Part 321

«PAINTS FOR WOOD:»

See also Wood.

«Floor Coating.»—A new paint for floors, especially those of soft wood: Mix together 2.2 pounds joiners’ glue; a little over 1 ounce powdered bichromate of potash; 3 1⁠/⁠2 ounces aniline brown; and 10 1⁠/⁠2 quarts water in a tin vessel. After 6 hours have elapsed (when the glue is completely soaked), heat gradually to the boiling point. The coating becomes perfectly water-tight after 2 or 3 days; it is not opaque, as the earthy body is lacking. The glue causes the wood fibers to be firmly united. It becomes insoluble by the addition of bichromate of potash, under the influence of light. Without this admixture a simple glue coat has formerly not been found satisfactory, as it dissolves if cleaned with water.

«Durable House Paint.»—I.—New houses should be primed once with pure linseed oil, then painted with a thin paint from white lead and chalk, and thus gradually covered. The last coat is prepared of well-boiled varnish, white lead, and chalk. The chalk has the mission to moderate the saponification of the linseed oil by the white lead. Mixing colors such as ocher and black, which take up plenty of oil, materially assist in producing a durable covering.

II.—Prime with zinc white and let this be succeeded by a coating with zinc chloride in glue water (size). The zinc oxide forms with the zinc chloride an oxy-chloride of great hardness and glossy surface. By admixture of pigments any desired shade may be produced. The zinc coating is indestructible, dries quickly, does not peel, is free from the smell of fresh oil paint, and more than 5 per cent cheaper.

«Ivory Coating for Smooth, Light Wood.»—In order to cover the articles, which may be flat or round, with this coating, they must first be polished quite smooth and clean; then they are coated with thin, hot, white glue. When the coat is thoroughly dry, the glue is rubbed off again with fine glass paper. The mass is prepared as follows: Take 3 pounds (more or less, according to the number of articles) of the purest and best collodion; grind upon a clean grinding stone twice the quantity that can be taken up with the point of a knife of Krems white, with enough good pale linseed oil as is necessary to grind the white smooth and fine. Take a clean bottle, into which one-half of the collodion is poured; to this add the ground white, which can be removed clean from the stone by means of a good spatula and put in the bottle. Add about 100 drops of linseed oil, and shake the mass till it looks like milk.

Now painting with this milky substance may be commenced, using a fine hair pencil of excellent quality. The pencil is not dipped in the large bottle; but a glass is kept at hand with an opening of about 1 inch, so as to be able to immerse the pencil quickly. The substance is not flowing like the alcohol lacquers, for which reason it may be put on thick, for the ether, chiefly constituting the mass, evaporates at once and leaves but a very thin film which becomes noticeable only after about 10 such applications have been made. Shake the bottle well each time before filling the small glass, as the heavy Krems white is very apt to sink to the bottom of the bottle. If it is observed that the substance becomes too thick, which may easily occur on account of the evaporation, a part of the remaining ether is added, to which in turn 30 to 40 drops of oil are added, shaking it till the oil appears to be completely dissolved.

The operator must put on the mass in quick succession and rather thick. After about 10 coats have been applied the work is allowed to rest several hours; then 3 or 4 coats of pure collodion, to which likewise several drops of oil have been added, are given. Another pause of several hours having been allowed to intervene, application of the mass is once more begun.

When it is noticed that a layer of the thickness of paper has formed, the articles, after drying thoroughly, should be softly rubbed off with very fine glass paper, after which they require to be wiped off well with a clean linen rag, so that no dust remains. Then coating is continued till the work seems serviceable.

A few applications of pure collodion should be made, and when this has become perfectly hard, after a few hours, it can be rubbed down with a rag, {501} tripoli, and oil, and polished by hand, like horn or ivory. This work can be done only in a room which is entirely free from dust. The greatest cleanliness must be observed.

«MISCELLANEOUS RECIPES, PAINTS, ETC.:»

«Bathtub Paint.»—Take white keg lead, tint to any desired color and then add, say, 1⁠/⁠8 boiled oil (pure linseed) to 7⁠/⁠8 hard drying durable body varnish. Clean the surface of the tub thoroughly before applying the paint. Benzine or lime wash are good cleaning agents. Coat up until a satisfactorily strong, pure color is reached. This will give good gloss and will also wear durably.

«Coating for Name Plates.»—A durable coating for name plates in nurseries is produced as follows: Take a woolen rag, saturate it with joiners’ polish, lay it into a linen one, and rub the wooden surface with this for some time. Rub down with sandpaper and it can be written on almost like paper. When all is dry, coat with dammar lacquer for better protection. If the wood is to receive a color it is placed in the woolen rag before rubbing down, in this case chrome yellow.

«To Keep Flies from Fresh Paint.»—For the purpose of keeping flies and other insects away from freshly painted surfaces mix a little bay oil (laurel oil) with the oil paint, or place a receptacle containing same in the vicinity of the painted objects. The pungent odor keeps off the flies.

«Heat-Indicating Paint.»—A heat-indicating paint composed of a double iodide of copper and mercury was first discovered years ago by a German physicist. At ordinary temperatures the paint is red, but when heated to 206° F. it turns black. Paper painted with this composition and warmed at a stove exhibits the change in a few seconds. A yellow double iodide of silver and mercury is even more sensitive to heat, changing from yellow to dark red.

«To Keep Liquid Paint in Workable Condition.»—To prevent liquid paint which, for convenience sake, is kept in small quantities and flat receptacles, from evaporating and drying, give the vessels such a shape that they can be placed one on top of the other without danger of falling over, and provide the under side with a porous mass—felt or very porous clay, etc.—which, if moistened, will retain the water for a long time. Thus, in placing the dishes one on top of the other, a moist atmosphere is created around them, which will inhibit evaporation and drying of the paint. A similar idea consists in producing covers with a tight outside and porous inside, for the purpose of covering up, during intermission in the work, clay models and like objects which it is desired to keep soft. In order to avoid the formation of fungous growth on the constantly wet bottom, it may be saturated with non-volatile disinfectants, or with volatile ones if their vapors are calculated to act upon the objects kept underneath the cover. If the cover is used to cover up oil paints, it is moistened on the inside with volatile oil, such as oil of turpentine, oil of lavender, or with alcohol.

«Peeling of Paints.»—For the prevention of peeling of new coatings on old oil paintings or lakes, the latter should be rubbed with roughly ground pumice stone, wet by means of felt rags, and to the first new coat there should be added fine spirit in the proportion of about 1⁠/⁠10 of the thinning necessary for stirring (turpentine, oil, etc.). This paint dries well and has given good results, even in the most difficult cases. The subsequent coatings are put on with the customary paint. Fat oil glazes for graining are likewise mixed with spirit, whereby the cracking of the varnish coating is usually entirely obviated.

«Polychroming of Figures.»—This paint consists of white wax, 1 part, and powdered mastic, 1 part, melted together upon the water bath and mixed with rectified turpentine. The colors to be used are first ground stiffly in turpentine on the grinding slab, and worked into consistency with the above solution.

«Priming Coat for Water Spots.»—A very simple way to remove rain spots, or such caused by water soaking through ceilings, has been employed with good results. Take unslaked white lime, dilute with alcohol, and paint the spots with it. When the spots are dry—which ensues quickly, as the alcohol evaporates and the lime forms a sort of insulating layer—one can proceed painting with size color, and the spots will not show through again.

PAINT FOR PROTECTING CEMENT AGAINST ACID: See Acid-Proofing.

PAINT, GREASE: See Cosmetics. {502}

PAINT REMOVERS: See Cleaning Compounds.

PALLADIUM ALLOYS: See Alloys.

PALLADIUMIZING: See Plating.

«PALMS, THEIR CARE.»

Instead of washing the leaves of palms with water, many florists employ a mixture of milk and water, the object being to prevent the formation of disfiguring brown stains.

«Paper»

«Paper Pads» (see also Adhesives, under Glue).