Practical House, Wagon and Automobile Painter / including sign painting, and valuable hints and recipes

by W. F. White

TO CHANGE THE COLOR OF WALNUT TO DARK MAHOGANY.

First give it a coat of very thin asphaltum varnish, then, when dry, give it a coat of red saunders and shellac.

You can mix the red saunders and asphaltum stain with any turpentine varnish, or with spirit varnish, if you use turpentine to make them mix.

Burnt umber and burnt sienna in oil or varnish make a walnut stain. Use but little of the pigments in proportion to the oil. Too much pigment gives the work a muddy color.

NATURAL WOOD FINISHING.

Clean up all soiled places on the wood. To be sure of a good job on open grained wood use a Bliss Rock Wood Filler. If you use a ready made filler, thin as per directions on the can. Whatever filler you use, put it on with a good brush. As soon as the filler begins to set, or show flat, commence to rub it into the grain with a pad made by gluing a piece of harness leather onto a block; always when practicable rub across the grain of the wood. For round work have a long piece of leather to draw back and forth around the work. Remember the main thing at this stage is to get as much of the filler as possible rubbed into the wood.

Another important point is to take off the surplus filler before it becomes too hard to wipe off, and another point is to wipe off the surplus filler and leave the pores of the wood level full. Hence, it is important that the filler does not dry too fast, that the painter puts on no more filler at a time than he can handle before it dries, and that in wiping off the surplus filler he works his rags across the grain. Some very open grained wood requires a second application of filler to make a good job, or at least to be looked over and touched up. The filler should have at least two days to dry. When dry go over it lightly with fine sandpaper to take off all particles of filler left on the surface.

Walnut, mahogany, chestnut, oak, ash and butternut may be classed as open grained woods, which need to be well filled with paste filler colored to match the color of the wood. When the filler is dry put on a coat or two of white shellac and rub down smooth with No. 1 sandpaper, and follow with two or more coats of hard oil or varnish, as you like; give each coat plenty of time to dry and rub each coat with curled hair or hair cloth, except the last coat. If you want an egg shell or half gloss, rub the last coat with pulverized pumice stone and raw linseed oil. If you want a dead finish rub down with pulverized pumice stone and water instead of oil. If you want a polish, first rub with the pumice stone and water; then with rotten stone and water, and polish with rotten stone and oil, or furniture polish and rotten stone. If you want a gloss finish, flow on the last coat and omit rubbing. Treat the close-grained woods as above stated, with the exception of the filler. The shellac also may be omitted, but it will take at least one more coat of hard oil or varnish for the job.

Cherry, sycamore, maple, birch, gumwood, redwood, cypress, pine, whitewood, poplar and hemlock are all close-grained woods, and need no paste filler. Pine especially should have a coat of shellac to keep back the pitch.

For an extra fine job of gloss finish, rub next to the last coat with pumice stone and water, flow on a coat of good varnish, and leave it in the gloss. In this case great care is required in cleaning the work to keep it from showing specks.