Take a stick of red sealing-wax, beat it down with a hammer, and then put it into a vial, with an ounce of strong spirit of wine, which will dissolve it within four or five hours. It may be applied to any part with a camel’s-hair pencil, and it will dry in less than five minutes.
Black, yellow, and green, or indeed any color of varnish, may be made from sealing-wax of these various colors.
To those unacquainted with the combination of colors we may mention that a mixture of blue and yellow produces green; pink and blue makes purple; red and yellow, orange; black, red, and yellow, brown; black and blue, gray. These may be varied, in an infinity of shades, by either color predominating, and by the addition of other colors.
LUTING FOR RENDERING BOTTLES AIR-TIGHT.
- Common Resin.
- Red Ochre reduced into a fine powder.
- Yellow Wax.
- Oil of Turpentine.
These must be melted over a fire in the following manner: and the vessel in which it is made should be capable of holding three times the quantity required, to allow room for boiling up. An earthenware pipkin with a handle is the best thing for the purpose, and a lid must be made of tin to fit it. The luting will be rendered more or less brittle, or elastic, as the red ochre prevails:
The wax is first melted, and then the resin; the ochre is then added in small quantities, and stirred quickly with a spatula each time. When all the ochre has been added, it must be allowed to boil six or eight minutes; the turpentine is then added, and briskly stirred with the spatula, and continue to boil it. There is considerable risk of the mixture taking fire, and should it do so, the lid must immediately be put on the vessel to extinguish it.
To ascertain the consistence of the luting, a little must be, from time to time, dropped on a cool plate, or flat piece of iron. If it is too soft, more of the ochre must be added to it; and if too hard, additional wax and turpentine.
TOW AND FLAX SLIVERS.
These are fillets of prepared tow and flax, of from one to three inches in breadth. They are extremely uniform in their thickness, being made to weight, and can easily be procured from any flax-spinning mill, at a moderate price per pound weight.