Another process is operated by having rolls with leather or composition surface, with the grains cut thereon; after the graining-color has been applied to the work, the rollers are passed over it, thus removing the color wherever the roller touches. As a rule, the work done by this process is not very distinct, nor is it particularly clean. Very large rollers have to be used in order to grain a panel four feet long, as the work will seldom join without showing the joints; and while a door was being grained in this manner (with joints in the panels), a skilful workman could do one by hand and in a much better manner.
The best work that I have ever seen, not done by hand, was by means of a composition roller with a smooth surface; it can be used only for the imitation of porous woods, as chestnut, ash and walnut, and is useless for oak, cherry or any of the close-grained woods. The work can first be stippled in distemper, and when dry rubbed in lightly in oil; or the roller can be applied directly to the stippled work or to the groundwork, and afterwards stippled if necessary. It is requisite to procure several pieces of the wood to be imitated, smoothed carefully with the pores open; then directly apply the graining-color and with the composition roller go over the wood, taking the color from the pores and applying it directly to the work by transfer. If carefully done, you have an exact duplicate of the grain of the real wood, and no man can do better work than this; but, in order to grain a room or a house in this manner, it is necessary to have a great variety of pieces of porous wood, and to use each piece only for imitating the wood of which it is composed.
The gransorbian is another transfer process, by which the grains are produced as follows: The graining-color is applied in the usual manner, and heavy absorptive paper on which the grain of the wood to be imitated is impressed is laid against the wet color; a roller with a smooth surface is passed over the paper, using considerable force, so that the color is absorbed into the paper wherever it is pressed against the work by the roller. The paper can be used several times before it becomes useless through becoming saturated with color, but, being cheap, it is an inexpensive manner of doing fair to good work. All depends on the man who makes the patterns, as, if they are not true to nature, the effect is very bad, and some of the samples that I have seen are very poor imitations of the grain of any wood. I should judge that the paper is produced by applying the pulp to a block of wood on which the pattern to be produced is engraved, using considerable pressure to force the pulp into the carved work. The plain work is done with combs in the usual manner.
Another transfer process is the transfer paper. The grain is printed on paper similar to the best wall-paper, and is transferred to the groundwork by pressure after first wetting the back of the paper and allowing time for the water thoroughly to soften the printed color. The surface of the groundwork must first be damped in order to receive the moist color from the paper. Two or three impressions may be obtained from each wetting of the paper. Some of the work done by this process is excellent, and approaches very near the work done by the smooth transfer roller, but the majority of the paper is printed from blocks or cylinders, designed not by nature, but by man, and are unworthy of comparison with those printed from nature.
There are various processes other than handwork, but the above are the principal methods employed.
The first-class grainer has nothing to fear from any of the foregoing processes, for while some were being used the work could be done in the old way, and equally well, provided the workmen were at all skilful. I have never seen any work that can excel fine handwork, as there is more grace and variety in such work than there is in any done by any other methods. When the services of a grainer cannot be obtained, machine processes may answer for ordinary work or for small work, such as ice-chests, pails, etc., but the chief objection I have to them is that they claim too much, and the average painter who buys the process is deceived, because he is told that any wood can be imitated by this or that machine, when such is not the case.
[CHAPTER XVIII.]
IMITATIONS OF CARVED WORK, MOULDINGS, ETC., BY GRAINING.
In imitating carved work, mouldings, etc. in graining color, more than ordinary ability is required in order to succeed in deceiving people; and this kind of work should not be attempted unless there is ample time for its proper execution, nor should its use be contemplated for too exposed positions, as if not thoroughly done it is an eyesore to the intelligent beholder, but if done in a recessed doorway or other suitable place, inside or outside, it enhances the value of the work if it agrees with the general style of the architecture or of the surroundings. Mouldings or raised panels are often imitated on front doors where the real article would never be placed by an intelligent carpenter, owing to the shape of the door; hence it would be displaying poor judgment to place the imitation where the real article ought to find no place. It is wonderful how a thorough grainer can transform a plastered wall into one apparently sheathed or wainscoted, and I have seen doors so perfectly imitated that persons would grasp at the knob in attempting to open a door that was grained on a plastered wall. Imitations of carved figures, scrolls and game-birds are favored by some workmen, and are very effective if well done; as a rule such work should be seen in a subdued light to render the deception more complete.
