FIG. 25.—USING ROLLER TO SECURE ADHESION OF INLAY
When the work is not too large, it is easier and more effectual to use a copying-press instead of a roller for this operation, which is then carried out in the following manner: A piece of felt is laid in the press, and over it a sheet of very smooth or nickelled zinc, or, failing this, of Carton Jacquart. The work is then laid on it and covered with a second sheet of nickelled zinc and some pasteboards. The press is screwed up as tightly as possible.
The work must not remain in the press, as if allowed
to dry completely, the subsequent removal of the paper pasted to the inlay would become extremely difficult. To effect this removal, the paper is dabbed with a damp sponge until it is ready to come off. A point of the pincers is inserted underneath the paper which, if sufficiently soaked, should easily come away when the tool is slid gently along. The paper, as it becomes freed, should frequently be cut off with scissors to facilitate the handling of the tool. The leather, being damp, may possibly become unstuck and stretched during this process. It must then immediately be repasted and replaced, and the stretched part reduced to its original size by gently pushing it together with the modeller. Should it be found impossible to reduce it thus, the part that is out of shape must be cut off and joined on again. When the paper has been removed, the whole surface is carefully washed over, wetting it as little as possible, so as not to cause the mosaic to become unstuck. The work is then placed in the press, or under boards, until it is perfectly dry.
OUTLINING THE MOSAIC
Outlining is the most delicate process in leather mosaic. When well carried out it should be impossible to distinguish the line where the inlay joins the groundwork. The extreme edge of the inlaid leather is pressed into the groundwork by means of a tool invented by Mons. Aumaître, producing a fine line the breadth of the edge of the tool selected. This tool, called an outliner (Fig. 27), has two blunt ends, one rounded and the other square, and is flat on one side and rounded on the other. The rounded side of the tool affords extra pressure, and should therefore be placed on the inner side of the line so that it serves to increase the depression of the edge of the inlay. It is best to work the outline with the cold tool first, and then to go over it again with the tool heated. The inlay
is lightly damped round the edges, and the round end of the tool is placed half on the inlay and half on the groundwork. The tool is held first inclined backwards (as in Fig. 26) and then brought with pressure to a perpendicular position (Fig. 27). This will make a groove into which the edge of the inlay will disappear. The square end of the tool is used for straight lines. Great care must be taken in placing the tool correctly; no portion of the inlay may protrude beyond the flat side of the tool, as any particle of the edge, however minute, which is not sunk in the groove would have to be cut off. If the edge of the inlay does not extend up to the tool, the error is still more troublesome to correct, more particularly when the leather is of a delicate colour, on account of the difficulty of matching the exact shade for joining it.