Part 1

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

This book has no footnotes; it has one ‘NOTE.’ which has been placed at the start of the relevant text.

The tables in this book are best viewed using a monospace font.

Some minor changes to the text are noted at the end of the book.

Practical House, Wagon and Automobile Painter

INCLUDING SIGN PAINTING, AND VALUABLE HINTS AND RECIPES

BY W. F. WHITE

SHREWESBURY PUBLISHING CO. CHICAGO

COPYRIGHT, 1919 BY SHREWESBURY PUBLISHING CO.

INDEX.

PAGE.

Analysis of Yellow Ochre, 3

Brown Hard Spirit Varnishes, 89

Blistered Doors, to Repaint, 85

Brass, to Clean, 88

Black Varnish for Iron, 87

Blinds, to Handle when Painting, 33

Brass and Copper, to Clean, 35

Bronze for Metal, 85

Benzine, to De-odorize, 82

Bronze, 144

Blackboard Slating, 83

Blackboard Slating, Cheap, but Good, 83

Blackboard, to Make on Common Plaster, 83

Brush Cleaning Trough, 25

Brick, to Clean, 38

Brick Painting, 28

Crawling Paint, 5

Cracks in Walls, to Fill, 131

Cleaning a Room, 29

Cherry Stain, 44

Cracks in Paint and Varnish, 20

Cleaning Phaeton Cushions, 142

Carriage Painting, 134

Damp Walls, to Treat, 73

Dipping Paint, 88

Door Plates, to Clean, 84

Damar Varnish, 26, 91

Dry Ochre for Priming, 2

Estimating Work, 14

Enameled Letters, to Apply to Glass, 95

Furniture Varnish, 91

Fire-proof Paint for Roofs, 86

Fluoric Acid, to Make, 132

Gold Varnish, 90

Guessing on Work, 8

Glass, to Crystallize, 93

Gilding on Glass, 8

Gilding on Wood, 38

Grease Spots, to Kill, 34

Hard Wood Floors, to Finish, 33

Hard Putty, 121

Japan, Testing, 19

Kalsomine, 34

Kalsomine, to Make and Apply, 121

Liquid Wood Fillers, 133

Lacquers for Brass and Tin, 91

Leather Varnish (black), 91

Lead Poisoning and Symptoms, 53

Liquid Glue, 93

Lamp Black, to Mix, 87

Liquid Glue for Kalsomine and Wall Sizing, 123

Measuring a Job, 17

Mahogany Stain, 44, 45

Midsummer Painting, 67

Marking Ink, 146

Natural Wood Finishing, 47

Old Carriage Work, 140

Oil Size for Old Whitewash, 37

Old Wall, to Prepare for Paint, 124

Oak Stain, dark, 45

Oak Wood Stain, 94

Oil Rubber Paint for Cloth, 83

Painting Cars at Home, 153

Plastered Wall, to Paint, 127

Paste to Hold Labels on Tin, 31

Paint to Prevent Rotting under Ground, 82

Paint, to Remove, 35

Paper Hanger’s Outfit, 91

Price List and Measurement, 62

Paint, to Clean, 84

Porcelain Finish, 52

Paper Hanger’s Paste, 92

Putty, to Soften, 18

Putty, to Color, 50

Paste for Painted or Varnished Walls, 93

Rust Spots on Marble, 145

Red Saunders Stain, 45

Red Wood to Finish, 145

Rough Stuff, 142

Rough and Sandy Walls, 129

Sizing Walls, 94

Sign Painting, 99, 117

Scaled Work, to Repaint, 77

Sixteenth Century Oak, 55

Spots on Paint, 50

Sandpapering, 76

Stencil Border, 77

Spirit Varnishes, 88, 90

Size Muslin for Lettering, 78

Slowing the Drying of Paint, 85

Stir Your Paint, 41

Stencil Ink (black), 144

Signs on Colored Glass, 131

Strainers, 34

Silver, to Clean, 35

Stencil Staining, 26

Success in Painting, 7

Symptoms of Lead Poison, 55

Tin Roofs, to Paint, 2

Tents, etc., to Make Weather-proof, 32

Tacky Paint, to Cure, 18

Tortoise Shell, to Imitate, 61

Varnish to Fix Pencil Drawings, 145

Varnish to Imitate Ground Glass, 60

Varnish for Rustic Work, 61

Varnish Stains, 44

Varnished Paint, to Clean, 85

Very Dirty Brass, to Clean, 61

Wax Polish, 26

Whitewash, to Soften, 145

Water Glass for Floors, 145

Walnut Stain, 44

White Hard Spirit Varnishes, 89

Walnut, to Stain Like Mahogany, 46

Water Colors, to Mix, 78

White Shellac, to Make, 49

White Enamel, 60

Wall Sizing for Kalsomining, 97

Why Do Wall Papers Crack, 36

Whitewash for Outside, 33

Wax Floor Finish, 88

Zinc, to Clean, 38

Zinc, to Paint on, 32

PRACTICAL HOUSE PAINTER.

The following is an infallible and simple commercial test of the purity of white lead:

“Take a piece of firm, close-grained charcoal, and near one end of it scoop out a cavity about half an inch in diameter and a quarter of an inch in depth. Place in the cavity a sample of the lead to be tested, about the size of a small pea, and apply to it continuously the _blue_ or _hottest_ part of the flame of the blow-pipe; if the sample be strictly pure it will, in a very short time, say in two minutes, be reduced to metallic lead, leaving no residue; but if it be adulterated, even to the extent of ten per cent. only, with oxide of zinc, sulphate of baryta, whiting or any other carbonate of lime (which substances are the principal adulterations used) or if it be composed entirely of these materials, as is sometimes the case with cheap lead (so-called), it cannot be reduced, but will remain on the charcoal in an infusible mass.

“A blow-pipe can be obtained from any jeweler at small cost. An alcohol lamp, star candle, or a lard oil lamp furnishes the best flame for use of the blow-pipe. This test is very simple and any one can very soon learn to make it with ease and skill.”

JAPAN.

Always cut your japan in a little turps before you add it to the paint. An ounce of japan, cut with turps, will do better work than two ounces in _oil paint_, if put in clear. _Don’t add dryer to any more paint than you can use up in a few hours_, because it will soon commence to fatten your paint in the pot and lessen its covering and wearing properties. Many a job has been spoiled by using old color, doped with japan. Such paint is liable to mildew.

OBJECTIONS TO THE USE OF CHEAP DRY OCHRE AS A PRIMER.

1st. It is too dark for light colored work, because sooner or later it will show through in spots, or darken the entire work.

2d. It leaves a rough, coarse surface which the succeeding coats fail to completely level up.

3d. Succeeding coats are liable to scale from cheap coarse ochre priming.

PAINTING TIN ROOFS.

When paint scales from a tin roof it is not always the fault of the paint. It stands the painter in hand to carefully examine a new tin roof before painting it. When the tinner uses rosin as a flux to make his solder flow, the rosin is melted and cools again on the tin. When such is the case, carefully scrape it off with a knife, otherwise it will be liable to scale off, and take the paint with it.

When acid is used in the place of rosin it is apt to corrode the tin, hence it is best, if you want a permanent job, to clean off the acid. To do this, first rub the seams with kerosene oil, then wash with soap suds and rinse with clean water. If the roof is quite new, and the tin feels greasy, go over it with a wash made of one pound of sal-soda to six quarts of water, let it stand one-half day; then wash the tin with clear water.

Instead of this method, I have given new tin a good rubbing with No. 1 sandpaper to make it hold the paint.

ANALYSIS OF OCHRE.

Below is an analysis of a sample of French ochre, which is about the average of that pigment:

_Parts._ Hydrated oxide of iron 42 Alumina 20 Silica 38

The oxide gives the color; the parts as given above are in the right proportion to give the most stable color and durable body to be found in ochre.

Here is an ochre, which was ground in a linseed oil substitute, and sold to the trade at four cents per pound in twenty-five pound cans, and retailed to the painter at _seven cents per pound_ in cans, to-wit:

_Parts._ Barytes 58 Whiting 15 Oxide of iron, silicate and alumina 24½ Chrome yellow 2½

This so-called ochre could be ground in one-half the oil it would take to grind yellow ochre.

ANOTHER.

_Parts._ Poor chrome yellow 8 Ochre 25 Whiting 67

Ground in snide oil, and sold to jobbers at five cents per pound, to painters _eight and ten cents_.

ANOTHER.

_Parts._ Barytes 62.90 Ochre 40.00

Barytes is not ochre, and this was _sold as pure ochre_.

ANOTHER.

Sold as French ochre, and recommended for priming:

_Parts._ Oxide of iron, alumina 19.79 Silica 40.93 Whiting 11.57 Barytes 26.64

ANOTHER IN OIL.

_Parts._ Chrome yellow 12 Whiting 25 Barytes 63 Oil 13

The markets are flooded with such imitations of ochre, both dry and in oil. The quantity of oil required to grind pure French ochre makes it high-priced, hence there is a motive for putting up barytes, which takes but little oil in grinding.

YELLOW IRON ORE.

Much of the so-called dry ochre on the market is a _yellow, iron ore and not yellow ochre_. When mixed in oil and put on a tin roof it will turn brown inside of ninety days. I presume you have had experience with such stuff. This makes a bad primer; it is very liable to scale.

CRAWLING PAINT.

When paint crawls it is because there is not sufficient adhesion between the undercoat and the new coat, caused usually by too much gloss on the undercoat. To prevent crawling subdue the gloss on the undercoat by sandpapering, rubbing, or by the application of some material which will have the desired effect; or, if on the outside, wait until the gloss has been subdued by the elements. There is nothing more trying to one’s patience than to have the paint let go and crawl up in bunches after it has been carefully brushed out. Hence, it is well to provide against such trouble in advance. The observing painter has no doubt noticed that paint is more liable to crawl under cornices, and upon other sheltered positions, than elsewhere; hence, it is best in all _such sheltered places, where the elements do not have full play, to use sufficient turpentine to prevent a high gloss on the undercoats_.

TO PAINT BLINDS AND NOT DAUB YOUR HANDS.

First, have a stick to open and shut the slats with after you commence to paint. Second, leave a place on each stile, or side rail, half way between the hinges, six or eight inches long, unpainted, except to cut in the edge next the end of the slats to take hold of when you turn the blind over or set it aside; also leave the bottom hinge unpainted. After you have set up the blind hold it up by the unpainted hinge until you finish the stiles; then lean it up against its support and touch up the hinge. In this way you need get no more paint on your hands than you would in painting a door. No time will be lost, because you can touch up the stiles in less time than it would take to wipe your hands and brush handle.

LEGLESS STEP-LADDERS.

Step-ladders without legs for outside work are good things to have on the job. Say, three of them, 6, 8 and 10 feet long. A man of good height can paint 14 feet high from the 10-foot ladder. They are much easier on the feet than a “round” ladder. You can stand straighter and reach farther when standing on a step than you can while trying to balance on a round stick; besides, a step is a handy place to set your pail on.

SUCCESS IN PAINTING.

Painting don’t pay, eh? No wonder it don’t pay, because here you are spending half your time growling. The facts in the case are, “You are not up-to-date.” If there is no possibility of making money at the trade, how is it that your competitor gets along so well? Why is it that he accumulates and you lose? He goes into the same market for labor, material and jobs that you do. He comes out every fall with his pockets full, and you round up poor as a church mouse. There must be a screw loose somewhere in your management. Will I point one out? Certainly, we have always been friends, and I can never do too much for a friend. In the first place you are too impetuous. You forget for the time that bills for labor and material will fall due, that you must live--and you take the job at losing figures. You ought to realize that the success of a contracting painter depends upon his business qualifications. To-wit: Correct and careful estimates, coolness in bidding, care in selecting materials and men, systematizing his work so as to keep each man in the right place. I don’t know how much you are getting for this job, but it looks to me that you are losing money every day by using poor material and improper handling of your men. The good business man prefers the strictly pure Dutch process white lead to the adulterated brands. He uses pure linseed oil instead of adulterated mixtures and imitations of it, and he never loses sight of the fact that a good reputation is a mine of gold to him. If he finds a man is a good hand on a ladder or swing stage he keeps him there, and if he finds a man an expert at inside work he keeps him there, and if he finds a man is a poor stick in any place he lets him go, rush or no rush. If he has high work he provides a safe and easy way to get there. If he has inside work his step-ladders are equal to the work. He knows when a man has to reach too far or stand on top of a ladder he can’t half work. Learn to manage your men, to keep the right man in the right place. Stop making ruinous bids. Open your eyes to the fact that a man who makes a losing bid on a job, to beat his competitor, acts like an idiot, and is meaner than flies in paint.

GUESSING ON WORK.

The practice of estimating work by guess has brought many a painter up with a round turn in the fall in debt. The curious part of it is that the lesson is rarely, if ever, learned. Don’t be too smart. Guessing on work is very uncertain business.

GLASS GILDING.

A practical expert in an English journal, the “Plumber and Decorator,” gives the following as his process acquired and tested by many years’ experience.

The tools and materials required for glass gilding are the same as used for gilding in oil, excepting the gold size. Oil gold size would never do for glass work. In glass gilding the object is to get a size or mordant which will have the least possible tendency to destroy or mar the burnish of the gold leaf. This is absolutely necessary, when we consider that in this kind of work the size is before the gold, not as in oil gilding--behind it. For a mordant nothing can be better than the best isinglass. To prepare this for use the utmost care and cleanliness should be exercised. The water must be quite pure--free from grease or impurities of any kind. In preparing the size the following may be relied upon as a first-class recipe: Boil about one pint of water in a perfectly clean pan. Should any scum rise during the operation remove it with a large spoon. Then add about as much isinglass as will lie on a dime to the boiling water. This is best done a little at a time to prevent it gathering in a mass before it has a chance of dissolving. When the isinglass is dissolved strain the size through a fine silk handkerchief, folded double or fourfold, or, better still, through some white blotting paper. This straining or filtering will remove any bits or impurities that may have lodged unperceived in the isinglass. When cool the mordant is ready for applying to the glass. Some gilders like to add spirit in some form--generally spirits of wine--to their size. Their reasons for doing this are not always very explicit. Some do it because they have seen others do it. Others add it, they say, to give the gold a better burnish, or to make it better adhere to the glass. This is a delusion. The most sensible reason for its use was imparted to me by a veteran in the trade. He used spirits of wine to take out or kill any slight greasiness that may have been in the water or isinglass. I must confess that until I learned this, spirits always formed part of my mordant, because others used it. However, on further consideration, its use has been discarded, and, if anything, a better burnish on the gold is the result. In making the size it must be borne in mind that the less isinglass used the brighter will be the gilding when completed. Of course, if too little be used, the gold will not adhere to the glass as it should, and this would cause much damage and annoyance when the isinglass size was floated on again to proceed with the second gilding. When the size is too strong, or contains too much isinglass, no amount of burnishing will remove it altogether from before the gold. These are important points and should be carefully studied. But a little practice soon teaches the gilder how to arrive at the happy medium.

There are a variety of purposes to which ornamental glass gilding may be applied besides sign work, shop fronts or glass doors. It is now much used for show cases, window tablets, druggists’ bottles, fixtures and pilasters for shop fronts. Very often the design is embossed or bit into the glass, and worked up with gold and silver leaf, besides being picked out in colors. This is both a costly and effective method of decorating, which shall have full consideration in a future chapter. For the present it will, no doubt, be advisable to consider the simpler form of glass gilding. When this is thoroughly understood very little further instruction is needed for high-class work.

For the sake of example we will suppose a glass slab about three feet six by twelve inches is the subject to be treated. This is to have black letters without thickness or shadow on a gold ground. There are two methods of doing this. One is to first paint on the glass the letters with japan black and afterwards gild the plate. The other consists in first gilding the plate solid and then painting in the background with japan black. By this method the lettering is left untouched. The gold on these is then washed off, the edges trimmed, and the letters themselves painted black or any other desired color. This latter is, perhaps, the most satisfactory. However, a few lines of explanation will be devoted to each process.

First in order comes a plate, the letters on which are painted with japan black previous to gilding. To the learner, no doubt, the plain block letters will prove an attraction, because of their simplicity. This should be set out correctly on a sheet of lining paper. It will only be necessary to run in an outline of the letters. When completed to the satisfaction of the operator it may be pasted round the edges and fixed on the face of the glass. The back of the glass, that is the side upon which the work is done, should be quite clean. When the plate is fixed on an easel or stand, which is the most convenient place for working, the letters will, of course, read backwards. In this form they must be painted. When quite dry and hard, should the outlines of the letters be irregular, they may be set right in a very simple manner. All that is required to accomplish this is a metal straightedge and a sharp quarter inch joiner’s chisel. The straightedge is laid across the tops and bottoms of the letters and the chisel is employed to cut them sharp and true. The sides of the straight letters are then similarly treated; curves must be perfected with a writing-pencil. The paper may now be taken from the face of the glass and the plate examined all over. Should any specks of black be found on it they must be removed before the gilding is gone on with. The smallest speck shows up before the gold leaf. If convenient, before gilding, have the plate fixed at an angle of about 45 degrees. While in this position take a flat gilder’s mop and float the isinglass size over the glass. Then take up the cushion, take out a few leaves of gold from the book, and whilst the glass is wet cover it with gold, lifting the gold from the cushion as described in the last chapter. If possible lift a whole leaf at once, but should this at first prove troublesome try half a leaf. Keep the glass wet with the size and overlap slightly each successive leaf of gold until the whole of the glass is covered.