Richard Bitmead - French Polishing and Enamelling
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Richard Bitmead >> French Polishing and Enamelling
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9 FRENCH POLISHING
AND
ENAMELLING
A Practical Work of Instruction
INCLUDING
NUMEROUS RECIPES FOR MAKING POLISHES,
VARNISHES, GLAZE-LACQUERS, REVIVERS, ETC.
BY RICHARD BITMEAD
AUTHOR OF "THE CABINET-MAKER'S GUIDE," "THE UPHOLSTERER'S GUIDE," ETC.
Fourth Edition
[Illustration: Capio Lumen]
LONDON
CROSBY LOCKWOOD AND SON
7, STATIONERS' HALL COURT, LUDGATE HILL
1910
[_All rights reserved_]
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
Early in the present century the method generally adopted for polishing
furniture was by rubbing with beeswax and turpentine or with
linseed-oil. That process, however, was never considered to be very
satisfactory, which fact probably led to experiments being made for the
discovery of an improvement. The first intimation of success in this
direction appeared in the _Mechanic's Magazine_ of November 22, 1823,
and ran as follows: "The Parisians have now introduced an entirely new
mode of polishing, which is called _plaque_, and is to wood precisely
what plating is to metal. The wood by some process is made to resemble
marble, and has all the beauty of that article with much of its
solidity. It is even asserted by persons who have made trial of the new
mode that water may be spilled upon it without staining it." Such was
the announcement of an invention which was destined ultimately to become
a new industry.
The following pages commence with a description of the art of French
Polishing in its earliest infancy, care having been taken by the Author,
to the best of his ability, to note all the new processes and
manipulations, as well as to concisely and perspicuously arrange and
describe the various materials employed, not only for French polishing
but for the improving and preparation of furniture woods, a matter of
great importance to the polisher. The arts of Staining and Imitating,
whereby inferior woods are made to resemble the most costly, are also
fully treated, as well as the processes of Enamelling, both in
oil-varnishes and French polish, together with the method of decorating
the same. The condition of the art of polishing in America is dwelt
upon, and various interesting articles written by practical polishers in
the States, which appeared in their trade journal, _The Cabinet-maker_,
have been revised and printed in this work.
A number of valuable recipes, and other instructive matter, useful alike
to the amateur and to the practical workman, are also given.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
_THE IMPROVING AND PREPARATION OF FURNITURE WOODS._ PAGE
Improving 2
Matching 3
Painting 5
Dyed Polishes 6
CHAPTER II.
_STAINS AND IMITATIONS._
Imitation Mahogany 8
Imitation Rosewood 8
Imitation Walnut 9
Imitation Ebony 10
Imitation Oak 11
Imitation Satin-wood 12
A Blue Stain 13
A Green Stain 13
A Purple Stain 13
A Red Stain 14
Imitation Purple-wood Stain 14
Chemicals used in Staining 15
Process of Staining 16
Ready-made Wood Stains 17
CHAPTER III.
_FRENCH POLISHING._
The Polish Used 18
Rubbers 22
Position 24
Filling-in 25
Applying the Polish 26
Spiriting-off 30
Prepared Spirits 32
Antique Style 32
Dull or Egg-shell Polish 33
Polishing in the Lathe 34
CHAPTER IV.
_CHEAP WORK._
Glazing 37
Stencilling 39
Charcoal Polishing 40
CHAPTER V.
_RE-POLISHING OLD WORK_ 42
CHAPTER VI.
_SPIRIT VARNISHING._
Varnishes 46
Brushes and Pencils 47
Mode of Operation 47
East Indian Varnishes 48
CHAPTER VII.
_GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS._
Remarks on Polishing 51
The Polishing Shop 52
CHAPTER VIII.
_ENAMELLING._
Materials 57
Tools 58
Mode of Operation 58
Polishing 60
Another Process 61
Decorations 63
CHAPTER IX.
_AMERICAN POLISHING PROCESSES._
Use of Fillers 65
Making Fillers 70
Japan of the Best Quality 70
Fillings for Light Woods 70
Another for Light Woods 70
For Mahogany or Cherry Wood 71
For Oak Wood 71
For Rosewood 71
For Black Walnut (1) 71
" (2) 71
An Oil Colour for Black Walnut (3) 72
Finishing 73
Black Walnut Finishing 75
Finishing Veneered Panels, etc. 78
Light Woods (Dead Finish) 79
Mahogany or Cherry Wood 79
Oak 79
Rosewood, Coromandel, or Kingwood (a Bright Finish) 79
Walnut 80
Finishing Cheap Work 81
With One Coat of Varnish 81
Wax Finishing 82
A Varnish Polish 82
With Copal or Zanzibar Varnish 83
Polishing Varnish 85
An American Polish Reviver 86
CHAPTER X.
_MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES._
Oil Polish 87
Wax Polish 87
Waterproof French Polish 88
Varnish for Musical Instruments 88
French Varnish for Cabinet-work 89
Mastic Varnish 89
Cabinet-maker's Varnish 90
Amber Varnish 90
Colourless Varnish with Copal 90
Seedlac Varnish 91
Patent Varnish for Wood or Canvas 91
Copal Varnish 91
Carriage Varnish 92
Transparent Varnish 92
Crystal Varnish for Maps, etc. 92
Black Varnish 92
Black Polish 93
Varnish for Iron 93
Varnish for Tools 93
To Make Labels Adhere to a Polished Surface 94
To Remove French Polish or Varnish from Old Work 94
Colouring for Carcase Work 94
Cheap but Valuable Stain for the Sap of Black Walnut 95
Polish (American) for Removing Stains, etc., from Furniture 96
Walnut Stain to be used on Pine and White-wood 96
Rosewood Stain 97
Rosewood Stain for Cane Work, etc. 97
French Polish Reviver 98
Morocco Leather Reviver 98
Hair-cloth Reviver 99
To Remove Grease Stains from Silks, Damasks, Cloth, etc. 99
To Remove Ink Stains from White Marble 99
CHAPTER XI.
_MATERIALS USED._
Alkanet-root 100
Madder-root 100
Red-sanders 101
Logwood 101
Fustic 102
Turmeric 102
Indigo 103
Persian Berries 103
Nut-galls 103
Catechu 103
Thus 104
Sandarach 104
Mastic 104
Benzoin 104
Copal 105
Dragon's Blood 106
Shellac 106
Amber 107
Pumice-stone 107
Linseed-oil 108
Venice Turpentine 110
Oil of Turpentine 110
Methylated Spirits 110
FRENCH POLISHING
AND
ENAMELLING.
CHAPTER I.
_THE IMPROVING AND PREPARATION OF
FURNITURE WOODS._
For a French polisher to be considered a good workman he should, in
addition to his ordinary ability to lay on a good polish, possess
considerable knowledge of the various kinds of wood used for furniture,
as well as the most approved method of bringing out to the fullest
extent their natural tones or tints; he should also be able to improve
the inferior kinds of wood, and to stain, bleach, or match any of the
fancy materials to which his art is applied, in a manner that will
produce the greatest perfection. The following information is given to
facilitate a thorough knowledge of the above processes.
=Improving.=--Iron filings added to a decoction of gall-nuts and vinegar
will give to ebony which has been discoloured an intense black, after
brushing over once or twice. Walnut or poor-coloured rosewood can be
improved by boiling half an ounce of walnut-shell extract and the same
quantity of catechu in a quart of soft-water, and applying with a
sponge. Half a pound of walnut husks and a like quantity of oak bark
boiled in half a gallon of water will produce much the same result.
Common mahogany can be improved by rubbing it with powdered red-chalk
(ruddle) and a woollen rag, or by first wiping the surface with liquid
ammonia, and red-oiling afterwards. For a rich mild red colour,
rectified spirits of naphtha, dyed with camwood dust, or an oily
decoction of alkanet-root. Methylated spirits and a small quantity of
dragon's blood will also produce a mild red. Any yellow wood can be
improved by an alcoholic solution of Persian berries, fustic, turmeric,
or gamboge. An aqueous decoction of barberry-root will serve the same
purpose. Birch when preferred a warm tint may be sponged with oil, very
slightly tinted with rose-madder or Venetian red; the greatest care
should be used, or it will be rendered unnatural in appearance by
becoming too red. Maple which is of a dirty-brown colour, or of a cold
grey tint, and mahogany, ash, oak, or any of the light-coloured woods,
can be whitened by the bleaching fluid (see "MATCHING"). Numerous
materials may be improved by the aid of raw linseed-oil mixed with a
little spirits of turpentine. Artificial graining may be given to
various woods by means of a camel-hair pencil and raw oil; two or three
coats should be given, and after standing for some time the ground
should have one coat of oil much diluted with spirits of turpentine, and
then rubbed off.
=Matching.=--Old mahogany furniture which has been repaired may be
easily matched by wiping over the new portions with water in which a
nodule of lime has been dissolved, or by common soda and water. The
darkeners for general use are dyed oils, logwood, aquafortis, sulphate
of iron, and nitrate of silver, with exposure to the sun's rays. For new
furniture in oak, ash, maple, etc., the process of matching requires
care and skill. When it is desirable to render all the parts in a piece
of furniture of one uniform tone or tint, bleach the dark parts with a
solution of oxalic acid dissolved in hot water (about two-pennyworth of
acid to half a pint of water is a powerful solution); when dry, if this
should not be sufficient, apply the white stain (see pp. 11, 12)
delicately toned down, or the light parts may be oiled. For preserving
the intermediate tones, coat them with white polish by means of a
camel-hair pencil. On numerous woods, carbonate of soda and bichromate
of potash are very effective as darkeners, as are also other
preparations of an acid or alkaline nature, but the two given above are
the best.
A good way of preparing these darkeners, says the "French Polisher's
Manual," an excellent little work published in Perth some years since,
is to procure twopennyworth of carbonate of soda in powder, and dissolve
it in half a pint of boiling water; then have ready three bottles, and
label them one, two, three. Into one put half the solution, and into the
other two half a gill each; to number two add an additional gill of
water, and to number three two gills. Then get the same quantity of
bichromate of potash, and prepare it in a like manner; you will then
have six staining fluids for procuring a series of brown and dark tints
suitable for nearly all classes of wood.
The bichromate of potash is useful to darken oak, walnut, beech, or
mahogany, but if applied to ash it renders it of a greenish cast. If a
sappy piece of walnut should be used either in the solid or veneer,
darken it to match the ground colour, and then fill in the dark markings
with a feather and the black stain (see pp. 10, 11). The carbonate
solutions are generally used for dark surfaces, such as rosewood
represents, and a still darker shade can be given to any one by oiling
over after the stain is dry. The better way of using these chemical
stains is to pour out into a saucer as much as will serve the purpose,
and to apply it quickly with a sponge rubbed rapidly and evenly over the
surface, and rubbed off dry immediately with old rags. Dark and light
portions, between which the contrast is slight, may be made to match by
varnishing the former and darkening the latter with oil, which should
remain on it sufficiently long; by this means the different portions may
frequently be made to match without having recourse to bleaching or
staining.
=Painting.=--The next process is painting. It frequently happens in
cabinet work that a faulty place is not discovered until after the work
is cleaned off; the skill of the polisher is then required to paint it
to match the other. A box containing the following colours in powder
will be found of great utility, and when required for use they should be
mixed with French polish and applied with a brush. The pigments most
suitable are: drop black, raw sienna, raw and burnt umber, Vandyke
brown, French Naples yellow (bear in mind that this is a very opaque
pigment), cadmium yellow, madder carmine (these are expensive), flake
white, and light or Venetian red; before mixing, the colours should be
finely pounded. The above method of painting, however, has this
objection for the best class of furniture, that the effects of time will
darken the body of the piece of furniture, whilst the painted portion
will remain very nearly its original colour. In first-class work,
therefore, stained polishes or varnishes should be applied instead of
these pigments.
=Dyed Polishes.=--The methods of dyeing polish or
varnish are as follows: for a red, put a little alkanet-root or camwood
dust into a bottle containing polish or varnish; for a bright yellow, a
small piece of aloes; for a yellow, ground turmeric or gamboge; for a
brown, carbonate of soda and a very small quantity of dragon's blood;
and for a black, a few logwood chips, gall-nuts, and copperas, or by the
addition of gas-black.
The aniline dyes (black excepted) are very valuable for dyeing polishes,
the most useful being Turkey-red, sultan red, purple, and brown. A small
portion is put into the polish, which soon dissolves it, and no
straining is required. The cheapest way to purchase these dyes is by the
ounce or half-ounce. The penny packets sold by chemists are too
expensive, although a little goes a long way.
CHAPTER II.
_STAINS AND IMITATIONS._
In consequence of the high price demanded for furniture made of the
costly woods, the art of the chemist has been called into requisition to
produce upon the inferior woods an analogous effect at a trifling
expense. The materials employed in the artificial colouring of wood are
both mineral and vegetable; the mineral is the most permanent, and when
caused by chemical decomposition within the pores it acts as a
preservative agent in a greater or less degree. The vegetable colouring
matters do not penetrate so easily, probably on account of the affinity
of the woody fibre for the colouring matter, whereby the whole of the
latter is taken up by the parts of the wood with which it first comes
into contact. Different intermediate shades, in great variety, may be
obtained by combinations of colouring matters, according to the tint
desired, and the ideas of the stainer. The processes technically known
as "grounding and ingraining" are partly chemical and partly mechanical,
and are designed to teach the various modes of operation whereby the
above effects can be produced. We will commence with
=Imitation Mahogany.=--Half a pound of madder-root, and two ounces of
logwood chips boiled in a gallon of water. Brush over while hot; when
dry, go over it with a solution of pearlash, a drachm to a pint. Beech
or birch, brushed with aquafortis in sweeping regular strokes, and
immediately dried in front of a good fire, form very good imitations of
old wood. Venetian red mixed with raw linseed-oil also forms a good
stain.
The following is a method in common use by French cabinet-makers. The
white wood is first brushed over with a diluted solution of nitrous
acid; next, with a solution made of methylated spirits one gill,
carbonate of soda three-quarters of an ounce, and dragon's blood a
quarter of an ounce; and a little red tint is added to the varnish or
polish used afterwards. Black American walnut can be made to imitate
mahogany by brushing it over with a weak solution of nitric acid.
=Imitation Rosewood.=--Boil half a pound of logwood chips in three pints
of water until the decoction is a very dark red; then add an ounce of
salt of tartar. Give the work three coats boiling hot; then with a
graining tool or a feather fill in the dark markings with the black
stain. A stain of a very bright shade can be made with methylated
spirits half a gallon, camwood three-quarters of a pound, red-sanders
a quarter of a pound, extract of logwood half a pound, aquafortis one
ounce. When dissolved, it is ready for use. This makes a very bright
ground. It should be applied in three coats over the whole surface, and
when dry it is glass-papered down with fine paper to a smooth surface,
and is then ready for graining. The fibril veins are produced by passing
a graining tool with a slight vibratory motion, so as to effect the
natural-looking streaks, using the black stain. A coat of the bichromate
of potash solution referred to on page 4 will make wildly-figured
mahogany have the appearance of rosewood.
=Imitation Walnut.=--A mixture of two parts of brown umber and one part
of sulphuric acid, with spirits of wine or methylated spirits added
until it is sufficiently fluid, will serve for white wood. Showy
elm-wood, after being delicately darkened with the bichromate solution
No. 1, page 4, will pass for walnut; it is usually applied on the cheap
loo-table pillars, which are made of elm-wood. Equal portions of the
bichromate and carbonate solutions (see page 4), used upon American
pine, will have a very good effect.
Another method for imitating walnut is as follows: One part (by weight)
of walnut-shell extract is dissolved in six parts of soft-water, and
slowly heated to boiling until the solution is complete. The surface to
be stained is cleaned and dried, and the solution applied once or twice;
when half-dry, the whole is gone over again with one part of chromate of
potash boiled in five parts of water. It is then dried, rubbed down, and
polished in the ordinary way.
The extract of walnut-shells and chromate of potash are procurable at
any large druggist's establishment. A dark-brown is the result of the
action of copper salts on the yellow prussiate of potash; the sulphate
of copper in soft woods gives a pretty reddish-brown colour, in streaks
and shades, and becomes very rich after polishing or varnishing.
Different solutions penetrate with different degrees of facility. In
applying, for instance, acetate of copper and prussiate of potash to
larch, the sap-wood is coloured most when the acetate is introduced
first; but when the prussiate is first introduced, the heart-wood is the
most deeply coloured. Pyrolignite of iron causes a dark-grey colour in
beech, from the action and tannin in the wood on the oxide of iron;
while in larch it merely darkens the natural colour. Most of the tints,
especially those caused by the prussiates of iron and copper, are
improved by the exposure to light, and the richest colours are produced
when the process is carried out rapidly.
=Imitation Ebony.=--Take half a gallon of strong vinegar, one pound of
extract of logwood, a quarter of a pound of copperas, two ounces of
China blue, and one ounce of nut-gall. Put these into an iron pot, and
boil them over a slow fire till they are well dissolved. When cool, the
mixture is ready for use. Add a gill of iron filings steeped in vinegar.
The above makes a perfect jet black, equal to the best black ebony. A
very good black is obtained by a solution of sulphate of copper and
nitric acid; when dry, the work should have a coat of strong logwood
stain.
=Imitation Oak.=--To imitate old oak, the process known as "fumigating"
is the best. This is produced by two ounces of American potash and two
ounces of pearlash mixed together in a vessel containing one quart of
hot water.
Another method is by dissolving a lump of bichromate of potash in warm
water; the tint can be varied by adding more water. This is best done
out of doors in a good light. Very often in sending for bichromate of
potash a mistake is made, and chromate of potash is procured instead;
this is of a yellow colour, and will not answer the purpose. The
bichromate of potash is the most powerful, and is of a red colour. A
solution of asphaltum in spirits of turpentine is frequently used to
darken new oak which is intended for painter's varnish, or a coating
of boiled oil.
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