Part 3
On the other hand, nearly all woods that are classed in class two, but more especially those which are on the extreme side of that class should be stippled by all means, and the others are greatly helped by a partial stippling at least.
Included in as stippling must be added the check roller work, as this may be done in such a way as to replace the stippling done with the flogger for certain woods, in the graining of some peculiar specimen of quartered oak especially.
71. Before attempting to do any graining, the student is earnestly advised to procure a number of small pieces of veneers of the various woods; to glue them over smooth boards, fill them with a good hardwood filler if open grained; if not shellac them over with two coats of shellac, which he should also give to the open wood sample after having filled them and smoothed them properly. Then give them one or two coats of good varnish, when he will have object lessons which will prove invaluable to him. Let him not confine himself to one, two or three specimens of the same wood, but let him pick out as many as he can afford to do, in order that he may study their variations and different modes of growth, or he may get stuck into ruts and routine in his style of graining which he must try to avoid as much as possible.
There is nor cannot be any better teacher than these samples will be. They need not cost much either. Frequently they can be obtained for a song at some of the furniture factories from ends that are too short for use in their regular work.
72. As it is a matter of indifference at least in practicing studies as to the colors that are used in doing graining, the student can paint a ground color upon any convenient board or old door and practice upon it. He had better have several; at least, he should have two--one for practicing graining in oil and another for graining in distemper. With plenty of rags and turpentine or benzine he can wipe out his work as easily as upon a blackboard, and he can recommence it again and again until he is ready to quit and then he can wipe it off, and it will be ready for the next time. This advice is good, for it will not do for the beginner to try his hand upon actual work until he is sufficiently sure of his skill that he will not make a botch of it. He can try all the various general operations mentioned above, and apply them as nearly as he can to the particular needs of the wood he wishes to imitate, referring first to the special details that are given under each of the woods in subsequent chapters.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XIV.
68. How may all the various woods be classed?
69. What is said of woods of gnarled growths?
70. When do the wood imitations need stippling?
71. What is said regarding the preparation of various samples of veneers for study?
72. What advice is given about preparing practice boards for graining study?
LESSON XV.
GRAINING OAK.
73. Oak graining has always been in the lead in the quantity of it that is done, and it is no wonder. It offers so many variations, and in either in its heart growths or in its quarter sawed condition an endless number of forms can be indulged in which are all pleasing to look at. It can be grained in oil or in distemper in both of its forms and in combinations of the two.
HEART GROWTH IN OIL.
74. _The ground_ for all oaks is _buff_. Light oak requires a cream tone of it which can be deepened for the darker shades. For red and black oak a trifle of red can be added to the buff, which is made from some good ocher added to white lead. (See paragraphs 26 to 30 about preparing grounds under various conditions.)
75. _The graining colors_ proper are prepared to suit the shade of wood desired from raw sienna, raw umber and for very dark antique oak with a little ivory black added. The color should be megilped in order to make it comb and wipe clean. (See paragraphs 33 to 36.)
The wiping should be done as advised in paragraphs 48 and 49. Then combed as stated in paragraphs 50 to 52.
76. The graining will be improved if the same is overgrained after the wiping out and combing coat has become hardened. This must not be overdone to look well. It consists simply in using some of the graining color used before, and in touching up a few places on the grained work. This darkens them some and these variations of color enriches it. The student will notice it upon natural wood usually where the veining makes a turn, etc. Study nature, but do not _overdo it_.
77. When the overgraining is dry the job is ready for varnishing. In varnishing use an elastic varnish as much as possible, as both the ground coats and the graining colors contain oil and a hard, quick-drying varnish will not be so likely to give and accommodate itself to these as an elastic one will. As the varnishing coats which follow graining of all kinds are about the same for all woods it will not be necessary to repeat each time what is said here.
78. In varnishing over distempered work a quicker and harder varnish can be used than that named above. As many prefer a wax finish to varnishing, this can be applied over the work. The ready prepared wax finishes are best to use; they are easily applied with a brush or even a rag and afterward polished over with a cloth or a hand polishing glove made of lamb skin with the wool left on. It will soon polish up into a soft-toned subdued gloss which is pleasing and imitates "rubbed work" in hardwood finishing.
GRAINING OAK HEART GROWTH IN DISTEMPER.
78. It will be well not to have the ground coats too oily for graining in distemper, as it may be difficult to spread the distemper color over it, especially in cool weather. On the other hand again, it must not be too flat, as then the colors will sink into it and if from any cause one desires to wash them off they will be indelibly marked out upon the ground, and will at the least look dirty.
The check roller can be used to good advantage in putting in a few checks here and there, and a little fine stippling on the side away from where the main heart growth is to be pencilled in with the camel's hair brush will help the looks of it. When dry proceed to put in the heart growth, using the overgrainer wherever possible in doing the fine line work over the stippling. It goes without the saying that all the veining, both heart growth and fine lines, must be well blended with the badger hair brush.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XV.
73. What is said of oak graining in general?
74. How are oak ground tints to be made?
75. How are the colors to be applied?
76. How is the graining overgrained?
77. How is the varnishing to be done?
78. How is wax polish finish applied?
LESSON XVI.
OAK GRAINING--CONTINUED.
QUARTERED OAK GRAINING IN OIL.
79. There are a great number of ways of graining quartered oak and when one says that it is imitated in oil graining, but very little more information is conveyed than that the work is executed in that medium instead of in distemper color. The manner of doing it may vary greatly, as well as the growth itself, which is infinite almost. It is, therefore, a matter upon which little more information can be given without the actual showing than the rehearsing over of general principles. If the student has provided himself with a number of samples of quartered oak veneers and has practiced their reproduction in oil and in distemper, he will have gained an experience that type and printing ink cannot possibly teach him.
80. The grounds are to be the same as described in the heart growth graining of oak. The graining color should be "rubbed in" very evenly, but neither too thick nor too thin. In most of the work, and that is naturally _that_ which one tries to describe in giving general directions in graining a certain wood, the surface should be combed over with rubber combs and afterward split up with a fine steel comb to break up the vein lines. Some skill may be shown in this, for if done properly and at the right angle the lines will appear as thickly studded pores, but if not, anything but that.
81. The method of "wiping out" is described in paragraphs 48 and 49. Remove all the flakes of the larger sorts first, which usually are to be found in the center of the wood samples, keeping in mind a definite idea of what the work is to represent; this lays out the general character of the wood.
82. The subsequent wiping out is to be done in accordance with the main flaking, gradually lessening the size of the secondary flakings to the outer edge, where usually they are found much more numerous.
83. The graining may be much improved by softening the edges by using a very soft clean cotton cloth very lightly upon their lower edge. The proper doing of this requires some skill and usually is shunned by the cheap fellow, as it takes some little time as well as skill.
84. Overgraining quartered oak may be the means of greatly improving its looks, especially where a gnarly and knotty specimen is attempted. As stated before, this is done by the application of the color in oil used in the "rubbed in" coat to such parts which it is desired should look darker than the rest.
85. Sometimes the graining is finished up in water colors. The graining must, of course, be thoroughly dry in order that the distemper colors may take hold over it. Most beautiful effects can be obtained by this dual method of graining quartered oak. It requires skill in the operator, but good judgment and experience the more, as it is an easy matter to overdo it, when instead of a thing of beauty it becomes an eye sore.
86. Varnishing is the final operation in all kinds of graining, but the graining may also be waxed polished as noted in the preceding lesson.
Much more could be written as to the many various methods that are being used in the graining of oak, especially of quartered oak, but the space limit of this manual is too confined to attempt it. The directions given will suffice to indicate to the student how to proceed and as he progresses along, the variations in the manner of doing the work will suggest themselves to him and he will grow into them naturally.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XVI.
79. What is said in a general way on the graining of quarter sawed oak?
80. What is said of the rubbing in coat and combing?
81. How are the flakes and champs put in?
82. What is said of the wiping out?
83. How are the edges to be softened?
84. How is the overgraining done?
85. What is said of combination oil and distemper work?
86. How is the work finished?
LESSON XVII.
GRAINING QUARTERED OAK IN DISTEMPER.
87. There is a great deal of quartered oak graining that is done in distemper in certain localities, especially where the grainers have come into the knack of it. When it is well done it is fully as good as when done in oil. The quality of the work is what counts, and it is just as easy to produce an eye sore in the one as it is in the other.
88. It is true that the operator has no time to take a nap and hardly to bat his eyes, and that no doubt is the reason why so few grainers attempt quartered oak in distemper. The colors do dry very quickly, so the graining must be done without hesitation or waste of time. If it has been practiced on the lesson boards mentioned in paragraph 72 no one who has succeeded on them need be afraid of tackling it on door panels, etc.
89. Everything in the way of colors, sponges, rags, overgrainers, blenders and tools being ready and within reach, the woodwork to be grained should be washed over with water into which vinegar has been poured. When it has become nearly but not quite dry, proceed to lay on the color in streaks with the overgrainers, then with the rubber or fine steel combs run through the lines in order to break them up and to serrate them, and immediately proceed with the rag and thumb or the rubber substitute for it to wipe out the champs and flakes in the way and manner described in the wiping out of oak in oil graining; soften the edges by using the soft cotton rag in the same way also. It is needless to say that one panel at a time is all that should be colored up, and even this will be found too much by many, but it can be done and it is not so difficult as it looks to be; only, as said before, there is no time to think of the "girl you left behind you" or anything else but doing the work.
90. For a change dark flakings and other flaked veinings may be put in instead of light ones. In this sort of quartered oak graining the whole thing is reversed. The color is applied evenly but solidly over the panel and immediately combed with rubber combs and split as related in the preceding paragraph; then with the camel hair pencil brush proceed to pencil on the flakes and champs as desired, slightly blending them with the badger blender. This is not so difficult to execute as by wiping out, because it does not matter about hurrying.
91. In either method the use of the check roller can be resorted to to improve the looks of the graining, it is best to delay it until the graining has been completed, as then it can be put only in such parts as really require it, while if put on beforehand it may be that they may be placed where they should not. They are not essential and, as stated before, really a detriment when not used rightly. The expert who knows where to use them, however, obtains a more natural finish by their use.
92. The overgraining ought to be done in oil colors and put on very thinly, then with clean cotton rags wipe it off from such parts that are required to be light, which will give the shading as if it had been done in oil over oil graining with the difference that in shading the latter the overgraining color is applied only where it is wanted and requires no wiping out.
93. Where distemper graining is overgrained with oil colors it practically becomes the same as oil graining and that alone will usually protect it against accidents caused by water washing it off, but as the finish does not look even, that must be supplied as in the previous graining described, by either waxing or varnishing, or a combination of the two as related in paragraph 77.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XVII.
87. What is said of quartered oak graining in distemper?
88. Why are some grainers afraid to undertake graining it in distemper?
89. How is the wiping out done?
90. How is dark flake graining done?
91. How may the check roller be used?
92. How should distemper graining be overgrained?
93. How is distemper graining to be finished?
LESSON XVIII.
GRAINING ASH.
94. Ash graining is very similar to oak graining, and but that the growth is somewhat coarser than that of oak, and that it is usually more evenly veined, at least in the American species, the student would find no need of further directions. It is somewhat more open, too, showing considerable porousness in some of its growth, so much so that some grainers stipple it as for walnut, but flog it finer and the color used being more subdued these pores do not show up so prominently. This, of course, relates to the graining it in water colors mainly, although it works nicely in oil for wiping out also, especially when the color used is for dark ash.
95. The ground should be very nearly that required for oak graining, just a trifle darker than is required for light oak. This, as in oak, is variable, and one must be guided by what finish is intended to be given. Even the natural specimens vary greatly, and with the present fashion of staining woods into all sorts of outlandish hues one must take the cue as to what the ground shall be from the color used on the finish as stated before.
If it is finished in the natural color belonging to ash, the color of the ground can be made from ochre added to white lead as the base color, using more or less of it as a lighter or darker shade is desired.
96. The graining of ash in oil is done in much the same manner as that which is related for oil grain of oak in paragraphs 75 and 76. As the growth in the American varieties is straighter grained than that of oak, there will be no difficulty in wiping it out, only that the coarser growth must be reproduced as naturally as possible. The colors and megilp will be also about the same as for oak in the natural tone, and such other coloring matter must be added as found necessary to produce any of the stained effects wanted in others. If the ground is stippled before the wiping out, it should be done with raw umber and raw sienna in distemper; it will be well to reduce their strength by the addition of whiting in order that the stippling may not appear too prominent.
97. The graining of ash in distemper is very easily acquired and presents but little difficulty to one who has his mind imbued with the main characteristics of its growth. The graining may be done with or without stippling, but if the stippling is well done it will improve it. The veining is done with the camel's hair brush, and the blending should follow it up quickly so as to divide up the veining before it has had time to set. This will enable the washing up of the stippling by the pressure of the blender, and will leave a paler base for the veining, which by the stronger contrast will appear more natural.
98. Ash is overgrained for the same purpose as related of oak. It shows up the darker parts, or if they may be so called, the nerves of the wood. This should not be overdone, however, as it will defeat the very purpose for which it is done at all. It is better not to overgrain at all than to overgrain too much, and the student had much better do too little of it than to err upon the opposite side. The color used for overgraining is oil colors, as related for oak graining in paragraph 92.
99. Hungarian ash is so very much different from the American species in its growth that it might be well to cut it loose altogether from the ash group and to give it a place by itself. It resembles somewhat the growth sometimes seen in some yellow pine specimens. It is very wavy and the saw cutting across them the veins appear contorted into all kinds of circling growths, but with all this widening out suddenly of two lines which nearly meet together, there is a system in it and none ever cross over each other. The student must study a natural specimen of it in order to understand this spiral and twisting system of growths, and when he sees through it he will find no difficulty in reproducing it in water colors, which is the only manner Hungarian ash is ever grained. It is possible to grain it in oil, but the time required to wipe it out will prevent grainers from ever attempting it the second time.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XVIII.
94. What is said about the graining of ash?
95. What is a proper ground for the graining of ash?
96. How is ash grained in oil?
97. How is ash grained in water colors?
98. How should ash be overgrained?
99. How is Hungarian ash grained?
LESSON XIX.
GRAINING CHESTNUT AND MAPLE.
100. The graining of chestnut presents no difficulty either to one who has a good knowledge of the handling of graining tools. Its general character is much the same as that of oak and ash. It differs from either, however, and has a growth entirely its own. Its principal points are: Coarseness of veining; its fibres being thick and when cut across by the saw present numerous coarse pores which must be represented by stippling coarsely and somewhat irregularly flogged on, as it shows only a few in parts where the saw has not cut the fibres across either squarely or slanting.
101. The graining of chestnut may be done in either oil by wiping or in distemper. By either method it will be best to stipple it in the manner stated in the previous paragraph--rather coarsely. The ground is a light buff, just about such as described for oak or ash, and may vary to suit the graining and grainer. It can be wiped out easily in oil, but much the best way is to grain it in distemper, as it is easier and more quickly done. The veining is put on with a camel's hair brush and blended with the badger hair blender before the color sets. The veining being coarse is easily put on. Its growth is not nearly as regular as that of ash and presents much variation in its forms. The color used for the stippling should be the same as given for ash stippling, but should have but little whiting added to it, as the pores must appear coarse and prominent. The colors used in either oil or distemper graining are raw sienna deepened with raw and burnt umber to suit.
MAPLE.
102. The graining of maple differs materially from that of the woods described heretofore. In color it is on the same order, however, of a light buff tone. It should be given a ground color just off the white by the addition of a trifle of ochre to the white lead base. There is considerable variation in this and if one is required to match or imitate some aged maple the general tone will need to be much deeper, and may require a ground as deep toned as that of oak or ash, as maple darkens considerably by age.
103. Again as fashion has decreed that maple should be stained a light gray one has to grain it in imitation of that and the ground must then be made by the addition of lamp black to the white base sufficiently to make a faint pearl gray. The veining proper is not very prominent in maple. This consists of very fine lines with little if any feathering. Maple is a very close wood and shows but little if any porousness, therefore should never be stippled. The chief beauty of ordinary maple lays in its mottlings and not in its veinings. Plain maple being what is now under consideration, curled and bird's eye maple will be taken up in a separate lesson.
104. Plain maple is never grained in oil as it would be too tedious to imitate it by wiping. Therefore its graining by distemper work is the only method worth the while to describe. To be able to grain it well the student must have its character well made out--in his head at least. The color if the wood is grained in its natural color is made from raw sienna weakened down to suit by the addition of whiting. The character of the wood is best produced by the application of the color with a sponge. This should be blended at once and if the color has been properly applied with the sponge, the mottlings produced by the blending of the color will usually suffice and a few more of a deeper tone may be added in the overgraining. As soon as dry, which requires but a few minutes, the veining proper may be put in with the same color with a camel's hair pencil, but should not be blended. This should be done with a fine pointed brush as it should not be prominent. The better way to vein maple is to use a light raw sienna toned crayon pencil and to draw them out where desired. These produce an even stroked vein much easier to obtain by their use than with a brush.
105. The overgraining of plain maple is done in oil and consists of a few darker mottles made with a brush specially made for this purpose, but which in reality is little better than a plain double thick varnish flat brush, and the latter will be found good enough for this purpose. If the color happens to be too thickly put on, it can be wiped out with a clean rag and left only where it is desired. It should be made of raw sienna darkened with raw and burnt umber and thinned with raw linseed oil and turpentine, half and half. It has been supposed all along that the maple graining was done in its natural color. If gray maple is to be imitated the distemper color should be made from ivory black toned down with whiting and the overgraining color from ivory black thinned sufficiently to produce the tint wanted.
QUESTIONS ON LESSON XIX.
100. What is said in general of chestnut graining?
101. How should chestnut be grained?
102. What is said of maple graining in general?
103. How should gray maple ground be prepared?