2837. To Dye Veneers

2837.    To Dye Veneers. Some manufacturers of Germany, who had been supplied from Paris with veneers, colored throughout their mass, were necessitated by the late war to produce them themselves. Mr. Pus-cher states that experiments made in this direction gave in the beginning colors fixed only on the outside, while the inside was untouched, until the veneers were soaked for 24 hours in a solution of caustic soda containing 10 per cent, of soda, and boiled therein for 1/2 hour; after washing them with sufficient water to remove the alkali, they may be dyed throughout their mass. This treatment with soda effects a general disintegration of the wood, whereby it becomes, in the moist state, elastic and leather-like, and ready to absorb the color; it must then, after dyeing, be dried between sheets of paper and subjected to pressure to retain its shape.

2838. To Dye Veneers Black

2838.    To Dye Veneers Black. Veneers treated as in last receipt and left for 24 hours in a hot decoction of logwood (1 part logwood to 3 water), removing them after I the lapse of that time, and, after drying them superficially, putting them into a hot solution of copperas (1 part copperas to 30 water), will, alter 24 hours, become beautifully and completely dyed black.

2839. To Dye Veneers Yellow

2839.    To Dye Veneers Yellow. A solution of 1 part picric acid in 60 water, with the addition of so much ammonia as to become perceptible to the smell, dyes veneers yellow, which color is not in the least affected by subsequent varnishing. Before dyeing, the veneers require the preparatory treatment given in No. 2837.

2840. To Dye Veneers Rose-Color

2840.     To Dye Veneers Rose-Color. Coralline dissolved in hot water, to which a little caustic soda and one-fifth of its volume of soluble glass has been added, produces rose-colors of different shades, dependent on the amount of coralline taken. (See No. 2837 (To Dye Veneers).)

2841. To Dye Veneers Silver-Gray

2841.    To Dye Veneers Silver-Gray. The only color which veneers will take up, without previous treatment of soda, is silver-gray, produced by soaking them for a day in a solution of 1 part copperas to 100 parts water.