2965. To Varnish Drawings, or any Kind of Paper or Card Work

2965.    To Varnish Drawings, or any Kind of Paper or Card Work. Dissolve 1 ounce best isinglass in about 1 pint water, by simmering it over the fire; strain it through fine muslin, and keep it for use. Try the size on a piece of paper moderately warm. If it glistens, it is too thick, and requires more water; if it soaks into the paper, it is too thin, and needs more is in glass; it should merely dull the surface. Then give the drawing 2 or 3 coats, letting it dry between each, being careful (particularly in the first coat) to bear very lightly on the brush (which should be a flat camel's-hair), from which the size should flow freely; otherwise, the drawing may be damaged. Then take the best mastich varnish, and with it give at least

3 coats. This is the method used by many eminent artists, and is found superior to any that has been tried.

2966. Varnish for Shoes

2966. Varnish for Shoes. Put \ pound gum shellac, broken up in small pieces, into a quart bottle or jug, cover it with alcohol, cork it tight, and put it on a shelf in a warm place; shake it well several times a day, then add a piece of camphor as large as a hen's egg, shake it well, and in a few hours shake it again and add 1 ounce lampblack. If the alcohol is good it will all be dissolved in 2 days; then shake and use. if it gets too thick, add alcohol, pour out 2 or 3 tea-spoonfuls in a saucer, and apply it with a small paint brush. If the materials are all good it will dry in about 5 minutes, giving a gloss equal to patent leather, and will be removed only by wearing it off. The advantage of this preparation over others is, it does - not strike into the leather and make it hard, but remains on the surface, and yet excludes the water almost perfectly. The same preparation is admirable for harness, and does not soil when touched, as is usually the case with lampblack preparations.

2967. Varnish for Harness

2967. Varnish for Harness. Take 95 per cent, alcohol, 1 gallon; white pine turpentine, 11/2 pounds; gum shellac, 11/2 pounds; Venice turpentine, 1 gill. Let these stand in a jug in the sun or by a stove until the gums are dissolved, then add sweet oil, 1 gill; and lampblack, 2 ounces; rub the lampblack first with a little of the varnish. This varnish is better than the old style, from the fact that its polish is as good, and it does not crack when the harness is twisted or knocked about.

2968. Flexible Japan Black for Leather

2968.      Flexible Japan Black for Leather. Burnt umber, 8 ounces; true asphaltum, 3 or 4 ounces; boiled linseed oil, 1 gallon; grind the umber with a little of the oil; add it to the asphaltum, previously dissolved in a small quantity of the oil by heat; mix, add the remainder of the oil; boil, cool, and thin with a sufficient quantity of oil of turpentine.

2969. Inflexible Japan Black for Leather

2969.      Inflexible Japan Black for Leather. Shellac, 1 ounce; wood naphtha, 4 ounces ; lampblack to color; dissolve.