CHAPTER II.
BUYING AND SELECTING BRUSHES—CARE OF THEM—SOFTENING HARD BRUSHES—BRUSH KEEPERS—PRESERVING LIQUIDS—BRUSHES USED IN VEHICLE PAINTING, ETC.
One conspicuously famous brush maker has declared the art of brush making to be "an art preservative." The carriage and wagon painter is deeply concerned in the achievements of that art, because every distinct advancement made therein makes possible an equally distinct advancement in the art of painting. To a greater extent, perhaps, than any other class of painters, the carriage and wagon painter should be interested in making up his brush equipment of tools of the best quality. The brush made of reliable stock, having the proper "hang" and point, and which balances like a "thoroughbred," is an economical tool to buy, regardless of the price. The vehicle painter requires a brush made scientifically, by the outlay of honest workmanship, and of material that is wholly above suspicion. A brush that has simply the price to recommend it is usually an unreliable article and worketh evil, like a thief in the night, unexpectedly. In making choice of a brush for putting on priming, lead, and roughstuff, and for such other features of general use as require a round or oval bristle brush, the painter may properly look at the filling of the tool. Deception, if practiced at all, is usually placed where it shows the least. The first-class brush is distinctively the brush that shows good quality—uniform quality—from center to outside. Other things being equal, the brush that is made up uniformly as to its bristle equipment will develop a good point, and all carriage painters are alive to the importance of this virtue in both paint and varnish brushes.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Much of the usefulness of a brush depends upon the manner of caring for it when it comes into the paint shop. The bristle brushes used for priming, lead, and roughstuff require bridling until worn down somewhat. There are many patent brush bridles now procurable at a nominal cost which tend to give a brush much better shape than the shop-made bridle. If these are not at hand, the painter can take "tufting cord" (our friends, the carriage trimmers, keep it) and wind the brush securely but not too tightly; or he can take a piece of light weight rubber cloth and, extending the piece well down on the handle, tie it at the proper distance around the bristles. The rubber side of the piece should be fastened next the bristles. Then, from where it is tied around the bristles, fold the piece back onto the handle and tie securely. Trim off, and a bridle is furnished that is perfectly water- and paint-proof, the cloth side of the rubber being folded inside. For a shop-made bridle the writer finds this a serviceable one. After bridling, drop a little oil paint into the heel of the brush and set it away in a dustproof compartment for a few days. Then use the brush for a time in oil paint, suspending the brush when not in use in raw linseed oil. In the course of two or three days the brush may be put into other paint if desired and suspended in water. Suspend the brush just up to the butts of the bristles, or so they are just covered, and invariably keep the water up to that point. Under no circumstances permit a brush to rest upon its point when not in use. It destroys the form of the tool and lessens its spring and elasticity. The bristle paint brushes require a clean storage quite to the extent that the color or varnish brushes do. Therefore, the receptacle in which they are kept should be fitted with a cover and should be tight enough to keep out all forms of dirt. A common tobacco pail procured of the local grocery, painted inside and out, fitted with a cover, and having nails driven at certain distances apart all around it, one-third of the way down from the top, on which the brushes may be suspended, makes a cheap and excellent keeper for the ordinary paint brushes.
