WHITE.
The application of white to a surface and the development of a solid white job thereby is certainly one of the highly skilled features of the trade. The most fitting reference to white would seem to be best made by describing the method used in painting and finishing a vehicle surface in white.
First clean the wood thoroughly, removing all stains, discolorations, etc. Then carefully brush on a coat of raw linseed oil. Seek to have a uniform film of the oil over all parts of the surface. When the surface is ready to recoat, make sure by a careful inspection of it that all parts are sufficiently well sandpapered. Then apply a coat of white keg lead mixed 3/8 oil to 5/8 turps, with a teaspoonful of pale japan added to each quart of the mixture. The second coat of white is best mixed with, say about 3/16 of oil to 13/16 of turps. This quantity of oil suffices to give the white a stout binder without affecting the purity of the white. Puttying and whatever putty glazing is necessary should be done on the first coat of white. Make the putty of dry white lead mixed to the proper consistency in very pale rubbing varnish, 1 part; gold size japan, 2 parts. For stopping holes, the putty needs to be a good bit stiffer than when used for the general run of disfigurements; for glazing, thin to the desired consistency with turps. Sandpaper lightly and then mix Florence, flake, or cremnitz white to a consistency that will render the color free working under a half elastic, soft bristle brush, using turps for the thinner, and hard drying finishing varnish for the binder. Apply two coats of this color, taking due care to have the color laid smooth and free from brush marks. Then take the hard drying finishing varnish and add to it enough of the white to "kill" the yellowish amber color of the varnish, and flow on a full, free, uniform coat. When dry, rub with pulverized pumice stone and water, clean up thoroughly, and apply a second coat of the color-and-varnish. Rub and clean up as before, and apply a third coat. This coat will probably suffice to furnish a solid and pure white surface, fine and smooth, and of becoming lustre. If the job is to go with a full varnish gloss, and striping or other ornamenting is desired, it can be done on this finishing coat, and pencil varnished.
In case gold, silver, aluminum, or other leaf is used in ornamenting, the finish should, preferably, be done in a simple gloss or flat, as it will be found extremely difficult to successfully apply leaf over a finished surface of high lustre. If the finish is to be gloss or flat, give the last coat of varnish adequate time to dry hard, say ten days at least, and then first rub with pumice stone and water, wash and dry up carefully, after which rub with rotten stone and sweet oil, using a piece of chamois skin for the rubbing pad. In rubbing, avoid heating the varnish, otherwise a roughened, shredded surface will result. For cleaning up the oil and rotten stone, dust wheat flour or pulverized slippery elm over the surface, flick off with a soft duster, and wipe dry with a clean piece of silk. In the painting and finishing of a white surface, the subjoined rules hold good:
Avoid using the color too thick. Thinner coats and more of them are best.
After the first, or priming, coat, use as sparingly of oil as possible. Oil produces "yellowing" of the white.
Abstain from the use of zinc white or damar varnish altogether. They are alike shifty and unreliable as applied to the processes of carriage and wagon painting.
Care should be observed to keep the surface flawless and perfectly clean. To this end, clean apartments, clean brushes, chamois skins, sponges, etc., may be classed as imperative necessities.
The Florence, flake, or cremnitz white above recommended should be used in the painting of all first-class white surfaces. Ordinary white lead is advised only when the cheaper grade of white surfaces is desired.
If broad, flat surfaces are to be painted and a strictly first-class job is demanded, a roughstuff will be necessary. Formulas for roughstuff or white filler are as follows:
Formula No. 1.—Dry white lead, 2/3; whiting, 1/3. Liquids, pale rubbing varnish, 1/3; turpentine, 2/3; gold size japan, 1/2 gill.
Formula No. 2.—Dry white lead, 1 part; pulverized soapstone, 2 parts; pulverized pumice stone, 1 part. Liquids, rubbing varnish, 1 part; turpentine, 1 part; tablespoonful of gold size japan to each quart of the filler when mixed.
Formula No. 3.—Dry white lead mixed to a thick paste in 1/3 pale rubbing varnish and 2/3 gold size japan. Reduce to a brushing consistency with turps.
Apply one coat of either of the above fillers per day and regulate the number of coats to suit the condition of the surface. To the final coat add a little lemon yellow as a guide in rubbing out. A dash of pulverized pumice stone may also be given the 'stuff (especially that made by the third formula) to make it surface free and clear under the rubbing stone. In rubbing out, "eternal vigilance" and plenty of care and caution are factors of the utmost importance, if scratching and disfiguring the surface would be avoided. Then over this rubbed surface apply flat coats of the white, reinforced with a binder of hard drying varnish, following with color-and-varnish and other finishing processes as above directed.
While roughstuff must continue to be recognized as a necessity in the development of white surfaces of certain grades, sizes, and forms, the painter, in so far as possible, may well decide to discard its employment solely owing to a lack of durability as compared to the regulation method of building up with color and color-and-varnish coats to a solid and firmly-welded finish.
There is another method of painting white practiced by many first-class painters, which was first published in Varnish and written by that reliable and experienced authority, Mr. J. G. Cameron. It consists of priming the wood with the best white lead, mixed with as much oil as the wood will absorb, and turpentine. This is given five days in which to dry. Then white lead is made up to dry with a gloss, and two coats of the mixture is given, with an interval of one day between coats. The surface is then puttied with a putty made of white keg lead, dry white lead and whiting, equal parts by bulk, and japan. The putty used for knifing in is made softer than that used for stopping holes and cavities. The putty is given one day to harden. Then a filling composed of keg lead, 1 part; whiting, 1 part; flour of pumice stone, 1/5 part; made into a stiff glazing pigment with japan and a small percentage of turpentine, is brushed over the surface, a second workman following with a broad putty knife and skillfully removing the superfluous filler. This glazing is intended only for panels and flat work generally. Permit this filling to dry forty-eight hours. It is then rubbed lightly with pumice stone. Moldings and carved work are sandpapered. Next, to 5 lbs. of white keg lead, highest quality, 1/2 pint of good wearing body varnish that dries quickly and reliably is added. The mass is then thinned with turps and strained. This dries to a little more than an egg-shell gloss. Five coats of this color are applied on five consecutive days, no rubbing or sandpapering being done between coats. This foundation of white is given a week, to harden, after which it is thoroughly rubbed down with about No. 1 1/2 pulverized pumice stone. It is then allowed to stand two days before being polished and cleaned up with flour of pumice stone. A coat of high grade and practically colorless finishing varnish (now procurable of the leading varnish makers) is now flowed on and the work is complete. The color for the five coats is made up at one time, so that it dries and hardens equally and uniformly throughout. Mr. Cameron vouches for the durability, fullness, and solidity of a white surface painted by this method, having employed it in painting hundreds of street cars, in addition to a great many hearses, delivery wagons, etc. It is a well-known practical fact that a first-class finishing varnish and white lead carefully mixed solidifies amazingly throughout. And the one coat of very pale or colorless finishing varnish over all produces the effect of a high grade finish.
CHAPTER VI.
APPLYING RUBBING VARNISH—SURFACING VARNISH—CARE OF THE FINISHING ROOM WASHING THE RUBBED SURFACES—FLOWING THE FINISHING COAT.
One well-known varnish maker has said that the marvelous thing about carriage varnish is that it must be one garment suited to all kinds of weather. As a material destined to shine in the public eye, its proper manipulation and treatment is manifestly of the first importance to the carriage painter. No other material with which the painter has to do is so sensitive to the robust variety of influences constantly attacking it as varnish. The virtues of a first-class varnish which add to its durability, increase its brilliancy, and in other ways enhance the beauty of a surface over which it is used are the ones that impart to it a peculiar sensitiveness characteristic of no other material. Briefly, then, we may sum up the task of applying and manipulating varnish upon a carriage surface as a delicate job. A workman of fine notions, intelligent, painstaking and highly skilled in the handling of the proper tools, is the only successful varnisher. Such a workman is required to get all that is true and fine and lasting and lovely out of the employment of varnish. In the varnishing of a vehicle the first kind of varnish we are required to use is rubbing varnish. The duty of putting on rubbing varnish is less difficult, practically considered, than that of flowing the finishing coat, but rubbing varnish bespeaks deft and skillful handling. The first coat of rubbing demands to be applied quite as precisely, and with the same thoroughness as to details, as would mark the application of any of the later coats. In the application of the first and second rubbing coats to body surfaces, the bodies, when of a build to permit of the practice, should be tipped so as to offer a flat, upturned surface, a device for holding the bodies in this position having been illustrated in [Chapter I]. Fuller and finer rubbing coats may be flowed on when the bodies are tipped. Tipping of all the lighter forms of vehicle bodies is practiced in leading shops when applying the first and second rubbing coats.
The writer, therefore, advises observance of the practice in even the smallest of shops. There is less chance for brushmarks and other defects manifesting themselves. With the heavily flowed on rubbing coats, the round, full surface which distinguishes the product of the best varnish rooms is obtained at a less expenditure of time and labor, than when the thinner coats are employed. I would suggest the full, heavy rubbing coat as the most effective aid in avoiding brushmarks and in drowning out the dust motes and flocculent matter to be noted as part and parcel of the skimpy brushed on coat of varnish. The modern ethics of carriage painting affirms the excellence of heavy rubbing coats of varnish as the most enduring base for heavy finishing coats.
The final rubbing coat may best be applied with the vehicle body occupying its natural position or, rather, the position it is to occupy when the coat of finishing goes on. This is the coat that is depended upon to reflect the outline and round out the fullness of the finishing varnish. The necessity of its being perfect in all the respects that it is possible to make a rubbing coat of varnish, is, therefore, apparent. The fact that varnish goes on pretty nearly everything, brightens it, keeps it clean and cleanable, covers it, takes the wear, prolongs its life, and increases its beauty and usefulness, furnishes the carriage painter with a substantial reason for insisting upon having his rubbing coats, from first to last, deftly placed and shrewdly balanced.