Advanced Toy Making for Schools Part 2

_Black_: Nigrosine black, four ounces, dissolved in one gallon of boiling water.

When wanted for use, these a.n.a.lines may be diluted with water. The rule is, an ounce of a.n.a.line to the gallon of water to form a working stain.

Or to a pint of the stock solution, as it is called, you may add three pints of water.

#15. Oil Stains.#--It will be found that quicker work can be done with oil stain than with water colors. For that reason, oil stains are also used a great deal as a dipping stain. In preparing oil stains, the best mineral or earth pigments to dissolve with turpentine are Van d.y.k.e brown, chrome green, burnt and raw sienna, and lamp black.

#16. Sh.e.l.lacking.#--There are two kinds of sh.e.l.lac, orange and white.

The white sh.e.l.lac is orange sh.e.l.lac that has been bleached. The purpose of sh.e.l.lac as commonly understood is to give a quick coat over the stain. The thin coat formed serves as a protector for the stain and also as an undercoater for the following coat of varnish. In this way at least one coat of varnish is eliminated and a great deal of time saved because the sh.e.l.lac dries within a few minutes. To thin sh.e.l.lac use denatured alcohol.

On cheaper toys a coat of sh.e.l.lac only may be used as a covering for the color stain. If orange sh.e.l.lac is used it will be found that it effects the color of the stain used. White sh.e.l.lac also produces a slight change in color and for this reason many working with toys will use a good clear varnish instead.

#17. Varnishing.#--Two or three coats of varnish will produce a very durable finish. The first coat of varnish ought not be quite as heavy as the succeeding coats. If the varnish is of extra heavy body it should be reduced slightly for the first coat. The best varnish reducer is thin varnish. To prepare this reducer, take one part varnish (the same varnish to be reduced), and two parts of turpentine. Shake these together well and let stand twenty-four hours before using. This will reduce the consistency of the varnish without tearing down the body as pure turpentine would. The first coat of varnish should be allowed to dry thoroly before the second coat is applied.

Oil varnishes made from good hard gums, pure linseed oil, and turpentine, are the most valuable. In using turpentine to thin varnish care should be taken that adulterated turpentine is not used. To play the game safe it is advisable to use a little benzine, for it will not injure the varnish, but will evaporate entirely, and not flatten the varnish as turpentine does.

#18. Points on Varnishing.#--(1) The less varnish is worked under the brush the better its l.u.s.ter. (2) Use clean brush and pot, and clean varnish. See that the surface is clean before beginning to varnish. (3) Allow a coat of varnish plenty of time for drying until it becomes hard.

#19. Colored Varnish.#--Colored varnish is that in which a proportion of varnish is added to the pigment and thinned. The base is usually an earth color such as ochre, sienna, venitian red, Van d.y.k.e brown, umber, lamp black, etc.

With this the work can be done in one coat. This method of finishing is usually employed on the cheaper cla.s.s of toys where it isn't advisable to apply an expensive finish.

#20. Another Suggestion for Finishing.#--Tint a gallon of benzine or gasoline with chrome green, chrome yellow, and vermilion, ground in j.a.pan until the desired shade is obtained. This formulae is especially good for dipping purposes.

#21. Use of Paint.#--Although paint can be bought ready prepared and in any color, as has been stated, it is advisable to have the students mix their own colors and choose their own color scheme.

#22. Ingredients of good Paint.#--The best paints are usually made by mixing together white lead, linseed oil, pigment of the desired color (colors ground in oil), and a drier.

While white lead is sufficient as the pigment for white paint, a better result is obtained by mixing zinc oxide with the white lead. These two substances have the convenient property of balancing each other's disadvantages. For instance, zinc oxide has a tendency to crack and to peal, which is overcome by the tougher coating formed by the white lead.

Again, when white lead is exposed to light and weathering, it becomes chalky, which fault is remedied by the property possessed by zinc oxide, of remaining hard.

The linseed oil used is obtained from flaxseed by pressing the thoroly ground seed. About twenty-three gallons of oil can be obtained from one bushel of the seed. By boiling the oil with lead oxide or manganese oxide it can take more oxygen from the air, and thereby its drying powers are increased.

Driers are substances that absorb oxygen from the air and give part of it to the oil. The raw linseed oil absorbs the oxygen from the air very slowly, but the addition of turpentine is a great aid in overcoming this defect.

To insure the best results in painting, one must first consider the kind and condition of the surface to be painted, and to what use the toy will be put; then decide on the proper composition and consistency of the paint.

#23. Application of Paint.#--In applying the paint to the toy the first coat should be thinned. This will act as a primer or undercoat for the succeeding coats of paint. Care should be taken that plenty of time is allowed between coats for the paint to dry thoroly. Three coats of paint will produce a good finish.

#24. Preparation of surface.#--All woodwork must be sanded and thoroly dry before any paint is applied. Care should be taken to see that all knots and sappy streaks shall be covered with a coat of orange sh.e.l.lac.

Then apply the first coat.

After the priming coat of paint is thoroly dry, putty up all knot holes, dents, cracks, and other defects in the surface with a pure linseed oil putty composed of equal parts of white lead and whiting. When putty is dry, proceed with the other coats.

#25. Tinting Materials.#--Formulas for making tints are to be followed only in a general way. Make some allowance for slight variations in the strength and tone of different makes of colors. Chromes and ochres vary noticeably. Weigh out your color and add it gradually, not all at once, noting the effect as you go. When you reach the desired shade, stop, regardless of what the formula calls for. Turpentine and dark driers will slightly alter shades. Make allowance for this.

#26. Mixing Paints.#--Faulty mixing, even with the best of materials, is not likely to make durable paint. The important thing is to give the lead and oil a chance to incorporate themselves in that close union which they always make if allowed to do so. The following directions give best results. The order is important.

(1) Break up the white lead with a paddle, using only enough oil to bring it to the consistency of colors in oil.

(2) Add your colors for tinting. Coloring matter added after the paint has been thinned is likely to break up in lumps which leave streaks when brushed out.

(3) Put in drier.

(4) Add remainder of oil, stirring well.

(5) Last of all, put in turpentine.

Thinners help only the flow of the paint never the quality.

To strain paint thru cheese cloth before using will be a safeguard against lumpy colors and streakiness. Paint also spreads further if strained.

#27. Paint Formulas.#--As most toys are exposed to the weather a great deal, the following formulas are recommended. These take no account of tinting materials.

(a) Priming Coat:

25 pounds pure white lead 1 gallon pure raw linseed oil gallon pure turpentine pint drier, free from rosin

(b) Body Coat:

25 pounds pure white lead 3/8 gallon pure raw linseed oil 3/8 gallon pure turpentine pint drier, free from rosin

(c) Finishing Coat:

25 pounds pure white lead 1 gallon pure raw linseed oil pint pure turpentine pint drier.

One must exercise his own discretion in using a larger or smaller quant.i.ty of oil according to whether the wood is oil absorbing, as white pine, poplar, and ba.s.swood, or less permeable, as yellow pine, cypress, spruce, and hemlock.

#28. Formulas for Making Tinted Paint.#--Any color or tint may be obtained by varying the addition of tinting colors. These tinting colors are called "colors in oil." The colors should be added to the white lead before the paint is thinned.

To twenty-five pounds of white lead ground in oil add colors in oil as follows:

Medium Blue Slate 3 oz. lamp black

Gray Blue oz. lamp black 1 oz. Prussian blue oz. medium chrome green

Dark Drab 5 lbs. French ochre lb. lamp black lb. Venitian red

Dark Slate 2 oz. lamp black 3 oz. medium chrome yellow

Dark Lilac 1 oz. lamp black 5 oz. Venitian red

Lilac oz. lamp black 1 oz. Venitian red

Forest Green 1 oz. lamp black 8 lbs. light green 5 oz. medium chrome yellow

Buff 1 lb. French ochre 3/8 oz. Venitian Red

Cream 5 oz. French ochre