The Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Assistant and Guide. / Containing a Brief History of the Trade. History of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, and Their Application to the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes. Full Instructions in the Art, With Diagrams and Scales, Etc., Etc. Vulcanization and Sulphurization, English and American Patents. With an Elaborate Treatise on Tanning.

by Unknown

JAPANNING LEATHER.

In November, 1838, William Gates, of Hanover, N. Y., received a patent for preparing and applying elastic japan to leather, to produce the kind now known by the name of “glazed leather.” Two quarts of linseed oil were boiled until the yellow scum disappeared, and two ounces of umber and one of litharge were added and boiled for an hour and a half. The fire was then withdrawn, and all sediment allowed to settle, after which the clear liquor was run off. Eight ounces of India-rubber in shreds were then heated in a close vessel with two quarts of turpentine, and the two quarts of prepared linseed oil described were added, and the whole kept boiling until the India-rubber was dissolved, when eight ounces of asphaltum were added. This constituted the japan for the leather. It was put on the leather with a sponge or brush and allowed to dry, which it did rapidly. It was then rubbed down with pumice stone, then another coat laid on, and so on successively, like varnishing and polishing mahogany or rosewood. This method of japanning leather is now public property.