VARNISHING AND POLISHING.
On no account is a second coat of varnish to be applied before the first one is dry. If this is done the result will be a sticky, ridgy, dirty looking job. Before the work is varnished even, it must be thoroughly sand-papered to remove inequalities, and the last sand-papering should be with the finest grade. Then apply the varnish, taking care not to put too much on for the first coat. When that is dry and hard, sand-paper with fine paper again and varnish again. Three to four coats are enough for ordinary work. When the last coat is dry and hard, get some floated pumice stone flour, that is, pumice stone flour that has been washed, mix it with water to about the thickness of cream; apply it to a woolen rag, and rub it gently over the work; not too hard, for that would cut the varnish off down to the wood. After a while you will see that the surface of the varnish begins to have a hard, smooth body, like carriage work. When this occurs, you can wash the pumice stone all off, and take a little Tripoli or rotten stone and oil, and rub gently all over the job; you will then have a surpassingly beautiful and brilliant surface, that will show the grain and vein of the wood to perfection. If you desire the gloss that varnish gives, you must apply a thin coat of wearing varnish after this. In varnishing, you must buy “rubbing varnish” if you intend to polish and oil varnish, not spirit, which is apt to crack and rub up under the treatment.
BRUSHES.
In varnishing, you, of course, desire to have a true and even surface, without a ridge to show where the brush left it. Camel’s hair flat brushes are used for this purpose, but they will not answer in spirit varnishes, as the hairs drop out or are loosened from the action of the spirit on the shellac or glue, which holds them in. Bristle brushes are the best for general use. They must be soaked for an hour or more in cold water, to fasten the bristles before using.
PEARL.
This substance is easily sawed into shape, and is easily turned with a common steel tool. It is polished readily with pumice stone and water and “putty powder,” this last to be had of chemists or lapidaries. It is better to preserve the colored surface as nature left it, for the beautiful rays and tints presented by it are owing to a peculiar disposition of thin scales on the surface, which retain the light; if these be destroyed, the beauty of the material is lost. It is to be had of marine store keepers generally, or the amateur can get it more readily of the nearest button manufacturer.
MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS.
If you buy any tools, always buy the best that money can get. P. S. Stubs’ files, wire, rimmers, and screw plates, are standard tools, and the amateur cannot go astray in choosing them. A vise is indispensable, and it should be large enough to hold the work without springing.
CURVING MAPLE VENEERS.
If you wish to curve a veneer so that it will fit a half or a whole circle, it is easily done by dipping it in hot water, when it will instantly curl up into any shape you want. I do this with bird’s eye maple. This wood is easily stained any hue, and is rather handsomer in chocolate brown than in its natural color. It is then the nearest to French oak of any wood that we have, and that is unquestionably superb. Such markings and mottlings as it has, surpass anything ever seen; it is a deep, rich, chocolate brown color, full of snarls, curves, and knots, not over five eights of an inch in their largest diameters, and so beautiful that it seems as if some hand must have arranged them.