Part 486

Spirit of wine 2 pints Burnt umber 3 ounces Vandyke brown color 1 ounce Carbonate of soda 1 ounce Potash 1⁠/⁠2 ounce

«Mahogany.»—Rub the wood with a solution of nitrous acid, and then apply with a brush the following:

I.—Dragon’s blood 1 ounce Sodium carbonate 6 drachms Alcohol 20 ounces

Filter just before use.

II.—Rub the wood with a solution of potassium carbonate, 1 drachm to a pint of water, and then apply a dye made by boiling together:

Madder 2 ounces Logwood chips 1⁠/⁠2 ounce Water 1 quart

«Maple.»—

I.—Pale button lac 3 pounds Bismarck brown 1⁠/⁠8 ounce Vandyke brown 1⁠/⁠2 ounce Gamboge 4 ounces Methylated spirit 1 gallon

II.—Use 1 gallon of methylated spirit, 4 ounces gamboge (powdered), 1⁠/⁠2 ounce Vandyke brown, 1 drachm Bismarck brown, 3 pounds shellac.

«Maroon.»—To produce a rich maroon or ruby, steep red Janders wood in rectified naphtha and stir into the solution a little cochineal; strain or lawn for use.

«Turpentine Stains.»—Turpentine stains are chiefly solutions of oil-soluble coal-tar dyes in turpentine oil, with small quantities of wax also in solution. They do not roughen the wood, making a final polishing unnecessary. They enter the wood slowly, so that an even stain, especially on large surfaces, is secured. The disadvantages of turpentine stains are the lack of permanence of the coloring, when exposed to light and air, and their high price.

«Varnish Stains.»—Shellac is the chief article forming the basis of varnish stains the coloring matter being usually coal tar or aniline dyes, as they give better results than dye wood tincture. To prevent the varnish stain being too brittle, the addition of elemi rosin is a much better one than common rosin, as the latter retards the drying quality, and if too much be used, renders the stain sticky.

«Water Stains.»—Water stains are solutions of chemicals, dye extracts, astringent substances, and coal-tar dyes in water. They roughen the wood, a disadvantage, however, which can be remedied to a large extent by previous treatment, as follows: The wood is moistened with a wet sponge, allowed to dry, {785} and then rubbed with sandpaper, or made smooth by other agencies. This almost entirely prevents roughening of the surface by the stain. Another disadvantage of these stains is that they are rapidly absorbed by the wood, which makes an even staining of large surfaces difficult. For this too there is a remedy. The surface of the wood is rubbed all over evenly with raw linseed oil, applied with a woolen cloth, allowed to dry, and then thoroughly smoothed with sandpaper. The water stain, applied with a sponge, now spreads evenly, and is but slightly absorbed by the wood.

Among good water stains are the long-known Cassel brown and nut brown, in granules. Catechine is recommended for brown shades, with tannin or pyrogallic acid and green vitriol for gray. For bright-colored stains the tar-dyes azine green, croceine scarlet, Parisian red, tartrazine, water-soluble nigrosin, walnut, and oak brown are very suitable. With proper mixing of these dyes, all colors except blue and violet can be produced, and prove very fast to light and air, and superior to turpentine stains. Only the blue and violet dyes, methyl blue, naphthol blue, and pure violet, do not come up to the standard, and require a second staining with tannin.

A very simple method of preparing water stains is as follows: Solutions are made of the dyes most used, by dissolving 500 parts of the dye in 10,000 parts of hot water, and these are kept in bottles or casks. Any desired stain can be prepared by mixing proper quantities of the solutions, which can be diluted with water to make lighter stains.

«Stains for Wood Attacked by Alkalies or Acids.»—

Solution A

Copper sulphate 125 grams Potassium chlorate 125 grams Water 1,000 cu. cm.

Boil until all is dissolved.

Solution B

Aniline hydrochloride 150 grams Water 1,000 cu. cm

Apply Solution A twice by means of a brush, allowing time to dry after each coat; next, put on Solution B and let dry again. On the day following, rub on a little oil with a cloth and repeat this once a month.

«SUBSTITUTES FOR WOOD.»

I.—Acetic paraldehyde or acetic aldehyde respectively, or polymerized formaldehyde is mixed with methylic alcohol and carbolic acid, as well as fusel oil saturated with hydrochloric acid gas or sulphuric acid gas or methylic alcohol, respectively, are added to the mixture. The mass thus obtained is treated with paraffine. The final product is useful as a substitute for ebonite and wood as well as for insulating purposes.

II.—“Carton Pierre” is the name of a mass which is used as a substitute for carved wood. It is prepared in the following manner: Glue is dissolved and boiled; to this, tissue paper in suitable quantity is added, which will readily go to pieces. Then linseed oil is added, and finally chalk is stirred in. The hot mass forms a thick dough which crumbles in the cold, but softens between the fingers and becomes kneadable, so that it can be pressed into molds (of glue, gypsum, and sulphur). After a few days the mass will become dry and almost as hard as stone. The paper imparts to it a high degree of firmness, and it is less apt to be injured than wood. It binds well and readily adheres to wood.

III.—Wood Pulp.—The boards for painters’ utensils are manufactured in the following manner: The ordinary wood fiber (not the chemical wood cellulose) is well mixed with soluble glass of 33° Bé., then spread like cake upon an even surface, and beaten or rolled until smooth. Before completely dry, the cake is removed, faintly satined (for various other purposes it is embossed) and finally dried thoroughly at a temperature of about 133° F., whereupon the mass may be sawed, carved, polished, etc., like wood.

Any desired wood color can be obtained by the admixture of the corresponding pulverized pigment to the mass. The wood veining is produced by placing a board of the species of timber to be imitated, in vinegar, which causes the soft parts of the wood to deepen, and making an impression with the original board thus treated upon the wood pulp when the latter is not quite hard. By means of one of these original boards (with the veins embossed), impressions can be made upon a large number of artificial wood plates. The veins will show to a greater advantage if the artificial wood is subsequently saturated and treated with colored oil, colored stain and colored polish, as is done with palettes.

WOOD, ACID-PROOF: See Acid-Proofing.