French Polishing and Enamelling Part 3

CHAPTER V.

_RE-POLISHING OLD WORK._

If the piece of furniture requiring to be re-polished should be in bad condition, it is best to clean off thoroughly, using the liquid ammonia (see page 94), or by the sc.r.a.per and gla.s.s-paper. The indentations may be erased by dipping into hot water a piece of thick brown paper three or four times doubled and applying it to the part; the point of a red-hot poker should be immediately placed upon the wet paper, which will cause the water to boil into the wood and swell up the bruise; the thickness of the paper prevents the wood from being scorched by the hot poker. After the moisture is evaporated, the paper should be again wetted if required. If only shallow dents, scratches, and broken parts of the polish present themselves, carefully coat them two or three times with a thick solution of sh.e.l.lac, and when the last coating becomes hard carefully paper down with a piece of old gla.s.s-paper and a cork rubber.

If the surface should be in good condition, it is necessary only to remove the viscid rust; this is done by friction with a felt-covered rubber and pure spirits of turpentine; by this means the polish remains unsullied. If the surface should not be in very good condition, a flannel should be used smeared with a paste of bathbrick-dust and water, or a paste made of the finest emery flour and spirits of turpentine.

After cleansing, and before the polish is applied, it is a good plan to just moisten the surface with raw linseed-oil; this will cause the old body to unite with the new one.

In order to carry out the process of re-polishing with facility, it is necessary to disunite all the various parts, such as panels, carvings, etc., before commencing the operation. The polish is applied in the usual manner, and when a good body is laid on the work should be set aside for twelve hours, after which it can be finished. It should be particularly observed that in polishing no job should be finished immediately after the rubbing-down process; a sinking period should always be allowed. If the work should be immediately finished, the consequences are that in a few hours all the marks and scratches of the paper, etc., will be discernible, and the polished surface will present a very imperfect appearance, although looking perfect when first finished.

Holes and crevices may be well filled up with a cement made in the following manner: In a large iron spoon place a lump of beeswax about the size of a walnut, a pinch of the pigments mentioned on page 5, according to the colour required, a piece of common rosin the size of a nut, and a piece of tallow as large as a pea; melt, and it is ready for use. Some add a little sh.e.l.lac, but much will make it very brittle. A similar substance to the above can be bought at the French warehouses.

CHAPTER VI.

_SPIRIT VARNISHING._

Most polishers are agreed that to obtain a good surface with varnish it is necessary to give the work, where it is possible to do so, a rubberful of polish first, and to thoroughly dry the rubber; but in most carved work the surface is not accessible, and the brush must be used.

Sometimes the carving is extremely coa.r.s.e, and with an open porous grain, in which case it is best to oil it first and then to fine-paper it down; by this process a thin paste is formed by the attrition, which materially a.s.sists in filling up the pores. Before commencing to use the varnish have ready an earthenware dish or box,--one of the tins used for the preserved meats or fish will answer the purpose,--with two holes drilled so that a piece of wire can be fastened diametrically across the top; this is called a "regulator," and when the brush is pa.s.sed once or twice over this it prevents an unnecessary quant.i.ty of varnish being transferred to the work.

=Varnishes.=--The ingredients for making varnish are very similar to those for making polish, but the proportions are somewhat different. Furniture varnish consists of two kinds, viz.: the brown-hard and the white-hard; the former is used for dark woods, such as mahogany, walnut, rosewood, etc.; whilst the latter is used for the light-coloured woods, in conjunction with the white polish. A few years since the brown-hard varnish was made from these ingredients:

1 gallon of methylated spirit, 40 ozs. of sh.e.l.lac, 4 ozs. of rosin, 5 ozs. of benzoin, 2 ozs. of sandarach, 2 ozs. of white rosin.

The brown-hard varnish which is used at the present time is made differently, and produces a better result; it is made from the following:

1 gallon of methylated spirit, 32 ozs. of sh.e.l.lac, 8 ozs. of rosin, 8 ozs. of benzoin.

The white-hard or transparent varnish for white wood is made with

1 gallon of methylated spirit, 32 ozs. of bleached sh.e.l.lac, 24 ozs. of gum sandarach.

In making either polishes or varnishes, all the gums should be first pounded and reduced to powder before mixing with the spirit, and when mixed they should be occasionally well shaken or stirred, so as to hasten their dissolution.

=Brushes and Pencils.=--The brushes used for varnishing are either flat, in tin, or round, tied firmly to the handle, and made of camel's-hair; but the small white bristle-tools and red-sable pencils will frequently be found of service in coating delicate carving, or turned work. Varnish brushes can be obtained from a quarter of an inch to four inches and upwards in width; the most useful brush, however, for general use is about an inch wide. It is important that brushes should be cleaned in spirits immediately after use, for if laid by in varnish they lose their elasticity and are soon spoiled; but if this preservative principle is ever neglected, the hardened brush should be soaked in methylated spirit, and if wanted for immediate use the spirit will soften the varnish quicker if made luke-warm. The spirit should be gently pressed out by the finger and thumb. All varnish brushes when not in use should be hung up, or kept in such a position that they do not rest upon their hairy ends, either in a box or tin free from dust.

=Mode of Operation.=--It is usual in varnishing to give the work three coats, and always allow each coat to dry thoroughly before applying the next. It should be noted that spirit varnishes begin to dry immediately they are laid on; therefore, on no account should they be touched with the brush again whilst wet, or when dry they will present a rough surface. Always ply the brush quickly, and never go over a second time.

When giving the first or second coats it is unimportant how they are applied, whether across the grain or with the grain, but the finishing coat should always be with the grain. If the varnish should appear frothy when laid on, it is of no consequence, as it will dry smooth if equally and evenly applied before a good fire or in a warm atmosphere.

Coloured varnishes can be made in exactly the same manner as coloured polishes (see page 6). The beautiful glossy black varnishes so admired on Indian cabinet-work, specimens of which can be seen at the Indian Museum, are very difficult to obtain in England, but a description of them may be interesting.

=East Indian Varnishes.=--The Sylhet varnish is composed of two parts of the juice of the bhela (the tree which bears the marking nuts of India), and one part of the juice of the jowar. The articles varnished with it at Sylhet are of the most beautiful glossy black; and it seems equally fitted for varnishing iron, leather, paper, wood, or stone. It has a sort of whitish-grey colour when first taken out of the bottle, but in a few minutes it becomes perfectly black by exposure to the air. In the temperature of this country it is too thick to be laid on alone; but it may be rendered more fluid by heat. In this case, however, it is clammy, and seems to dry very slowly. When diluted with spirits of turpentine, it dries more quickly; but still with less rapidity than is desirable.

The _tsitsi_, or Rangoon varnish, is less known than the Sylhet varnish.

It is probably made from the juice of the bhela alone. It appears to have the same general properties as the Sylhet varnish, but dries more rapidly. The varnish from the _kheeso_, or varnish-tree, may be the same as the Rangoon varnish, but is at present considered to be very different. The kheeso grows particularly in Kubboo, a valley on the banks of the Ningtee, between Munnipore and the Burman empire. It attains to such a large size, that it affords planks upwards of three feet in breadth, and in appearance and grain is very like mahogany. A similar tree is found in great abundance and perfection at Martaban.

A poisonous vapour exhales from several of the Indian varnishes, especially from that of Sylhet, and is apt to produce over the whole skin inflammations, swellings, itchings, and pustules, as if the body had been stung by a number of wasps. Its effects, however, go off in a few hours. As a preventative the persons who collect the varnish, before going to work, smear their faces and hands with greasy matter to prevent the varnish poison coming into contact with their skin.

CHAPTER VII.

_GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS._

=Remarks on Polishing.=--Amateurs at French polishing will be more successful on a large surface than a small one.

When polishing, the rubber-cloth should be changed occasionally, or the brightness will not remain when finished.

A most efficacious improver of many kinds of woods is raw linseed-oil mixed with a little rectified spirits of turpentine.

French polish can be tinted a light-red with alkanet-root, and a dark-red with dragon's blood.

A good Turkey sponge is capable of spreading either stain or varnish more smoothly than a camel's-hair brush on a flat surface.

The sub-nitrate of bis.m.u.th mentioned on p. 12 is beginning to supersede oxalic acid for bleaching processes.

Thin panels for doors should be securely tacked down to a level board, and polished with a large round flannel rubber having a very flat sole.

Fret-work panels should have all the edges entirely finished with varnish before they undergo the above operation. To get a good polish upon a full-fret panel is considered by polishers to be the most difficult part in the work, on account of the extreme delicacy and frangibility of the work and the great carefulness required.

Soft spongy wood may be satiated by rubbing a sponge well filled with polish across the grain until it becomes dry.

In polishing a very large surface, such as a Loo-table top or a wardrobe end, it is best to do only half at a time, or if a large top a quarter only.

The approved method of treating dining-table tops is to well body-in with French polish, after which thoroughly gla.s.s-paper down with fine paper, and then use the oil polish (see page 87).

Immediately after using a rubber, it should be kept in an air-tight tin canister, where it will always remain fresh and fit for use.

=The Polishing Shop.=--A few words as to the polishing shop may be acceptable to those who possess ample room and desire the best results.

First in order is the location and arrangement of the finishing rooms.

Preference is to be given to the upper rooms of a building for several reasons, among which may be named the securing of better light, greater freedom from dust, and superior ventilation.

A good light in this, as in many other arts, is a very important matter, and by a good light we mean all the light that can be obtained without the glare of the direct rays of the sun. Light from side windows is preferable to that from skylights for three reasons: (1) Skylights are very liable to leakage; (2) they are frequently, for greater or less periods, covered with snow in winter; (3) the rays of the sun transmitted by them in summer are frequently so powerful as to blister sh.e.l.lac or varnish.

Good ventilation is at all times of importance, and especially so in summer, both as tending to dry the varnish or sh.e.l.lac more evenly and rapidly, and as contributing to the comfort of the workmen. The latter consideration is of importance even as a matter of economy, as men in a room the atmosphere of which is pleasant and wholesome will feel better and accomplish more than they could do in the close and forbidding apartments in which they sometimes work.