Part 7

To one quart of spirits of wine add four ounces of lacker, three ounces of gum benzoin, one drachm of camphor, half a drachm of sandarac, half a drachm of dragon’s blood, one drachm of turpentine. Put these ingredients in a long-necked bottle capable of holding two quarts, and tie a piece of wet parchment over the neck; when dry, pierce it with holes with a large pin. Place the bottle in the _bain marée_ till the contents are perfectly dissolved, shaking it frequently. When cold, strain the liquid through a piece of coarse muslin, and keep it well corked for future use.

Having finished and polished your work with tripoli powder and sand-paper, wipe the wood quite clean with a piece of fine linen. This done, put a few drops of the varnish on a bit of cotton wool, and one drop of olive oil, to prevent its drying too quickly; while applying this varnish, make the lathe wheel go very quick, and hold the cotton close to the work.

To polish the above, when the varnish is perfectly dry, take some finely-powdered whiting or chalk, and with it polish the work in every direction, but be careful not to press too strongly on the varnish, or it will be marked; and do not rub it for more than a few minutes at a time, as the friction and excessive speed and heat will spoil the polish. When done, take a sponge dipped in water, wash the work well, and then rub it with a piece of fine linen, and a drop or two of olive oil; lastly, clean it with a bit of soft old rag or leather.

TURNER’S CEMENT.

Sometimes the workman is too much hurried to wait till the work can be glued upon the chuck; the following cement will be found useful. Take two pounds of Burgundy pitch, one pound of rosin, one pound of colophonium, two ounces of yellow wax, and one ball of whiting. Melt all, except the latter, in an earthen pot, over a slow fire. When it begins to bubble, stir it well with a stick to prevent its passing the edge of the pot, and when all is quite melted take it off the fire. Add the whiting, finely powdered, little by little, stirring in well till the contents are perfectly mixed. Replace the pot on the fire, still stirring it; and after a few minutes, pour all the cement quickly into a tub or basin of cold water for about a minute. Then take it out, and knead it well with the hands. Roll it into sticks upon a smooth stone, and plunge them into cold water to harden. The strength and goodness of this cement depends greatly upon its being made as rapidly as possible. To use it, melt the end of one of the sticks by putting it near the fire; rub it on the chuck; when you think there is sufficient cement laid upon it, heat the bit of wood or ivory you wish to unite to it, and the warmth will make it adhere firmly.

Another cement, that is preferable for using in cold weather, is made by adding two pounds of Burgundy pitch, two ounces of yellow wax, and two pounds of Spanish white. These are melted together, rolled into sticks, and used as above; one stroke of the mallet will detach the work from the chuck when joined with this cement.

NEW AND VALUABLE RECIPE FOR TAKING BEAUTIFUL IMPRESSIONS FROM TURNING PATTERNS.

Take a sheet of rice-paper, paste it upon letter-paper with flour paste, which must be mixed as smooth as possible, and laid on very thin. Leave it till quite dry, then lay the rice-paper thus backed upon the piece of Turning, and with the thumb nail or a piece of cloth rub the back of the paper, pressing it gently so as to make it enter into all the deep, fine cuts of the Turning. The impression will be beautiful, and have the appearance of a raised medallion. It is invaluable for taking off patterns from ivory, as it can in no way injure the colour or delicacy of the work; and from the facility of bending the paper, impressions can as easily be taken from round articles (as the sides of a box or pillar) as from flat ones. The medallions may be left white, or the pattern coloured with water colours, leaving the ground white; and they can, besides their utility as patterns to which to refer, be employed in ornamenting various useful articles.

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In turning the pillars in the temple, pl. 13, great inconvenience and trouble have been found in working them, for want of the support of the puppet G, plate I; for as in each step the eccentric chuck has to be slightly altered, the point, J, of the puppet, when the work is moved, is apt to slide back into the hole it first formed, thus making the steps quite crooked. To obviate this difficulty, I should advise my readers to use the following simple contrivance. Take out the point, J, and replace it by a piece of wood turned to fit exactly into the tube, and on the end of which is left a circular piece the size of a half-crown. Take another bit of wood, of the diameter of your pillar; fix a short nail into the middle of it; glue the other side to the pillar, put it on the lathe, screw up the puppet, G, and you will find the nail will always, whenever you move the chuck, firmly fix itself into the wooden end which replaces the point J.

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And now, having, I trust with sufficient clearness, explained the practical and ornamental parts of concentric and eccentric Turning, I will take leave of my readers, only adding that, if they wish to attain perfection in this interesting art, they must patiently continue their exertions, for experience and industry will alone enable them to avoid many faults, and discover the real cause of many failures; and to those who may feel disheartened with repeated disappointments, I will say—

“Courage! try thy chance once more.”

Let me also observe to those who cannot afford to purchase much expensive machinery, that with care, patience, and perseverance, the common tools may be made to work a great variety of very beautiful articles: and if they will also keep in mind the old-fashioned but true saying, “that whatever is worth learning at all, is worth learning well;” they will, I have no doubt, soon become proficients in an art that has been admired and practised for centuries.

THE END.

STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO. PHILADELPHIA.

Transcriber’s Notes

pg 20 Changed are great authority,) to: authority), pg 28 Added period after Gimlets pg 40 Changed make them for himself,) to himself), pg 47 Changed 1, 2, 3,) to: 3), pg 63 Changed pedestals of vases. to: vases, pg 70 Added colon after: Bard of Avon expresses it pg 75 Changed wheel on the overhead to: over-head pg 81 Changed resemble a honey-comb to: honeycomb pg 92 Changed (of the cutter tools,) to: tools), pg 92 Changed glued in afterwards.) to: afterwards). Other hyphenated and non-hyphenated words left as written.