For the interior of houses, the "Albarine" enamel manufactured by the Yorkshire Varnish Company, of Ripon, is recommended. This article combines in itself a perfectly hard solid enamel of the purest possible colour; and for all interior decorations, where purity of colour and brilliancy of finish are desired, it is universally admitted to be the most perfect article of the kind hitherto introduced to the trade. It is applied in the same manner as ordinary varnish.
Another Process.—The preceding section describes the process of enamelling by oil varnishes, and the directions referring to the polishing will be found of value for the "polishing up" on painted imitations of woods or marbles. There is another process whereby an enamel can be produced upon furniture at a much cheaper rate than the preceding, and one too, perhaps, in which a polisher may feel more "at home." The work should first have a coating of size and whiting (well strained); this will act as a pore-filler. When dry, rub down with fine paper, after which use the felt-covered rubber and powdered pumice-stone, to remove all the scratches caused by the glass-paper and to obtain a smooth and good surface. Then proceed to make a solution for the enamel: first procure two ounces of common isinglass from the druggist's, and thoroughly dissolve it in about a pint of boiling water; when dissolved, stir in two ounces and a-half of subnitrate of bismuth—this will be found to be about the right quantity for most woods, but it can be varied to suit the requirements. With this give the work one coat, boiling hot; apply it with a soft piece of Turkey sponge, or a broad camel's-hair brush, and when dry cut down with powdered pumice-stone; if a second coat is required, serve in precisely the same manner. Then proceed to polish in the ordinary way with white polish. After wetting the rubber, sprinkle a small quantity of the subnitrate of bismuth upon it; then put on the cover, and work in the usual manner; continue this till a sufficient body is obtained, and after allowing a sufficient time for the sinking and hardening it can be spirited off.
Enamelled furniture has had, comparatively speaking, rather a dull sale, but there is no class of furniture more susceptible of being made to please the fancy of the many than this. It can be made in any tint that may be required by the application of Judson's dyes, and the exercise of a little skill in the decoration will produce very pleasing effects.
Decorations.—The decorations are usually ornaments drawn in gold. A cut-out stencil pattern is generally used, and the surface brushed over with a camel's-hair pencil and japanner's gold size, which can be obtained at the artist's colourman's, or, if preferred, can be made by boiling 4 ozs. of linseed-oil with 1 oz. of gum anîme and a little vermilion. When the size is tacky, or nearly dry, gold powder or gold leaf is applied. The gold is gently pressed down with a piece of wadding, and when dry the surplus can be removed with a round camel's-hair tool. In all cases where gold has been fixed by this process it will bear washing without coming off, which is a great advantage.
CHAPTER IX.
AMERICAN POLISHING PROCESSES
The method of polishing furniture practised by the American manufacturers differs considerably from the French polishing processes adopted by manufacturers in most European countries. This difference, however, is mostly compulsory, and is attributable to the climate. The intense heat of summer and the extreme cold of winter will soon render a French polish useless, and as a consequence numerous experiments have been tried to obtain a polish for furniture that will resist heat or cold. The writer has extracted from two American cabinet-trade journals, The Cabinet-maker and The Trade Bureau, descriptions of the various processes now used in the States, which descriptions were evidently contributed by practical workmen. The following pages are not, strictly speaking, a mere reprint from the above-named journals, the articles having been carefully revised and re-written after having been practically tested; attention to them is, therefore, strongly recommended.
In these processes the work is first filled in with a "putty filler," and after the surface has been thoroughly cleaned it is ready for shellac or varnish. Second, a coating of shellac is next applied with a brush or a soft piece of Turkey sponge. This mixture is composed of two parts (by weight) of shellac to one of methylated spirits, but what is called "thin shellac" is composed of one part shellac to two of spirits. After the coating is laid on and allowed to dry, which it does very soon, it is rubbed carefully with fine flour glass-paper, or powdered pumice-stone—about four coats are usually given, each one rubbed down as directed. Third, when the surface has received a sufficient body, get a felt-covered rubber and apply rotten-stone and sweet oil in the same manner as you would clean brass; with this give the work a good rubbing, so as to produce a polish. Fourth, clean off with a rag and sweet oil, and rub dry; then take a soft rag with a few drops of spirit upon it, and vapour up to a fine polish. With these few preliminary remarks, the following will be easily understood.