It should be remembered that with ink, as with dyes, there should always be at least two applications, and that the first should be very thoroughly dried, if possible, in a strong light, though not in sunshine, before the second is laid on. Three coats of blackest ink well dried in, then rubbed in well, and finally oiled, form an almost waterproof cover.
When panels of marquetry or of inlaid wood of different colours are broken away or require to be replaced, it can be done in the following manner:—Take a panel of very firm fine white wood—holly is the best; next to it Swiss or German larch—draw on it your pattern, and then with a penknife go over all the pattern, cutting into the panel about a quarter of an inch, or rather less—in no case far enough to cut through. Then carefully fill all these lines with a firm cement, and let it dry well. Then with a dye—not with paint—color each piece appropriately. The cement and lines will prevent the dye from spreading from piece to piece. This is known as Venetian marquetry. When finished, apply Soehnée varnish, and rub down very carefully by hand. It is a very beautiful and easy work, not to be distinguished when well done from real inlaying. Very cheap and plain old furniture can be easily made very elegant by having panels, &c., of this work applied. The reader may begin with a small box or three-legged stool, working directly on the wood, and will then probably be encouraged to proceed. Dark brown patterns on light yellow wood look well.
This work is very easy and elegant, very little made, and may be therefore profitable. Any kind of light or white wood, such as deal or pine, may be used for common decoration. Cheap violins and guitars are sometimes made into handsome ornaments for rooms by this process. For designs for this purpose consult the Manuals of Design, Wood-Carving, and Leather-Work, by the Author (Whittaker & Co., No. 2 White Hart Street, London, E.C.).
Marquetry may also be mended by making and colouring wood-paste, in which case prepare the ground with great care, by roughening, to hold the glue; also by using coloured cements, such as bread, well worked with powder and glycerine-glue.
It does not seem to occur to many people—even to those living in the country—that there is a great deal of strong, plain, useful furniture which can be easily made at home at no very great expense, boards of good quality being cheap enough. With a few lessons from an expert, or even with the study of a good elementary manual of cabinetmaking, any amateur can succeed. Whoever can make a good box can make an antique chair, and this can, however plain, be carved, stained, or marquetried into beauty; but let him beware of sawed curves.
Where there are worms in furniture or other wood, they should always be very promptly exterminated, else they will destroy it in time. To remove them, dissolve 2 drachms of corrosive sublimate in 2 oz. of methylated spirit and 2 oz. of water, to be applied freely with a feather or brush. This is an unfailing remedy; but the mixture is poisonous, and therefore should be kept labelled out of harm’s way (Work, Sept. 1892).
In restoring or repairing woodwork we must have some knowledge not only of paints, varnishes, putties, and filling, but also of agents which prevent organic change or are applicable to peculiar accidents. One of the principal of these is known as knotting. Its properties and general nature are freely explained in the following article from The Decorator, Sept. 1892:—
“‘Knotting,’ or, as it is usually written, Patent Knotting, is a quick-drying, semi-transparent fluid. It is made from naphtha and shellac; hence its quick-drying nature. The knots of woodwork, especially pine, contain much resin, which gradually exudes from the surface. This resin will speedily darken, and ultimately destroy, the covering film of oil paint with which woodwork is usually coated. The object of coating knots in woodwork with ‘patent knotting composition’ is to seal up, so to term it, the resin. In the earlier history of house-painting processes a mixture of red lead and strong glue-size, applied warm, was often used. The chief point in view is to stop the ‘cause,’ but without objectionable ‘effect;’ therefore the thinnest perceptible covering—so long as it is effectual—is the best. The patent knotting of commerce is the article now generally purchased and used. The knots are given one or two bare coatings—according to the nature of the knot, and the conscience of the workman. The best knotting is the colour of dark oak varnish; the worst is the blackest and dirtiest-looking. It always pays to have the best knotting, since ‘black knotting’ requires an extra coat of paint to cover the dark patches which ‘grin through’ any light tints. For the best work it is usually advisable—especially when the woodwork has to be finished, and perhaps hand-polished, in ‘ivory-white’ enamel—to have the knots cut out with a chisel or gouge, then fill up with lead ‘filling-up’ in distemper. I recently had to have the door of an elaborately decorated drawing-room so treated, since, despite being fresh knotted, the resin began to discolour the work, which had received some six coats of paint and enamel, ere the room was furnished—a very annoying and costly matter. Very occasionally knots are gilded over with best gold-leaf; this is generally conceded to be an effectual plan to adopt, when gouging is not resorted to, for finest work. Knotting woodwork is, therefore, not an insignificant detail of house-painting, especially when we are dealing with a door-side; that alone, when finished in hand-polished enamel, may cost a ten-pound note to produce. ‘Tin-paint’ will do for common priming; good linseed oil is the chief element required. All new woodwork requires three coats of good lead and oil paint before standing any time—viz., priming and two after-coats. This is known as ‘builders’ finish.’ When permanently decorated it usually requires ‘getting up’ to a proper surface, and two or three more coats.”