Part 471

IV.—An emulsion of 5 parts of yellow wax, 2 parts of crude potassium carbonate, and 12 parts of water, boiled together until they assume a milky color and the solids are dissolved, used cold, makes an excellent composition for floors. Any desired color may be given this dressing by stirring in the powdered coloring matter. Use it exactly as described for the first mass.

«Gilders’ Wax.»—For the production of various colorings of gold in fire gilding, the respective places are frequently covered with so-called gilders’ wax. These consist of mixtures of various chemicals which have an etching action in the red heat upon the bronze mass, thus causing roughness of unequal depth, as well as through the fact that the composition of the bronze is changed somewhat on the surface, a relief of the gold color being effected in consequence of these two circumstances. The gilding wax is prepared by melting together the finely powdered chemicals with wax according to the following recipes:

I II III IV V

Yellow wax 32 32 32 96 36 Red chalk 3 24 18 48 18 Verdigris 2 4 18 32 18 Burnt alum 2 4 — — — Burnt borax — — 2 1 3 Copper ash — 4 6 20 8 Zinc vitriol — — — 32 18 Green vitriol — — — 1 6

«Grafting Wax.»—

I.—Beeswax 7 parts Purified rosin 12 parts Turpentine 3 parts Rape oil 1 part Venice turpentine 2.5 parts Zinc white 2.5 parts

Color yellow with turmeric.

II.—Japan wax 1 part Yellow wax 3 parts Rosin 8 parts Turpentine 4 parts Hard paraffine 1 part Suet 3 parts Venice turpentine 6 parts

«Harness Wax.»—

Oil of turpentine 90 parts Wax, yellow 9 parts Prussian blue 1 part Indigo 0.5 parts Bone black 5 parts

Dissolve the wax in the oil by aid of a low heat, on a water bath. Mix the remaining ingredients, which must be well powdered, and work up with a portion of the solution of wax. Finally, add the mixture to the solution, and mix thoroughly on the bath. When a homogeneous liquid is obtained, pour into earthen boxes.

«Modeling Wax.»—I.—Yellow wax, 1,000 parts; Venice turpentine, 130 parts; lard, 65 parts; bole, 725 parts. The mixture when still liquid is poured into tepid water and kneaded until a plastic mass is obtained.

II.—Summer Modeling Wax.—White wax, 20 parts; ordinary turpentine, 4 parts; sesame oil, 1 part; vermilion, 2 parts.

III.—Winter Modeling Wax.—White wax, 20 parts; ordinary turpentine, 6 parts; sesame oil, 2 parts; vermilion, 2 parts. Preparation same as for Formula I.

«Sealing Waxes.»—The following formulas may be followed for making sealing wax: Take 4 pounds of shellac, 1 pound of Venice turpentine, and 3 pounds of vermilion. Melt the lac in a copper pan suspended over a clear charcoal fire, then add the turpentine slowly to it, and soon afterwards add the vermilion, stirring briskly all the time with a rod in either hand. In forming the round sticks of sealing wax, a certain portion of the mass should be weighed while it is ductile, divided into the desired number of pieces, and then rolled out upon a warm marble slab by means of a smooth wooden block like that used by apothecaries for rolling a mass of pills.

The oval and square sticks of sealing wax are cast in molds, with the above compound, in a state of fusion. The marks of the lines of junction of the mold box may be afterwards removed by holding the sticks over a clear fire, or passing them over a blue gas flame. Marbled sealing wax is made by mixing {756} two, three, or more colored kinds together while they are in a semi-fluid state. From the viscidity of the several portions their incorporation is left incomplete, so as to produce the appearance of marbling. Gold sealing wax is made simply by adding gold chrome instead of vermilion into the melted rosins. Wax may be scented by introducing a little essential oil, essence of musk, or other perfume. If 1 part of balsam of Peru be melted along with 99 parts of the sealing-wax composition, an agreeable fragrance will be exhaled in the act of sealing with it. Either lampblack or ivory black serves for the coloring matter of black wax. Sealing wax is often adulterated with rosin, in which case it runs into thin drops at the flame of a candle.

The following mistakes are sometimes made in the manufacture of sealing wax:

I.—Use of filling agents which are too coarsely ground.

II.—Excessive use of filling agents.

III.—Insufficient binding of the pigments and fillings with a suitable adhesive agent, which causes these bodies to absorb the adhesive power of the gums.

IV.—Excessive heating of the mass, caused by improper melting or faulty admixture of the gummy bodies. Turpentine and rosin must be heated before entering the shellac. If this rule is inverted, as is often the case, the shellac sticks to the bottom and burns partly.

Great care must be taken to mix the coloring matter to a paste with spirit or oil of turpentine before adding to the other ingredients. Unless this is done the wax will not be of a regular tint.

«Dark Blue Wax.»—Three ounces Venetian turpentine, 4 ounces shellac, 1 ounce rosin, 1 ounce Prussian blue, 1⁠/⁠2 ounce magnesia.

«Green Wax.»—Two ounces Venetian turpentine, 4 ounces shellac, 1 1⁠/⁠4 ounces rosin, 1⁠/⁠2 ounce chrome yellow, 1⁠/⁠4 ounce Prussian blue, 1 ounce magnesia.

«Carmine Red Wax.»—One ounce Venetian turpentine, 4 ounces shellac, 1 ounce rosin, colophony, 1 1⁠/⁠4 ounces Chinese red, 1 drachm magnesia, with oil of turpentine.

«Gold Wax.»—Four ounces Venetian turpentine, 8 ounces shellac, 14 sheets of genuine leaf gold, 1⁠/⁠2 ounce bronze, 1⁠/⁠2 ounce magnesia, with oil of turpentine.

«White Wax.»—I.—The wax is bleached by exposing to moist air and to the sun, but it must first be prepared in thin sheets or ribbons or in grains. For this purpose it is first washed, to free it from the honey which may adhere, melted, and poured into a tin vessel, whose bottom is perforated with narrow slits. The melted wax falls in a thin stream on a wooden cylinder arranged below and half immersed in cold water. This cylinder is turned, and the wax, rolling round in thin leaves, afterwards falls into the water. To melt it in grains, a vessel is made use of, perforated with small openings, which can be rotated. The wax is projected in grains into the cold water. It is spread on frames of muslin, moistened with water several times a day, and exposed to the sun until the wax assumes a fine white. This whiteness, however, is not perfect. The operation of melting and separating into ribbons or grains must be renewed. Finally, it is melted and flowed into molds. The duration of the bleaching may be abridged by adding to the wax, treated as above, from 1.25 to 1.75 per cent of rectified oil of turpentine, free from rosin. In 6 or 8 days a result will be secured which would otherwise require 5 or 6 weeks.

II.—Bleached shellac 28 parts Venetian turpentine 13 parts Plaster of Paris 30 parts