Imitations of tortoiseshell are made from horn. The horn is a clear sort, and generally brought from the South of Europe. The pieces of horn are softened by steam, pressed flat, polished, and afterwards stained. They are then smeared here and there with a composition made for the purpose, and which may be got in the shops. Before this is put on, the horn is steeped in a weak solution of nitric acid. The paint is left on for a time and afterwards rubbed off, when it will take a polish, the stain remaining as if burned in. I think the paint is composed of litharge and quicklime, equal parts, mixed in whiting-and-water.
Seashells are pretty when polished. There is a deal of stuff to be worked off the outside of them, however, before you get down to the coloured or beautiful portion. Do this by scraping after you have steeped the work for some time in dilute aquafortis.
Practise on a mussel-shell first. Get a good large one. Polish with emery-paper and oil, finishing off with polishers’ putty and oil and rouge. When you have polished your mussel-shell, mount it by means of cement on a small polished slab of marble. It makes a most beautiful paper-weight, and you will find, too, that in this simple shell you have an excellent model of the hull of a yacht.
Stones.—These require, first and foremost, to be sawn into the shape you want them. Then the work must be held firm in a vice while you do the polishing. Soft stone and water are used to begin the smoothing-down. The stone used is called ‘grit-rock,’ and is of different kinds, the finest being used last. Next a stone is used, the popular name of which is ‘snake-stone,’ then polishers’ putty-powder, etc.
Beautiful ornaments can be made from various kinds of stone, and from marble itself.
The art of stone-polishing on a small scale is a very pretty one, and not at all difficult to get up to. I mentioned a vice to hold the work, but a wooden contrivance like what you may see on a carpenter’s bench will do even better. If you have an iron vice, and determine to use it, you must roll your work partially up in old canvas or leather, else the iron will scratch it.
In the art of polishing either stone, shell, or horn, any boy may soon become an adept. It is not half so difficult as it at first appears, only hard work, energy, and perseverance are most certainly required.
DR. GORDON STABLES, R.N.