CHAPTER XVI.

LEAVES FROM THE PAINT SHOP DIARY--PERTINENT POINTS ON PRACTICAL MATTERS--BLENDING OF COLORS--SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION--PAINTING IN SILVER BRONZE--THE FRENCH PAINTERS' VARNISH ROOM--REMEDY FOR RUSTED CARRIAGE SPRINGS--PAINTING METALLIC SURFACES--THINNING VARNISH--ETC.

At best the carriage painter's existence is somewhat hazardous, his every-day scene of toil being well laden with poisonous fumes and fetid exhalations. In the painting of a hearse, ambulance, or "dead wagon" the precaution of disinfecting the vehicle most thoroughly should be taken. Carbolic acid, carbonate of lime, or, if one prefers, numerous ready prepared disinfectants of penetrating composition may be used generously. Prudence dictates the policy of refusing to take any chances when working in and about a vehicle possibly afflicted with the germs of some deadly contagious disease.

It is not always an easy matter to clean the glasses in heavy coach work unless special methods are practiced. Here is a quick way of cleaning besmeared glasses of the kind named. Saturate a soft sponge with wood alcohol and wipe over both sides of the glass. If perchance varnish or paint accumulations are in evidence the alcohol softens them and a quick runaround with a keen-edged putty knife removes them. If a careless or incompetent workman has badly bedaubed a glass, coat the daubs with oxalic acid. The action of this powerful liquid will very briefly soften up the accumulations so that the putty knife will nicely slick them off. Then give a rub over with an alcohol-charged sponge, this to be immediately followed by a smart polish with the chamois skin. If a still better polish is desired, take a newspaper, roll it into a shape that will permit rubbing the glass without bringing the fingers in contact with the surface, and then dipping the paper into dry lampblack proceed to burnish both sides of the glass.

The blending of colors has lately become an important feature of the carriage painter's art. This was at one time considered purely a matter of business belonging to the artist, but it is not now so regarded. Artistic, and therefore harmonious, color blending consists in preserving the individuality of each color employed, while at the same time there is an almost unconscious merging of one color into another. No distinctive lines are allowed to disturb the harmony of the work. The carriage color blender, like his brother artist of the palette and three-story studio, aims to obtain a thorough incorporation of all the different shades of color employed upon a certain piece of work so that the blending from light lo dark may be made without resorting to any glaring contrasts. The blending is accomplished while the colors are wet, the ground being laid first in the lighter colors, then working in the darker shades until the darkest desired shade is reached. Great care is necessarily expended upon the tools, etc. A color-clogged brush need not be expected to do good blending service. No arbitrary rules can be given within which to confine the work of blending--it is too closely allied to art for that. Supremely necessary aids to success in this field of work consist of plenty of practice taken in connection with intelligent study of outline, harmony, and contrasts.

If it is desirable to varnish a job of gilding the same day the leaf is laid, and it is feared that the leaf will brush mark, it is a good plan to give the gold a light coat of thin shellac, going over the work very quickly. The shellac will protect the leaf without in any way harming it.

One hears a good deal concerning spontaneous combustion. The craft would be less familiar with the term if the following rule, rigidly enforced in some shops, were lived up to in letter and spirit: _Greasy rags must be burned up immediately, and not, under any consideration, allowed to remain in the shop one moment after their use is finished. Any violation of this order will result in immediate dismissal._

The following method of filling in a badly cracked carriage surface has successfully been practiced by a friend of the writer's. The surface is first cleaned and given a light sandpapering to strike off dirt, motes, etc. Then dust off and apply a coat of gold-size japan, a free, generous coat of the japan being used. Once dry, the coat is gone over with a roll of rubbing felt to kill the gloss. The gold-size japan reaches into the minute orifices more effectively than varnish, filling and sealing the fissures, and in addition it furnishes an easily and quickly prepared surface for the color and the varnish coats to follow.

You wish to repair a split panel. At each extremity of the split bore a 1/4 inch hole. Put one hole just at the crack, the second one fairly clear of it. Next plug the holes up, and then dress off even with the surface of the panel. Now cut a shallow bevel along each side of the crack; this to enable the putty to resist the cracking tendency of the crevice. Then give the dressed off parts a coat of lead containing a good binder of oil. When this has dried putty the hollow level and fill with a putty made of 3/4 dry white lead and 1/4 keg lead, the liquids being rubbing varnish and japan, equal parts. Sandpaper this repair in due time, and then give the final puttying, which should be done to the full measure of the best possible skill.

An effective little advertising card was once circulated by a keen-minded California carriage painter, and on the back of the card were appended the following wise admonitions to the carriage user. The suggestions are quite as pertinent now as they were at the time they were first given publicity. To insure durability of the painting you must care for the work as follows, viz:

"Don't expose to the fumes of ammonia. Don't let mud dry on it. Don't scratch the varnish in washing. Don't expose to the sun or rain when not in use. Don't let the axle-grease collect on the hubs. Don't blame me if you are careless, as I have given you warning."

A man is well dressed only when every part of his apparel meets the approval of the critic. This same estimate also applies to carriage painting--that is to genteel carriage painting. Hence why send the top joints on a carriage top out roughly and incompletely finished? The critical eye rests very quickly upon such conspicuous parts of a vehicle, and if they are not fittingly finished the seal of condemnation is set upon the work as a whole. Here is a finish for top joints that will disarm the fault finder: First coat up with stout coat of lead containing sufficient oil to bind the lead securely. Then mix two parts dry white lead, one part roughstuff filler, to a rather stiff paste in equal parts of japan and rubbing varnish. Rub this mixture onto the joints with a piece of heavy harness leather. When dry, give the pigment a thorough smoothing up with sandpaper, color, color-and-varnish, rub with water and pumice stone, and then finish with a hard drying finishing varnish.

To paint a carriage gear in silver bronze, which one is now and then asked to do, bring the work up to the point of the foundation color for the bronze very carefully, using no lampblack in the priming and first lead coats to throw them to a slate color. The foundation coat should be pure white, mixed to dry without gloss and applied with a camel's-hair brush. Over this coat flow on a coat of rubbing varnish, and when the right "tack" is reached apply the bronze with a soft, clean camel's-hair brush. The wiping off and the delicate burnish may be given with a soft piece of chamois skin. Stripe with some color that harmonizes nicely with the bronze, and use no varnish over it. Varnish destroys the richness of the bronze.

Why use a broad pencil in glazing double line stripes? The existing space between the stripes, when the glazing is done with a broad pencil, reflects a clouded, muddy appearance. Better glaze each line separately, using a sword pencil for glazing with, and thus obtain the best color effects along with a fine, dressy outline of striping.

If a carriage top from which the enamel has nearly or quite vanished is desired to be made bright again the following recipe, published by the writer in _Painting and Decorating_ some time since, will give satisfaction: Mix 2 parts of liquid glue with 3 parts of dissolved castile soap, adding 120 parts of soft water, to more thoroughly liquify the glue and soap. Then add 4 parts of spirit varnish, after which stir in 2 parts of wheat starch, previously mixed in water. Follow with just enough lampblack to give the mixture a solidly black tinge. A trifle too much of the lampblack will kill the gloss. The dressing is now ready for use. It should be kept in an air-tight vessel to prevent thickening.

A green stripe is strikingly enriched by glazing with verdigris, but this glaze should be varnished over as soon as dry, or, at any rate, before moisture settles upon the work; otherwise the verdigris will lose its quality.

It's a very simple operation to sweep a varnish or paint-room floor, but some ways are better than others, nevertheless. Try this way for a change and thereby establish its utility: Take a pail of sawdust, dampen it thoroughly, and then throw a windrow of the woody bits across one side of the room. Sweep across to the other side of the apartment, and then observe how spick and clean the floor will be, with no moisture remaining to annoy the painter or varnisher.

The blow-pipe should be more in evidence in the carriage paint shop. The tinsmith will charge but a small fee for making the pipe, which may be 1-1/2 ft. long and tapering from 1/2 inch at one end to 1/4 inch at the other. Dust and dirt that cannot be removed with a duster is simply given a cyclone breath through the tube, and, presto! the parts are clean. With the blow-pipe water can be driven out of evasive corners when cleaning up a job preparatory to varnishing.

Despite the best laid plans of the painter carriage linings occasionally get some glaring smears of pigment. If the linings so defaced be of light color, dampen with naphtha or gasoline, and then with a clean woolen cloth rub the goods briskly. This same treatment may be given to dark colored cloth upon which the paint spots have dried. If the spots are observed while the paint is still wet, rub them smartly with pieces of the same kind of cloth of which the lining is composed. The cloth to cloth treatment is a most effective and easy treatment.

The business wagon painter has many moldings and battens to black, and he greatly needs a good, pleasant handling pencil with which to do the work. A pretty working pencil for doing the parts here named is made in this wise: Take some hair from a camel's-hair pencil and mix with it 1/3 black sable hair. Prepare a handle as though you were to make a sword pencil, splitting it at the base, etc. Then, after arranging the hair to the right width and thickness, insert the butt end of the bunch in the split. Wind tightly with strong linen thread. Use on the flat side of the pencil instead of the edge.

An imitation-of-ebony job comes within the province of the painter's skill now and then. First of all, the wood should be close, fine-grained stuff. Wash it with a decoction of logwood three or four times, allowing the liquid to dry well between applications. Next wash with a solution of acetate of iron. This gives a deep, intensely black color.

For the filling of an unusually deep surface cavity prepare a pigment after this formula: One part keg lead; 2 parts whiting. Mix to a stiff paste in equal parts of thick varnish bottoms and raw linseed oil. Add a small quantity of japan to insure reliable drying. Then to this mass mix in enough dry white lead to cause the putty to work nicely from the hand. Apply very smooth so as to avoid sandpapering.

One of the secrets of the French coach painter's success as a fine varnisher and finisher was revealed by W. H. Knight's report on the Paris Exposition. Referring to the varnish room, Mr. Knight wrote: The door is locked, and no one is admitted under any circumstances--not even the proprietor. The doors and windows are air-tight, so that not a particle of dust can find entrance. And yet the room is ventilated, but how? By means of tubes filled with a mixture of horsehair and wool. This permits the air to enter freely, but deprives it of all dust, consequently the finish of their work is perfect and exquisite.

All surfaces painted with lake colors should be amply protected by substantial varnish coats. Neither the lake coats nor the foundations over which they are laid should be allowed to dry "dead." Give the ground coats a bit of gloss and _always_ use the lakes as color-and-varnish coats. Also, _always_ refrain from buying a cheap, inferior lake, the chief constituents of which are whiting and aniline dye. Water dissolves the aniline: hence with water as an aid the painter can determine the quality, in a measure at least, of the lake colors. To the surface painted in a lake color, apply, before coating with varnish, a generous smear of water. If the aniline speedily disappears, leaving the colorless whiting base, the purchaser has just cause to question the quality of the material.

A varnish sag upon a surface doesn't always admit of easy removal. It can be done, however, and that very quickly and smoothly in a majority of cases. Get a stocky bunch of curled hair, wet it up thoroughly, give it a liberal dip in pulverized pumice stone, and then rub the afflicted surface carefully. Finish with a uniform polish furnished by the regular varnish surfacing equipment.

Carriage and wagon interiors, running parts, etc., finished in the natural wood, that have become stained in spots so as to be an offense to the eye, may be satisfactorily renewed by smearing the stains with oxalic acid. Apply the acid with a brush, permit it to act upon the stains for a few minutes, then with a small sponge wash off with clean, soft water. The steel scraper, handily wielded, will then remove all remaining evidences of the stains. All metallic surfaces may be perfectly cleaned with this acid.

The question of carriage springs rusting is a live one with the carriage painter. The spring maker, or rather the first-class manufacturer of springs, avers that the spring product well ground and finished is not at all liable to rust or prematurely throw off its protecting coats of paint and varnish. The carriage painter, however, is compelled to paint and dress up all sorts and conditions of springs. The badly rusted and scaly springs may be thoroughly cleaned, using a file and hammer for the purpose, and the spring layers being separated one from another. Then coat with graphite paint or mineral brown, and in due time finish up in the usual way. Again, the inner surface of the spring leaves is coated with a lead and lampblack mixture, and later given a glazing of equal parts of unsalted beef and mutton tallow. A third formula, widely known as _The Hub_ formula, because it is said to have originated with that journal, has proven of value. It is as follows: "Remove the securing bolts; place the springs thus released from tension in a bath of soft water over night. In the morning, with a stiff bristle or helix brush, in water at 100° degrees, scour the plates effectually, and remove the oxide by means of an ample use of elbow grease. Dry by sunlight or artificial heat in hardwood sawdust. Let lie in warm sawdust, at 75° or 80° for from two to three hours; then give a thin coat of clear, boiled linseed oil, and when thoroughly dry (an exposure of twelve or more hours is necessary), coat over by means of a sponge with a mixture of 6 parts of commercial beeswax, suspended at 90°, with 2 parts of spirits of turpentine. One hour after application wipe off edges of all plates; then allow one hour for hardening and secure the plate with centre bolt."

The carriage painter frequently has sign writing to do on glass and he requires a reliable size to enable him to get first-class leafing. Russian isinglass makes the best size, although it is often difficult to obtain from local merchants. To a pint of soft water add a piece of the isinglass 1/2 in. square and boil until the material is wholly dissolved. Then add a drop or two of alcohol, strain, and the size is ready for use. Gelatine, while largely used, should be used the day it is prepared as a size, otherwise it is not reliable in its action. Put a few shreds of the gelatine in a quart of water and boil until the water is reduced to a pint.

Vermilion is one of the highly-prized carriage painting pigments, and the best is none too good to meet the requirements of good work. To test the color, heat a small quantity in a porcelain vessel over an alcohol lamp. The adulterated vermilion, in burning, will leave a sediment either red, black, or perhaps white. The genuine quicksilver vermilion invariably proves fugitive when submitted to intense heat.

The refuse oil of pine or coal tar is a useful oil to keep upon the paint shop shelves. Suppose a borrowed brush or a brush neglected in some way about the shop is found dried up--hardened to a stone-like condition. Take a quantity of the pine or coal tar oil from its air-tight receptacle, where it should be kept to prevent evaporation, and in the liquid suspend the injured brush well up over the bristles. Three or four days' immersion will usually soften up a very much abused brush.

All colors that are apparently changed in purity of color when even the palest of varnishes are used over them, should have a little of the color used in each varnish coat up to the finishing coat of varnish. If striping or ornamenting is used do this work upon the last rubbing coat and then finish with the very palest varnish obtainable.

Bear in mind this fact, namely: Colors are divided into three cardinal degrees--light, medium, and dark. And the relative position of the base color governs the intermediate shades. In the mixing and use of colors it is also a wise policy to provide for the self-asserting property of the strongest or controlling color. If this is not done the distinctive character of the color sought for will not for long be retained.

A prime factor in finishing a carriage in natural wood consists in first thoroughly cleaning the wood and then keeping it clean. All stains and discolorations of the wood should be sandpapered out or scraped off with steel scraper and a piece of glass. Then a careful, uniform sandpapering should be given. Dust off and apply a coat of raw linseed oil. This oil coat requires a clean, smooth rubbing out--as clean and smooth as a coat of paint. Give this oil coat from 24 to 36 hours to dry and harden completely. Sandpaper lightly, dust off, and give the surface a coating of some reliable, first-class, wood filler. As soon as the filler takes on a sufficient "tack," rub across the grain of the wood with soft, clean rags until the surface is free from any surplus filler. If, after the application of the filler, the cells of the wood remain unfilled or defectively sealed, a second coat of the filler will be necessary. Once the filler has dried, mix a putty colored to match the natural color of the wood, and putty nail and screw holes and other cavities. This puttying should be done so smoothly as to necessitate little or no sandpapering for the purpose of leveling the putty spots. The whole surface may now in due time be lightly gone over with No. 0 paper. Next dust off and apply a coat of pale rubbing varnish. The striping is best done on this coat. Then give second coat of rubbing, surfacing this coat, when dry, with pulverized pumice stone and water, clean up most thoroughly, and finish with a very pale durable finishing varnish.

The painting of one of these natural-wood-finished jobs often presents a formidable problem. What is the best method to pursue? That cannot be answered decisively; but a reliable method is appended. First scrape and sandpaper the old varnish clean and sleek to the wood. If the wood is in good shape and not weather-beaten, apply a coat of lead containing no more oil than is carried in the keg lead as it comes from the dealer, the pigment being simply thinned with turpentine and given a drying agent in the shape of a teaspoonful of coach japan, to, say, each pint of the mixture. If the varnish has perished, and the wood is injured thereby, it is advisable to give the lead a little extra dash of oil, but not enough to cause the lead to dry with a gloss. Testing the lead on the finger nail will determine the question of gloss. When dry this coating of lead should receive a careful sandpapering, and a second coat of lead mixed to dry "dead," and laid with a camel's-hair brush, may go on. Too much oil should be especially avoided in building the lead foundation over these natural wood surfaces, as it must be borne in mind that the grain of the wood has been already sealed with a hard, non-absorbent material into which the usual first coat percentage of oil does not penetrate. On this second coat of lead all needed puttying is done. The sandpapering which follows should be very perfect and skillfully done. Body surfaces may next receive the needed roughstuff coating up, to be subsequently rubbed out and carried through to a finish in the ordinary way. The running parts from this lead coat foundation are colored and finished according to the accepted practice.

Once upon a time, my lamented friend, A. F. Manchester, in the columns of _Varnish_, asked this pertinent question: "Do you have trouble with your fine colors clouding up and losing their brilliancy from the varnish?" Replying to the query, he suggested this plan, to the efficacy of which the writer is glad to subscribe: "On any transparent color (or any color, in fact) always add some of the color to each coat of rubbing varnish--enough to kill the amber tint of the varnish. This preserves the colors in all their original brilliancy. Of course, this plan necessitates striping and ornamenting on the last coat of rubbing, but that is just as well as burying all the tone of the colors under the varnish. Then, again, it obliges the customer to have the job revarnished when he ought."

It is not a praiseworthy practice to putty a carriage body after it is rubbed out of roughstuff, or after the first coat of color is on. The puttying should be attended to when the job is being roughstuffed--and before. All places overlooked at the first puttying should be attended to carefully upon the first coat of roughstuff. Puttying upon a roughstuffed rubbed panel leads to premature surface blemishes of a most unhappy order.

Certain of the yellows are rather difficult to work nicely when used as striping colors for dagger or sword pencils. Notably so is chrome yellow, which, by the way, is a pretty foundation for glazing with carmine. Such colors may be remedied by adding a bit of some body color which will give them a stronger covering property without harmfully changing the purity of the yellow.

The subject of varnish rooms is an entertaining one. So many poor varnish rooms exist that any plan to make them better, so long as it be a feasible plan, merits attention. Mr. F. J. Flowers, an old-time carriage man and an earnest advocate of the first-class varnish room, some time ago gave his idea of such an apartment in these words: "First, it should not be on the top floor of a building where it gets all the gases and fumes from the smith and paint shops. It should be round in form, with a dome roof, ventilated and well lighted therefrom; and each light of glass should be as colorless as possible, and arranged so as to prevent the direct rays of the sun. Its ceiling should be all wood, stained light blue with water colors; the floor should be waxed or oiled; the room, when in use, should be kept at an even temperature (not less than 65°), and all dampness should be avoided. You ask, why round? I answer, all evaporations form in circles when ascending; the room having no corners, there is no back draught to obstruct them. Why lighted from the roof? There will be no cross-lights, hence no conflicting light. Why ceiled with wood? It is dryer than plaster and will absorb the evaporations when not coated with oil paint. Why color blue? It is the spring light, and gives the purest reflection. Why an even temperature? It will prevent the condensing of the vapor, and thereby prevent it from falling back upon the varnish, which gives it that bloomy, silky, and pitted look which we hear so much about."

Upon heavy vehicle work, such as broughams, landaus, etc., the inside surface of glass frames, pillars, door checks, and the like, quite commonly go with a polish finish, as it does away with sticking doors, defaced pillars, and glaring glass frames. The contrast between the polished parts and those reflecting a high brilliancy of finish is soft and pleasing and a grateful relief to the eye. The parts referred to, having been brought up to a solid foundation of rubbing varnish, are given a thorough surfacing with pumice stone flour and water. Next rub with sweet oil and rotten stone, using a soft woolen cloth for the polisher. Conclude the operation by rubbing wheat flour under a clean bit of woolen until the friction generated makes a gloss. The flour, in addition to its other office, will absorb and clean up the oil.

A very quick drying striping color is frequently demanded--one that can be varnished over in an hour after application, or sooner. Mix the pigment in equal parts of rubbing varnish and coach japan. Then thin to the proper working consistency with turpentine.

In painting over metallic surfaces, which the carriage and wagon painter frequently finds it necessary to do, it is essential to first know that such surfaces are thoroughly clean and free from acids, grease, etc. Give them a rub over with kerosene or benzine, and then wash with soap and water, concluding with a generous rinsing off with clean water. If the surface is too heavily saturated with paint injuring accumulations, give it a wash with water containing sal soda in the proportion of, say, 1/2 to 3/4 lb. of the soda to 5 or 6 quarts of water. A rinsing with clean water will now afford a clean surface over which to paint. The metallic surface being clean, it remains for the painter to give it a hard, solid surfacing with No. 1-1/2 sandpaper, in order to develop the necessary minute furrows and scratches to give the pigment a "bite" or a chance to grip fast. Instead of sandpapering, the practice holds good in some shops of rubbing the surface with a fire brick as a means of trenching and channeling it to the required extent.

The vehicle painter located in the small shop and not usually using a very considerable quantity of varnish daily, should buy his supply of this material in small cans--pints and quarts for example. Once a can is opened, the varnish, through repeated exposure to the air, quickly begins to grow fatty, and after a time the loss of the turpentine leaves it in an unfit condition to work satisfactorily over a fine surface. A rubber stopper is the best kind of a varnish can stopper, because it does not crumble and break into bits like the cork, and it is the closest possible approach to an air-tight device.

The painter has but small use for the varnish that has to be thinned with turpentine in order to give it the proper spreading and flowing property. The elements of durability and brilliancy of lustre are in great danger of being greatly impaired, if not quite wholly destroyed, when shop thinning of varnishes is practiced. To attempt to successfully cut the solidity of varnish with turpentine added in hit or miss fashion constitutes a direct injury to this manifestly sensitive and delicate material. Thinning varnish should be resorted to only when an extremely critical emergency presents itself.

To provide a tight, dust-and-smoke-proof floor for the varnish room, proceed in this wise: Cut strips of stout wrapping paper to the proper length to fit lengthwise of the floor. Coat one side of the paper with trimmer's paste, and then lay the strips on smooth and free from wrinkles. Allow the second strip to overlap the first one fully 2 inches. Continue overlapping until the floor is covered. When the first layer or covering has laid long enough to provide for the complete drying of the paste, lay a second course of the paper in the same manner, and in due time, if necessary, apply a third course. Then apply a coat of yellow ochre paint, mixed oil and turpentine, in the proportion of 1/4 oil to 3/4 turpentine, with a tablespoonful of japan added to each pint of the paint. The second coat of ochre may be mixed in 2/3 hard drying implement varnish to 1/3 japan.

Mr. P. C. Hoebel, in _Varnish_, interestingly describes his method of painting over a cracked and fissured surface, and avers that it has for many years proven uniformly successful. Mr. Hoebel says: "Instead of sanding down the old varnish, I skin it off by the use of ammonia and a stiff bladed putty knife. Then rub down with block rubbing stone and let stand over night to dry out. Next, a good sandpapering with No. 1 paper; dust thoroughly. Then apply a mixture composed of 1 part drop black, 1 part keg lead, and the same amount of dry lampblack. Add a little rubbing varnish. Thin to a proper working consistency with turpentine. Next day putty-glaze the entire cracked surface with not too soft putty. Use the regulation hard drying carriage painter's putty. This putty should dry hard enough to sand well the following day. The sandpapering of this putty is of the greatest importance and requires an extra amount of elbow grease. The job is now ready to receive the proper ground work for its respective color which is to be."

In wagon painting some exceedingly light and delicate tints are used, and driers for such tints adapted to the delicacy of coloring are needed. Appended is a formula for a drier of this kind: Mix 15 parts of sulphate of zinc, 4 parts sugar of lead, and 7 of litharge, with pure linseed oil, and grind the mixture in a paint mill very fine; then mix 100 parts of paris white to a dough with 50 parts of white lead and linseed oil. Grind this also very fine in the mill, then mix all together, grinding once more.

It is possible now and then to remedy a case of pitted varnish in this manner. The morning after the varnish is applied cover the surface with clear turpentine. Let the turps gradually soak up and soften the pitted varnish, adding more turps as required. When the varnish has become sufficiently softened, mix a little raw linseed oil with the turpentine (the oil holding the turps in check and preventing it from cutting into the under coats) and with a soft badger-hair brush proceed to "lift" the afflicted varnish coat. The varnish once removed, let the surface stand for a few hours, then give it a light rubbing over with a moistened sponge dipped in finely pulverized pumice stone. Follow with a thorough washing with clean water and revarnish.

Color and varnish strainers are a necessity. Cheese cloth, cut into 6-inch squares, gives a very practical kind of strainer. All colors that have stood for some time after mixing require straining before being used. And finishing varnish--all varnish, in fact, should be strained as the final contents of the can are approached. Many first-class finishers insist upon straining all the varnish they use; and cheese cloth serves the purpose of a good strainer at a low cost.

The best stroke for squaring up varnish has often been discussed at length, and it seems to be the decision of the leading finishers of the country that the horizontal stroke is to be preferred to the vertical. To the beginner the former is probably the most difficult to use, the danger of runs, sags, etc., seemingly being thereby intensified. The natural flow of varnish, as the finishers all may know, is downward, and the horizontal stroke of the brush does not arrest this flow or divert it from its accepted course. The vertical stroke, however, permits of a varnish flow in at least two directions--sideways and downward. Runs and other surface defacers are equally possible with the horizontal or vertical brush stroke. Immunity from such disturbers depends altogether upon the uniformity and equality with which the varnish has been flowed upon the surface.

To renovate and give a fresh new look to cushions and backs, when faded, thin the desired color down with turpentine until it can almost be called a wash, and apply the mixture very thinly. Allow the color to dry thoroughly, and then thin shellac with alcohol until a very thin shellac is provided and coat the articles with this, following immediately with a smart polishing with neatsfoot oil and then wiping dry with clean woolen cloths.

The twine used for bridling paint brushes--and the twine bridle is the favored kind in the carriage paint shop--should be run through melted tallow and beeswax before put to use. After the tallow and wax has cooled on the twine, the bridling may proceed. After the twine is in position on the brush, run a little of the warm grease and wax over it. Thus a more durable and more easily cleaned bridle is given the brush.

Imitation vermilions are considerably favored of late years, but they fade after the manner of a late autumn twilight unless amply protected by varnish. Given adequate varnish protection they show radiant colors and wear durably.

The country carriage painter is no stranger to the vehicle, the family heirloom, perchance, that comes into the shop with hubs split and shattered, and axle grease filtering up through the cracks saturating the wood and making it generally unpaintable. An old carriage painter advises this treatment in order to cause the paint and color to dry over the afflicted parts: First give the hubs a wash with gasoline or benzine, working the fluid well into the cracks. Give plenty of time for evaporation to occur. Then with shellac cut with a little ether, fill in the fissure. Next make a putty of plaster of paris mixed with the shellac and ether. Into the fissures force this mixture, keeping it clearly from the outside surface of the hub, as nothing short of a file will level it after it has dried. Give the putty a nice, smooth dressing off upon the filling of each crevice.

The business wagon occasionally contains a window glass that should go in imitation of frosted glass. Take finely ground whiting and, with 2/3 raw linseed oil to 1/3 japan, mix to a rather stiff consistency; and then with turpentine reduce to a condition to work easily under a camel's-hair brush. Let the mixture be spread quickly and uniformly even upon the glass. Then take finely shredded cloth and roll it into a ball and cover with a clean cotton cloth and proceed to go carefully over the freshly laid on whiting, softly tapping it, until the frosted imitation is brought clearly and prettily into relief.

A surface that has become dented by a blow from a hammer or other blunt instrument can be remedied by so placing the surface that the dent or depression will hold a little water poured into it, and then holding a lighted taper to the water until the heat thus generated in the minute body of water causes the wood to again assume its natural shape and condition. In denting the wood, if a positive rupture does not occur at the edge of the depression the strain of the wood has occurred in two distinct directions--inward and lengthwise--and the reaction when it takes place will be two-fold. A second way of treating such surface difficulties consists of boring with a gimlet through the compressed fibres of the wood until the sound timber is reached. This puncture will counteract the lengthwise reaction. Then moisten with tepid water until the wood recovers its natural position again. The bruise or dent with fractured edges is more easily repaired, as no reaction need be feared, the pressure of the tool making the depression having overcome the natural resistance of the wood; and destruction of resistance results, as may be naturally inferred, in destruction of all reactive functions.

If the carriage or wagon painter at any time wishes a varnish to dry without gloss he may dissolve 4 ounces of beeswax in turpentine and add to 1 quart of varnish. This, while not reducing the body of the varnish, will cause it to dry without much, if any lustre. It will work from the brush freely and wear durably. If only a subdued gloss is desired, use 2 ounces of beeswax to 1 quart of varnish.

The window sashes in business wagons that are painted in some of the dark fashionable greens offer a beautiful contrast to the body color if grained mahogany color. For the ground color for the mahogany use white lead, burnt sienna, and a bit of raw sienna for the toning ingredient. Putty, if necessary, upon the first ground coat. Two coats should suffice to give a dense, stable ground. Burnt sienna, wet in stale beer, forms the graining material. Apply with a soft brush, wipe quickly out with a soft, fleecy sponge, use the blender lightly, and the trick is done.

The finisher should never assume the responsibility of adding driers to varnish. Varnish is composed of peculiarly sensitive and susceptible ingredients responding to the slightest influences, good or ill, and the addition of siccatives only tends to make the action of the varnish uncertain. It is only for the time being that the driers unite and form a part of the varnish. During the operation of applying to the surface the varnish forsakes or separates the shop-added siccative, with the result that pitting and pin-holing, along with other burdensome deviltries, are developed. No, shop mixing of driers with varnish is not advisable.

My esteemed _confrere_, Mr. J. G. Cameron, makes public this worthy observation, with _Varnish_ as his medium of circulation: "Every varnish room should have a window through which the direct rays of the sun passes during the afternoon. It should be curtained and have a small slit or hole in the curtain for a slice of sunlight to stream through. This slice of sunlight will reveal the condition of the air within the room and tell the varnisher just how much dust he will have to contend with that day. If this ray shows that the air is loaded with magnetic dust, it would be well for him to sprinkle well every suspicious place within the varnish room. Some days sprinkling is not needed; such days as rainy ones or right after a rain storm. On windy days, window sills and any place where the air is likely to drift through should be wet down. But on magnetic days the floor and every place should be well wet down. A varnisher's clothes should be also scrupulously groomed off. The writer has varnished often with a damp 'shammy' wrapped round his wrist and arm to keep the dust from his underclothing from troubling him."

Beware of the black color-and-varnish that carries a dash of too much color in it. Black of high or low degree, such as is used in carriage painting, may be classed as a non-drying material. Finishing varnish applied over a color-and-varnish containing too great a percentage of color is exceedingly liable to strike into this improperly hardened undercoat and lose the beauty of its lustre thereby. In carriage part finishing done upon the color-and-varnish coat the trouble here noted should be guarded against.

Ornamental striping upon business wagons should never be done with the heavy stripe. Retain the same style of striping throughout a job. Throwing in two or three styles of line work on a job is an affront to good taste of which no up-to-date painter should be guilty.

A fine old woodworker once told my lamented friend, Mr. C. E. Vader, how to make a saw with which to cut block pumice stone. He said: "Take a piece of band iron 1-1/4 or 2 inches wide and 18 inches long; put one end in the vise and then get a sharp cold-chisel. Be sure to have it sharp. Slant the chisel 45° from you and tip to the left and strike quite a blow. Next time turn chisel to the right, or just try to cut some saw teeth in this iron. You can cut and set them at the same time. Don't make teeth too far apart. This will cut as much pumice stone as a well filed and set saw would."

In an essay on "How to Make Coach Varnish go Wrong," published by a prominently-known varnish making firm some time since, this advice was tendered: "Practice hospitality! Let everybody go in and out of your varnish room freely. Don't have a small door cut in the large one, and don't shut off your varnish room from the other rooms. Let the temperature of your varnish room vary as much as possible. Under no circumstances allow it to remain the same for two consecutive hours. Let it fall far below 70° or rise far above 80°; but above all things, _make it vary_. In the winter season let the fire go out occasionally, and be sure to select this as the proper time to open the window to see what is going on outside."

One of the strong selling factors of a vehicle consists of a first-class interior finish. A prospective customer, as a rule, is quick to perceive the finish of the inside surface; and nothing tends more powerfully to cheapen the looks of an otherwise faultlessly finished job than a slovenly surfaced and finished carriage body interior. One doesn't need to insist upon the same high standard of cleanliness for the inside as the outside, but good surfacing and an excellent freedom from dirt, motes, etc., should be maintained in the finishing of interior surfaces.

In the finishing of carriages in the natural wood, gum shellac should not be used to fill up the grain of the wood. Shellac is of an entirely too brittle nature, devoid of elasticity, to be used upon a surface subject to sustained vibrations with accompanying violent jars and jolts. For first-class carriage work shellac is good only when not used.

Another strongly recommended method of filling up cracks and fissures in coach panels embraces the employment of equal parts of English filling, dry white lead and whiting, mixed with equal parts of japan and rubbing varnish. To this add 1/2 the quantity of rye flour paste, stirring the mass into a thick consistency. This is applied with an old paint brush, and when it has set and stiffened considerably upon the surface it is knifed in with a broad-blade putty knife, and two days later it is rubbed down with a block of pumice stone or a fine rubbing brick.

A putty for resetting glass in coach frames is made of 7 parts whiting and 1 part white lead mixed to the correct working consistency in raw linseed oil, adding a little japan gold size to furnish the proper drying quality. If the putty is to be use upon black frames, darken sufficiently with ivory drop black, instead of lampblack, and lessen proportionately the japan used. This putty can be depended upon to remain in place and securely, hold the glass in the frames.

* * * * *

=THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD=

=Robert Ingham Clark & Co.=,

MANUFACTURERS OF THE CELEBRATED

=Britannia English Varnishes.=

=LONDON. PARIS. HAMBURG.=

The Britannia Finishing Varnishes of the Robert Ingham Clark & Co. manufacture are sold in every part of the civilized world. The extreme durability of their varnishes, combined with their brilliancy, easy-working and quick-drying properties, make them the best and safest varnishes for carriage and car work to be found on the market. These goods are put up in gallons, halves and quarts; also in 12-1/2 gallon drums. Samples will be furnished on application.

=PRATT & LAMBERT=,

=AGENTS FOR THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO=,

=Long Island City=, =370-378 Twenty-Sixth St.=, =NEW YORK. CHICAGO.=

* * * * *

=Carriage Varnishes and Japans of Unequalled Quality=

=Special Crimson Color Varnish=

An unrivalled undercoating for the finest work. Works very freely, covers splendidly, has a beautiful color and holds the latter wonderfully. Can be "mossed" off in twelve hours.

=Clear Rubbing Varnishes _of_ Highest Quality=

Work and rub very easily. The standard for quality for twenty-five years.

=Nonpareil Japan=

A wonderful drier and binder. Exceedingly pale in color, and never equaled in quality.

=Pale Body Finishing=

Made up on a new formula and having no equal for a high-grade finishing Varnish. Works easily, flows out finely with a splendid lustre, giving a very fine surface over touch-up work, and is thoroughly reliable in all respects.

=CHICAGO VARNISH COMPANY=

=(Established 1865)=

=Dearborn & Kinzie 22 Vesey Street 66 High Street CHICAGO NEW YORK BOSTON=

* * * * *

THE EASY WAY.

The average actor must rehearse the new piece several times, and each rehearsal uses up half a day. Then he needs the prompter to help him out with the first few performances: and his anxiety, lest he forget, wears on his nerves and worries the other actors and causes the manager to say things, and compels a great many scenes of battle and sorrow not writ in the play. Edwin Booth never needed the prompter, and he rehearsed but once. He had it all in his mind so familiarly, before he came to the stage, that he went through it without an effort. He said he was lazy, and that was the easiest way.

We appeal to your laziness. Why not make business easy! What's the use of worrying, and making mistakes, and doing it over again, and getting rattled, and keeping the factory in a turmoil, and having angry customers, and losing trade, and walking up and down at night, and saying things! If you have the right kind of varnish on the right kind of color your work will go smoothly, your nerves will be in good condition when you are an old man, you will get the reputation of being wise and good, your funeral sermon--so long delayed--will be delivered with a clear conscience.

Just think a little beforehand: that is all. We keep ourselves well and happy by making varnish and color which have no battle scenes in them. Come now: let us trade together, and show the world how pleasant a thing is business--properly done.

MURPHY VARNISH CO.

* * * * *

=NEW YORK=

=John W. Masury & Son=

=MANUFACTURERS OF=

Superfine Colors Ground in Japan Pure Colors Ground in Oil Artists' Tube Colors Fine Carriage Varnishes Wagon Paints Carriage Gloss Paints Miscellaneous Varnishes and Japans

=CHICAGO=

* * * * *

=SURREY VARNISH CO.=

=866 and 868 NORTH HOYNE AVE. CHICAGO. ILLINOIS.=

=Good Old-Fashioned Varnishes and Japans=

WILLIAM FISHER FOUNDER OF THE SURREY VARNISH CO., CHICAGO, 1891 GRANDSON AND PUPIL IN VARNISH MAKING OF WILLIAM HARLAND ORIGINATOR OF THE FIRM OF WM. HARLAND & SON MERTON, SURREY, ENGLAND, 1791.

The quality of a Varnish depends upon the time and skill devoted to its manufacture, and not altogether, as many suppose, upon the materials from which it is made.

=IN ALL OUR FINISHING VARNISHES WE USE ONLY THE SLOW ENGLISH PROCESS.=

=Our Two-Day and Four-Day Carriage Rubbing Varnishes are the Best in the World.=

=SURREY VARNISH CO.=

=866 and 868 NORTH HOYNE AVE. CHICAGO. ILLINOIS.=

* * * * *

=STANDARD=

=CARRIAGE VARNISHES=

=EXCEL IN FREE FLOWING SAFETY UNIFORMITY LUSTRE AND DURABILITY=

=IT IS IMPOSSIBLE=

=to obtain best results unless you use the best material and there are no better=

=RUBBING OR FINISHING=

=Varnishes in the market than those made by the=

=STANDARD VARNISH WORKS=

The Largest Varnish Works in the World

=FACTORIES=, COVERING 7 ACRES, =ELM PARK, S. I.=

GENERAL OFFICES

LONDON ...=29 BROADWAY=... CHICAGO 23 BILLITER STREET =NEW YORK= 2629 DEARBORN ST.

* * * * *

ARMSTRONG & McKELVY Pittsburgh

BEYMER-BAUMAN Pittsburgh

DAVIS-CHAMBERS Pittsburgh

FAHNESTOCK Pittsburgh

ANCHOR } } Cincinnati ECKSTEIN }

ATLANTIC } } BRADLEY } } BROOKLYN } } New York JEWETT } } ULSTER } } UNION }

SOUTHERN } } Chicago SHIPMAN }

COLLIER } } MISSOURI } } St. Louis RED SEAL } } SOUTHERN }

JOHN T. LEWIS & BROS. CO. Philadelphia

MORLEY Cleveland

SALEM Salem, Mass.

CORNELL Buffalo

KENTUCKY Louisville

=USE

PURE WHITE LEAD

AND

PURE LINSEED OIL=

and you will know exactly what you are getting--absolutely the best and most economical paint in existence. Employ a responsible, practical painter to apply it and the result will be satisfactory.

=National Lead Co., No. 100 William Street, NEW YORK.=

* * * * *

BERRY BROTHERS

(LIMITED)

MANUFACTURERS OF

CARRIAGE

VARNISHES

NEW YORK, BOSTON, PHILADELPHIA, BALTIMORE, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO, ST. LOUIS, SAN FRANCISCO

FACTORY AND MAIN OFFICE DETROIT

* * * * *

=LUCAS HELPS=

Lucas Coach Colors

Send for pamphlet showing 54 beautiful colors we carry in stock. Have you ever tried our Lucasine Vermilions, Light Royal Green, Aurora Lake. Deep Orange Yellow, Cobalt Blue?

Lucas A. I. & V. M. Colors

Send for sample cards, showing up-to-date harmonious combinations for painting the body and gears of wagons.

Lucas Primers

Vermilion, Lead Color and Orange.

Light gravity for dipping; heavy gravity for brush work.

Lucas Iron and Steel Fillers

For the heavy iron parts of carriages and wagons of all kinds. They are tough, elastic, and will stand hammering.

Lucas Wood Fillers

Paste and Liquid.

For filling and priming Oak, Hickory and Ash: particularly useful for work finished in the natural colors.

Lucas Coach Varnishes

Our hard drying coach rubbing gives universal satisfaction.

Lucas Coach Drying Japan

Thoroughly reliable. Always uniform in strength and general working qualities.

Lucas Black Enamel Top Dressing

Tip top for general repairs. Unexcelled for leather and cloth tops and curtains.

Lucas Phenom Varnish and Paint Remover

Quick, energetic, effective. Does not raise the grain of the wood. An indispensable article in every paint shop.

=JOHN LUCAS & CO.=,

=Practical Manufacturers Colors, Paints, Varnishes.=

=NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA CHICAGO=

* * * * *

=JUST ISSUED=

=THE HOME MECHANIC AND COMPLETE SELF-INSTRUCTOR.=

=A WHOLE LIBRARY IN ONE BOOK.=

A full compendium of Indispensable Information and Instruction in the most useful Mechanical Trades. Each Part has been prepared by a Specialist who is Master of his Trade. The Instruction is Thorough and Practical. This book will enable you to do many little things that you now have to pay for and will thus save Hundreds of Dollars in any household. No other book has ever been published that treats of so many of the trades or that contains on any one of them information so thoroughly practical in character.