To produce the characteristic dull, dead black of ebony, mix Indian ink
and lampblack with water, and lay it on your wood by means of a broad
white sable brush ; if the color, when dry, is not sufficiently black from
the first coat, apply a second coat. Use common American or Euro-
pean Indian ink ; lampblack may be made by holding a plate over the
smoke of a lighted candle.
, A FILLER FOR POROUS WOODS.
Use boiled oil and corn starch stirred into a very thick paste. Add
a little Japan and reduce with turpentine. Add no color for light ash.
For dark ash and chestnut, use a little raw sienna ; for walnut, burnt
umber and a slight amount of Venetian red ; for bay wood, burnt
sienna. In no case use more color than is required to overcome the
white appearance of the starch unless you wish to stain the wood.
This filler is worked with brush and rags in the usual manner.
Let it dry forty-eight hours, or until it is in condition to rub down
with fine sandpaper, without much gumming up, and if an extra fine
finish is desired, fill again with the same materials, using less oil but
more of japan and turpentine. The second coat will not shrink, it
being supported by the first coat. When the second coat is hard, the
wood is ready for finishing up in any desired style or to any degree of
nicety by following up the usual methods. This filler is intended for
those who do carved work or scroll sawing.
STAINING AND COLORING.
To stain wood red, take two ounces of Brazil wood and two ounces
of potash; mix them with a quart of water, and let the composition
stand in a warm place for several days, stirring it occasionally ; with
this liquor, made boiling hot, brush over the wood, till the desired depth
of color is obtained ; then with another brush, brush over the wood,
while yet wet, with a solution of alum, in the proportion of two ounces
of alum to one quart of water.
For pink or rose red, use double the quantity of potash.
For a less bright red, dissolve an ounce of dragon's blood in a pint
of spirits of wine, and brush over the wood with the tincture, till the
stains appear to be as strong as is desired ; but this is, in fact, rather
lacquering than staining.
For a pink or rose red, add to a gallon of the above infusion of Brazil
PAINTED OR STAINED FLOORS. 365
wood, two additional ounces of the pearl ashes ; the red may be ren-
dered yet paler, but it is proper, when more than this quantity is added,
to make the alum water stronger.
To stain wood black, brush the wood several times with a decoction
of logwood, then several times with common ink.
To make a very fine black, brush over the wood with a solution of
copper in nitric acid as for blue, and afterward with logwood, till all the
greenness of the copper solution is taken out.
All light woods may be dyed by immersion. A fine crimson is made
as follows : Take one pound of ground Brazil, boil in three quarts of
water, add one-half ounce of cochineal, and boil another half hour ; it
may be improved by washing the wood previously with one-half ounce
saffron to one quart of water ; the wood should be pear wood or syca-
more.
Purple satin : One pound logwood chips, soak in three quarts of
water, boil well an hour ; add four ounces pearl ash, two ounces pow-
dered indigo.
Page 323
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
To produce the characteristic dull, dead black of ebony, mix Indian ink and lampblack with water, and lay it on your wood by means of a broad white sable brush ; if the color, when dry, is not sufficiently black from the first coat, apply a second coat. Use common American or European Indian ink ; lampblack may be made by holding a plate over the smoke of a lighted candle.
, A FILLER FOR POROUS WOODS.
Use boiled oil and corn starch stirred into a very thick paste. Add a little Japan and reduce with turpentine. Add no color for light ash. For dark ash and chestnut, use a little raw sienna ; for walnut, burnt umber and a slight amount of Venetian red ; for bay wood, burnt sienna. In no case use more color than is required to overcome the white appearance of the starch unless you wish to stain the wood. This filler is worked with brush and rags in the usual manner.
Let it dry forty-eight hours, or until it is in condition to rub down with fine sandpaper, without much gumming up, and if an extra fine finish is desired, fill again with the same materials, using less oil but more of japan and turpentine. The second coat will not shrink, it being supported by the first coat. When the second coat is hard, the wood is ready for finishing up in any desired style or to any degree of nicety by following up the usual methods. This filler is intended for those who do carved work or scroll sawing.
STAINING AND COLORING.
To stain wood red, take two ounces of Brazil wood and two ounces of potash; mix them with a quart of water, and let the composition stand in a warm place for several days, stirring it occasionally ; with this liquor, made boiling hot, brush over the wood, till the desired depth of color is obtained ; then with another brush, brush over the wood, while yet wet, with a solution of alum, in the proportion of two ounces of alum to one quart of water.
For pink or rose red, use double the quantity of potash.
For a less bright red, dissolve an ounce of dragon's blood in a pint of spirits of wine, and brush over the wood with the tincture, till the stains appear to be as strong as is desired ; but this is, in fact, rather lacquering than staining.
For a pink or rose red, add to a gallon of the above infusion of Brazil
PAINTED OR STAINED FLOORS. 365
wood, two additional ounces of the pearl ashes ; the red may be rendered yet paler, but it is proper, when more than this quantity is added, to make the alum water stronger.
To stain wood black, brush the wood several times with a decoction of logwood, then several times with common ink.
To make a very fine black, brush over the wood with a solution of copper in nitric acid as for blue, and afterward with logwood, till all the greenness of the copper solution is taken out.
All light woods may be dyed by immersion. A fine crimson is made as follows : Take one pound of ground Brazil, boil in three quarts of water, add one-half ounce of cochineal, and boil another half hour ; it may be improved by washing the wood previously with one-half ounce saffron to one quart of water ; the wood should be pear wood or sycamore.
Purple satin : One pound logwood chips, soak in three quarts of water, boil well an hour ; add four ounces pearl ash, two ounces powdered indigo.