Pyrography, or Wood Burning

This is a simple and pleasing art and one that is easy to practice. It gets its didactic name from the Greek word pyro, which means fire, and graph, to write, that is writing with fire, only in pyrography you draw with fire instead.

The Necessary Tools.

—The chief tool you need is called an etching tool. This is formed of a piece of iron, copper or platinum with a curved point which is heated in a flame until it is red or white hot. When it is hot you press the curved point against the wood upon which you have drawn the design and it burns the lines into it.

A—THE ETCHING TOOL

B—COMPLETE WITH HANDLE

Fig. 26. the tool used for pyrography

How to Make an Etching Tool.

—Get a piece of copper rod ¹⁄₄ inch in diameter and 3 inches long; file one end down to a point to the shape shown at A and B in [Fig. 26] and put a file handle on the other end.

How to Make an Alcohol Lamp.

—The etching tool must be heated in either an alcohol or a Bunsen flame. You can make an alcohol lamp of an ink bottle that will serve the purpose very well. Make a hole in the cork about ¹⁄₄ inch in diameter and make a tin tube 1 inch long that will fit it snugly. Braid a wick of string and put it through the tin-tube; fill the bottle with alcohol and your lamp is done. If you can get gas you can use a Bunsen burner[16] which makes a hotter flame and is less trouble.

[16] Can be bought of the L. E. Knott Apparatus Company, Boston, Mass.

A Better Outfit.

—A good outfit which has a platinum pointed tool and burns alcohol vapor, see [C], can be bought for $3.00 and more.[17] If you have gas in your house you can buy a tool which uses it for 50 cents or less.

[17] Everything needed for pyrography can be had of the Frost and Adams Co., Cornhill, Boston.

C—AN OUTFIT THAT BURNS ALCOHOL VAPOR

Fig. 26c. an outfit that burns benzine vapor

About the Designs.

—If you are good at drawing you can make your own designs, but if not you can buy them ready to use. Draw your designs on soft white pine or basswood with a soft lead pencil having a blunt point. Photo frames, plaques, tie racks, collar boxes and things which you can saw out on your scroll saw are greatly improved by burning.

How to Burn in the Design.

—Heat the tool until it is red-hot, or if it is platinum until it is white hot as shown at [D]. Hold the tool as shown at [E] and without using too much pressure draw and push the point along the lines until they are burnt in evenly.

When you have burnt in the design burn in the background by making a lot of closely spaced lines; then burn in more parallel lines across the first set. This produces a cross-hatched effect which at a distance makes the design stand out in bold relief.


	E

Fig. 26d. how the tool is heated

Fig. 26e. burning in the design

When you have become a little expert you can shade the design but don’t try it until you can burn the lines in evenly.

Coloring and Staining Wood.

—Stains and dyes of all colors can be bought of the Devoe and Reynolds Company, 101 Fulton Street, New York.

Ebony Stain.

—Brush the wood with a saturated solution of ferrous-sulphate and it will make it inky black. When used on white holly, or any other close grained wood, it gives it a real ebony look. Put the solution on with a soft brush. After the ebony stain has been used the wood should be polished with wax to give it a dull finish.

Fumed Oak.

—Oak can be colored a beautiful brown by putting it in a box with a tight fitting lid in which is a saucer of ammonia; paste up the cracks around the lid tight and leave it for a couple of days when it will take on a brown color which is known by the trade name of fumed oak.

CHAPTER III
METALS AND METAL WORKING

There is something about working metals that makes a tremendously strong appeal to a fellow and yet it is just as easy to fashion these elements as it is to shape wood, that is, if you have the right kind of tools to do it with.

Then there is another good thing about working metals and that is the tools you need don’t cost very much and you can soon make enough useful things to pay for them.

Metal working, like wood working, can be divided into two classes and these are (1) the strictly practical, and (2) the purely ornamental, but you can often combine them in an object which possesses both utility and artistic merit.

It is my intention to tell you in this chapter about the tools that you need to do ordinary metal work, such as sawing, drilling, bending, filing, etc. As in working wood you ought to have a bench, or a good strong table will do.

Your Kit of Tools.

—To work metals you will need certain tools according to the kind of work you intend to do. If you get all of those I have listed below you will have nearly all the hand tools you need to do any kind of a job that may come up. The following list is quite a full one and a kit which includes all of them will cost in the neighborhood of fifteen dollars. You don’t need to buy all of them at once, however, but just get a tool at a time as you must have it until your kit is complete.

The Various Kinds of Tools.

—Metal working tools are tempered harder than wood working tools and are made of what is known as tool-steel.

For your kit of machinists’ tools get (1) a ball pein hammer which weighs about 8 ounces—this is a regular machinists’ hammer; (2) a pair of 4 inch side cutting pliers; (3) a pair of 8 inch tinners’ snips which makes a 2 inch cut; (4) a jeweler’s adjustable saw frame; (5) a hack saw frame to hold an 8 inch saw blade; (6) a hand drill stock with a chuck for holding round shank drills from 0 to ³⁄₁₆ inch in diameter.

(7) Four Morse twist drills ¹⁄₁₆, ³⁄₃₂, ¹⁄₈ and ³⁄₁₆ inch in diameter; (8) a 6 inch steel rule, graduated into 8ths, 16ths, 32nds and 64ths of an inch; (9) a machinist’s steel square with a 2¹⁄₂ inch blade; (10) a pair of 3 inch spring dividers; (11) a pair of 3 inch inside spring calipers; (12) a pair of 3 inch outside calipers; (13) a center punch; (14) a No. 1 set of screw cutting taps and dies, this set contains a stock or handle and five taps and five dies which cut ⁷⁄₆₄, ⁹⁄₆₄, ⁵⁄₃₂, ³⁄₁₆, and ⁷⁄₃₂ inch in diameter.

(15) A few files—flat, hand, round and half-round in shape and the smooth and second cut will be the most useful; (16) several screw drivers, small and large; (17) a soldering copper that weighs about ¹⁄₂ a pound; (18) a can of soldering paste, or you can make a soldering fluid yourself, and (19) an alcohol lamp, which I told you how to make in the [last chapter], or a Bunsen burner if you have a supply of gas, and (20) a machinist’s vise. All of these tools are shown in [Figs. 27] and [28].



TINNER’S SNIPS		SOLDERING COPPER AND ALCOHOL LAMP

FLAT NOSE SIDE CUTTING PLIERS	FLAT NOSE PLIERS		ROUND NOSE PLIERS

A BENCH LEVEL		A WIRE GUAGE

A ROSE COUNTERSINK

A TAPER REAMER		OIL CAN AND OIL STONE

SET OF SCREW CUTTING TAPS AND DIES		MACHINIST’S VISE

Fig. 27. the chief metal working tools



JEWELLER’S HAMMER

BALL PEIN HAMMER		HAND DRILL STOCK AND DRILL

SPRING DIVIDERS	SPRING CALIPERS OUTSIDE		SPRING CALIPERS INSIDE

JEWELLER’S ADJUSTABLE SAW FRAME		HACK SAW

6″ STEEL RULE		MACHINIST’S STEEL SQUARE

CENTER PUNCH
		1—SHELL SQUARE TAPER 2—ROUND OR RAT TAIL 3—HAND OR FLAT KINDS OF FILES
COLD CHISEL

Fig. 28. some other metal working tools

Some Hints on Using the Tools.

—(1) When you want to rivet something use the ball pein end of the hammer to pound down the end of the rivet as this will spread it out in every direction evenly and you can make it nice and round. (2) Side cutting pliers are useful to hold and bend bits of metal with and to cut off pieces of wire as well. (3) Tinner’s snips are simply large powerful shears and you can cut sheet metal up to ³⁄₃₂ of an inch thick with an ordinary pair. When you cut a sheet of heavy metal with them let the lower blade and handle rest on your bench and you can get a better leverage on it. Metals that are thicker than ³⁄₃₂ inch must be sawed.

(4) While metals can be sawed by using a special saw blade in a scroll saw frame you should use a jeweler’s saw frame with jeweler’s saws for metal—I prefer the Fish Brand for fine work. (5) For heavier work use a machinist’s hack saw; put the piece of metal in a vise and have the part you want to saw close to the jaws of the vise so that it will not vibrate; use a little pressure on the outward, or cutting stroke, and let up on it as you draw the saw back or you will dull the teeth.

(6) In using twist drills, and these are the only satisfactory kind for metal work, be mighty careful not to press too hard on the drill stock and don’t try to crowd the drill into cutting faster than it will cut at the speed with which it is turning. In drilling iron keep plenty of oil on the drill point.

(7) You can measure much more accurately with a steel rule than you can with a wood rule and whereas measurements in cabinet work down to ¹⁄₁₆ inch are close enough, for metal work it should not be more than ¹⁄₃₂nd of an inch, and for machine work make your measurements to ¹⁄₆₄th of an inch. (8) A small steel square is better in every way for metal work than a carpenters’ try square but you will find it quite expensive.

(9) The advantage of spring dividers over the ordinary kind is that you can set them very accurately and they will stay where you set them. In scribing a circle with a pair of dividers mark the center with your center punch first as this will prevent your dividers from slipping.

(10) Inside calipers are used for measuring the inside diameters of cylinders and the like, and, conversely (11), outside calipers are used for measuring the outside of anything that is round. In either case you measure the distance between the points of your caliper with your rule to find the diameter of the thing. (12) A center punch is always useful to make a starting point in metal with, for it can’t be rubbed off or lost sight of.

(13) A set of taps and dies to cut screw threads with in metal of whatever kind is a joy forever. All metal work becomes easy if you have a set of these screw cutting tools and it is next to impossible to make things if you haven’t got them.

When you are cutting threads in a piece of metal with the tap, the hole in the metal must of course be a trifle smaller than the diameter of the tap; the tap is put into a handle called a stock and as you cut the threads in the metal don’t turn the stock continuously around but give it one complete turn forward and then half-a-turn backward and you will be less apt to break the tap.

The same method holds good when you are cutting threads on a rod with a die; in this case the rod must be a little larger than the hole in the die. In threading iron use plenty of oil on the tap or die, but for brass and the softer metals a lubricant is not needed.

(14) In filing work press down on the outward or cutting stroke and ease up on the file on the return stroke for the teeth of a file are set like the teeth of a saw, that is, so that the cut is made on the out stroke.

A small file can be held in one hand and the work you are filing in the other which can be rested on the edge of the bench but heavier work must be put in a vise and the file held firmly by the handle with one hand and the end steadied and guided by the fingers of your other hand.

(15) In putting in a screw always use the largest size screw-driver whose blade will fit the slot in the head of the screw; this will prevent the blade of the screw-driver from twisting the edges of the slot out of shape.

(16) Before a soldering copper can be used, if it is a new one, it must be tinned, that is the point of it must be coated with solder. To tin it get a pine board about 1 inch thick, 4 inches wide and 6 inches long, and put some brown resin and bits of solder on it.

File off the copper until the point is sharp and it is bright and smooth; heat the copper and then melt the resin and solder on the board with it and rub the copper in them on all sides until a film of solder is formed on it.

(17) It is cheaper to buy a stick of soldering paste than it is to make it but you can easily and cheaply make a good soldering fluid by dissolving a teaspoonful of zinc chloride in an ink bottle full of clean water.

In heating the soldering iron keep it near the tip of the flame; if you use an alcohol lamp don’t have the wick too high and if you use a Bunsen burner adjust the openings in it until the flame is as nearly invisible as you can get it.

About Sharpening Tools.

—The only metal working tools you will need to sharpen are the twist drills and these can be sharpened on a carborundum oil stone. Hold the beveled edge of the drill point on the stone and move it to and fro, being very careful to keep the drill perfectly straight up and down while you are sharpening it.

Metals and their Uses.

—Like woods each metal has its especial uses and it will depend largely on what you are going to make as to the kind of metal you should make it of.

There are five chief metals and a couple of alloys, which are formed by melting and mixing two or more metals together, which you will find the most useful and I shall describe these for you in detail.

Iron.

—This is the most useful metal we have. When it is pure it has a silvery color, is very tenacious, which means that it is tough; it is malleable, that is it can be hammered without cracking, and it is ductile in that it can be drawn out into wire without breaking.

It is hard to get pure iron for nearly all of it contains a small percent of carbon, silica, phosphorus, sulphur or other elements. These substances in iron give it different properties. For instance cast-iron has a large amount of carbon in it; this kind of iron is good to cast into molds but it cannot be hammered or drawn without danger of cracking or breaking.

Wrought iron has very little carbon or other substances in it and this makes it easy to work because it can be hammered or drawn. Steel contains more carbon than wrought iron but it has less carbon than cast iron; steel can be cast, forged, tempered and hardened by heating it red hot and then suddenly cooling it.

Tin.

—This is a white metal that looks very much like silver, and it is so malleable that it can be hammered out into very thin sheets and which you know so well as tin-foil.

It is not found in very many places but the ancients called Britain the Tin Islands because they got it chiefly from there. What we ordinarily call tin is really tin plate, that is thin sheet iron coated with tin, and it is used as a covering for other metals because it does not rust or oxidize in air.

Tin is largely used in making alloys such as soft solder, type-metal, pewter, etc. It has a very low melting point.

Zinc.

—This is a bluish white metal and though it is sometimes found in a pure state it is usually found in combination with other elements.

When it is heated to different temperatures it behaves in various ways; for instance when it is cold it is quite brittle, but at 100 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit,[18] it can be easily rolled into sheets and rods; curiously though when it is heated to 200 degrees or over it gets brittle again.

[18] The Fahrenheit thermometer scale is the one generally used in this country. Fahrenheit was a German scientist who lived 200 years ago, and he invented the mercurial thermometer.

Zinc is easy to cut and when mixed with copper it forms the alloy we know as brass.

Lead.

—This is the softest metal known and it has a bluish-gray color. It is very heavy and melts at a low temperature.

Lead was one of the earliest metals known and if you will read the Book of Job you will find it mentioned there. It has been used from time immemorial in making water-pipes, utensils, etc., and the ancient Romans made weights of it. Since it is so soft it can be easily hammered into any shape or it can be rolled or drawn.

It is also largely used in forming alloys with other metals, thus solder is made of 50 parts of lead and 50 parts of tin; type-metal is made of 80 parts of lead and 20 parts of antimony; and pewter is made of 25 parts of lead and 75 parts of tin.

Copper.

—This metal is found in a pure state in large quantities around Lake Superior in the United States and in Chili, South America. It is a fairly hard metal of a reddish color, has a high luster, is malleable, and ductile.

Long before iron was known utensils and weapons for the chase and war were made of copper and copper tools have been found that were made by the ancients and tempered even as steel is tempered now, but the art was lost when iron came into use.

Copper is now largely used in the arts and trades as for the sheathing and bolts of ships, the conducting parts of electrical apparatus, in making alloys, such as bronze of which tin is the other metal. Copper is easily hammered and drawn but it is so tough that it is hard to saw and drill.

It does not oxidize in dry air but in moist air it gradually changes and takes on a layer of carbonate of copper which gives it a very beautiful and artistic appearance and makes it look as if it was a thousand years old.

Aluminum.

—This metal is found everywhere in nature but as it is never found free it is only in the last few years that it has been extracted in large quantities and cheaply enough to bring it into use.

It has a bright bluish white color nearly like that of tin and is the lightest common metal known.[19] It does not tarnish either in dry or moist air; it is malleable and ductile and as easy to work as brass but it is very hard to solder but there are soldering compounds on the market by which it can be soldered. Aluminum can be bought[20] in sheets of any thickness, or in rods or tubes of any size.

[19] Aluminum when mixed with magnesium makes an alloy called magnaleum and this is lighter than aluminum alone.

[20] Sold by the Aluminum Co. of America, 120 Broadway, N. Y.

A Few Useful Alloys.

—When two or more metals are melted together and mixed they form what is called an alloy.

Brass.

—This well known alloy is made by mixing zinc with copper. There are twenty or more different kinds of brass but common brass is made of 36 parts of zinc and 64 parts of copper.

Brass is harder than copper and while it can be hammered and drawn it is not nearly as malleable or as ductile as copper. It can be sawed, drilled, threaded and machined easily and is about the best alloy you can use for making small parts of machines.

Type-metal.

—All kinds of metals shrink when they cool after being run into a mold and so the edges of the castings are never very sharp.

Now type metal which is an alloy made of 80 parts of lead and 20 parts of antimony will expand and this is the reason why type is so beautifully clear and sharp. So if you want to cast little parts of machines and engines and the like you can do a good job by using type-metal. As it melts at a low temperature you can melt it in an iron ladle over the kitchen fire.

Pewter.

—This alloy, which is made of 75 parts of tin and 25 parts of lead, in Colonial days was much used for making all kinds of table-ware and household utensils and it will come into vogue again I hope. More will be said about [this alloy] and how to work it in the next chapter.

How to Do Metal Work.

—Now that you know about tools and the properties of metals there are a few other little things which, if you will bear them in mind, will enable you to make nearly anything you want to. The first has to do with drawing and the others with working the metals themselves.

First Sketch Your Ideas.

—To start out and try to make an object which you have in mind without sketching it on paper first so that you can see just what size to cut and shape it, and how it will look when you have finished it, is the first step toward being a disappointed boy.

When you get an abstract idea for a design or a machine that you want to put in concrete form take a rule and compasses, pencil and paper and draw it out to scale, that is, make a drawing of it and mark the sizes, or dimensions, of each part just as it should be when the thing is done.

By roughly sketching the object, or, better, by making an accurate working drawing of it before you do anything else you will save time, patience and materials.[21]

[21] How to make working drawings is explained in [Chapter V]. Fuller directions will be found in Inventing for Boys, by the present author, published by Frederick A. Stokes Company, N. Y.

Sheet Metal Work.

—Cutting and Sawing.

—After having traced or otherwise marked out the design or shape you want on the sheet of metal with the sharp point of your center punch or an awl, or scribed it with your dividers you can cut it out with your snips if the sheet is thin enough. If it is too thick to be sheared then saw it out with your jeweler’s or hack saw.

Should you want to make a hole or an open design of any kind in thin sheet metal you can easily punch it in with your center punch, or cut it out with a stencil cutter’s chisel, which is simply a very sharp cold chisel.[22] But should the metal be too thick to punch or cut in this way drill a small hole in it and you can then saw out the part with a jeweler’s saw frame and blade just as you would saw out a piece of wood with a scroll saw, though you may have to hold the metal in a vise.

[22] See [Chapter VIII].

Making Seams and Joints.

—The next thing to do after having cut out the different pieces of metal is to put them together. The way you do this will again depend very largely on the thickness of the metals, but in any event where the pieces meet, a seam or a joint must be made.


A—LAP SEAM	B—GROOVED SEAM	C—LAP SEAM RIVETED


D—BUTT JOINT BOLTED	E—BOX LAP JOINT	F—BOX GROOVED SEAM	G—BUTT & PIECED JOINT

H—CORNER BUTT JOINT SCREWED	I—CIRCULAR LAP SEAM	J—CIRCULAR FOLDED SEAM	K—CIRCULAR OVERFOLD SEAM

Fig. 29. how metal seams and joints are made

If the metal is thin the pieces can be lapped and then soldered or riveted together as shown at [A in Fig. 29] or you can make a folded seam as shown at [B]. If, however, the metal is thick you can make a lap seam and either rivet or bolt it together with screws having nuts on them as shown at [C].

A strong butt seam can be made by hard soldering or brazing the edges together but it takes a hot flame and considerable skill to do a good job of this kind. Another way to make a butt seam of two thick sheets of metal is to lay them with their edges together and then rivet a strip or plate on both sides of them as shown at [D.]

In making corner joints one or both edges of the sheet should be bent over as pictured at [E] when they can be soldered, riveted or bolted together; or a grooved seam can be made as shown at [F] if the metal is thin enough.

If the pieces of metal are say ¹⁄₁₆ inch or more thick you can put a three cornered piece of metal in the corner and drill and thread it so that the pieces which form the butt joint can be screwed to it as shown at [G], or if one of the pieces is thick enough you can drill and thread it and screw the other piece to it as shown at [H].

When putting ends on tubes and cylinders you can make a circular lap seam as shown at [I], or a circular folded seam as at [J] or a circular overfolded seam as shown at [K].

How to Solder Metals.

—The great secret in soldering metals is to have them perfectly clean and then if you use the right kind of flux and the proper solder you will not have any trouble.

Fluxes.

—After you have cleaned the surfaces to be soldered you must use a flux to prevent the metal from oxidizing and to make the solder stick. Different metals require fluxes of different kinds.

When soldering bright new tinware use powdered resin for the flux, but if the parts are old then scrape and clean them well and use a flux of zinc chloride solution. To make it dissolve 5 cents’ worth of zinc chloride—which is muriate of zinc—in a small clean inkbottle full of warm water; or you can make the muriate of zinc by dissolving some zinc clippings in muriatic acid and to make the soldering fluid add some water to it.

This kind of a soldering fluid is a good flux for tin, iron, steel, brass and copper. It is good for all ordinary work but it must be washed off from iron or steel as it will rust them very quickly. To solder copper sal ammoniac can be used.

The only kind of a flux to solder zinc with is a solution made of 10 per cent. of muriatic acid and 90 per cent. of water. For lead, pewter and any alloy with lead in it use tallow, Gallipoli oil or Venice turpentine. Resin can be used successfully for all metals provided they are scraped bright and clean before they are soldered.

Solders.

—Just as certain metals require given fluxes so also do these metals need special solders.

For soldering tinware a fine tinner’s solder made of 1 part of tin and 1 part of lead flows best. For soldering lead use a fine plumber’s solder which is formed of 1 part of tin and 2 parts of lead. To solder pewter which melts at a low temperature use a pewterer’s solder which is composed of 3 parts of lead and 1 part of bismuth.

Bolts and Rivets.

—Where two pieces of metal are to be fixed together so that they can be taken apart again, machine screws with nuts on them, or bolts,[23] will be found useful.

[23] Machine screws and bolts for model work can be bought of Luther H. Wightman, Boston, Mass.

A good kind of rivet for small work is known as tinner’s rivets; they are made of iron and have a length of ⁵⁄₃₂ of a inch. Now a rivet can either be hammered down so that the point spreads out and forms a burr, or a washer, which is called a burr, can be slipped down over it and the end then peined down. Copper-rivets as small as ¹⁄₄ inch in length can be bought at most hardware stores.

Bending Sheet Metal.

—To bend a metal sheet put it on a wood or metal form and pound it into shape with a wooden mallet.

The edges of a piece of sheet metal can be bent either by pounding it over the sharp corner of an iron bar, or if a very small part is to be bent use a pair of round or flat nose pliers. A thick piece of sheet metal can be bent by putting it in your vise and pounding over the edge with a hammer.

Finishing Up Metals.

—Of course all the rough parts must be smoothed up with a file; then use emery paper or emery cloth to rub out the file marks and finally finish off the surface by polishing it with crocus[24] put on with a cloth.

[24] Crocus is a powder made of iron rust.

Coloring Metals.

—Many things that you make of metal can be greatly improved in appearance by coloring them.

Bluing Steel.

—First polish the articles and clean them by immersing them in a hot solution of caustic soda. Now put the screws, or whatever it is you want to blue, in an iron pan half full of dry, clean sand and heat them over a fire.

Keep moving the articles around with a pair of tweezers until they are the color you want them and then drop them into clean oil.

Bluing Brass.

—Polished pieces of brass can be given a fine color by putting them in a solution made as follows:

Stir 1¹⁄₂ drams of antimony sulphide,[25] 2 ounces of calcined soda in ³⁄₄ of a pint of water; to this solution add 2¹⁄₄ drams of kermes. Stir well, filter it and then mix it with 2¹⁄₄ drams of tartar, 5¹⁄₂ drams of hyposulphite of soda dissolved in ³⁄₄ pint of water when it is ready to use.

[25] This and all other chemicals can be bought of Eimer and Amend, Fourth Ave. and 18th Street, New York.

Giving Brass a Green Color.

—Make a solution of 2 ounces of copper sulphate, ¹⁄₂ an ounce of sal ammoniac and 25 ounces of water. Suspend the articles to be greened in the solution and boil it until you get the color you want.

Giving Brass a Dull Look.

—First clean the articles thoroughly; then mix ¹⁄₄ ounce of iron rust and ¹⁄₄ ounce of white arsenic in 4 ounces of muriatic acid. Use a brush and paint the articles with this solution until it takes on the proper dull appearance. Then wipe it off, oil, dry and lacquer it.

Frosting Brass Articles.

—Hang the brass articles in a boiling solution of caustic potash, wash them off in clean water and dip them in nitric acid until the oxide is gone, wash them again and throw them in sawdust to dry; heat them a little and lacquer while they are warm.

Lacquering Brass and Copper.

—To lacquer a brass or a copper article dip it in a weak solution of sulphuric acid and water and then wash it in clean water. Next put the article on a piece of sheet iron and heat it over a gas jet or in an oven.

It must not be heated enough to color it but just so that when you place your moistened finger to it it will sizzle; now put on the lacquer and this can be done by brushing the article over with a camel’s hair brush or by dipping the article into the lacquer.

How to Make the Lacquer.

—Put 1 ounce of tumeric powder, 2 drams of annatto and 2 drams of saffron into 1 pint of alcohol.

Let it stand for a week or 10 days and shake it often; pour the clear liquid into a bottle and put in 3 ounces of yellow shellac; let it stand for a couple of weeks more; shake it often and pour off carefully. Then you can put it on. Lacquers can be bought ready made from Hanson and Van Winkle, Dealers in Electroplating Supplies, Newark, N. J.