Practical Carriage and Wagon Painting / A Treatise on the Painting of Carriages, Wagons and Sleighs, Embracing Full and Explicit Directions for Executing All Kinds of Work, Including Painting Factory Work, Lettering, Scrolling, Ornamenting, Varnishing, etc., with Many Tested Recipes and Formulas

by M. C. Hillick

Fig. 2.

In the painting of runner vehicles of the best order the jobs are primed throughout, bodies and running parts (and this includes inside of bodies, under surface—everything, in fact, not covered with iron), with oil and lead primer. Permitting this coat to dry thoroughly, a light sanding with, say No. 1/2 sandpaper, is given, and then a coat of lead containing enough raw linseed oil to bind the pigment securely without giving it a gloss is put on. Use an oval or round bristle brush to apply the lead to the body, and for the running parts use a camel's-hair brush, this latter tool being best adapted to lay a uniform depth of pigment over the sharp edges and small surfaces of the running parts. Upon this coat putty both body and running parts draw-puttying all open-grained portions of the surface. Forty-eight hours after puttying begin rough-stuffing the body, using for the 'stuff equal parts of any good American filler and keg lead, by weight, reducing to a thick paste in equal parts of quick rubbing varnish and japan, then cutting to a brushing consistency with turpentine. This is a two-coat-per-day 'stuff. Apply four coats of the 'stuff, then a guide coat of yellow ochre and set aside for a few days. After rubbing the surface out (full instructions for rubbing roughstuff may be found in [Chapter III]. of this series) give it plenty of time—twelve or fourteen hours at least—to dry out. Then lightly sandpaper with No. 0 paper, dust off, and give first coat of color.

Fig. 3.

The proper color foundation being secured, apply two coats of rubbing varnish, either both clear or one clear and one color-and-varnish, the character of the color foundation determining the selection, and then follow with a heavily flowed on coat of finishing varnish. In case color-and-varnish be used, the striping and ornamental work had best be done on this coat, as upon work of this quality the ornamentation will require the protection of a rubbing, as well as a finishing, coat of varnish.

The running parts require sandpapering, then one coat of color-and-varnish, then striping and finishing. This system, intended exclusively for high class work, requires a very thorough carrying out, with no neglected details from priming coat to finishing, if a satisfactory degree of excellence, both in finish and durability, would be maintained.

Another system, in which roughstuff does not figure, consists of giving body and gear, when received from the wood shop, a coat of lead, ochre, and oil priming. When the irons are attached, the job is sandpapered and a coat of lead containing a durable binder of oil is given. The wood and iron are alike coated with this mixture. The panels of the body are next, in due season, plastered with putty (see Knifing Head Formula No. 1, in [Chapter III].), the pigment being firmly forced into the grain of the wood. Aim to get a very smooth application of the pigment in addition to a complete fullness of the wood pores, to the end that the surface cells may be sealed "against graining out" and that the labor of sandpapering may be reduced to the minimum.

Fig. 4.

The first coat of color is furnished with a binder of oil and should not be recoated until the day following. Add varnish as a binder for the second coat of color. A single coat of rubbing, and one of some hard drying finishing varnish often suffices to complete the finish. If a better job is desired an extra coat of rubbing is given. The striping, corner pieces, etc., are done on the flat color. The running parts are puttied on the priming coat, exposed parts of open grained surface draw-puttied, sandpapered, given one coat of color, coat of color-and-varnish, striped, and finished with a heavy bodied, hard drying finishing varnish. Again, for medium priced sleigh work a factory system consists of applying some reliable liquid wood filler to the job throughout, then a little later wiping the surface over with soft, clean rags. The work is allowed twenty-four hours in which to dry out, when the body is given a coat of roughstuff mixed in the proportion of 3 lbs. of filler to 1 lb. of keg lead, equal parts of japan and rubbing varnish being used to reduce it to a heavy paste, and turpentine employed to cut it to the proper working consistency. Putty on this coat of 'stuff. Then apply, at the rate of two coats per day, a roughstuff made according to the first formula given herewith. Three coats of this stuff should suffice. Rub out with rubbing bricks, color and finish out as previously advised. The running parts are puttied upon the filler coat, draw puttied wherever needed, then colored, given color-and-varnish, striped and finished.