounce; spirit, ¾ gallon.
Brass lacquer.--Shellac, 14 ounces; turmeric, 4 ounces; annotto, 1
ounce; saffron, ½ ounce; spirit, 1 gallon.
LEATHER VARNISH (BLACK).
Shellac, 12 ounces; gum thus, 5 ounces; sandarac, 2 ounces; lamp
black, 1 ounce; turpentine, 4 ounces; spirit, ¾ gallon.
Mix the ingredients, and give them time to dissolve in the spirit
in a warm place. A shake-up now and then will quicken the process.
PAPER HANGER’S OUTFIT.
Bib overalls, large pocket in front, side pockets for rule and
shears, long trimming shears, shorter wet shears, straightedge,
paste board, plumb bob, rule, paper brush, paste pail, size kettle,
step-ladders and rollers, some sandpaper, soft cloths and long
blotting paper to use under your roller on seams, when needed, and
a plank for scaffold, when papering ceilings. For common sized
rooms two step-ladders are good in the place of trestles to hold
up the plank. For butt edging I can recommend James Marks’ paper
cutters. See description on another page.
PAPER HANGERS’ PASTE.
Beat up four pounds of sifted wheat flour in cold water sufficient
to make a stiff batter; beat out all the lumps, then add enough
cold water to make it like pudding batter. Then pour in a little
hot water and stir, then pour in hot water fast, and stir until the
paste swells and thickens, and turns darker. It is then cooked. To
keep the paste from “going back” and staining the paper, add about
two ounces of powdered or well pounded alum to the boiling water
which you pour on the batter. This will make three-quarters of a
common wooden pail full of paste. It will do better and go further
if you let it cool before using. Turn a little cold water on the
top to prevent it skinning over while you wait for it to cool. When
ready to use it, thin with cold water, until it works easily under
the brush, and according to the wall. A very rough porous wall
needs a stout paste and plenty of it, while a hard, smooth wall
should have the paste thinned and less of it. I have known paper
to crack and fall off from a smooth wall, because too much or too
thick paste was put on. Just enough to cement the paper to such a
wall is best; a body of paste between the paper and plaster will
decay and peel off, and take the paper with it. The other extreme
must be avoided also. Some hangers prepare this paste without the
alum.
If hanging paper on a glossy painted surface, leave out the alum
and add one-half pint of nice clear sirup to each gallon of paste.
TO MAKE A PASTE FOR PAPERING OVER PAINTED OR VARNISHED WALLS.
In a kettle mix some flour in water in the same way as in the above
formula, but make the batter thinner. To each gallon of the batter
add one ounce of powdered resin. Set the kettle on a moderate fire,
and keep stirring it until it boils and thickens, and the resin is
melted into the paste. When cool, thin down with a weak solution of
gum arabic.
LIQUID GLUE.
Fine glue dissolved in alcohol makes a nice binder for fine water
colors.
TO CRYSTALIZE GLASS.
Lay the glass flat and flow heavy alum water over it. Let it dry.
SIZE FOR WALLS BEFORE PAPERING OR KALSOMINING.
One pound good white glue, 1 pound good bar soap, 2 pounds
pulverized alum. Dissolve each separately in one quart boiling
water, having first soaked the glue. Mix the glue and soap water,
and then slowly add the alum water, stirring all the time. Add cold
water to make one gallon.
STAIN OAK WOOD.
Wash with a solution of bi-chromate of potash and acid water. One
ounce to a quart of water.
SIZING WALLS.
“Anybody can do it!” Yes, but it takes an expert to do it right.
It is not a difficult matter to make paper stick to whitewash, but
the whitewash splits as far in as the paste goes, and a part of it
invariably sticks to the paper when it comes off and a part of it
is left on the wall. As a rule, if you size whitewash with flour
paste and let it stand a few days it will crack and roll up. Now,
pure glue size does not have this effect upon whitewash, but, on
the contrary, it not only acts as a binder, but as an intervening
coat between the paste and the whitewash. In other words, the glue
size will stick the whitewash fast without causing it to crack,
and the paste will adhere to the glue size without bad effects
upon either. Now, in order to bind the whitewash, the glue should
penetrate as far as possible. Hence, the size should be put on
warm, and the room should be warm, otherwise the glue will get cold
and stiff like jelly before it has time to penetrate; hence it will
remain on the surface instead of going into whitewash as a binder.
The idea is to get all you can into the wall and leave as little as
possible on the outside. Another thing to look after is the quality
of the glue. Very much of the white glue found on the market is not
genuine glue. Some of it is adulterated with starch and white clay,
some of it is not glue at all. A glue which will dissolve in cold
water is not good glue, or if it melts readily in hot water without
being soaked an hour or two in cold water, it is not first-class.
If it has a dead white look it is not good. Good glue should be
glossy and semi-transparent, and should soften and swell in cold
water, but not dissolve in it. When put into hot water without
being first soaked in cold water, it should not dissolve at once,
but form into a lump and resist the action of the hot water for
some time.
HOW TO APPLY WHITE ENAMELED LETTERS TO GLASS.
An extract from a circular issued by the manufacturers of these
letters:
Having thoroughly cleaned the window and freed it from grease,
draw with white marking chalk on front of it the plan or
arrangement of outline it is intended to adopt--straight or
curved, as the case may be. A rule is used for marking the
straight lines and a piece of twine for the curved lines. Now
divide these guide lines up into as many spaces as there are
letters to go on, carefully proportioning them. Then apply the
cement to the back of the letters with a knife, laying on equally
around both the inside edges. Place the letter upon the window in
the space marked for it and work it up and down, back and forth,
pressing against the glass, so as to expel the air and secure a
good adhesion, and taking care to press equally on top and bottom
of the letter, as otherwise there is a likelihood of breaking.
It is advisable, in cementing larger sized letters than six
inches, to leave the letters lay for an hour after placing the
cement around the edges, and then to give another coat of cement
and attach the letters immediately. The object is to prevent all
the cement from working inside the concave parts of the letters.
In affixing larger and heavy letters, small pieces of beeswax
(or, in summer, sealing wax) should be employed to keep them
in position until the cement sets. As soon as the letters are
attached to the glass take a small stick of wood, sharpen it on
the end and clean away all superfluous cement, keeping the end
of the stick constantly wet. Particular care should be taken to
leave no openings between the letters and the glass (especially
around the top edges) which would allow water to get in between.
If wax has been used, remove it after a few days and clean with
a rag. The sign is then complete for long service. The above
method will answer equally well on any smooth surface such as
stone, iron, marble, wood.
To make the cement, mix two parts of white lead ground in oil
with three parts of dry white lead, and thin it down to the
consistency of soft putty with some good furniture or copal
varnish. Then take small parts of it and grind them on a stone or
glass plate in the manner of painters grinding color with a bowl
or palette knife. This is to be continued until the cement is
entirely smooth and cornless, and then it is ready for use.
To remove enameled letters, the most convenient way is to
scratch away around the edges all the cement you can from under
the letters. Use for this purpose a very thin knife or a piece
of thin sheet steel. You will soon reach the soft part of the
cement; then cut away with a sawing motion and twist them off.
Do not attempt to pry the letters off, or they may break. If the
cement should be very hard, say after a number of years, use a
little kerosene oil, which is applied on the top edges of the
letters, so as to work in and soften the cement.
WALL SIZING FOR KALSOMINING.
There are many things about wall sizing, which depend largely upon
good judgment for success, because the treatment must be varied
according to the condition of the wall or ceiling. A good size is
made of good white glue, ½ pound; alum, 1 pound.
Dissolve the glue in the usual way; that is, soak it in cold water
until soft, then pour off the cold water and pour on the hot water;
and stir until the glue is dissolved.
Dissolve the alum in hot water.
Then stir the glue, and put in the alum water. Thin the mixture
with water to the right consistency to work well.
If one coat is not sufficient, give it two; or if there are porous
places in the wall, touch them up.
In many cases a simple glue size is sufficient, but if you use the
glue and alum size as above directed, you will be pretty sure of a
good foundation for kalsomine.
One of the most difficult things to overcome in preparing ceilings
for kalsomine is the water stain, which is liable to be invisible
until developed by a coat of kalsomine. If you find water stains on
a ceiling and suspect that there may be others which do not show,
go over the ceiling with a thin wash of whiting mixed in clear
water, which when dry will develop all hidden stains. To kill a bad
stain, first put on a coat of oil, japan and turps, equal parts;
second, put on a coat of good heavy shellac; third, give the spots
a coat of flat lead. This treatment is for dark stains; for light
stains a coat or two of shellac will stop the stain. It is best to
put a coat of keg lead thinned with turps over the shellac, because
kalsomine is liable to scale off from shellac.
On cheap work, if the stain is not too dark, it may be kept back by
pasting a piece of paper over it. If the wall has been kalsomined
it is always in order to wash off the old kalsomine. If the work
has been whitewashed, either take it off or first give it a wash
of strong vinegar, then a glue size, which, if put on thin and
plentifully while warm in a warm room, is about the best size I
know of for whitewash. I have often used it successfully when it
was not practicable on account of the weakness of the ceiling
or other cause to take off the old whitewash. Two thin coats of
good glue size on firm whitewash makes as fair a foundation for
kalsomine as can be made on old whitewash.
When it will not pay you to wash off the old kalsomine, a coat or
two of the wall sizing described above will make a good foundation.
SIGN PAINTING.
To the beginner I will say: Learn the letters; get a variety of
alphabets in your head; the more you have the better you will be
prepared to do a pleasing variety of sign writing. A variety of
letters arranged in alphabets are given in the following pages as
a convenient means of reference for the painter who may desire to
refresh his memory, as to the form of any letter represented, or to
make a study of them with a view of acquiring a knowledge of the
formation of letters generally.
[Illustration: No. 1. GOTHIC CONDENSED
A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N
O P Q R S T U
V W X Y Z & .
]
[Illustration: No. 1. GOTHIC CONDENSED--continued.
a b c d e f g h
i j k l m n o p q
r s t u v w x y z
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 0 , .
]
[Illustration: No. 2. BLANCHARD.
A B C D E F G H
I J K L M N O P
Q R S T U V W X
Y Z &
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
a b c d e f g h i j
k l m n o p q r s
t u v w x y z , .
]
[Illustration: No. 3. ALASKAN.
A B C D E F G H
I J K L M N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z &
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 , .
]
[Illustration: No. 4. OLD STYLE EXTENDED.
A B C D E F
G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z & , .
a b c d e f g h
i j k l m n o
p q r s t u v
w x y z 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 0
]
[Illustration: No. 5. LINING GOTHIC.
A B C D E
F G H I J
K L M N
O P Q R S
T U V W
X Y Z & , .
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 0
]
[Illustration: No. 6. CONDENSED DE VINNE.
A B C D E F G H
I J K L M N O
P Q R S T U V
W X Y Z & , .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
a b c d e f g h i j
k I m n o p q r s
t u v w x y z
]
[Illustration: No. 7. GOTHIC SHADED.
A B C D E
F G H I J K
L M N O P
Q R S T U
V W X Y Z
& , .
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 0
]
[Illustration: No. 8. RONALDSON SLOPE.
_A B C D E F G H I J
K L M N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z & , .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0_
]
[Illustration: No. 9. FLORENTINE.
A B C D E F G H
I J K L M N O P
Q R S T U V W X
Y Z & , .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
]
[Illustration: No. 10. FRENCH OLD STYLE.
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z & , .
]
[Illustration: No. 11. LIVERMORE.
_A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z
& , . a b c d e f g h i j
k l m n o p q r s t u v
w x y z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 0_
]
[Illustration: No. 12. CASLON OLD STYLE.
A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N
O P Q R S T U
V W X Y Z & , .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0 a b c d e f g h
i j k l m n o p q
r s t u v w x y z
]
[Illustration: No. 13. SATANICK.
A B C D E
F G H I J K
L M N O P
Q R S T U
V W X Y Z
]
[Illustration: No. 13. SATANICK--continued.
a b c d e f g h
i j k l m n o p
q r s t u v w x
y z 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 0 . , ! ? &
]
[Illustration: No. 14. COLUMBUS.
A B C D E F G
H I J K L M N O
P Q R S T U V W
X Y Z & , . 1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 0 a
b c d e f g h i j
k l m n o p q r s
t u v w x y z
]
[Illustration: No. 15. BRADLEY.
A B C D E F G H I J K
L M N O P Q R S T U
V W X Y Z a b c d e f
g h i j k l m n o p q r s
t u v w x y z & , .
]
[Illustration: No. 16. DORIC ITALIC.
_A B C D E F G H I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z , .
& 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0_
]
LIST OF PRICES AND MODE OF MEASUREMENT.
Prices for Painting and Glazing.
SQUARE MEASURE.
Plain weather boarding, close fencing,
ledge doors, partitions, paling
fences, etc. All common colors, viz.:
White, light yellow, slate, pearl,
light drab or cream color, for each
coat, per yard 8 cents
Each coat of varnish 10 cents
PANEL WORK.
Flush panel work, panel doors, recesses,
etc., the above colors, for
each coat, per yard 10 cents
The same in two colors 12 cents
The same in three colors 14 cents
Striping after other work is finished,
per foot, lineal measure 1 cent
For expensive or unused colors, per
yard, additional 1 cent
For each coat of varnish, per yard 12 cents
For each coat of shellac, per yard 12 cents
BRICK WORK.
_Per Yard._
First coat 15 cents
Second coat 12 cents
Third coat 10 cents
Penciling 15 cents
Mastic or cement, first coat 20 cents
Additional coats, same as brick.
INSIDE WALL PAINTING.
_Per Yard._
First coat 12 cents
Second coat 10 cents
Third coat 8 cents
STOPPING AND CLEANING.
Ordinary puttying, charge price of first coat for the several kinds
of work. Puttying longitudinal joints in ceilings, siding, floors,
etc., to be charged from two to four times the price of first coat
for the several kinds of work, at the discretion of the measurer.
SURFACING, STAINING AND VARNISHING.
Each coat surfacing 10 cents
Each coat stain 8 cents
Each coat varnish 12 cents
LINEAL MEASURE.
Pilasters, architraves, frames, jambs, base mouldings, etc:
----_Each Coat_----
_Girth._ _Per Foot._ _Varnish._
1 to 4 inches ½c ¾c
4 to 6 inches ¾c 1 c
6 to 8 inches 1 c 1¼c
8 to 10 inches 1¼c 1½c
10 to 12 inches 1½c 1¾c
12 to 14 inches 1¾c 2 c
14 to 16 inches 2 c 2¼c
16 to 18 inches 2¼c 2½c
18 to 20 inches 2½c 2¾c
20 to 22 inches 2¾c 3 c
22 to 24 inches 3 c 3¼c
Larger dimensions taken in square measure.
Column mantels as above.
Panel jambs, door casings, etc., to be measured by the above rule.
Plain rosettes, add one foot to length.
Carved rosettes, add two feet to length.
Other carved or ornamental work at the discretion of the measurer.
MODE OF MEASURING.
Begin at wall, press line in all quirks to bead at edge of jamb
casing for girth. For jambs take inner sash rabbet to corner bead,
double the height and measure between jambs for length.
STRING BOARD, ETC.
_Per Foot._
Plain, each coat 2 cents
Bracketed, each coat 3 cents
Carved, each coat 4 cents
Staff beads, each coat ½ cent
Edge of shelves, each coat ¼ cent
CORNICES AND COLUMNS--PLAIN.
_Per Foot._
Girth, 1 to 2 feet, each coat 3 cents
Girth, 2 to 3 feet, each coat 4 cents
Girth, 3 to 4 feet, each coat 5 cents
Girth, 4 to 5 feet, each coat 6 cents
Plain caps on columns, add to length two feet.
Ornamental caps on columns, add to length four feet.
CORNICES WITH BRACKETS.
_Per Foot._
Girth, 1 to 2 feet, each coat 4 cents
Girth, 2 to 3 feet, each coat 6 cents
Girth, 3 to 4 feet, each coat 8 cents
Girth, 4 to 5 feet, each coat 10 cents
Girth, 5 to 6 feet, each coat 12 cents
Larger dimensions in proportion.
Dental cornices, same price as brackets.
MODE OF MEASURING.
For girth, begin at top, press line into all quirks and over each
member to the bottom, and to the length add one-half the medium
girth of the brackets multiplied by their number.
PRIMING OR TRACING AND GLAZING SASH.
EACH SIZE, PER LIGHT.
_Old_
_Priming_ _Glazing_
_or_ _New_ _and Glass_
_Tracing._ _Glazing._ _S.S._
8 to 10 × 12 to 14 $0.01¼ $0.05 $0.20
12 × 16 or 18 .01½ .08 .35
14 × 24 .02 .10 .40
18 × 24 .03 .14 .50
_D.S._
24 × 30 $ .05 $ .18 $1.00
26 × 36 .06 .20 1.30
30 × 36 .08 .25 1.65
36 × 40 .10 .30
40 × 44 .12 .35
40 × 50 .14 .40
40 × 50 .16 .50
50 × 60 .18 .60
50 × 70 .20 .75
These prices do not apply when called out to glaze one or two
lights.
For back puttying add one-quarter, and for bedding add one-half, to
the above rates.
In new glazing cost of glass not included.
All breakage at the risk of the owners, if glass is furnished by
them. To all bills of glass furnished by the trade 20 per cent.
will be charged additional.
PLATE GLASS.
Sizes same as table above, at same prices. Sizes above to 90 square
feet, 5 per cent. on net cost delivered; 90 to 108 square feet, 8
per cent.; 108 square feet and upwards, 10 per cent.
Removing old glass, same as above. The owner to pay cost of taking
up large glass above first floor.
Unless otherwise provided for, glazier puts glass in at his own
risk of breakage, but cutting will be at owner’s risk.
SANDING.
First coat of sand equal to two coats of paint, in addition to
paint.
Second coat of sand equal to three coats of paint, in addition to
paint.
GRAINING--SQUARE MEASURE.
_Per Yard._
Plain oak $0.40
Plain walnut or ash .70
Plain satinwood or maple .70
Plain mahogany or cherry .70
Shaded oak .50
Penciled oak or ash 1.00
Penciled chestnut or cherry 1.00
Penciled walnut 1.00
Rosewood 1.00
Oak root 1.50
LINEAL MEASURE.
_Girth._ _Graining._ _Varnishing._
1 to 4 inches, per foot $0.03 $0.00¾
4 to 6 inches, per foot .04 .01
6 to 8 inches, per foot .05 .01¼
8 to 10 inches, per foot .06 .01½
10 to 12 inches, per foot .07 .01¾
12 to 14 inches, per foot .08 .02
14 to 16 inches, per foot .09 .02¼
16 to 18 inches, per foot .10 .02½
Other members in proportion.
Graining edges of shelves, per foot, 1½ cents.
Graining sash, double the price of plain painting.
MARBLING--SQUARE MEASURE.
White, per yard $0.75
Other kinds, per yard 1.00
Varnishing, each coat, per yard .12
LINEAL MEASURE.
_All members_ ----_Per foot_----
_from_ _Marbling._ _Varnishing._
1 to 8 inches girth $0.08 $0.01
8 to 10 inches girth .12 .01¼
10 to 12 inches girth .16 .01½
12 to 14 inches girth .18 .02
14 to 16 inches girth .20 .02¼
Larger members in proportion.
CLEANING AND KALSOMINING.
Ceilings and walls, per yard $0.16
Plain cornices, 1 to 2 feet girth, per foot .02
Plain cornices, 2 to 4 feet girth, per foot .03
Add to the above for each color, if more than one, 1 cent per
foot.
DEDUCTIONS.
The price of any work measured and not specified in this list shall
be fixed by the measurer.
The measurer is hereby authorized to deduct from 5 to 20 per cent.
from the price of any work that in his judgment is not first-class.
FEES FOR MEASURING.
Jobs amounting to $150 or less 5 per cent.
Jobs amounting to over $150 and less than $500 4 per cent.
Jobs amounting to over $500 and less than $1,000 3 per cent.
Jobs amounting to over $1,000 2 per cent.
_Sign Painting._
FACIA SIGNS.
_Gold._ _Plain._
12 feet long $ 8.00 $ 4.00
14 feet long 9.00 4.00
16 feet long 10.00 5.00
18 feet long 12.00 6.00
20 feet long 15.00 7.00
24 feet long 16.50 8.00
Above includes two coats of paint.
BRASS SIGNS.
3 × 14 inches $ 3.50
4 × 20 inches 5.00
6 × 8 inches 4.00
6 × 12 inches 4.50
8 × 14 inches 5.00
10 × 14 inches 5.00
12 × 17 inches 6.00
14 × 20 inches 7.00
18 × 25 inches 10.00
24 × 30 inches 15.00
Sill signs, per square foot 3.50
Square signs, per square foot 3.00
TO MAKE HARD PUTTY.
_For Carriage Work._
Mix equal parts of dry __________ and keg white lead with equal
parts of rubbing varnish and gold size japan; mix thoroughly and
pound well.
_For Hurried Work._
Mix dry white lead with equal parts of rubbing varnish and gold
size japan. Keep hard putty covered in water when not in use.
TO MAKE AND APPLY KALSOMINE.
Soak one pound good white glue in cold water until soft, then pour
off the cold water, and dissolve the glue in hot water. Mix twenty
pounds of good whiting in water to a thick paste; dissolve one
pound of alum in water, and add it to the mixture. Before mixing
the glue and whiting, put in your tinting colors, which should be
ground in water. Test your color by dipping in a piece of paper
and letting it dry. After you put in the glue, test in the same
way to see if there is enough glue to bind it well, then set your
kalsomine aside to get cold.
Thin to good workable consistency with cold water.
Have in enough glue to hold it from washing up when you have to
put on a second coat. Too much glue will cause the kalsomine to go
on hard, and crack and scale off when dry. If it dries too fast,
add two ounces of glycerine to one gallon of kalsomine. Have good
staging, and two men for a good sized room. Use good kalsomine
brushes, and work fast. Lay on the kalsomine freely; the beauty of
the work will depend upon how you lay it off, and level it up. Put
it on not as you would paint, _all one way_, but work your brush in
all directions, until your work is level, then carefully lay it off
with light strokes.
For a white job put in a little blue. If you have never done a job
of kalsomining, and have no one to aid you, practice on the wall in
your shop or any other place, until you get the knack of it. Cover
a small space and see how it comes out.
Always finish lightly with the point of your brush. If an edge
dries, stop and wet it with a clean brush and clear water; if
careful you can join to it without showing “laps.” If you find
you have missed any spots wet the edges in the same way, and
carefully touch them up with kalsomine. If you find after all your
precautions, a water stain has come through your kalsomine, wet
the place with a solution of sugar of lead, made in proportion of
1 ounce sugar of lead to 1 quart of rain water; it may kill the
stain. See article on wall sizing and water stains, page 39.
Rough places in plaster take more color than a smooth wall, hence
they are liable to show spots; so it stands you in hand to make
such places smooth as possible; to do this take off the rough sand
with sandpaper and knife or trowel on a thin coat of plaster paris,
or give the rough places an extra coat or two or size. Fill all
cracks and holes, and give the filling time to dry before putting
on the size, because otherwise it will take more color than the
balance of the wall and your work will look spotted.
In the kalsomining season have some large tubs and mix up as much
whiting in hot water as you will need for several days. Add your
color, glue, size and alum to _as much only_ as you want for
immediate use. In hot weather I use liquid glue.
LIQUID GLUE FOR KALSOMINE AND WALL SIZING.
For use in hot weather, a liquid glue which will not decompose and
smell badly is very desirable to the workmen and the inmates of the
house.
_No. 1._ To make such a glue fill a bottle a little more than half
full of broken up good white glue, and fill the bottle with common
whisky or equal parts of alcohol and water. Let it stand a few days
and it will dissolve the glue; this glue will keep for years. Keep
the bottle corked.
_No. 2._ Melt your glue in the usual way, thick as you will want
it for any purpose, then put in ½ or ¾ ounce _nitric acid_ to each
pound of glue used; enough to give the glue a sour taste, like
vinegar. The acid keeps it in a liquid state, and from spoiling. If
you melt the glue in an iron kettle pour it into a wooden vessel,
before you add the acid, otherwise the acid will act on the iron
and blacken the glue. When wanted for use it can be thinned as
desired with cold water; a cask full of this made up and kept air
tight so the water will not evaporate will be found very handy
to draw from, when you want a little in a hurry for glue size or
kalsomine. When you make it up in this way put in at least 1 ounce
of acid to the pound of glue to make sure it will keep liquid, so
you can draw it from the cask.
Acetic acid will answer the same purpose as nitric acid, but it
will take more of it and make the liquid glue more expensive.
TO PREPARE AN OLD WALL FOR PAINT OR PAPER.
First cut out all the cracks V shape, clean out the holes and bevel
the edges same as the cracks. Then fill with fine plaster paris
mixed with thin glue size. Fill with care; when dry, sandpaper the
filling smooth and level. If the wall is sandy or rough, sandpaper
it smooth as you can. If the holes are large, have a plasterer
stop them, if you can; if you fail in that, and the job must be
done soon, fit in thin boards, fill around the edges with plaster,
and paste on cloth, or extra paper; but to do a nice job you must
insist on having the large holes plastered. If the _hole is up out
of reach_, and too large for you to fill, cement the edges with
plaster, stretch a piece of cloth, or extra thickness of paper over
it, and it will look all right, because the paper will shrink tight
when it dries. If you find places where the clinches are broken,
and the plaster is loose, press the plaster back to its place if
you can, and cut small holes through the plaster and turn small
broad headed screws into the lath even with the plaster and cement
around the screws with plaster paris.
If it is a smooth wall with rough, sandy patches, sandpaper down
the patches a little below the level of the wall, sweep out the
loose plaster, give a coat of glue size, and knife or trowel in a
coat of plaster paris mixed with glue size or vinegar, and when
dry, sandpaper until smooth and level.
There are several points to be considered and provided for in
filling cracks in a plastered wall preparatory to painting. First,
are the edges of the cracked wall level? To determine this, lay
your rule across the crack, and if you find the plaster on one
side of the crack higher than the other, it shows that side of the
wall has sprung out of place, because the laths are loose or the
clinches are broken. The first thing on the program is to get the
highest edges back to “place.” Failing in that, the next best thing
is to raise the other side. If that scheme don’t work, the next
method is to use sandpaper on a block and rub down the highest
side with a wide bevel to match the lowest, otherwise your filling
will be at an angle more or less acute with the general surface
of the wall, and cast a shadow or reflect the light according to
which way the light falls upon it, and the place where the crack
was will “show” in spite of your best efforts to conceal it. If
you find one edge of a crack higher than the other, gently press
against it, and if it goes back to place, cement it with plaster
paris wet up in clear water, and it will set in three minutes hard
enough to hold the plaster in place. If the loose edge will not go
back by gentle pressure, lay a piece of board over it and push hard
as you dare to and not crush the plaster. If it is still obstinate,
drill out a piece and insert a bent wire or other instrument made
on purpose, and see if you can feel the obstruction and remove
it. Failing in this, see if you can raise up the lower side to a
level with the highest and cement it fast. If the last scheme is
too much for your patience and ingenuity, resort to the block and
sandpaper, and rub down the high side with a wide bevel to match
the other. The next point is to prevent the paint near the edges
of the crack, and on the filling which we put in, from drying flat
while the balance of the wall bears out a gloss. To do this we must
find out the cause of the “flatting” near the edges of the crack
and over the “filling.” If we examine into the matter, we will find
that when the wall cracked the plaster adjacent was more or less
fractured and made more porous than the uninjured portions of it.
Hence, more oil is drawn from the paint near the crack than where
the wall is solid. Now, for the remedy: With a small pointed brush
wet the edges of the crack with linseed oil until they will take
no more in. Let the oil dry, and fill the crack with plaster mixed
with thin glue size, but have the top of the filling one-sixth of
an inch below the surface of the wall. Let the filling dry, and
with a fine pointed brush paint over the top of the filling and the
edges of the crack. Let the paint dry, and finish filling with hard
putty. Let the putty dry, and sandpaper the job smooth and level.
If you have to bevel the highest edge with sandpaper, first fill
the beveled portion with oil. Let the oil dry, and fill the pores
with hard putty, because the part beveled with sandpaper will be
more porous than the balance of the wall. Treat and fill all small
holes by the same method. Filling cracks in this way is a little
tedious, I admit; but it is the only way that I know of to stop a
crack in plaster, so it will stay stopped and not show after it is
painted.
HOW TO PAINT A PLASTERED WALL.
Prime with lead and raw oil, tinted like succeeding coats. Have the
prime thin, not more than five pounds of white lead to the gallon
of oil; add a little benzine or turps to make it more penetrating.
If the room is cool, warm up your prime before you add the benzine
or turps. The idea is to have it penetrate as much as possible;
brush the prime well into the wall. If it is a sand wall, brush
off the loose sand. If it is a smooth one, putty coated or hard
finished wall, see that there are no lumps or grains of sand left
on the surface. It is a good idea to pass the hand over the wall to
feel the lumps, and to knock off lumps and grains of sand by going
over the work with sandpaper.
For second coat use glue size, made as directed on another page.
_Third coat._ Mix so as to dry with a gloss, have the body fairly
thick, and spread it well out. Mix with 3 parts linseed oil to 1
part turps.
_Fourth coat._--If this coat is to be flat, mix it thick enough to
cover well; mix mainly with turps, if the weather is hot, or from
any other cause the paint don’t work well, add a little linseed
oil. For an egg shell gloss, use about 1 part oil _and 3 parts
turps_.
If the wall is to be finished in stipple, mix the last coat half
oil and half turps, rather thick, and add a little japan. To
stipple strike the paint evenly and continuously with the square
end of a large brush, made for the purpose; a new clean duster will
do. Let the stippler follow the painters. The coat of glue size
saves two coats of paint. It is put on after the prime to keep
moisture and air from the glue, otherwise it would be liable to
decay.
Use boiled oil in all coats except priming coat. Have only enough
difference in the color of the different coats, so you can see
where you have painted, and not leave holidays; especially in rooms
where the light is not very good.
Some painters advocate (especially on hard finished wall) a good
filling of clear linseed oil, before any paint is put on to keep
the surface from fire cracking.
It is risky business to paint a _new hot_ wall; in such cases if it
must be done before the lime has become somewhat neutralized, give
it a coat of vinegar, and let it stand a day or so before you put
on the prime. The vinegar will neutralize the lime and not hurt the
priming.
TO PREPARE A ROUGH SANDY WALL FOR PAINT OR PAPER.
If you have a rough brown mortar wall to paper and want to make
the job look smooth as possible, first go over it lightly with No.
2 paper to knock off the loose and most prominent grains of sand;
then with No. 2 paper rub down all “cat faces” and trowel marks;
level up all hollows with plaster paris wet up in thin glue size
or vinegar, and you will be ready to put on the lining paper. This
paper should be soft and porous so that it will quickly absorb
paste and not blister; good white blank wall paper having but
little color will answer very well for this purpose. Start in to
hang it with half a strip in width so as to break joints with the
next coat; use sufficient paste to make the paper stick to the
wall; butt the edges and be sure when the paper is dry that there
are no loose places. Right here is the turning point of your job
for “good or for bad.”
Pound the lining paper down so closely that all the prominent
grains of sand will show through, and be sure to make it stay there
until dry. When the lining paper is dry, go over it with good sharp
No. 1½ sandpaper and cut out all the prominent grains of sand
which show through the paper, being careful to rub no more than is
necessary to take out the sand; the idea being to cut through to
the prominently projecting grains of sand, and rattle them out.
Some walls will need a second coat of lining paper and another
sandpapering, before they are smooth enough for anything like a
fine job. If the owner refuses to stand the expense of putting
on lining paper, glue size the wall, and when dry, knock off the
prominent grains of sand with sandpaper and knife in plaster paris
putty on the rough places. In either case, take extra pains with
portions of the wall where there are side lights, which always
magnify rough places. Sandy walls may be leveled and smoothed
somewhat with a coat of kalsomine to hold light bodied paper.
Make a kalsomine of good white glue, 1 pound to 15 pounds of
whiting and half a pound of alum. Dissolve the glue and alum in the
usual way. When the kalsomine is dry, give the surface a thin coat
of glue size to stop the suction. Let the glue size dry, then put
on the paper; use light paste, and be sparing of it as you can and
make the paper stick. I have often noticed that too much or too
little paste is used in paperhanging; some walls and some papers
require more paste than others. Too much paste on a smooth wall, or
too little on a rough one, makes bad work. If you use a roller for
seams have it covered with short plush. To paint on a wall covered
with lining paper as above described, first put on a coat of glue
size.
TO PAINT OVER NEWLY PLASTERED CRACKS IN WALLS.
When the painter has to paint over holes and cracks in walls
recently filled by the plasterer, he will be likely to have to
deal with plaster made in part of fresh lime. In such cases, it
is always best to soak the newly plastered places _with strong
vinegar, to kill as much as possible the caustic properties of the
lime_. Put on the vinegar plentifully and let it soak in; when dry,
give the new plaster a coat of size made of linseed oil, japan
and turpentine; when dry, put on a coat of white shellac before
painting.
FLASHED GLASS SIGNS.
Flashed glass is clear on one side and colored on the other;
the colored glass forming only a thin film on one side of the
clear glass. We can make elegant signs on this glass by etching
the letter through the colored portion of the glass, making the
letters clear and the background colored; or by etching out the
background and leaving the letters colored. Lay out the letters on
paper, and place it under the glass as a guide to work by; then,
with asphaltum varnish cover the background and leave the letters
free and clear; in other words, “cut around them.” If you want a
clear background with colored border and colored letters, cover
the letters and border and leave the background free and clear.
Then melt some beeswax, and when it begins to cool, take up a small
portion of it with a putty knife and scrape it off on the edge of
the glass, and repeat the operation until a wall or dam is made
all around the glass, to hold the acid you are about to put on
the glass, from running off; then pour on a little hydrofluoric
acid, and it will etch out the colored glass not covered by the
asphaltum in about one hour; then you can pour the acid back into
your bottle, to be used again. Next wash the glass by pouring water
over it; then scrape off the wax, and take off the asphaltum with
turpentine. Some painters use a varnish made by melting together
equal parts of paraffine and asphaltum and thinning to working
consistency with turpentine.
FLUORIC ACID, TO MAKE FOR ETCHING PURPOSES.
You can make your own fluoric acid (sometimes called hydrofluoric)
by getting the fluor spar, pulverizing it and putting as much of it
into sulphuric acid as the acid will cut or dissolve.
Druggists through the country do not keep this acid generally, but
they can get it in the principal cities. One ounce will do at least
fifty dollars worth of work. It is put in gutta percha bottles or
lead bottles, and must be kept in them when not in use, having
corks of the same material. Glass, of course, will not hold it, as
it dissolves the glass, otherwise it would not etch upon it.
LIQUID WOOD FILLERS FOR CHEAP WORK.
Corn starch and cheap varnish are the principal ingredients of
many cheap wood fillers; the corn starch is mixed with the varnish
and thinned with turps until workable. _You can experiment on this
idea._
_Corn starch in shellac_ in proportion of 1 pound to the gallon
_doubles its capacity as a filler_. I have made and used a filler
for cheap work in this way: Pale rosin, 2 pounds; boiled oil, 1
gallon; japan, 1 pint. Melt the rosin in the oil, take the kettle
outside, and add ½ gallon turpentine; stir and when cold add ½
pound of corn starch. Thin with turps until workable. Add more
or less starch, according to the surface you want to fill. These
mixtures are all the better if run through a paint mill.
ANOTHER PASTE FILLER.
Corn starch mixed to a paste with one part linseed oil, two parts
each japan and rubbing varnish; thin to working consistency with
turpentine.
CARRIAGE PAINTING IN THE VILLAGE SHOP. NEW WORK.
Prime with white lead, mixed thin in oil, add a little japan
and turpentine to make the paint dry hard and quick; when the
priming is dry and hard, putty up with hard putty as directed on
another page. Then follow with two coats of keg lead thinned with
turpentine; add a little japan to make it dry hard, and a little
oil to make it work well. Carefully mix and strain your paint.
Give the body five coats of rough stuff, made as directed on page
144 and a guide coat, and when dry, proceed to cut down the rough
stuff. For this purpose your tools will be several pieces of pumice
stone, a pail of water, a large flat file, a good sponge and a
chamois. Flatten one side of your stone for a grinding surface
and have no thin edges, because they will keep breaking off and
be liable to get under the stone, and scratch your work. Now, two
of the most important things you will have to guard against is
cutting through the rough stuff and lead coats, and scratching the
surface. There is a great difference in pieces of pumice stone.
Some are hard and full of flint like particles, which will scratch
the work; others are softer and of more even grit; the light
colored and fairly open grained pieces are the safest to use. You
can tell a fast cutting stone by its open grain and lightness. The
finer grades of German rubbing brick and English rubbing stone are
also used in rubbing rough stuff. A stone with a broad surface is
preferable for large surfaces.
Have small pieces to rub around the bolt heads and other places
which are difficult to get at with the large stone. The practiced
workman can tell the moment a stone begins to scratch, both by
the sound and by the feeling to the hand, and you may train your
ear and nerve to this degree of sensitiveness; until you do so,
you will have to look sharp, and frequently rub your stone on the
file, and clean off your work with a sponge full of water to see
the condition of the work. Also by passing your hand back and forth
across it to determine the condition of it, or if there is any
large grit on it, liable to get under the stone and scratch. Rub
until the brush marks are gone, etc., which your guide coat will
show you. Use plenty of water while rubbing. Thoroughly wash the
body inside and out. When dry, sandpaper lightly over the body to
remove any grit which may be left on, and to clean out around the
irons and panels, also to sand off the irons which you have not
rubbed. Dust and wipe well, and when ready, put on a coat of drop
black, ground in japan. In mixing your drop black, stir it before
you add any turps, then add a little turps, and stir again until
it is beaten to a smooth, soft paste; then add sufficient turps to
make a workable paint, thin enough to go on easily with a camel
hair brush, which for body work on buggies should be not less than
one and one-half inches wide and double thick. Painters disagree
as to the use of oil in this coat. I like to use a very little good
raw oil, say a teaspoonful to a pint of color. It is a good idea
to keep a brush on purpose to coat the inside of the body, because
it is not usually made as smooth as the outside. Some practice
putting on the color coat in the morning and the color varnish
towards evening, but I prefer a longer time, say twenty-four hours
at least, and more, too, especially when I use a little oil in
the color coat. Rub the color with curled hair or hair cloth,
dust well, and put on your color varnish; some say with a bristle
varnish brush, but I prefer to mix it so I can use a camel hair
brush. For this coat mix drop black to a workable paint with equal
parts of turps and good body varnish. When this coat is dry, give
the body a coat of good rubbing varnish, using a fine bristle
varnish brush. Flow on a free coat, lay off to right and left, and
finish with up and down strokes across the work. Never put a full
brush at the lower edge of the body, because in that case, you will
be apt to get a fat edge. Watch for sags or runs, which you can
brush out, if discovered before the varnish sets. If a sag or run
should get the start of you on this coat, and you see it after the
varnish begins to set, squeeze the varnish out of your brush, wet
the point of it in turps, and carefully work out the sag or run.
Now, dust off the running parts, and put on a coat of color. Some
say, have a little more oil in the color for the gear than for the
body, but I would not advise the use of more. When dry, put on a
coat of color varnish. When dry, rub down with hair or hair cloth,
and your gear is ready to stripe.
To paint a wheel, paint one spoke at a time, paint both sides and
the edge next to you, then take your brush in your left hand and
paint the back edge, and so on, until the spokes are finished.
Next paint the hub, then the outside and inside of the felly, then
finish the gear, being careful to leave no laps. Use only fine
lines for striping a buggy. On the springs, bars, spoke faces, hubs
and tongue is all the striping needed. Orange chrome, red, gold,
bronze and light green, all harmonize with black, and either may
be used for striping a black rig. When ready to varnish, set your
gear on trestles. Varnish the wheel with a fine bristle varnish
brush, and flow on a full coat. When done with a wheel, set it
running on the spindle, and commence the next, and start it off
again two or three times, while working at the next wheel, and so
on with all the wheels; by this method you may avoid runs, and
be able to flow on a fuller coat than you otherwise could. For a
finer job, give the gear a coat or two of clear rubbing varnish,
and rub each coat down with curled hair or hair cloth. For a cheap
job, rub down the body with hair cloth, but for a finer one, rub it
out with finely powdered pumice stone in water. For this method,
you will need a pail of clear water, some finely powdered pumice
stone and a felt pad. The object of this work is to take the gloss
off the rubbing varnish, and leave a smooth coat for the finishing
varnish. The particular knack is to rub just enough, and then
stop; a little too much will cut through, and spoil the job; and
not enough will not give you the best possible foundation for your
finishing coat of varnish. Keep the work washed off as you go, so
you can see defective places, and rub them out. When done rubbing,
the next thing is to wash the body perfectly free from grit. Your
water brush comes in play here to wash around irons, etc., where
the pumice might lodge; then with a pail of clear water, rinse the
body and wipe dry with a chamois skin. Right here is a good time
to give the inside of the body a coat of color varnish, and to put
on your transfers, if you use any. Some painters use a barrel for
a body stand, but one made on purpose, of boards, is better. You
want to look out for dust in every stage of the work, but right
here you must be especially careful, because you are about to put
on the finishing coat, which can neither be sandpapered nor rubbed
down. You will learn from experience, if not before, that you
cannot rely altogether upon the dust brush to free your work from
dust and specks. A large soft dry chamois kept for the purpose,
and never wet, can be used to advantage to wipe off the dust left
by the brush. A hand bellows is very effective in taking dust out
of corners where the brush or wiper cannot be worked. When you
have done all you can with the brush and wiper, rub the work over
with your _hand_ and the sensitive nerves of your fingers will
detect any specks which may still adhere to the surface. Some other
essentials to a good job of varnishing are a clean room, free as
possible from dust, clean brushes, and cups, and the person of the
varnisher so dressed that he will not shed material for specks.
Have one cup to hold your varnish and another to wipe your brush
in. Use good varnish and never try to varnish a body with the
temperature below 70 degrees F. Have a quill sharpened to a point
to pick out any specks which you may discover on your work, because
it requires very favorable conditions, and a mighty slick workman
to prepare and varnish a body, and not have it show _at least a
speck or two_. Use a fine chiseled bristle brush and know that it
is absolutely free from specks before you commence. Now, when you
are ready, don’t be timid or try to see how far you can make your
varnish go. Keep in mind from the start that the nearer level--that
is, a uniform thickness--you can have your coat of varnish the less
liable it will be to sag or run. Put on your varnish with a full
brush, laying it on right and left, and brush as level as you can,
then finish with up and down strokes, being careful to chisel off
the surplus at the lower corner to avoid a flat edge. _Note_--A
friend of mine, after laying on his varnish right and left,
finished with diagonal strokes across the surface at an angle of
45 degrees, then crossed it again at the same angle in an opposite
direction. He had uniform good success.
For an extra fine job, give the work more coats of rubbing varnish,
and rub each coat with curled hair, or hair cloth; or you may knife
on a coat of putty made of keg lead and equal parts of turps and
japan; rub it well in with the flat blade of the knife, and when it
sets or flats, scrape off all surplus. Sandpaper when dry. This may
go on in the place of third lead. You may, when the job requires
it, knife on a coat of hard putty, work it down smooth, let it dry
and cut down with sandpaper.
OLD WORK.
There are so many degrees of badness in repair work, that it is not
possible to cover the entire ground in a work of this kind. They
run all the way from the touch up and varnish job, to the cracked,
scaled and almost paintless old rigs. For a touch up and varnish
job, at least one which is in decent shape for such work, wash the
body, give it a rubbing down with fine powdered pumice stone, clean
off and carefully putty cracks, dents, etc., if any; then touch up
with color, using a small camel’s hair pencil, and cover only where
necessary. When dry, give a full coat of body varnish. For a better
job, give the body a coat of black rubbing varnish (provided the
body is black), then finish with a good coat of wearing body. The
gear may be treated the same as the body if in like condition, but
if the felloes are worn bare, lead them up and color as you would
new work, then touch up the balance and varnish.
The great plague of the paint shop is cracked work, which is
otherwise solid. Where the varnish is hard but peeling, take it off
with ammonia; to do this, take a side of the body at a time, pour
out some ammonia in a cup, and put it on with a clean brush kept
for the purpose. Keep the side wet, until you can slice off the
varnish with a putty knife; if it fails to come off, you must keep
it wet longer. If the varnish is dead and soft, sandpaper down to
a solid foundation, then if cracks show sheet up with quick _hard
putty_ made soft enough to put on with a brush, and scrape off with
a knife when set. When dry, sandpaper and if the cracks are not
full, give it a second application of putty in the same way. Then
for a cheap job give it a coat of color varnish, a coat of rubbing
and a coat of body varnish.
If you are to do a fine job, and can get pay for it, and you find
the body cracked, burn off the old paint, and commence at the
foundation as in new work. For a cheap job, lead up the bare places
on the gear and wheels, give a coat of color and a coat of color
varnish and finish with heavy gear varnish. For a fine job, if the
old paint is cracked or scaled, take it off and work up from the
wood as on a new job.
ROUGH STUFF.
1. To make one coat per day rough stuff, take three pounds of
RENO’S filler and one pound of keg lead. Mix to stiff paste with
equal parts of rubbing varnish, and first-class japan, thin with
turps. Some painters add a little raw oil. Grind the filler fine.
2. French yellow ochre dry, 5 pounds; keg lead 1½ pounds. Mix to
stiff paste with equal parts gold size, or best brown japan and
rubbing varnish; thin with turps and add a gill of raw oil. _Grind
fine._
CLEANING PHAETON CUSHIONS.
This old phaeton cushion is too dusty for any use, did you say? I
agree with you; the old cloth-covered phaeton cushion is one of the
unmitigated nuisances which we are often compelled to tolerate in
the paint shop. When such a cushion is once filled with dust its
capacity for “shedding” seems to be unlimited. The more you beat it
and the longer you brush it, the more dust comes to the surface.
You can take off a buggy cushion and relegate it to the backroom,
but the genius who invented that complicated vehicle called a
phaeton, nailed the cushions fast to the body, and we must take
them along with the job, dust and all, from the cleaning floor to
the varnish room.
When I am so unfortunate as to have an old phaeton brought to my
shop, about the first thing I do after cleaning it up is to go
for the cushions with the sprinkler and wet them down with clean
water, repeating the operation as often as may be necessary to keep
in the dust.
Spoil the cushions? No! When you run the rig out of the shop the
owner will wonder what you have done to his cushions to make them
look so bright. The same operation works well on an old cloth-lined
top. After you have brushed all you think you can afford to, and
the dust keeps coming to the front, turn the top bottom side up and
give it a shower from the sprinkler, and I will guarantee the dust
to lie still long enough for you to dress the top and paint the
bows. Dust is the natural enemy of the paint shop, and water is one
of our best weapons to fight it with.
MIXING QUICK COLOR.
A quick-drying color can be slowed up and made to dry to any
required time without injuring it, while if ground in a slow drying
preparation, it cannot possibly be quickened without injuring
more or less the working and covering properties. The working
is certainly important, and the covering more so. The covering
property should be strong, because the fewer coats of color on a
job the better. Thus a quick dryer saves both labor and time.
Japan colors are best when ground stiff, or with barely enough
liquid to bind them firmly, because after being reduced to thinness
with turpentine alone they will cling to the surface and will not
smut. The color will then have its greatest covering power. Now,
by the addition of sufficient pure raw oil to give the best working
property, and being also made to dry flat, the color is as near
perfection as possible, and the further addition of _anything_
weakens the covering power. When an excess of japan is used in
grinding, the color is thin, there being less pigment to the pound;
and it is of less value to the consumer, while it affords more
profit to the manufacturer than when prepared as it should be.
BLACK VARNISH FOR GASOLINE STOVES, ETC.
Asphaltum two pounds, boiled linseed oil one pint, turpentine two
quarts. Melt the asphaltum in an iron pot, heat the oil, and add it
to the asphaltum while hot. Stir well. When partly cool, add the
turpentine and four ounces of good japan.
BLACK STENCH INK.
Shellac two ounces, borax two ounces, soft water twenty ounces,
gum arabic two ounces, lampblack and indigo sufficient. Boil the
shellac and borax in the water until dissolved, then add the gum
arabic; dissolve and take the mixture from the fire; when cold, add
enough lampblack to give it color and proper consistency, and a
little powdered indigo. Keep in glass or earthenware vessels.
BRONZE FOR BRIGHT METALS.
Red aniline (fuscine) ten parts, purple aniline five parts, alcohol
95 per cent. one hundred parts, benzoic acid five parts. Add the
anilines to the alcohol, and dissolve by placing the vessel in a
sand or water bath. As soon as dissolved, add the benzoic acid and
boil for five or ten minutes, or until the greenish color of the
mixture is turned to a brilliant light bronze; spread with a brush
on bright metal.
VARNISH TO FIX PENCIL DRAWINGS.
Gum mastic three ounces, alcohol one pint. Dissolve and apply with
a brush.
RUST SPOTS ON MARBLE.
Apply a mixture of 1 part nitric acid and 25 parts of water, then
rinse with 3 parts water and 1 part ammonia.
WHITEWASH TO SOFTEN.
To soften old whitewash which you wish to take off, wet it
thoroughly with a wash made of 1 pound of potash, dissolved in 10
quarts of water.
WATER GLASS FOR FLOORS.
Clean the floor, fill cracks with water glass cement made of
water glass and whiting, then put on a coat of water glass, to be
followed by second coat; when dry rub the last coat with pumice
stone and oil.
TO FINISH REDWOOD.
Take one quart of spirits turpentine; add one pound of corn starch;
quarter of a pound burnt sienna; one tablespoonful raw linseed
oil and one tablespoonful brown japan. Mix thoroughly, apply
with the brush, let it stand, say, fifteen minutes, rub off all
you can with fine shavings or a soft rag, let it stand at least
twenty-four hours that it may sink into and harden the fibers of
the wood; afterward apply two coats of white shellac, rub down well
with fine flint paper, then put on from two to five coats best
polishing varnish; after it is well dried rub with water and pumice
stone ground very fine; stand a day to dry; after being washed
clean with a chamois rub with water and rotten stone; dry; wash as
before clean, and rub with olive oil until dry. Some use cork for
sandpapering and polishing, but a smooth block of hardwood like
maple is better. When treated in this way, redwood will be found
the peer of any wood for real beauty and life as a house trim or
finish.
MARKING INK.
Asphaltum, dissolved in turpentine to a thin fluid, will give you
an excellent marking ink for all purposes; dries quickly, does not
spread, and is nearly indestructible.
FORMULAS FOR MIXING COLORS. (SELECTED.)
It is impossible to give infallible recipes for mixing colors,
on account of the difference in the tone and color strength of
pigments, both dry and in oil, many samples having as high as fifty
per cent. of barytes or other white makewright material, which not
only lessens the color strength of the mixture in proportion to
their volume, but weakens the color, in a small measure, by their
presence as white material. Hence, color formulas are made subject
to modification, not only to please the taste of the mixer, but on
account of the presence of poor, weak and adulterated pigments.
The writer has selected a few formulas from which the learner
may gain some knowledge of colors, which he can improve upon by
experiment.
NOTE.--Part means in bulk, not by weight.
_Plumb._--White lead 2 parts; Indian red, 1 part; ultramarine
blue, 1 part. If too dark, add more white lead. (Outside.)
_Brick._--Yellow ochre, 2 parts; Venetian red, 1 part; white lead,
1 part. If too dark, add more ochre. Don’t depend upon the common
ochre of the stores. It has but little tinting power. Use French
ochre ground in oil. (Outside.)
_Bronze Green._--Chrome green, 5 parts; lampblack, 1 part; burnt
umber, 1 part. If too dark, use more green. (Outside.)
_Jonquil Yellow._--White lead tinted with chrome yellow and
vermilion.
_Lead Color._--White Lead, 16 parts; ultramarine blue, 1 part;
lampblack, 2 parts. (Outside.)
_Light Buff._--White lead tinted with yellow ochre (Outside.)
_Lemon._--Lemon chrome yellow, 5 parts; white lead, 2 parts.
(Outside.)
_Brown._--Indian red, 3 parts; lamp black, 2 parts; yellow ochre, 1
part. If too dark, use more ochre or less black. (Outside.)
_Chestnut._--Venetian red, 2 parts; lamp black, 1 part; medium
chrome yellow, 4 parts. (Outside.)
_Lilac._--Light Indian red, 3 parts; white lead, 3 parts;
ultramarine blue, 1 part.
_Purple._--Light Indian red, 4 parts; white lead, 3 parts;
ultramarine blue, 2 parts.
_London Smoke._--Burnt umber, 2 parts; white lead, 1 part; Venetian
red, 1 part.
_Brown._--Venetian red, 3 parts; drop black, 2 parts; chrome
yellow, 1 part. (Outside.)
_French Gray._--White, tinted with ivory or drop black. (Outside.)
_Olive Yellow._--Burnt umber, 3 parts; lemon chrome yellow, 1 part.
For lighter shade, add more yellow.
_Pearl._--White lead, 6 parts; Venetian red, 2 parts; lamp black, 1
part. If too dark, add more lead. (Outside.)
_Olive._--Lemon chrome yellow, 10 parts; ultramarine blue, 1 part;
light Indian red, 1 part.
_Cream Color._--White lead, 8 parts; French yellow ochre in oil, 2
parts; Venetian red, 1 part. (Outside.)
_Tan._--Burnt sienna, 5 parts; medium chrome yellow, 2 parts; raw
umber, 1 part. If too red, add more raw umber.
_Pea Green._--White lead, 5 parts; chrome green, 1 part. Vary the
proportions to suit.
_Drab._--White lead, 10 parts; burnt umber, 1 part. Vary to suit.
_Canary._--White lead, 6 parts; lemon chrome yellow, 2 parts, or
less, as you like it. (Outside.)
_Fawn._--White lead, 8 parts; chrome yellow, 1 part; Indian red, 1
part; burnt umber, 1 part. (Outside.)
_Grass Green._--Lemon chrome yellow, 3 parts; Prussian blue, 1 part.
_Peach Blossom._--White lead, 1 part; light Indian red, 1 part;
ultramarine blue, 1 part; lemon chrome yellow, 1 part.
_Light Gray._--White lead, 10 parts; ultramarine blue, 1 part;
lampblack, 1 part. Make lighter or darker by using more or less
white lead, as the case may require.
_Purple Brown._--Dark Indian red, 4 parts; ultramarine blue, 1
part; lampblack, 1 part. Light up with white lead to fancy. If too
purple, use less blue; if too red, use more black. (Outside.)
_Leather Brown._--Venetian red, 2 parts; yellow ochre, 4 parts;
lampblack, 1 part; white lead, 2 parts or more, to suit. If too
dark, use less black. (Outside.)
_Dregs of Wine._--Tuscan red with a little lampblack and white lead.
_Leaf Bud._--Equal parts white lead, orange chrome and chrome
green. If too dark, add more lead. (Inside only.)
_Coral Pink._--Vermilion (English), 5 parts; white lead, 2 parts;
chrome yellow, 1 part. (Inside.)
_Maroon._--Tuscan red, 3 parts; ultramarine blue, 1 part. If too
red, add more blue.
_Myrtle._--Dark chrome green, 3 parts; ultramarine blue, 1 part.
Light up with white lead.
_Stone._--White lead, 5 parts; French yellow ochre, 2 parts; burnt
umber, 1 part. Tint to desired shade with raw umber; a very little
will do. (Outside.)
_Snuff._--Medium chrome yellow, 4 parts; Vandyke brown, 2 parts.
_Rose._--White lead, 5 parts; carmine, 2 parts. (Inside only.)
_Portland Stone._--Raw umber, 3 parts; yellow ochre, 3 parts; white
lead, 1 part. (Outside.)
_Ashes of Roses._--White, lightly tinted with black, blue and lake.
(Inside only.)
_Silver Gray._--Tint white lead with lampblack and indigo.
_Fine Chocolate._--Tint the best burnt umber with Munich lake.
(Inside only.)
_Fine Maroon._--Tint any deep red lake with a little orange chrome
yellow.
_Vienna Smoke._--Tint fine burnt umber with lemon chrome yellow and
a little Venetian red.
_Quaker Green._--Chrome green, 3 parts; lampblack, 1 part; Venetian
red, 1 part; medium chrome yellow, 1 part.
_Chamoline._--Lemon yellow, 1 part; raw sienna, 3 parts; white
lead, 5 parts.
_Clay Drab._--White lead, raw sienna, raw umber, equal parts. Tint
with chrome green.
_Pearl._--White lead, tinted with ultramarine blue and lampblack.
_Copper._--Medium chrome yellow, 2 parts; Venetian red, 1 part;
drop black, 1 part.
_Buttercup._--White lead tinted with lemon chrome yellow.
_Flesh._--White lead, 8 parts; light Venetian red, 1 part; orange
chrome, 2 parts.
_Olive Brown._--Lemon chrome yellow, 1 part; burnt umber, 3 parts.
_Deep Buff._--White lead tinted with yellow ochre and a little
Venetian red. (Outside.)
SOME EXPENSIVE COLORS.
_Claret._--Carmine, 2 parts; ultramarine blue, 1 part.
_Carnation Red._--Carmine lake, 3 parts; white lead, 1 part.
_Chocolate._--Fine burnt umber, 5 parts; carmine or lake, 1 part.
_French Red._--Indian red and English vermilion, equal parts,
glazed with carmine.
_Rose._--White lead, 5 parts; carmine, 2 parts.
_Yellow Lake._--Burnt umber and white lead, equal parts; tint with
chrome yellow and lake.
SUGGESTIONS FOR TINTS AND COLORS.
_Delicate Flesh Tints_, white predominating.--1st, white and light
red; 2nd, white, Naples yellow, vermilion; 3rd, white, vermilion
and light red.
_Gray and Half Tints_, white predominating.--1st, white, vermilion
and black; 2nd, white and terre verte; 3rd, white, black, Indian
red and raw umber.
_Deep Shades_, color predominating.--1st, light red and raw umber;
2nd, Indian red, lake and black.
_Carnations._--1st, white and Indian red; 2nd, white and rose
madder; 3rd, white and lake; 4th, white and Naples yellow.
_Carnations_, color predominating.--1st, rose madder and white;
2nd, Indian red, rose madder and white.
_Green Tints._--1st, white and ultramarine blue, with any yellow;
2nd, white and terre verte; add a little raw umber.
_Gray Tints._--1st, ultramarine blue, light red and white; 2nd,
Indian red lake, black and white.
_Pearly White_, white predominating.--1st, white, vermilion and
black; 2nd, white, vermilion and black; 3rd, white and black.
_Gray._--White, Venetian red and black.
_Yellow._--Yellow ochre and white.
_Olive._--Yellow ochre, terre verte and umber.
_Sky._--French blue and white.
PAINTING CARS AT HOME.
Probably no other subject dealing with the problem of the motorist
has been so little, or to be correct, so unsatisfactorily treated
as the home painting of cars. Most of the literature dealing
with the subject is written in a technical vein, purely for the
delectation of the professional painter. This naturally leads the
novice to believe, owing to the great number of coats these writers
say is essential for good work, that it is entirely out of the
question for a car owner, without previous experience in painting,
to repaint his car satisfactorily.
Fortunately this is not true. In the first place, the fewer number
of coats that can be applied and still accomplish the desired
result, will make far the most durable and lasting job of painting.
I maintain, and have proven, times without number, that if a
motorist really is in earnest about wanting to paint his cars,
the battle is more than half won. Give this class of motorists
the proper material mixed ready for use with the proper brushes
for their application, and tell him how they should be used, and
99 times out of 100 he will paint his car so well that he will be
sorry he had not done it before.
The quality of the material used in this kind of painting is of
vital importance and unless they are the very best will give but
limited wear. And the proper brushes to use with the different
coats is of equal importance. About four-fifths the cost of
automobile painting is labor, so that a few dollars saved in buying
the materials is false economy.
The general purpose enamels for sale in stores have no place on
a motor car. They belong to the home. Probably no other vehicle
excepting a locomotive has harder service for paint to withstand.
Hence, the necessity for the very best materials.
There is one reputable concern selling repainting outfits to
car owners so that greatly simplifies the painting problem, if
one wishes to do it himself. These outfits include everything,
materials, brushes, and instructions, and range in price from $6
for a small runabout to $8 and $10 for a roadster and touring car.
Compared to $35 to upwards of $100 that one has to pay a regular
painter, if one wishes to economize, the painting affords a grand
opportunity.
The fenders and hood of a car are subjected to severe wear and
the time is coming when these parts will always be painted black,
regardless of the body color of the car. In fact, a great many of
the new cars will be painted this way. There are thousands of cars
in use that hardly need repainting, but if the hood and fenders
were done over in black it would make them look almost like new
cars. There is one concern making these hood and fender outfits and
a novice can do a really creditable job of painting with them. They
range in price from $3 to $5 and are in two coats with a suitable
brush.
The gases from the motor are a big factor in dulling the paint on
hoods. It has the same effect that ammonia fumes from a stable has
on horse-drawn vehicles. This is one reason why the black painting
of hoods is mighty sensible. When your hood gets dull, instead of
laying up your car you can paint the hood yourself with little
trouble and no loss of time.
For the novice to repaint the average car, for instance a 30 H. P.
touring car, it would require in labor only a few hours on four or
five different days. The hardest part of the whole operation is
preparing the car for paint. It is absolutely necessary to have
it thoroughly clean before applying any paint. It should be well
washed first, and then given a gasoline bath to the parts on which
dirt and grease have been allowed to accumulate. It is really not
so complex a proposition after all. If a woman can paint furniture
with enamels that are no better than they should be, a man can
surely paint a car if given the proper materials to do it with, and
if he be instructed in their use.
Now as to striping. This is of course out of the question for the
novice. But you can black the mouldings of the body, seats, doors,
hubs and rims of wheels so that the absence of striping is not
noticed. So far as the striping goes, the tendency is away from
it--in fact, the most expensive cars have hardly any striping.
The blacking of the mouldings, etc., mentioned makes a harmonious
contrast and takes the place of striping. It looks in no ways
amateurish--rather like the handiwork of the professional painter.
In addition to the saving that can be effected by repainting your
car yourself, there is the feeling of personal pride when the job
is finished, of having done something well yourself.
As the majority of the new cars have enameled lamps instead of
polished brass as in years past, I believe a few words on the
subject will not be amiss. In my experience of twenty years in the
painting of vehicles, locomotives and automobiles, I have never
had a harder proposition to solve than the enameling of polished
brass lamps, particularly gas headlights.
An enamel for this purpose must of necessity be made highly
elastic, so that it will contract and expand with the metal and
stick on the polished brass surface without any previous roughing.
This means that only the most expensive materials can be used in
the making of such an enamel. There is one enamel of proven merit
for this purpose on the market and it does not have to be baked.
I have seen a great many motorists who have used general purpose
enamels on their lamps and the experience has usually been that
the enamel leaves when the lights are lighted. If I were buying
an enamel for use on the brass parts of my car, I should be very
careful to buy the one that had been long on the market, for there
will undoubtedly be a large number of new ones offered.
I have made some pretty strong statements in the foregoing article,
and it is no more than right that I tell you that they are based
on my experience of twenty years in the painting of carriages,
locomotives and automobiles, two years as the expert for the
largest paint and color house in the world, and several years in
the manufacture of the highest class of motor car paints.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
when a predominant preference was found in the original book.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Pg iii: removed duplicated line ‘Black Varnish for Iron’.
Pg iv: line ‘Oak Wood Stain’ moved from page v to here, under
‘Oak Stain’.
Pg 39: ‘gold againt the’ replaced by ‘gold against the’.
Pg 45: ‘bottle 1-3 full’ replaced by ‘bottle ⅓ full’.
Pg 60: ‘dissolve 90 gains’ replaced by ‘dissolve 90 grains’.
Pg 105: missing letter ‘W’ inserted into alphabet caption.
Pg 119: removed duplicated line ‘Shaded oak’.
Pg 121: a blank space has been replaced by __________. It probably
was meant to be ‘white lead’.
Pg 124: ‘nictric acid’ replaced by ‘nitric acid’.
Pg 146: ‘on acount of’ replaced by ‘on account of’.
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