Dyeing wood is mostly applied for giving color to veneers, while staining is more generally had recourse to, to give the desired color to an article after it has been manufactured. In the one case, the color should penetrate throughout, while in the latter the surface is all that is essential. After the veneers are cut, they should be allowed to lie in a trough of water for 4 or 5 days before being put into tho copper; as the water brings out abundance of slimy matter, which, if not thus removed, would prevent the wood taking a good color. After this purifying process, the veneers should bo dried in the open air for at least 12 hours. They are then ready for the copper. By this simple method, the color will strike much quicker, and be of a brighter hue. It would also add to the quality of the colors, if, after the veneers have boiled a few hours, they are taken out, dried in the air, and again immersed in the coloring copper. Always dry veneers in the open air, for fire invariably injures the colors. (See Nos. 2837 (To Dye Veneers), etc.)

2825. Fine Black Dye for Wood

2825.    Fine Black Dye for Wood. Put 6 pounds chip logwood into the copper, with as many veneers as it will conveniently hold, without pressing too tight; fill it with water, and let it boil slowly for about 3 hours; then add 1/2 pound powdered verdigris, 1/2 pound copperas, and 4 ounces bruised nut-galls; fill the copper up with vinegar as the water evaporates; let it boil gently 2 hours each day till the wood is dyed through.

2826. Fine Yellow Dye for Wood

2826.     Fine Yellow Dye for Wood. Reduce 4 pounds of barberry root by sawing, to dust, which put in a copper or brass trough; add 4 ounces turmeric and 4 gallons water, then put in as many white holly veneers as the liquor will cover; boil them together for 3 hours, often turning them; when cool, add 2 ounces aquafortis, and the dye will strike through much sooner.

2827. Bright Yellow Dye for Wood

2827.     Bright Yellow Dye for Wood. To every gallon of water necessary to cover the veneers, add 1 pound French berries; boil the veneers till the color has penetrated through; add some brightening liquid (see next receipt) to the infusion of the French berries, and let the veneers remain for 2 or 3 hours, and the color will be very bright.

2828. Liquid For Brightening and Setting Colors

2828.     Liquid For Brightening and Setting Colors. To every pint of strong aquafortis, add 1 ounce grain tin, and a piece of sal-ammoniac the size of a walnut; set it by to dissolve, shake the bottle round with the cork out, from time to time : in the course of 2 or 3 days it will be fit for use. This will be found an admirable liquid to add to any color, as it not only brightens it, but renders it less likely to fade from exposure to the air.

2829. Fine Blue Dye for Wood

2829.    Fine Blue Dye for Wood. Into a clean glass bottle put 1 pound oil of vitriol, and 4 ounces best indigo pounded in a mortar (take care to set the bottle in a basin or earthen glazed pan, as it will effervesce), put the veneers into a copper or stone trougli; fill it rather more than 1/3 with water, and add as much of the vitriol and indigo (stirring it about) as will make a fine blue, which you may know by trying it with a piece of white paper or wood; let the veneers remain till the dye has struck through. The color will be much improved if the solution of indigo in vitriol be kept a few weeks before using it. The color will also strike better if the veneers be boiled in plain water till completely soaked through, and left for a few hours to dry partially, previous to immersing them in the dye.