If it is too thick thin it with turpentine and put it on with a soft brush. When dry it will be dead black and neither air nor moisture will spoil it.
Doing Repoussé Work
Repoussé (pronounced re-poo′-say) is a French word and means to form in relief, and repoussage (pronounced re-poo′-sazh) is the word you want to use when you mean the process of producing designs in relief on sheet metal by hammering it on the back.
Tools Needed for Repoussé Work.
—Very few tools are needed for this kind of work but it is important to use the right kind.
The repoussé hammer is a jeweler’s hammer which has one end, or face of it flat and the other rounded like a peining hammer; it is shown in [Fig. 35].
Fig. 35. how to hold a repoussé hammer
Then a number of blunt chisels and markers called repoussé tools as shown at [B, Fig. 35], are needed to emboss the design in the sheet metal. These tools cost about 30 cents apiece and a set of eight or ten tools will serve you well. For the bolder parts of the work boxwood punches can be used but steel punches are always used for the finer work.
