Chapter I: II III IV

Yellow wax 50 30 110 40 parts Syrian asphalt 20 20 25 40 parts Rosin — — — 20 parts Amber — — 20 — parts Mastic 25 25 25 — parts Tallow — — — 2 parts Bergundy pitch — — — 10 parts

«FLOOR VARNISHES.»

I.—Manila copal, spirit-soluble 12 parts
Ruby shellac, powdered 62 parts
Venice, turpentine 12 parts
Spirit, 96 per cent 250 parts

The materials are dissolved cold in a covered vat with constant stirring, or better still, in a stirring machine, and filtered. For the pale shades take light ocher; for dark ones, Amberg earth, which are well ground with the varnish in a paint mill.

II.—Shellac, A C leaf, 1.2 parts; sandarac, 8 parts; Manila copal, 2 parts; rosin, 5 parts; castor or linoleic acid or wood oil acid, 1.50 parts; spirit (96 per cent), 65 parts.

«French Varnish.»—So-called French varnish is made by dissolving I part of bleached or orange shellac in 5 parts of alcohol, the solution being allowed to stand and the clear portion then being decanted. The varnish may be colored by materials which are soluble in alcohol.

For red, use 1 part of eosin to 49 parts of the bleached shellac solution. For blue, use 1 part of aniline blue to 24 parts of the bleached shellac solution, as the orange shellac solution would impart a greenish cast. For green, use 1 part of aniline green (brilliant green) to 49 parts of the orange shellac solution. For yellow, use either 2 parts of extract of turmeric or 1 part of gamboge to 24 parts of the solution, or 1 part of aniline yellow to 49 parts of the solution. For golden yellow, use 2 parts of gamboge and 1 part of dragon’s blood to 47 parts of the orange shellac solution. The gamboge and dragon’s blood should be dissolved first in a little alcohol.

«Golden Varnishes.»—

I.—Powdered benzoin 1 part
Alcohol enough to make 10 parts.
Pure saffron, roughly broken up, about 6 threads to the ounce.

Macerate 3 days and filter. Vary the quantity of saffron according to the shade desired. Mastic and juniper gum may be added to this varnish if a heavier body is desired.

II.—Benzoin, juniper gum, gum mastic, equal parts.

Dissolve the gums in 9 times their weight of alcohol (varied more or less according to the consistency wanted), and color to the desired shade with threads of pure saffron. This varnish is very brilliant and dries at once.

«India-Rubber Varnishes.»—I.—Dissolve 10 pounds of India rubber in a mixture of 10 pounds of turpentine and 20 pounds of petroleum by treating same on a water bath. When the solution is completed add 45 pounds of drying oil and 5 pounds of lampblack and mix thoroughly.

II.—Dissolve 7 pounds of India rubber in 25 pounds of oil of turpentine. By continued heating dissolve 14 pounds of rosin in the mixture. Color while hot with 3 pounds of lampblack.

«Inlay Varnish.»—

Ozokerite 17 parts Carnauba wax 3 parts Turpentine oil 15 parts

Melt the ozokerite and Carnauba wax, then stir in the turpentine oil. This varnish is applied like a polish and imparts to the wood a dark natural color and a dull luster.

«Japanning Tin.»—The first thing to be done when a vessel is to be japanned, is to free it from all grease and oil, by rubbing it with turpentine. Should the oil, however, be linseed, it may be allowed to remain on the vessel, which must in that case be put in an oven and heated till the oil becomes quite hard.

After these preliminaries, a paint of the shade desired, ground in linseed oil, is applied. For brown, umber may be used.

When the paint has been satisfactorily applied it should be hardened by heating, and then smoothed down by rubbing with ground pumice stone applied gently by means of a piece of felt moistened with water. To be done well, this requires care and patience, and, it might be added, some experience.

The vessel is next coated with a varnish, made by the following formula:

Turpentine spirit 8 ounces Oil of lavender 6 ounces Camphor 1 drachm Bruised copal 2 ounces

Perhaps some other good varnish would give equally satisfactory results.

After this the vessel is put in an oven and heated to as high a temperature as it will bear without causing the varnish to {725} blister or run. When the varnish has become hard, the vessel is taken out and another coat is put on, which is submitted to heat as before. This process may be repeated till the judgment of the operator tells him that it is no longer advisable.

Some operators mix the coloring matter directly with the varnish; when this is done, care should be taken that the pigment is first reduced to an impalpable powder, and then thoroughly mixed with the liquid.

«LABEL VARNISHES.»

I.—Sandarac 3 ounces av.
Mastic 3/4 ounce av.
Venice turpentine 150 grains
Alcohol 16 fluidounces

Macerate with repeated stirring until solution is effected, and then filter.

The paper labels are first sized with diluted mucilage, then dried, and then coated with this varnish. If the labels have been written with water-soluble inks or color, they are first coated with 2 coats of collodion, and then varnished.

II.—The varnished labels of stock vessels often suffer damage from the spilling of the contents and the dripping after much pouring.

Formalin gelatin is capable of withstanding the baneful influence of ether, benzine, water, spirit of wine, oil, and most substances. The following method of applying the preservative is recommended: Having thoroughly cleaned the surface of the vessel, paste the label on and allow it to dry well. Give it a coat of thin collodion to protect the letters from being dissolved out or caused to run, then after a few minutes paint over it a coat of gelatin warmed to fluidity—5 to 25—being careful to cover in all the edges. Just before it solidifies go over it with a tuft of cotton dipped into a 40 per cent formalin solution. It soon dries and becomes as glossy as varnish, and may be coated again and again without danger of impairing the clear white of the label or decreasing its transparency.

«Leather Varnishes.»—I.—An excellent varnish for leather can be made from the following recipe: Heat 400 pounds of boiled oil to 212° F., and add little by little 2 pounds of bichromate of potash, keeping the same temperature. The addition of the bichromate should take about 15 minutes. Raise to 310° F., and add gradually during 1 hour at that temperature, 40 pounds Prussian blue. Heat for 3 hours more, gradually raising to 482° to 572° F., with constant stirring. In the meantime, heat together at 392° F., for 1/2 an hour, 25 pounds linseed oil, 35 pounds copal, 75 pounds turpentine, and 7 pounds ceresine. Mix the two varnishes, and dilute, if necessary, when cold with turpentine. The varnish should require to be warmed for easy application with the brush.

II.—Caoutchouc, 1 part; petroleum, 1 part; carbon bisulphide, 1 part; shellac, 4 parts; bone black, 2 parts; alcohol, 20 parts. First the caoutchouc is brought together with carbon bisulphide in a well-closed bottle and stood aside for a few days. As soon as the caoutchouc is soaked add the petroleum and the alcohol, then the finely powdered shellac, and heat to about 125° F. When the liquid appears pretty clear, which indicates the solution of all substances, the bone black is added by shaking thoroughly and the varnish is at once filled in bottles which are well closed. This pouch composition excels in drying quickly and produces upon the leather a smooth, deep black coating, which possesses a certain elasticity.

«METAL VARNISHES.»

The purpose of these varnishes is to protect the metals from oxidation and to render them glossy.

«Aluminum Varnish.»—The following is a process giving a special varnish for aluminum, but it may also be employed for other metals, giving a coating unalterable and indestructible by water or atmospheric influences: Dissolve, preferably in an enameled vessel, 10 parts, by weight, of gum lac in 30 parts of liquid ammonia. Heat on the water bath for about 1 hour and cool. The aluminum to be covered with this varnish is carefully cleaned in potash, and, having applied the varnish, the article is placed in a stove, where it is heated, during a certain time, at a suitable temperature (about 1062° F.).

«Brass Varnishes Imitating Gold.»—I.—An excellent gold varnish for brass objects, surgical or optical instruments, etc., is prepared as follows: Gum lac, in grains, pulverized, 30 parts; dragon’s blood, 1 part; red sanders wood, 1 part; pounded glass, 10 parts; strong alcohol, 600 parts; after sufficient maceration, filter. The powdered glass simply serves for accelerating the dissolving, by interposing between the particles of gum lac and opal.

II.—Reduce to powder, 160 parts, by weight, of turmeric of best quality, and pour over it 2 parts, by weight, of saffron, {726} and 1.700 parts, by weight, of spirit; digest in a warm place 24 hours, and filter. Next dissolve 80 parts, by weight, of dragon’s blood; 80 parts, by weight, of sandarac; 80 parts, by weight, of elemi gum; 50 parts, by weight, of gamboge; 70 parts, by weight, of seedlac. Mix these substances with 250 parts, by weight, of crushed glass, place them in a flask, and pour over this mixture the alcohol colored as above described. Assist the solution by means of a sand or water bath, and filter at the close of the operation. This is a fine varnish for brass scientific instruments.

«Bronze Varnishes.»—I.—The following process yields a top varnish for bronze goods and other metallic ware in the most varying shades, the varnish excelling, besides, in high gloss and durability. Fill in a bottle, pale shellac, best quality, 40 parts, by weight; powdered Florentine lake, 12 parts, by weight; gamboge, 30 parts, by weight; dragon’s blood, also powdered, 6 parts, by weight; and add 400 parts, by weight, of spirit of wine. This mixture is allowed to dissolve, the best way being to heat the bottle on the water bath until the boiling point of water is almost reached, shaking from time to time until all is dissolved. Upon cooling, decant the liquid, which constitutes a varnish of dark-red color, from any sediment that may be present. In a second bottle dissolve in the same manner 24 parts, by weight, of gamboge in 400 parts, by weight, of spirit of wine, from which will result a varnish of golden-yellow tint. According to the hue desired, mix the red varnish with the yellow variety, producing in this way any shade from the deepest red to the color of gold. If required, dilute with spirit of wine. The application of the varnish should be conducted as usual, that is, the article should be slightly warm, it being necessary to adhere strictly to a certain temperature, which can be easily determined by trials and maintained by experience. In order to give this varnish a pale-yellow to greenish-yellow tone, mix 10 drops of picric acid with about 3 parts, by weight, of spirit of wine, and add to a small quantity of the varnish some of this mixture until the desired shade has been reached. Picric acid is poisonous, and the keeping of varnish mixed with this acid in a closed bottle is not advisable, because there is danger of an explosion. Therefore, it is best to prepare only so much varnish at one time as is necessary for the immediate purpose.

«Brown Varnish.»—An excellent and quickly drying brown varnish for metals is made by dissolving 20 ounces of gum kino and 5 ounces of gum benjamin in 60 ounces of the best cold alcohol; 20 ounces of common shellac and 2 ounces of thick turpentine in 36 ounces of alcohol also give a very good varnish. If the brown is to have a reddish tint, dissolve 50 ounces of ruby shellac, 5 ounces balsam of copaiba, and 2 to 5 ounces of aniline brown, with or without 1/2 to 1 ounce of aniline violet, in 150 ounces of alcohol.

«Copper Varnishes.»—These two are for polished objects:

I.—One hundred and ten parts of sandarac and 30 parts of rosin, dissolved in sufficient quantity of alcohol; 5 parts of glycerine are to be added.

II.—Sandarac 10 parts
Rosin 3 parts
Glycerine 1/2 part
Alcohol, a sufficient quantity.

Dissolve the two rosins in sufficient alcohol and add the glycerine.

«Decorative Metal Varnishes.»—