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PAINTERS' COLOURS, OILS, AND VARNISHES
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FOURTH EDITION, Revised and Enlarged.
'A
ferjdoft\ChAs Griffin ■avi.C°M
All Rights Reserved.
19 13.
l^r-4;
The Manual now laid before the public has been made possible by the sifting and arrangement of many years' notes of all that has appeared worthy of record, in processes, combinations, and practices connected with the trade coming under my notice during practical work. For the past twelve years I have tested all recipes and methods in a room set apart for the purpose, with the ultimate object of collating- them in a form for publication. The need of a comprehensive manual for technological classes in house painting and decorating has provided the opportunity for carrying out my intention, and I now, for the first time, issue the whole in a concise and orderly form for refer- ence.
The chapters follow the sequence, and cover the ground adopted by me in lectures given to the students at the Manchester Technical School for House painting and Decorating ; and, feeling that the possession of a very advanced education should not be necessary to the under- standing of such a work, I have endeavoured to convey the
VI PREFACE.
matter in as simple and direct a form as is consistent with the subjects treated of.
The scope of the volume being limited to elementary facts, the underlying chemical and scientific reasons for methods and processes have only been dealt with where they immediately concern the working painter and decor- ator. Colour and ornament have been lightly touched upon in a practical and popular manner where unavoid- ably intermixed with the practice of the craft, but the principles laid down are based upon a wide experience.
For additional information upon materials, I refer the student to Hurst's Painters Colours, Oils, and Varnishes. Graining, sign writing, marbling, and paperhanging have only been touched upon in so far as principles are con cerned ; the space at disposal preventing a more length} treatment. I have felt it necessary to devote more space to such subjects as have hitherto been but superficially handled — e.g., plain painting, colour mixing, distemper- ing, and the technique of decorating.
I have written as a painter to painters, and if the infor- mation is sometimes dogmatic in form, I believe it to be reliable in substance. I shall be at all times pleased to receive additional facts, corrections, or notes for the benefit of future editions.
The illustrations, initials, and head and tail pieces are intended, not as ideal designs, but as explanatory of the text and of the application of the principles advocated in the book, for which purpose they have been specially drawn.
PREFACE. VU
I am indebted to Messrs. Hamilton & Co. for illustra- tions of brushes and samples, and to Messrs. Mander Bros., Messrs. Harland & Co., Messrs. Reeves & Sons, Messrs. Lewis Berger & Sons, Messrs. Wilkinson, He}? wood & Clark, The Silicate Paint Company, and many others for assist- ance, both directly and indirectly — most of the materials recently used for testing and experiment having been presented by these firms to the technical class which
I conduct.
WALTER JOHN PEARCE,
PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION.
The present edition of this book will b.e found to contain much new mutter and mention of many new materials and processes.
An exhaustive correspondence with manufacturers and care- fully conducted experimental tests have enabled me to sift and reduce the new matter to the smallest and most readily accessible proportions.
I take this opportunity of thanking many of the foremost firms for keeping me supplied with samples of their latest productions, which are at all times welcomed. It is not possible to speak authoritatively upon paints and varnishes without ample opportunity of keeping them uuder lengthened obser- vation and putting them to practical tests of long duration, which, in the interests of the students for whom this book is primarily intended, I am always ready to do. Many materials are not dealt with at length because no such opportunity has been afforded.
The increasing use of zinc whites and the vast improvement in their composition has led to the re-writing of parts of the work. It must be pointed out, however, that there are still many places in which the words " white lead " have been used to indicate the general white base of paint in cases where a reliable zinc white may be understood to be equally ajjplicable.
WALTER J. PEARCE.
llESTHAVEN, 29 LANSDOWNE K.0AD,
West Didsbuuy, Lancs.
GENERAL CONTENTS.
PAGES
INTRODUCTION, ... 1-4
CHAPTER I.
ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF HOUSE PAINTING.
The Principal Reasons for Painting— General— Special — Practical — Application— Economy in Working — Cleanliness in Work- ing—Trade and Health — Causes of Bad Health among Painters — Clients' Requirements, , 5-12
CHAPTER II.
WORKSHOP AND STORES.
Efficient Premises a Necessity — The Paint Shop — Position — Lighting — Must be Dry — Water — Heating Arrangements — Ceiling — Colouring — Fittings and Furniture — Colours, Driers, Oils, &c, required on Paint Bench— Drawers to Paint Bench for Tools— Palette Knives for Paint Stone — To Clean Paint Stone — Brush Trays — Brush Washer or Smutch-Can — Zinc Covering for Paint Bench — Ready-made Colours — Large Kegs — Drawers for Powder Colours — Weighing Machine and Scales — Rough Day-Book — Oil Tanks — Whiting and Plastei Bins — "Pickle" Cask — Smudge Keg — Flour Barrel — Shelves — Cupboard — Pigeon Holes — Paint Mill— The Paint- ing-Room— Wall for Large Cartoons, &c. — Benches and
CONTENTS.
PAGES
Drawers— Reference Books — Gas — Portable Benches — Paint Stone Muller and Knives — Sign- Writers' Easels — Entrance Ways — Shelves — H eating — Stores — Fittings — Use — Return of Empty Packages— Storing of Parts of Cases — Putting up Material for a Job— Despatch of Material for a Job — Manage- ment of Paint Shop— Waste— Returned Residuum Paint- Fat Colour and Smudge— Salvage of Fat Colour and Smudge — Thinnings for bmudge— Prevention of Skinning and Har- dening of Stock Colours — White Lead — Conservation of Tube Colours — Stock Articles Enumerated — Purchase of Stock, . 13-30
CHAPTER III.
PLANT AND APPLIANCES.
Ladders — Selection — Mode of Using — Ladder Brackets — Scaffold Poles — Planks — Scaffold Construction — Trestles — Steps — Cords— Window Brackets — Cradles — Pulley Blocks — Paste Boards — Paint Bench Trestles — Dust Sheets— To Protect Stone Floors, Tiles, &c— Testing Scaffolding— Marking and Repainting Plant — Cartage — Storage of Scaffolding— Iron Rods and Tube for Scaffolding — Small Articles — Buckets — Cans or Kettles — Pots or Pans — Small Pots, &c. — Stock Drums or Kegs — Mixing Boards — Burning-off Lamps — Char- coal Burners — Strainers— Plant Book — Rough Entry or Day Book for Paint Shop— Quantity of Plant required on Jobs, . 3148
CHAPTER IV.
OF BRUSHES, TOOLS, &c.
PAINTING BRUSHES.
Hog-hair — Various Hair used in Brushes — Foreign Brushes — French Brushes — Methods of Fixing Hair — Selection — Test of Good Brushes — Distemper Brushes — The Best Distemper Brushes— Sizes — Wash-off, Caustic, and Lime-white Brushes — Painters' Dusters — Paint or Ground Brushes — Patent Ready-made Brush Bridles — How to Bridle a Brush — Varnish Brushes— Sash Tools — Stipplers — Paperhangers' Brushes —
CONTENTS.
Fitches — Softeners— Stencil Tools— Sable Writers— Brushes Found by the Employer — The Purchase of Brushes — True Economy in Brush Buying — Storage of Brushes, , . . 49-69
CHAPTER V.
MATERIALS.
Pigments — White Lead — Tests — Zinc White — Other White — Ochres — Umbers — Browns — Chromes— Dutch Pink — Artists' Yellows — Reds — Blues — Smalts — Greens — Blacks — Consis- tency of Colours Ground in Oil - Commixture of Pigments — Derivation of Pigments — Adulterations of Pigments— Test for Staining Power in Pigments — Twelve Colours for Oil Colour Box— Whiting — Coach Painters' Colours— Ready Mixed Pig- ments—Driers — Drying Agents for Paint — Liquid Driers and Terebine — Powder Driers — French Powder Driers — Painters' Oils — Turpentine — Linseed Oil — Size — Glue — Mediums and Binders — Washable Distempers — Plasters and Stoppings— Glass Paper and Smoothing Materials — Import- ance of Good Pigments— Comparative Prices of Materials, . 70-92
CHAPTER VI.
PAPER AND OTHER HANGINGS.
WALL HANGINGS.
Wall Papers — Qualities — Varieties — Dimensions — Comparison between Wall Paper and Painting — Selection of Wall Papers — Hints on Choice of Wall Papers for Special Purposes — Relievo Wall Hangings— Liner usta Walton — Fibrous Plaster — Sheet Metal Friezes — Jute Canvas for Wall Hangings, . 93-100
CHAPTER VII.
HANGING PAPER.
Tools — Preparation of Walls— Measuring for Papers — Paste — Edging Papers — Hanging — Pasting — Matching — Lining
CONTENTS.
Papers — Papering Ceilings — Lining Cracked Ceilings — Panel- ling and Borders — Removal of Fittings — Hanging Relief Materials— Glue Paste— Paste for Anaglypta, . . . 1U1-114
CHAPTK R VIII.
COLOUR MIXING.
Mixing Clairecolle — Mixing Distemper — Mixing Paint- — Effects of Oils and Turps in Mixing Paint — Drying Action of Paints — Action of Raw Oil versus Boiled Oil — Protective Agency in Paint — General Hints on Paint Mixing — Colours Recom- mended for Tinting and Staining Paints — ■ Opaque and Transparent Pigments — Matching Colour in Paint — Important Rules for Matching Colours — Mixed Tints and Colours — Quantity of Paint to Cover given Area — Stopping — Complete List of Distemper Stainers — Media for Decorative Painting in Distemper, • 115-133
CHAPTER IX.
DISTEMPERING.
DESCRIPTION AND APPLICATION OP DISTEMPER.
Advantages— Objections — Mixing Distemper— Surfaces for Dis- temper— Colour Limit of Distemper — Durability of Distemper — Cleaning Distemper Work— Whitening Ceilings and Walls — Washing off Old Distemper — Stippling Distemper — American Distemper — Painting Plaster prior to Distempering -Damp Walls— Duresco and Distemper, 134-144
CHAPTER X.
ON PLAIN PAINTING.
Definition — Object— Qualifications of Paint— Painting on New Plaster — First Coat on New Plaster — Second Coat— Third Coat — Flatting— Painting on Stucco and Cement Walls —
CONTENTS.
Painting on Stone — Re-painting Painted Walls— Painting New Wood-work — Stopping — Filling up — Re-painting Old Wood-work — Burning off Old Paint — General Hints on Painting Wood-work — General Notes on Painting — Spreading and Consistency of Paint— Sequence of Coats in Painting — Knotting on Work Prior to Painting — Sizing on Painted Work — Technical Terms Descriptive ot Paint — Washing Down Prior to Re-painting — Knots — Rubbing Down— Tar Spots— Painting Round Edges — -Dusting — Fat Edges — Hints on Flatting — Faults in Painting — Cracking — Blistering — Cissing — Striking or Flashing — Ropiness — Ladders — Grinning Through in Painting— Drying of Paint — Time for Outside Painting — Effects of Undercoats in Finish — Re-touching — Rubbing Down — Priming — Painting Signs, &c. — Painting Metal-work — ■ Re-painting Old Iron-work — Painting Hot Pipes and Boilers, &c. — Painting Rough Wood-work— Quick Paints — Painting Canvas — Acid Resisting and Insulating Paints — Fire-proof Paints — Luminous Paints,
145-172
CHAPTER .XL
STAINING.
Woods for • Staining — The Artistic Limitation of Staining — Classes of Staining— Water Staining— Chemical Staining — Water Coating — Oil Staining — Varnish Staining — Spirit Staining — Improving — Natural Graining — Comparative Utility of Stains — Application of Stains -List of Colours for Water — Coating Wood — List of Deepening Stains — Ornamental Staining, ........
173-182
CHAPTER XII.
VARNISH AND VARNISHING.
Varnish — Classes of Varnish — Oil Varnishes — Spirit Varnishes —
Elastic and Hard Varnishes — Successive Coats of Varnish
Applying Varnish — Principal Varnishes in Use — Straining
CONTENTS.
PAGES Varnishes — Hints on Varnishing— Surfaces for Varnishing — Felting Down Varnish — Polishing Varnished Work — Faults in Varnishing — Pinholing and Cissing — Pock Marks or Pitting — Grittiness — Specks — ('racking — Wrinkles — The Use of Enamels — Lacquers — Testing Varnishes — White Polished Enamel, . 183 195
CHAPTER XIII.
IMITATIVE PAINTING.
What is Graining? — Limitations to Graining, &c. — The Condemna- tion of Graining — The Intentions of the Grainer — What to Imitate in Graining — Positions Suitable for Graining — Limits to Imitation — Varied Methods of Graining, .... 196-201
CHAPTER XIV.
GRAINING.
Graining Oak — Pollard Oak- Mahogany — Walnut -Pitch Pine — Rosewood — Maple — Satin Wood — Ash — Fancy Woods- General Hints, . '202-211
CHAPTER XV.
MARBLING.
White Marble — Sienna Marble — Italian Pink Marble— Black and Gold Marble — Grey Marbles — Red Marbles — Green Marbles — Lapis Lazuli — Graniting — Devonshire Marble — Alabaster— St. Anne's Marble 212-215
CONTENTS. XV
CHAPTER XVI.
GILDING. PAGEa
Methods of Gilding — Old Gold Size — Japanners' Gold Size — Water Gold Sizes — Burnish Gold Size — Matt Gold Size — Isinglass Gold Size — Clear Size for Gold — Tools for Laying Gold — Laying Gold Leaf— To Prevent Gold Sticking to Ground — Burnish and Matt Gilding — Glass Gilding — Platinum and Silver Laying and Metalling — Bronzes — Lacquer for Metals — Preparing Open Grain Wood and Stone for Gilding, . . 216-228
CHAPTER XVII.
LETTERING AND SIGN- WRITING.
Shaded Lettering — Illegible Type in Lettering — Books on Letter- ing— Forms of Letters Changed by Environment — Rules for Construction of Letters — Lettering and Methods of Work — Colouring of Lettering— Enrichment and Prominence of Letters — Setting and Sign- Writing — Pounces — Painting Letters— Hints on Using Sable Pencils — Writing on Silk — Glass Embossing — Etching Glass — General Notes on Sign- Writing, 229-245
CHAPTER XVIII.
DECORATION— GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
Importance of Colour — Position of Ornament — Scale in Ornament — The Consideration of a Decorative Scheme — Laws in Decoration and Ornament, 246-259
CHAPTER XIX.
DECORATION IN DISTEMPER.
Qualities in Distemper for Decoration— Sketch Designs — Setting
Out Ornament — Stencils and Stencilling — Distemper Painting, 260-270
CHAPTER XX.
PAINTED DECORATION.
Comparison with Distemper — Stencilling in Paint — Hand- painted Ornament — Contrast of Gloss and Flatting, . . 271-276
SV1 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXI.
RELIEVO DECORATION.
r-Aor.g Relief Materials— Gesso aud its Treatment— Decoration of Relievo
Materials generally — Sgraffito 277-282
CHAPTER XXII.
COLOUR.
Colour in Historic Ornament — Theory of Colour — The Chromatic Circle — Classes of Colour Combination — Colour Values and Qualities — Requirements for the Study of Colour — How to decide a Colour Scheme— Useful Rules for the Colourist — Colour Combinations for Decorators — Effects of Artificial Light on Colour, '283--29(3
CHAPTER XXIII.
MEASURING AND ESTIMATING.
Methods of Measuring Work— Estimating ..... 297-209
CHAPTER XXIV.
COACH PAINTING.
Differences between House and Coach Painters' Work — Preparation for Coach Painting— Filling up — Finishing— Varnishing— Lining and Decorating — Ship Painting, 300-305
CHAPTER XXV. PAINTERS" TECHNICAL CLASSES, . . 306-309
Index 311
LIST OF PLATES.
PLATES IN COLOURS.
Plate T. Polychromatic Colour Scheme, ,, II. Complementary ,, ,,
,, III. Monochromatic ,, ,,
,, IV. Analogous ,, ,,
. Frontispiece
facing page 56
140
244
Plate 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
0.
7.
8.
9. 10. 10a 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
PLATES IN BLACK AND WHITE.
Decorative panels designed for conventional colouring, .......
Decoration of house front above shop,
Panels designed for naturalistic colour treatment,
,, ,, flat naturalistic colouring, .
,, ,, flat polychromatic colouring,
Selection of contrast in paperhangings, Contrasting arrangement of paperhangings, „ Diagram showing drop pattern, .... Panel designed for semi-natural colouring, . Panels suited to stained wood decoration, . Combined wall paper, ..... Panels designed for monochrome painting, . Simple stencils, illustrating importance of contrast, Design complete in itself at all distances from the eye, Outline patterns for staining upon wood, . Naturalistic patterns for staining in flat colourings. Simple borders for practising brush work
Original treatment of plain alphabet, Lower case letters for same, Original alphabet, modern, . ,, Gothic, .
Letters for glass embossing, Degrees of conventionality in floral designs Influence of pattern upon colour effects, Constructive decoration in application, Borders for one colour stencilling, Natural ties in stencil work, Stencil friezes for blended stencilling, Friezes for polychromatic colouring, . Patterns stencilled over joints of wall pape
facing page 6 10 12 16 26 32 48 64 78 86
120 136 154
160 162 170 188 204 206 220 236 252 25S 26S 284 294 296 300 302 304
T757£l=^ [ practical operations involved in painting and /^"j-ffr^ decorating must be based upon sound theoreti- ^||jj cal knowledge, otherwise they are invariably
unsuccessful. Sound theories, in their turn, must have a basis of definite and clearly understood facts. Hence, the student, when he has acquired theoretical knowledge, must further culti- vate the ability to correctly appreciate the postulates, or existing facts and conditions of each particular field of operation, in order to attain practical success. In other words, like the surgeon, lie must first diagnose his case, then apply his theoretical know- ledge to it, and finally, operate. In no other realm of mechanical labour is this method more obviously necessary than in painting, because in no other class of work are there more ever- varying conditions. Each particular class of work has its own requirements and sur- roundings, and, beyond this, each individual case will vary materially from the same kind of case elsewhere.
One of the main factors in the decadence of good craftsmanship in the trade has been the lack of this perception of what is re- quisite, and the adoption of a striving for superficial and often unnatural effect, embodied under the phrase " what looks well." The wholesale provision of manufactured decorations, designed and coloured for anywhere in general and nowhere in particular, has fostered this spirit of iazy acceptance, and dwarfed the faculty of critical perception of what is suitable for given positions and uses. Exquisite and well designed as ai*e the decorations supplied by many art manufacturers, even work admitting of so much indi- viduality as do many of the stencilled friezes^ becomes hackneyed by repetition. Such decorations as these are frequently out
2 TAINTING AND DECORATING.
of character and out of harmony with the surroundings in which they are placed. The insinuating charm of work possessing in some part individual hand labour makes this class of decoration a dangerous obstruction to improvement in the quality of work designed and executed in situ. It is not enough that the general style and scale of a frieze or a ceiling shall accord with its associated decoration, but the repeats, the angles, and the whole setting out of the ornament ought to be determined upon the spot.
The habit of working to a ready-made specification, drawn up by persons devoid of a knowledge of the chemical and technical aspects of the craft, has also done much to discourage the practical interest of the craftsman in his operations. This has removed from him any responsibility for technical failures, and set up that de- structive standard of comparison, cheapness, which is another foe to thoroughness and good workmanship. Nothing, on the other hand, is more helpful than an intelligently drawn specification from a man who understands the capabilities and peculiarities of the materials and the craft. Such a specification, in the hands of one who can detect any attempts to go behind it, is in every way conducive to the elevation of the trade.
In order to arrive at a correct appreciation of the position, and to use theoretical knowledge to the best advantage, the question that first demands settlement is the all-important and common- place one — What is the precise object to be attained in the case to be dealt with 1 Success, as has been pointed out, depends upon the shrewdness with which we completely survey the position and sum up the postulates. A man may be a very dictionary of recipes and processes, but unless he commences in this way he will certainly fail as a decorator. The principle which in criticism will be applied to all our work is the question — Does it fulfil its primary object? If it fails in this it fails in every- thing, for no amount of technique or elaboration or costly material will compensate for the lack of fitness for purpose.
First, then, what is the end generally to be attained?
A compliance with the hard matter of fact laws of utility is inseparable from good taste and sound craftsmanship. Beauty is so inextricably bound up with fitness, especially in relation to arrangements of form and colour, that we may almost assent to the proposition that in this connection abstract beauty cannot be considered to exist at all. The "beautiful " is determined by more or less fixed rules based upon fitness ; it admits of no excess and no deficit. It must comprehend due proportion and purposeful distribution of parts. Incongruity of association must be absent, the sensation it should give is one of satisfied
INTRODUCTION. 6
complacency and sufficiency and of precise suitability. A feel- ing of extravagance, superabundance, redundancy, or waste destroys this impression. It cannot certainly exist conjointly with any lack of fitness either in material, form, or colour.
In the division of mechanical work the same rules apply. The excellence of work is in a large measure dependent on its efficiency in fulfilling the purpose for which it was executed. What would be an excellent tinish for one class of work would show bad judgment and ignorance if used for some other position. Utilitarian considerations are of relatively greater weight with the average Briton than purely jesthetic considerations, and whilst the endeavour of the decorative house painter should always be to cultivate and forward the aesthetic side of his craft, if he can show that the two considerations are really inseparable, he will go far toward persuading the householder to be less chary of spending his money for the purpose of making his home and surroundings well-preserved, tasteful, cleanly, beautiful, and refined.
The question of colour deserves far more consideration than the average house painter gives to it. When we consider thoughtfully the very large quantity of external painting that is done yearly, and the lamentably tawdry, muddy, or dirty results, and contrast these with what might be done by the same amount of labour and material in the hands of a good colourist working in accord svith a common well-defined scheme, we are astounded at the supineness of those in authority, whose tas:es are supposed to be cultivated. We almost pine for compul- sory legislation on the subject. Take, for instance, the west-end of London, where acres, yea miles, of frontage are painted annually, and practically the whole triennially. Just imagine a standard three or four colours made compulsory for outdoor work for a pei'iod of five years, and what a different scene the place would present! Our cities, instead of reflecting the dirt and smoke in the colouring of the walls and roofs, might be cheery and even elevating to the senses.
Is there some weighty element that makes for the universal sadness and badness? We believe there is, and that it is in great measure due to a total misconception. Ninety per cent, of persons appear to think that the one desideratum in a paint is that it " wont show the dirt." This is quite desirable, but when the desideratum is obtained by using " dirt colour," it evidences a lack of thought and a failure to appreciate the value of colour. In however dirty an atmosphere they may be placed, clean looking tints will look cleaner than the dirty sombre ones ;
* PAINTIN'O AND DECORATING.
and under the ordinary deposits of soot and dust, bright colours will have a generally cleaner and brighter appearance than -.■.leys and drabs. Yellows, blues, and reds, when bright in hue, will actually be improved and toned by the acccumulation of a normal quantity of dust. These facts should be borne in mind, ami no opportunity allowed to pass unimproved when the surroundings of our life may be cheered and brightened by a little of one of God's best gifts to man, "colour."
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
CHAPTER I.
Wrffowz
vlfow&ffl/fffim
THE PRINCIPAL REASONS FOR PAINTING.
'OUSE PAINTING is undertaken for three principal reasons : — The first is for preservation. The second for cleanliness. The third for beauii/ication. General. — These three principal reasons are placed in the above order, because the quality of cleanliness is of greater importance to the community than that of beauty ; and further, be- cause the first necessity provides the reason for the very existence of the craft. In addition to these reasons, the fact is also apparent, that it is not possible to have complete and true beauty if the first two qualities are absent.
These three principal requirements may be termed the general reasons why house painting as a craft is a necessity of modern
0 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
life. They mu.st bo kept fully in view, and given due and relative prominence when determining what is to be done and how we will do it.
Health and art have been said to be twin sisters, and, in the old English sense, science meant knowing what to do, and art expressed the act of doing what science dictated as necessary ami right. Thus, health, science, and art are inseparably inter- mixed; each makes for each. It is the artistic surroundings that induce health ; it is health that produces the perfect man ; ami the perfect man physically is the perfect man aesthetically. The separation of art and work is quite a latter-day innovation, the two being really indissoluble. As has been pointed out, art means the act of doing work, provided the doing is scientific, right, and true.
Again, science is exactness, viz., truth; thus we see that truth must be in work to ennoble it into art; art work, therefore, is trice work. It is interesting to note how in old times this idea was firmly rooted in the mind of the people. In the Bible, as in many other old books, the idea of a connection between truth and beauty is constantly met with. Take the phrase " beauty ol holiness,"or wholeness — viz., freedom from moral imperfection or inaccuracy, and many other instances of similar kind ; every- where the relation between truth and beauty is insisted upon.
Special. — Next to these general reasons, there are more special and particular reasons which apply to each separate part of the work, and which will be found to vary with each particular set of circumstances surrounding the work.
These particular reasons are of no less importance, and must be looked for, discovered, and considered, if the craftsman desires to have the credit of being a sensible and successful workman.
For instance, there are the following : —
Some parts of the work will have much wear and tear ;
Others will have little or none.
Some will be exposed to the weather ;
Some will be in protected situations.
Some will be seen by daylight only ;
Some will be seen by gaslight ;
Some will be seen by both daylight and gaslight.
Some will need constant cleaning ;
Some will be out of reach and, therefore, difficult to clean.
Business premises must look smart and attractive.
Signboards must compel attention.
Some rooms must be quiet and unassertive.
Some work will be for places of amusement and gaiety ;
Some for places of gravity and seriousness.
In different business houses the class of goods shown must be cousidered.
«0 ^*|gg *if
-*>. _^. ^«». . i l.--<.>N. knSo >*>■*
Plate l.— DECORATIVE PANELS DESIGNED FOR CONVENTIONAL COLOURI To face p. 6.]
TPIE PRINCIPAL REASONS FOR PAINTING. 7
In public places the class of frequenters must be taken into account. Architectural features may need emphasizing ; Other features may require disguising.
Personal idiosyncrasies of clients need respecting, and a host of other special requirements need taking into account.
All these, it may be noted, are points altogether apart from workmanship or technique, and are often overlooked by good craftsmen, but no amount of good detail or workmanship is a substitute for the proper and due recognition of them. The failure to appreciate their importance will lead to error, miscon- ception, and dissatisfaction.
Practical Application. — As an illustration of the simplicity with which these considerations apply themselves in practice, it may be useful to glance rapidly through an ordinary dwelling- house which, we assume, has to be re-painted. It will then be seen that, though apparently it is a difficult matter to remember, and to apply so many principles to an ordinary job, the diffi- culties vanish on the approach and application of a little common- sense reasoning.
First, the outside of the house will be exposed to wet, heat, and frost. To meet these demands the work must be finished in hard, glossy colour with a good body ; each coat must be thoroughly dry before the next is applied. The colours chosen must be of a permanent character, those having the greatest weather-resisting properties being preferable. We must re- member that the destructive action of the elements will commence upon the surface. In the colouring, allowance must be made for the action of the weather, and also for the surrounding brick, tile, slate, or stone.
The Entrance Boor should be particularly well finished, as being the first thing that the visitor to the house sees and examines.
Upon entering the house, the remarks that apply to the entrance door will hold good in regard to the hall. Effort should be made here to convey an impi'ession of comfort, warmth, and homeliness. It should, moreover, be a reflex of the tastes and character of its owner. Any undue parade of gilding or expensive material will impart an unpleasant air of chilling grandeur and ostentation, which better befits a public building than a home. The display of wealth should be reserved for more pi-ivate apart- ments. The colouring of the hall should be low in tone and richly quiet in effect, suggesting comfort and even opulence, but forming a simple contrast to the entertaining and other rooms opening out of it. The finish of the work should be hard
8 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
and durable, with few ledges upon which dust can accumulate, as it will be less shut in than the rooms.
If there is a Vestibule before entering the hall proper, it may be safely treated in brighter colouring, as it "will be a mere passage-way, and a little extra brightness or even hardness will not offend the eye in passing by to the same extent that it would do in a room where we have to stay for a length of time. Here again, the colour should have a hard and durable surface, readily washable, as it will be more exposed to dirt than the hall.
In the Dining- Room, the surroundings may be so treated as tc be redolent of cheery comfort and prosperity. Full-toned, rich, juicy colouring and decided treatment will give the necessary effect (see coloured plate No. II.). As the time spent in the room is not of long continuance, we may indulge in fairly decided hues without fear of tiring the eyes. Again, as the room will be much used at night, we must make allowances in colouring which will be determined in character and extent by the kind of artificial light used, a subject which will have attention in a later chapter. The ornament, too, may b;? so selected as to be especially appropriate to the room ; not necessarily consisting of bunches of game and vegetables, but yet in harmony with the fact that the room is principally used for eating and drinking. A great charm in old work is the evidence of thought and meaning, without vulgar parade of facts, which results in appropriate symbolism only noticeable to the thoughtful and initiated.
Next we come to the Drawing-Room. Here we have quite a different key to work in — lightness, grace, cheerful brightness, and free play for fancy — a room used for work, music, dancing, leading, and other recreations, giving unlimited scope for the absence of conventionalism. It is par excellence the ladies' room, and in its decoration we may cultivate a certain femininity of style, without weakness, in pretty contrast to the more masculine treatment accorded to the dining-room. Here, too, we have less rough wear and tear than in any room in the house. The pre- sence of nic-nacs and bric-a-brac tends to more care in cleaning. We may, therefore, use our most delicate tints without fear of their being injured, and indulge in fine and beautiful surfaces. In this room the afternoon and evening are usually spent, and light colours will assist the light. They must also, of necessity, be used as a fitting background to delicately tinted evening dresses, and as a fo'I to the complexions of the ladies ; hence we carefully avoid hot colours as salmon or terracotta, and prefer soft greens, greys, or delicately broken yellows.
THE PRINCIPAL REASONS FOR PAINTING. »
The Breakfast or Morning-Boom next compels attention. Cheer- ful hues should here aid in raising the spirits and setting the keynote for the day. Neither too heavy nor too light, the colour and ornament should be healthily contrasted, suggestive of life and motion. All effects of colour conducive to somnolence should be avoided. If a foliage paper is introduced, let it represent a vigorous, upward, spring-like growth and freshness; and avoid autumn leaves and winter stems, drooping, heavy- scented flowers, and drowsy colouring. We are hardly as con- scious as we should be of the powerful influences of little things in our surroundings. The eye, more than any other sense, cjnveys its impressions with electric force and rapidity, and with a certainty of result which we are slow to trace to its real causes.
The Library and Study will each in its turn suggest thoughtful and sober treatment. Here we may use tertiary colouring and forms without a disturbing or startling element. The decoration should not court attention, but it should be so studied in form and meaning as to lead the mind back by suggestion to books. Quotations and mottoes will not be out of place, especially if they embody the ideas and principles of the master of the house.
General quotations that apply anywhere are not to be recom- mended, nor is it good taste to exhibit moral injunctions in the guise of quotations, unless in nurseries, schoolrooms, or children's rooms. The colouring should not be heavy and depressing, but of a medium depth.
Next in reference to these rooms generally, one may be very lofty and another too low; they may be badly lighted, or too gaunt and cheerless by reason of large windows. All these, and similar faults, must be, to the best of the decorator's power, corrected and improved by his colouring and treatment.
The Bedrooms will also engage, the same kind of attention. Their treatment must be cleanly, airy, and cheerful, not too insistent, and forming a good contrast to the staircase and landings. Purity of tint and freshness of colour will attain this end. The free ventilation must not be interfered with by cooping up windows. The surface of the walls must not be too absorbent. The size and paste used should be deodorised and sterilised by the addition of a little carbolic a;id, essence of cloves, or some other similar purifier. All traces of minute fungus growths must be removed by thoroughly washing the walls. Musty and mouldy odours must be traced and their causes removed. In this connection it is well to remember that all
10 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
cupboards should be ventilated. Tlie painted work must be made easily washable, and all crevices likely to hold dust or to encourage moth or insect life should be scrupulously rilled up. Patterns of disturbing element and pronounced line, or of an angular tendency, should be discarded.
In the Children's Nursery or Bedrooms all these points need more emphatic attention, and especially the matters of colour and surface finish. A sanitary paper which can be sponged, or something equally durable and washable, should run up as high as the hands of the children can reach. Enamel or varnish finish is best for the wood-work. White or light wood-work that shows finger marks and dirt will have an educational value which will repay the trouble of occasionally sponging them off and lead to the use of handles and finger plates, besides having a cheerful and purifying effect on the senses. The presence of plenty of white surface in the nursery enables the eye to discern colour, improves the sight, temperament, and digestion, stimulates the exercise of the muscles, and materially improves the circulation of the blood and general health, especially if it be judiciously present in conjunction with pure tints and cheerful bits of good colouring. This fact has long been recognised on the Continent and applied to the manufacture of toys, and is being more and more acknowledged and acted upon by scientists and medical men. This subject will receive more attention in a later chapter.
Economy in Working. — The relation between real economy and fitly applied decoration has already been noticed in its bearing upon the client. It is equally important to note that economy of procedure has an important bearing on the workman, and is directly dependent upon the use of method, order, and clean- liness. This will be shown in detail as each part of the work involved is discussed, but the present place is most suitable for general remarks on this important aspect of house painting. Haphazard work — the taking of things as they come, and the absence of a specific order of procedure — is responsible for dis- satisfaction, loss of time, the breaking of engagements, and often bankruptcy ; but what more concerns us at present is that it is absolutely impossible to obtain good results in workmanship without attention to these points. The following short rules will, therefore, perhaps be found helpful : —
The best order in which to carry on the various parts of the work, so that each portion is prevented from exerting any damaging effect upon that which is previously finished, must be studied. The work must be so arranged that dust is absent
^^/^^^/^^^y^^^i^^^^^^^$^^^^
Plate 2. -DECORATION OF HOUSE-FRONT ABOVE SHOP. To face p. 10.]
THE PRINCIPAL REASONS FOR PAINTING. 11
when wet paint is about, that paint is dry when papering is being done, that floors are not wet when we are varnishing, and that many other similar contretemps are avoided. Rooms must be finished in such order that it is not necessary to carry on work in them, or traffic through them, after they are completed. The work should commence, in theory, at the farthest point from the front door, and be completed in due sequence, until the painter finds himself outside.
The external painting of windows, &c, should be done before the inside of the room is finished.
In painting a room the work that involves the use of steps, &,c, should be done first.
Cleanliness in Working, — Then comes the great question of cleanliness in working. All fittings should be carefully covered or removed before commencing work, and not after they are already soiled. There should be no unnecessary moisture put on the floors in stripping walls or washing down, even though apparently it can do no harm. Splashes and spots must be avoided, even though the floors at e covered up, and the hands and clothes kept religiously free from paint.
Trade and Health.— As an occupation, the painter's is one of the healthiest in the building trades, providing only that moderate cleanliness is observed in person and habits. It has been proved beyond doubt that the volatile products given off by oils, &c, used in painting are not only innocuous, but beneficial. That white lead in particles does not mingle with the air we breathe ; that the smell arising even from the use of arsenical colours is equally non-poisonous; and that the only possible methods of introducing painters' poisons into the system are through the pores of the skin by the totally unnecessary handling of the pigments, and through the mouth by eating food with painty hands, are all facts well known to scientists.
Causes of Bad Health among Painters. — There are a few prevalent favourite methods of useless " self-sacrifice " that may be here noted.
First, the use of tools and brushes with unclean handles, by which the paint on the handle is deliberately forced into the pores of the skin of fingers and hands. There is no excuse for this dirty, but common, practice. The handles should be scraped clean with a sharp bit of glass or a steel scraper, working from the bristles, and should then be coated with knotting.
Second, the filthy habit of putting the hands into colour when mixing, a habit as unnecessary and absurd as any in the trade, but clung to by ancient and thoughtless practitioners as a sort of fetish.
12 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Third, the use of the finger and thumb nails in lieu of a knife for scraping off spots of white lead and other matters, frequently followed by biting the nails.
Fourth, and perhaps most prolific of danger, the use of white lead putty, and stopping with the hands instead of with a knile and stopping board.
Fifth, the rubbing down of white lead filling in a dry con- dition, with consequent inhalation of dust.
Sixth, a general aversion to soap and water, and sometimes the substitution therefor of turps and oil, which serve the better to convey the poisonous particles into the perspiratory system.
These points will mostly come up for discussion later, but deserve a place at the front, hence their mention here.
Clients' Requirements. — In conclusion, it must not be supposed that the painter will always find it possible to give the rein even to his rightly-guided instinct in matters of taste and detail. Clients' requirements have to be studied, as well as the personal prejudices of the untrained.
The wise painter, therefore, has to find a via media betwixt what he believes to be the correct treatment and what his client requires, and will best consult his own interests and those of his client by bringing the one into harmony with the other — that is, by doing what his client actually requires in what he knows to be the best way, rather than by endeavouring to press his own views too persistently, always remembering that in matters of mere technique it is due to his self-respect to have his own way.
Plate 3.- PANELS DESIGNED FOR NATURALISTIC COLOUR TREATMENT. To face p. 12.]
13
CHAPTER II.
is necessary to deal briefly with the accommodation requisite for workshop and stores, and the manner of arranging and managing them to the best advan- tage.
The class of premises used, the par- ticular exigencies of town and country work and available space, and the various classes of business involved, all serve to make it impossible to admit of precise description ; but in so far as the practices recom- mended here will be based upon, and assume the | existence of efficient accommodation, it is perhaps as well to detail what may be regarded as quite necessary, and to indicate the more important desiderata in a well regulated establishment. Economy of Proper Storage Boom. — In the first place, it will be desirable to have two separate shops and an additional store room for materials; which will be called, respectively, the paint shop, the painting room, and the stores. A paved and covered yard or shed should be retained for the
14 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
plant and appliances, as it is important that ladders, poles, and planks should be kept dry. As indicating the importance of small matters of this kind, it can be shown that many tons a year are saved upon the cartage account of a large establishment by the use of a covered place for storage of planks and poles. On one occasion a large consignment of scaffolding was sent from London to a church in the country in a wet and sodden state. After standing in the dry for some weeks it was re-consigned to London, and the difference in cost for carriage was nearly two pounds sterling. In many such ways the adoption of careful, methodical, and orderly ways of managing a business conduces to the saving of money.
The Paint Shop. — The paint shop must be quite 24 feet long by 14 feet wide, and a room of this proportion will be found more convenient, if properly lighted, than a squarer form of shop.
Position. — It should be on the ground floor, for the con- venience of taking in heavy goods, and generally facilitating the removal of material in and out.
Lighting. — It must be well lighted; this is an absolute necessity, and may be regarded as of the very first importance. In the winter months, gas, or artific:al light of some kind, will be requisite. A T pendant in the centre, and a couple of side brackets will suffice, fitted with good incandescent burners. An ideal shop should have side lights all along the north side. Roof and sky lights are an abomination, as besides the danger of breakage by stones or hail, experience proves that wet and dust at times will come in, and that spiders and flies have a particular partiality for dropping from them. But more to the purpose, the direct skydight, changing as it does in character from hour to hour, is deceptive and difficult to work under if making and matching tints. It is too glaring and strong to be a comfortable working light. The north is the best side for lights if it can be so arranged ; and if these are set at a slight angle out of the perpendicular — viz., the lower portion of the sashes set out 4| to 6 inches further than the tops, the lighting can hardly be improved upon. The sashes can be hinged at the top, and open outwards for ventilat'on.
Must he Dry. — The shop must be a dry one, as many materials deteriorate if kept in a damp atmosphere.
Water. — A supply of water will be required, with sink and waste.
Heating Arrangements. — A gas stove or fireplace in a safe corner. A shut-in stove is safest, but the danger of fire, if
WORKSHOP AND STORES. 15
ordinary care is used, is more remote than at fir.st appears, as but few of the ordinary materials are inflammable without actual and purposeful ignition. The fireplace or gas stove will be required for heating water, size, glue, paste, &c, and should be large enough and strong enough to hold a glue kettle or a 3-gallon bucket.
Ceiling. — The ceiling, if there is a room above, must be dust- tight, and not mere open joists and ordinary floor-boards, or the dust will percolate through, and the colours will need continual straining.
Colouring. — It should be white in colour, to assist the light. The floor should be of stone or concrete. It is immaterial whether the walls be of feather-edge board or brick, so long as they are solid and dust-tight. They are whitened, as, though there will be little of them seen, it is as well to get all the additional light that can be reflected from them.
Fittings and Furniture. — The fittings necessary will be strong shelves, a cupboard or two, and strong benches.
First, a long bench under the windows, about 2 feet 8 inches high and 2^ feet wide, with stout supports, will be the mixing bench. It should be furnished with three paint stones. These may be slabs of Purbeck or other hard even-grained marble, or French burrstone, without flaws, about 2 feet square and l.j inches thick. One of the three may be smaller, and of white marble, for use for fine bits of colour. A cheaper substitute for a marble slab is a sheet of stout plate glass set in white lead to make it solid. To keep it in place, a fillet of wood luay be screwed to the bench on each side. This will also protect it from being chipped. Rough cast plate will do if levelled by rubbing with coarse emery and another piece of thick glass till an even surface is produced. The front edge of the stones should be set level with the edge of the bench. A muller will be required for each stone, as, although every colour can be purchased ready ground for use, the good workman will often prefer to grind his own in special mediums for special jobs, and is not always satisfied with the degree of fineness attained in the paint mill. It is also unneces- sary to keep such a comprehensive stock when the means for grinding up a bit of special colour are handy and familiar. Beneath each stone there should be a drawer for material for cleaning the bench. Cotton waste or odd rags are used for this purpose, but the most efficacious and most lasting material, one which never seems full of paint, and which does not ignite if heated by long confinement in the drawer, is a material known in the old-fashioned trade as " shreds." Whether commercial
16 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
and economical development has or has not driven it out of the market at a price within the painters' scope for such a purpose is uncertain, but of its absolute efficacy and cleanly application and power of absorption there is no doubt. It was obtained from curriers, and appeared to be the dressings or scrapings from the interior sides of the coarser hides. Cotton rags or waste, when saturated with oil, are a fruitful source of fires by spontaneous combustion, and should be shunned unless they can be cleared out periodically under skilled supervision.
Colours, Driers, Oils, &c, required on Paint Bench. — The space at the back of the stone will be the place for small kegs of tinting colours available for use wdien mixing. Ochres, Umbers, Sienna, Venetian and Indian reds, red lead, vegetable black, and Prussian blue should be kept there, within easy reach of the hand. Space between the stones at the back will accommodate patent driers and white lead, of which a small keg should lie specially set apart for the same purpose, as the frequent dipping of palette knives into the large casks is liable to soil the contents and disturb them unnecessarily. Upon the paint-mixing bench we shall also require small hand cans, spouted for pouring, to hold raw and boiled oil, terebine, turpentine, and a generally useful varnish for adding to colour. Plenty of room must be left between the paint stones for standing and straining the colours that are being made up.
Drawers to Paint Bench for Tools. — Narrow drawers between the paint-stone drawers will be useful to hold the mixing or palette knives, a piece or two of pumice stone for cleaning off any hard spots that dry upon the stone, and for occasionally cleaning down the stone thoroughly in addition to the general wiping down after use, a few clean rags, pieces of straining muslin of different degrees of fineness and string, also a hammer, tacks, a screw-driver, shears or large scissors, a cork screw, a» cask opener, a case opener, odd corks and bungs, taps for racking off the oil and turps, and many other odds and ends that experience will dictate.
Palette Knives for Paint Stone. — There should be a pair of palette knives to each stone, of from S to 12 inches long in the blades, for different quantities of colour.
To Clean Paint Stone. — A word may be interposed here on the method of cleaning down the slabs after use. Expert handling of the palette knives will leave the stone almost clean enough to dine from, but it may be stained by strong colours, as Prussian blue ; or varnish or turps colour may stick near the edges. To thoroughly clean, put a little whiting on the stone and rub it up
Plate 4.— PANELS DESIGNED FOR FLAT NATURALISTIC COLOURING. To face p. 16.]
WORKSHOP AND STORES.
17
in a little raw linseed oil, work it over the surface with the muller as if grinding colour ; collect and take it up with the knives, and put it into the keg reserved for odd bits of light colour. This will leave stone, knives, and muller all clean, and a wipe over with the " shreds," or a rag, or cotton waste does the rest.
Brush Trays. — On the bench near the stones a place must be set apart for the brushes. A tray of zinc, divided into sections by bars across the top, and large enough to hold the number of brushes generally in use, must be provided. It should be 5 inches deep, so that the brushes may be suspended in the water and not rest on the bottom. This is accomplished by boring holes through the handle or stock of the brushes or tools, and slipping a piece of steel wire through the hole, the ends of which will rest upon the divisions of the tray. The holes must be bored at a height which will permit the whole of the bristles to be in the water. A tinned tray or an iron one will rust and corrode. Zinc is the best material, as it can be easily scraped free from paint, and will withstand the action of water, turps, or oil. A smaller tray may be provided for brushes kept in oil.
In putting away the brushes, it is well to scrape as much paint as possible out of them and rinse them in turps, otherwise the water will cause the oil in the paint to congeal and become "furred" in the brushes.
Brush Washer or Smutch-can. — For the purpose of washing the brushes, smutch-cans or rinsers will be necessary. A double galvanised or tinned iron kettle made as in Fig. 1 will be a good form. The inner kettle has a bottom of perforated copper or copper gauze, the top edge is sufficiently sharp to scrape the edge of the brushes or to free them from excess of turps, and overhangs to prevent splashing. The perforated bottom allows all solid matter to pass through and settle, and prevents it from working up again. After scraping the brushes out on the stone, thoroughly rinse them in the turps in the smutch-can. It is
2
Fig. 1 . — Skeleton elevation of smutch-can. — A, Inner can. B, Outer can. C, Mouth of inner can. D, Sloping top of inner can to prevent splashing. E, Filter of perforated zinc to prevent thick turps working up from bottom. The turps will reach up to the dotted line F.
]8 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
a good plan to have oue for preliminary rinsing, and a second for cleaner turps. To thoroughly rinse, whirl the brush round in the turps, by spinning the handle between the palms of the hands. To free it from turps, do the same thing, but keep the brush higher so that it does not touch the turps. A further spinning in an empty can or keg will leave the brush almost dry, in which condition it is safe to put it into the water tray. Varnish brushes may be treated in a similar way before being stood in oil, but they will be fully dealt with under the heading of brushes.
Zinc Covering for Paint Bench. — The spaces between the paint stones, if covered with stout zinc, will be kept much cleaner, and scrape and clean down more readily than if left in the bare wood. Stout No. 11 gauge zinc will be suitable; allow the zinc to go under the stones, dress it square over the edge of the bench, and nail to the edge.
Ready-made Colours. — -All colours that it is possible to make up at the shop should be sent to the job ready for use, except thinning, but of course this only applies to jobs near the shop.
Large Kegs. — Under the paint bench, a suitable place may be found for large ke^s of coloui', casks of whitelead and driei's, barrels of ochre and Umber, &c, from which the smaller kegs on the paint bench are kept sujDplied.
Drawers for Powder Colours. — A nest of drawers will be found truly economical for powder colours. The drawei's should vary in size, and be easily pulled out; each drawer should have an all-round solid partition dividing it from the other drawers to prevent an inter-mixture of the colours. They may have lids, but this is not material if the drawers are self- contained. They should not be too large, as they can be replenished frequently from the stock in stores. The great advantage accruing from the use of drawers is, that the drawers can be taken across to the stone or bench, thus avoiding the carrying of dips of dry colour on the tip of the knife, and conse- quent waste. Where the dry colours are kept in bulk in casks, there is generally a series of coloured tracks on the floor between the casks and the paint stone. Another gain is the cleanliness and freedom from dust and grit in the colour. In sending dry colour to a job, on no account send it in paper packages. Tin canisters should be collected and set aside for the purpose.
Weighing Machine and Scales.— A weighing machine for heavy goods, and scales and weights for lighter packages, are necessary. These should not only be in the shop, but their use should be
WORK-SHOP AND STORES. 19
insisted on, and all goods coming in or going out should be weighed and entered.
Rough Day-book. — For this purpose a rough day-book should be placed on a small desk in close proximity to the scales, and near the door. This is not a manual on book-keeping, even for painters, but it may be noted with emphasis that the initial stage of book-keeping begins here. One book, always at hand, fixed (like a chained Bible) if desired, must contain a record of everything that goes in or out of the shop and stores. Material, tools, plant, or objects to be, or that have been, painted, must all be set down in the order they occur, with the date and name of destination or derivation. The sorting off of these various items is a matter for the clerks at a future stage.
Oil Tanks. — -In a place removed from the fire or stove, tanks are required for the oils — one for raw linseed, and one for boiled oil, and a couple for turps. It is generally the practice to buy two kinds of turpentine. One, the best Russian; and the other, American. Sometimes French is also stocked. These should not be mixed, as they have special qualities which, if kept separate, are valuable under different sets of circumstances. The tanks should hold about 120 gallons each or more. Square tanks take least room. Wood, zinc-lined, and with taps near bottom, or galvanised iron are the best. The advantages of large tanks are many. One is, that as the oil is generally new it becomes matured by being stored in bulk for a little time. Another, that by mixing the different consignments a more uniform quality is maintained ; and another, that, the contents of the barrels can be checked and examined when they are racked ; there is thus an avoidance of much waste.
Whiting and Plaster Bins. — A large box or bin for the whiting must be set in a dry corner, and smaller ones for the plaster and Parian cement, mastic, and sand, Portland cement, &c. These will occupy the further side of the shop. The centre part of the floor may be taken up by the barrels of dry tinting colours or other items of the kind.
"Pickle" Cask. — A place must be reserved for a cask of "pickle" in which to throw the pots and cans which require cleaning. This is made from potash, black ash, or caustic soda and water, and must be strong enough to remove the paint, but not so strong as to attack the metals of the cans as well as the paint in them. Zinc cans must not be put into this solution, or they will be dissolved. An old oil or turpentine cask may be cut down to serve the pui'pose of a "pickle tub."
Smudge Keg. — Two casks should be retained to hold oddments of paint smudge, and one to hold refuse and skins.
20
PAINTING AND DKCORATINO.
Flour Barrel. — A barrel to hold a sack of flour, with tight- fitting lid, may be stored in a dry corner.
Shelves. — Strong shelves will be necessary at the ends and back of the shop, sufficiently wide to hold paint cans, tins of varnish, paint in use, and other matters. The bottom shelf may be a foot wider than the others, so as to serve for packing upon. Never arrange hooks along edges of shelves. The practice results in waste of time in removing the arti^es hung upon them, prior to being able to take things from the shelf behind, or in knocking down the objects from the hooks in the endeavour to save the trouble of moving them. In reaching up to the shelves, there is also danger of the hooks catching in the sleeves. Do not have the shelves further apart than necessary for the goods intended to be stored on them.
Fig. 2. — Paint mill.
Cupboard. — A cupboard may be retained for the brushes not in use, and another for glasspaper, glue, concentrated size, special colours, &c.
Pigeon Holes. — A set of pigeon holes to hold artists' colours in large 1-lb. tubes (now so much sold for tinting purposes) will be requisite, if there is much good work done in the shop. Each hole should be plainly marked with the colour it contains.
Paint Mill. — A paint mill (Fig. 2) is desirable for grinding up rough colour, making hard stopping, and other like purposes.
WORKSHOP AND STORES. 21
A small sized one, to hold about 28 lbs. of white lead, will be sufficient. One constructed to grind on the cone principle, with a side handle, can be easily screwed to one end of the paint bench.
Other small conveniences will be mentioned under the various headings for which they are required, and need not be specially referred to here.
The Painting" Room. — The painting room will next be con- sidered. This apartment is required for the purpose of working in, as its name implies.
There are a large number of sina'd jobs which have to be done in the shop, such as the painting of signs, the writing of facia glasses and advertisement boards, the painting of fittings and fui'niture, gilding, and other matters of a similar kind. There are also many opei*ations which it would be better and more profitable to do in the shop, which are at present muddled through on the job for want of proper accommodation, such as the decoration of material, the preparation of drawing pounces and stencils, and priming of new work prior to fixing.
The size of the room should be larger than that of the paint shop and of a similar shape. It must be well lighted and, pre- ferably, in the same manner. A first-floor room above the paint shop and stores would present many advantages over a ground floor. The floor of the room should be of wood and the walls and ceiling whitened. The remarks made as to the character of the ceiling and the absence of sky-lights apply with no less force in the painting room than in the paint shop.
Wall for Large Cartoons, &c. — One wall that is well lighted will require to be boarded with close, flush-jointed boards of 1 inch in thickness, for the purpose of working painted canvasses, banners, cartoons, or large drawings upon, or for the tacking-up lengths of anaglypta or linoleum for decorating.
Benches and "Drawers. — Under the windows a fixed bench 01 convenient height may be placed, about 2 feet 8 inches high, running the length of the room. It may be supported upon pedestals of drawers for holding stencil plates and drawings, pounces and cartoons. These drawers should be 3 feet 6 inches long and the full depth of the bench from back to front, which should be not less than 30 inches. Shorter drawers may be arranged between these, allowing sufficient room for working at the bench upon stools with the knees under it. They will be required for a few materials, as gilding, writing, and stencilling tools and materials, gold leaf and metals, bronzes, special colours, gelatine, isinglass, cotton wool, and numerous articles of this kind.
22
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Reference Books. — A few books of reference and examples of lettering may be usefully kept in them.
A bar from pedestal to pedestal may be fixed as a foot-rest. Gas. — The gas brackets should be fitted to the window frames, and have universal swivel joints to bend in any di- rection. Shades made from tin, coloured white upon the inside and green upon the outside (with Duresco — not paint), will be required for writing and gilding in the winter evenings. The shades must be removable.
Portable Benches. — Other benches will be required, but it is convenient to have them portable, as at times the floor space will be required for furniture, or even for setting out upon. It
is specially useful for planning panelled ceilings, so as to arrive at the exact templates for stencils and pounces. The benches will, therefore, take the form of trestles and boards; 6 trestles of the form shown in Fig. 3 will suffice. A piece of 44-inch x 3-inch deal, 40 inches long, forms the top of each, and three supporting legs are halved into this, or, better still, dovetailed at such an angle that the legs stand 9 inches apart on the floor in the clear, two on the outside and one on the inside. The boards are tongued and grooved; inch yellow deal boards upon battens of the same thickness. They should be all about 40 inches wide, and differ in length from 15 feet to 5 feet. There may be four or five of them. The battens should be screwed on so that they can be easily taken off and re-clamped, as they shrink or twist.
Paint Stone Muller and Knives. — A small paint slab — say 18 inches — circular, will be handy, provided with a glass muller and a pair of 8-inch knives.
Sign-Writers' Easels. — For the convenience of sign- writing, one or two common easels will be necessary. For heavy signs, a good plan is to have a couple of primitive easels made as follows : — Two 9-feet lengths of 3 inches by 1£ inches are fastened together by battens nailed across at top and bottom, leaving them a clear space 1| feet across, and forming a rectangu-
Fig. 3. — Portable bench trestle.
AV0RKSH0P AND STORES. 23
lar frame. In the long sides of this frame, f-inch holes are bored for stout pegs of oak. These easels will lean against the walls at any angle, and will hold any shape or proportion of sign, as two or three of them can be used in conjunction. They are also handy for lengths of lincrusta, which may be tacked to the battens ; they are then easily stood in any position, and in front of each other without rubbing.
Entrance Ways. — The room must have a sufficiently large doorway to admit articles of furniture or large boards, and, if it be an upper floor, it is best to have an outside staircase with good large double doors at the top. If, on the other hand, a small staircase exists indoors, there may be an arrangement of casements, and a pulley block or crane above them, so that work may be taken in and out with as little danger of damage as possible.
Shelves. — A few shelves will be requisite, also a cupboard or two to keep colour clean and free from dust, when in use from day to day.
Heating. — A heating stove is necessai-y ; a close coke one will be found safest and most convenient.
StorGS. — The next room for consideration is the store room, or stores. It must be a dry room on the ground floor, in which a fairly equable temperature of about 60° can be maintained. If possible, it should adjoin the paint shop, so as to save time and labour in transferring goods from one to the other. But lit 'ile light is necessary ; indeed, for many materials, an excess of light is undesirable.
Fittings. — The whole four sides of the room may be shelved for .varnishes and japans, kegs of colour, and other items of stock. A few drawers are desirable for small articles, sash tools, stencil tools, sponges, leathers, &c. Brushes, dusters, limers, and distemper brushes should be hung from the ceiling in bunches of 3 dozens For this purpose, and to accommodate new cans or kettles and buckets, the whole of the ceiling may be fitted with rows of galvanised hooks, like those used by butchers and in larders.
The upper shelves should be kept for articles requiring a particularly di-y place. G-lasspaper, concentrated size, and glue will come under this denomination, as will dry colours, lacquers, and spirit varnishes, knotting, &c. Then below these will come the oil varnishes, japan, stainers, enamels, &c, and below these the oil colour's and colours ground in water, and heavier goods. On the floor, which should be of stone or concrete, we place the heaviest goods — casks of white lead, driers, Umber, and ojhre,
24 PAINTING AND OKCOtlATlNG.
barrels of oils and turps, firkins of powder colour, and kegs of Duresco, paint-remover, and other like matters.
Use. — The stores should be used for goods in unbroken packages only. Each particular article should be represented in the paint shop as well as in the stores. If this is done, the value of the stock can be much more readily ascertained. In the stores only whole packages are retained, rendering stocktaking easy.
The stock in use in the paint shop consists entirely of partly- used packages, which, it is safe to assume, are upon an average half full. As the assortment of goods in use in the paint shop will not materially vary, it can always be taken to be "as before," the real difference in value being in the actual stores.
Keturn of Empty Packages. — As each cask or package is emptied of its contents it must be headed and hooped up and set aside for sending back to the manufacturer, and as soon as a sufficient quantity is got together to make a consignment, they should be despatched. This should be done at least once a quarter.
Storing of Parts of Cases. — A bin under the paint shop bench can be reserved for lids, heads, and portions of packing-cases that have to be removed and ultimately returned, as, if the shop is kept properly clean and the goods are to be easily got at, these will not be required during the use of the contents, except in special cases where it is desirable to exclude the air from the contents.
Putting* up Material for a Job. — A word or two m^ fitly
be added here on sending material to a job. All jobs repeat themselves to a greater or less degree. A general list may, therefore, be made of the materials usually required, to be supplemented as occasion demands. It may be divided under the heads of outside painting, inside painting, paper-hanging, and distempering.
All the usual tinting colours should always be included, as it is not possible to know exactly what may be required. If the lists are printed ones, a large column may be left, for filling in the quantities of each article. In making out the list it will only be necessary to mark one or two articles, as the others will follow in proportion. Thus, the quantity of whitelead for an inside job will govern the quantity of staining colours, oil, driers, turps, terebine, putty, and glass paper, unless under the existence of special conditions.
In these special cases the list could be marked first for the normal and afterwards for the extra quantity of any given
WORKSHOP AND STOKES. 25
article. Thus, if the bulk of the painting were white and the job would take 2 cwts., the list would be marked for ^ cwt., which wo'dd carry the necessary amount of et ceteras, and in the extras column it would be again marked 1J cwts. whitelead extra, which would infer extra thinnings, but no extra stainers.
Or, again, a job requires extra quantities of Indian red and black, the whitelead entry would carry a certain amount of each as stainers and the extra column would ask for, say, 14 lbs. black extra and 28 lbs. Indian red extra, which would infer the extra oil necessary for them.
The great value of having a set form or general list is that, by this method, small items are not forgotten. Such items as varnishes, papers, &c, must, of course, be particularised.
Despatch of Material for a Job. — The storekeeper or paint shop clerk, who superintends the sending out of stuff, must keep a stock of necessaries ready to hand for prompt despatch. A supply of clean pots and cans should also be always in hand. Empty bottles and jars should be stored in an odd corner, and when returned dirty must be at once put into the pickle and allowed to clean themselves.
Management Of Paint Shop.— Before leaving the subject, it is as well to deal briefly with the economic side of the paint shop management.
Waste. — A considerable amount of waste is the unwitting result of ignorance and thoughtlessness, but the direct waste in this way is even less than the waste of labour and the unsatis- factory results of injudicious attempts at economy.
Returned Residuum Paint. — On every job, however well it may be regulated, there will be a certain amount of residuum. This does not always depend upon the skill with which the job is managed, but is frequently due to the character of the job in hand. The less varied the class of work in a given job, the more likelihood will there be of a large amount of waste colour. In a job of mixed character there will be plenty of opportunities for using up the odds and ends. An inside job of painting, if it be confined to the principal rooms, will of necessity result in this overplus, and unless it be intelligently dealt with on its return to the shop it will be wasted or worse than wasted.
Fat Colour and Smudge. — Paint, after being thinned for use with a proper quantity of driers and spirits, soon becomes partially oxidised, and, consequently, viscid and greasy. This is partially due to the exposure to the atmosphere, with the consequent loss of the more volatile portions of the oils and the rapid absorption of oxygen ; and partly to the chemical action
'2G TAINTING AND DECOliATING.
of the added driers, and sometimes of the pigments upon each other. This explains why paints sold prepared ready for im- mediate use seldom prove satisfactory, even it of tolerably good quality as far as the ingredients go. Such paint is technically known as "fat." Fat colour has thus lost some of its power of hardening, is bad in drying, and most readily softens under ordinary heat. In practice it will be difficult to spread, and, consequently, more turpentine is added, which, when evaporated, leaves behind it further resinous matter, so that the amount of gummy matter in the paint is more than necessary for the binding and cohesion of the pigment, and prevents it hardening off. Most of the returned colour that comes to the paint shop will be of this character, and the larger part of it will probably be colour that has been mixed with a large quantity of tur- pentine, which, when fat, is more unmanageable than fat oil colour.
It will be perceived from these remarks that "fat" colour in the condition in which it is returned is only available for the very roughest of outside work. Even when treated, it is not capable of so hardening as to make it a safe paint for work likely to be much handled, or for work which is situated in direct sunlight. It will not dry dead or flat.
Salvage of Fat Colour and Smudge. — The method recommended for putting it to the best use is to first throw it together in kegs kept for the purpose — one for light tints, one for medium tints, and one for dark shades. All blues should be kept to- gether separately, as the addition of blues will render the other warm tints useless. It must be allowed to settle, and a lid placed over it to retard "skinning." The tops may then be skimmed off and used for grinding up with common dry colours for outside painting, a little turpentine being added to free the "fat" oils.
The bottoms or settlings will be useful for priming, if thinned with turpenline, excepting for very good work or for first coating new plaster or stucco, painting rough unwrought timber, or rough brick walls, outside painting under eaves and outhouses, &c, always bearing in mind that it must be thinned with turpentine, as there is already a plethora of oils present.
Thinnings for Smudge.— For thinning all "fat" colour, the cheaper grades of turpentine and substitutes for the same are even better than the best commercial turps, because they volatilise more completely, and leave less resinous gum be- hind ; for new paints, however, they are useless, as the absence of this resin means absence of binding properties. In the fat
Plate 5.— PANELS DESIGNED FOR FLAT POLYCHROMATIC COLOURING. To face p. 26.]
WORKSHOP AND STORES. 27
colour there is already enough binding medium, and all that is required is a thinner, to enable the paint to be spread easily and evenly, which, after fulfilling this purpose, volatilises rapidly, leaving little or no residuum.
The same quality, or absence of quality, fits these commoner spirits, for the purpose of brush washing. They are more penetrating and solvent in their action than a good turpen- tine, and where turps is given as the best medium for cleaning certain brushes, cheap grade turps may be used with advantage.
Prevention of Skinning and Hardening of Stock Colours. — It should not be necessary to point out that all waste caused by allowing colours in their paste form to harden or skin over is easily pveventible. All that is required is to effectually keep the air from them. For zinc oxide, sulphide, or Other paste colours ground in oil, the colour should be pressed level and a little pure raw linseed oil poured upon the top. The oil must not be permitted to become mixed up with the colour. In taking colour from the keg it should be sliced out with a small trowel or similar tool, and not dug out of the middle with the point of the knife. As little oil as will cover the colour should be used, not over half-an-inch in depth, and it may be occasionally changed. Some prefer to use boiled oil or nut oil for the purpose. If the colour remain open for a length of time before getting used up, the lids may be kept over the kegs. They ought also to be kept over all rapidly-drying colours. Certain colours are better bought in collapsible tubes, which we shall refer to in 'a later chapter.
Colours ground in turps may be kept in condition by turpen- tine, used in the same way as oil for oil colours, but changed more frequently to prevent "fattening." Water colours may be preserved by covering with water to which a little glycerine has been added.
Whitelead. — Whitelead and patent driers are very usually kept under water. If great care is exercised and the water is not allowed to get locked up in the lead by carelessness in taking out portions of lead, it is not objectionable, but, unless the lead is of very stiff and putty-like consistency, there is a danger of the water getting beaten into the whitelead. When water is used, the lead, when required, must be well patted and knocked about on the paint stone, to drive out the water, before any thinners are added to it.
Conservation of Tube Colours. — Tube colours, if used very seldom, have a tendency to become "fat "and "leathery." If they are kept in a canister or elsewhere shut in from the air,
28 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
they will remain longer in good condition. Crimson lake has a bad tendency to become " leathery " independent of external conditions, but even this is retarded by keeping the tube in a jar of water.
Stock Articles Enumerated.— it will be advantageous to
here mention the articles required for stock in a small shop. The various articles will be fully described under the heading of materials, and are merely enumerated here to give an idea of the relative quantities required of each for an average class of business.
List of Stock Required.
}, ton of white lead, and \ ton of zinc white.
1 cwt. patent driers, {, cwt. zinc driers.
2 barrels turpentine.
1 barrel boiled linseed oil. 1 ,, raw linseed oil.
6 gallons terebine. 6 ,, patent knotting.
Oil Colours. 1 cwt. ochre in oil. 1 ,, burnt Umber in oil. 4 ,, raw Umber in oil. 4 ,, Indian red in oil. 4 ,, Venetian red in oil. 14 lbs. Prussian blue in oil. 28 ,, vegetable black in oil. 23 ,, Oxford ochre in oil. 28 ,, raw Sienna in oil. 28 ,, burnt Sienna in oil. 28 ,, lemon chrome in oil. 14 ,, orange chrome in oil.
Putty, Pumice Stone, Cements, <kc.
1 cwt. linseed oil putty. q ,, lump pumice stone. 14 lbs. pumice stone powder. 1 ream of glass paper assorted, one half being No. 1|.
1 ton whiting.
5 cwts. plaster Paris.
2 ,, Parian cement.
2 ,, Portland cement.
2 ,, oil mastic.
\ ,, dry whitelead.
1 ,, dry red lead.
1 cwt. dry ochre.
4 ,, dry Venetian red.
Dry Colours.
WORKSHOP AND STORES. 29
£ cwt. burnt Turkey Umber. 28 lbs. dry lime blue.
7 ,, common ultramarine. 14 ,, emerald green. 14 ,, lemon chrome. 14 ,, vermilion. 14 ,, Indian red. 14 ,, lamp black or drop black.
7 ,, mahogany lake.
7 ,, drop black ground in turps.
7 ,, Vandyke brown ground in oil.
7 ,, ,, ,, .,, water.
7 ,, burnt Umber in water.
7 ,, ,, Sienna in water.
7 ,, blue black.
7 ,, raw Sienna.
3 „ each sundry fancy colours in dry powder and 1 lb. tubes of fancy oil colours, as lakes, best blues, yellows, Terra Verte, &c, to be added as required.
Sundries. 14 lbs. sugar of lead. 14 , , litharge. 1 sack good rye flour for paste. 1 cwt. concentrated size. 28 lbs. best glue. 1000 best deep gold leaf, one-half transferred, and the other in plain
books. 1000 silver leaf.
1 lb. bronze powders, assorted. 2000 aluminium leaf.
3 gallons lacquers assorted. 14 lbs. oil gold size. 6 gallons japanners' gold size.
Varnishes.
20 gallons good outside oak varnish. 20 ,, ,, inside ,,
5 ,, best pale copal ,,
5 ,, best pale carriage ,,
20 ,, common hard oak varnish. 1 ,. each of maple, white copal, encaustic, flatting, and cthei
special varnishes. 3 , , best black Japan in quarts. 3 ,, Brunswick black in quarts.
6 ,, each of ivory, snow-white, and flat white enamels.
Sundries. 300 paint cans. 200 „ pots.
Brushes as required. 5 cwts. each of Duresco and distemper white. 2 ,, liquid Duresco.
30
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
1 cwt. peacock blue Duresco. 1 ,, lemon yellow. 1 ,, bright red.
(These will make most tints, but if special tints are required in any quantity they had better be ordered ready-made.) 1 ,, laminated lead in sheets. 5(i lbs. filling-up powder, and 1 cwt. alabastine opalia. 1 cwt. paint remover.
Lamp for burning off paint. 1 dozen paint and distemper strainers. 1 cwt. of a good paint remover, such as Pyrol.
This will form a useful and sufficiently varied stuck from which to carry out any ordinary jobs.
Purchase of Stock. — Unless for very large businesses it is the better plan to purchase each article as required irrespective of the rise and fall of the market, and it is hardly necessary to enforce the truism that in all departments the best is really the cheapest. Of course, every rule has its exception, and there may be times when it is provident to buy more largely of a particular material, but the master-painter should not go out of his way to speculate on the rise and fall of values. A thing is not cheap if there is not a fairly immediate use for it. It is not necessary to say more on this head here, as it will be dealt with in detail under materials.
31
CHAPTER III.
|1IE plant and appliances required by painters are largely the same as those needed by other branches of the building trade ; and the treatment of this branch of the subject will be little more than an enumeration of, and a specification of, the principal items.
Ladders. — Ladders come first, both in order of importance and in cost. The form slightly varies in different parts of the country. The ladder best constituted to meet the demands of the general house painter is formed from the two halves of a sound fir pole, lightened down to a size just sufficient to bear the strain of its length. The staves or rounds, sometimes called " rungs," are of ash, oak, or hickory; and for painters maybe placed 10 inches apart from centre to centre. At each ten staves or so, a wrought-iron bolt is inserted, either below or through the stave, and secured by washers and nuts or rivetted over, on the outside of the ladder. Sometimes an iron stave half to three quarters of
32 PAINTING AND PECORATINO.
an inch thick is substituted for the oak stave at intervals ; in either case the object is to hold the sides of the ladder together. The width of the ladder between the staves is to some extent regulated by its height, but at the top they must be just wide enough to allow a man to stand with both feet side by side easily. Ladders for general builders are heavier, and the staves are placed more closely together to facilitate the easy ascent with heavy weights. Ladders are required of various lengths, ranging from 10 feet to 60 feet. The most generally useful are from 24 to 40 rounds long. A good ladder should have plenty of spring in it, and both sides should give equally, forming a perfect curve when suspended by its two ends, the curve, of course, being less sharp at the foot end of the ladder than at the top.
Selection. — Of two ladders of equal length, the lightest should be preferred, other points being equal ; as in the painting trade no great strain is put upon the ladders. In selecting a ladder, buy it before it is painted, and look for straightness of grain and solidity of wood to the heart. Avoid pithy centred wood or wood that is sappy, in the outer rings especially. Notice that the holes are clean bored for the staves, that the staves fill them properly, and that in wedging the staves the side has not been split or shaken.
Mode of Using. — When a ladder is too short for a particular purpose, it is sometimes spliced by lashing another ladder to it. This is done either while the ladders are on the ground, when it is a comparatively simple matter, or after the first ladder has been reared up.
In the first method the long ladder is placed upon the ground, and the shorter one laid upon it. At least six rounds should be covered. The bottom stave of the top ladder should then be firmly lashed to the sixth slave from the top of the lower ladder, and the cords carried up the sides round each stave, bringing the sides of the two ladders firmly together, working over each round to prevent the top ladder slipping, and finishing off by lashing the top stave of the lower ladder to the sixth from bottom of the top one. The lashing must be repeated in an exactly similar manner, so as to obtain equality of tension and spring. Strong flax sash cord are better than scaffold ropes for splicing, as they take less room and leave the rounds clear of encumbrance.
In use, the spliced ladder should be placed so that the top ladder is beneath the lower one — that is, the position in which they are laid on the ground is reversed. If this is done there
mMk
H %- ill ^ in #- «i # ii
Plate 6.— SELECTION OF CONTRAST IN PAPER HANGINGS. To face p. 32.]
PLANT AND APPLIANCES. 33
is no obstacle to the ascent, and no trap to catch the unwary when descending, both of which faults occur if the top ladder is in front of the lower one. Another advantage is, that all knots are on the underside, out of the way.
Ladders should be painted with boiled oil. The addition of red or white lead adds materially to the weight. The oil is the true preservative element in paint, and any light pigment may be added merely to give distinctiveness without needlessly adding to the weight of the ladder. In common with all plant, ladders should be lettered with the name and address of the owner, both for the sake of easy recognition and for advertisement. They should be branded with a hot iron on every 10 feet, for protec- tion, as the painted name can easily be obliterated. In addition, ladders and steps should always be numbered. This simplifies entering and aids identification.
London painters probably possess the best and longest ladders in the Kingdom. The London form of painter's ladder combines the maximum strength with the minimum weight. Many in use in the West of London are 80 feet in length.
In raising and lowering long ladders considerable variance of procedure exists. The methods are necessarily changed by change of circumstances. Whenever possible a ladder fall or long rope should be used, both for the sake of safety and economy. It is let down from a window or roof, and one end is fastened round the top stave of the ladder. The end of the ladder is placed against the wall, a curb, or is "footed" by a couple of men, and the man at the top hauls in the rope. As soon as the ladder is up, the two men at the foot can guide it into position. A ladder of any length can be easily raised by three men in this way, and an ordinarily long ladder by two. In raising such a ladder without the fall or rope at least four men will be necessary. The two shortest and heaviest men should always foot the ladder, or, if it can be set against a curb, one will suffice at foot. When partly up, the amount of leverage exerted by the long end of the ladder is considerable. The use of a shorter ladder as a crutch to take the weight while the men shift positions or rest is often resorted to in the case of very long or heavy ladders. The fact that by this means a man can reach so much higher than the other men, gives him increased power over the weight and makes his assistance trebly useful.
In connection with the use of ladders the following warnings are necessary: — The ladder must be firmly set on both legs. Both top ends must rest equally against the wall or other support. The foot of the ladder must be at such distance from
3
34 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
the wall, that when sprung by pressure upon itself it will not recoil to a vertical position. If the ladder h;is more than thirty rounds it. should be lightly secured by a cord at or near the top. Seen in front elevation it should always be perpendicular. If the ground is not level, one end must be wedged up to make it so.
Ladder Brackets. — From ladders to ladder brackets is but a step. There are several patterns, the simplest being the best. One of the simplest consists of a Y-shaped iron, having the split ends of the Y hooked, to clip the stave of the ladder. At the bottom of the Y, or single end, is a ring and chain having a hook at the end. It can be used either over or under the ladder, and is merely hooked on the stave by the double end and the chain hooked a few staves higher up in such a way that the Y-iron forms a horizontal rest for the plank. Another simple form is a fixed triangular bracket, the top of which forms a level bearing for a plank. A turned up end prevents the plank from slipping off, and the side of the triangle which rests against the ladder is continued above the angle and provided with hooks by which it is hooked over the staves of the ladder.
Preference should be given to those forms of plank supports which do not depend upon the strength of one stave of the ladder, and which have no loose working parts, as pins, &,c.
Scaffold Poles. — For scaffolding halls, public buildings, stair- cases, ifcc, a few good scaffold poles are requisite. These should range from 20 feet to 40 feet long. Fir poles are used for the purpose. They should be straight, light, and free from large shakes. A seasoned fir pole always contains a number of small superficial cracks, but these should not extend into the wood below the outer annular rings, and are not to be mistaken for defects.
In selecting poles, notice that the butt end of the pole has not been thinned down, but tapers naturally, gradually, and regularly from butt to top, and that the pole is not too heavy for its length. New poles should be barked, and all roughnesses taken off with a spokeshave. It is a good plan to char the bottom ends of painters' scaffold poles, and to well saturate the top ends with boiled oil and red lead, as they get less use than a general builder's poles, and this plan will preserve them.
Planks. — Planks are the next items of importance. Local usages and prejudices prescribe many slight differences in thickness, quality, and breadth.
A plank should be selected for its toughness, lightness, and stiffness; a large amount of spring in a plank, although indi-
PLANT AND APPLIANCES. 35
Cative of strength and toughness, is an element of danger. A springing plank on trestles will sometimes of its own action and recoil close up and overthrow the trestles before attention has been drawn to the fact that they were closing up. On the other hand, a plank that will not bend is probably a cross- grained one, and will snap off like a carrot if overweighted. Good spruce is better than pine for planks it it be free from large knots. Wood from small trees is the toughest for ordinary work. One and a-half to 2 inches by from 9 inches to 11 inches is a good thickness and breadth, and from 10 to 16 feet in length will be most useful. In selecting a plank, choose a fir or spruce board in which the centre portion of the board has formed the heart of the tree. Long knots running transversely through the board near the ends are useful, as they prevent the ends splitting, but on no account must these knots occur near the centre of the board, or the board will snap across at the knots when under pressure. The portion of the board between the ends should be quite free from large knots. If there are a number of small knots equally distributed so as not to interfere with the free play or spring of the board, they are of no consequence ; indeed, the board will wear better for their presence.
Sometimes it is the practice to clamp the ends of planks with hoop iron, to prevent splitting. This is a clumsy practice not to be recommended for painters' planks. It makes the plank unfit for use in a good house, as, when set down on end, it scratches the floors. The irons are also dangerous to the hands of the workman. They work loose, too, and sometimes trip a man up or tear the clothes. If it be deemed necessary to protect the ends against a tendency to split, a three-eighths of an inch augur hole and a glued dowel in it through the board 3 inches from each end will do so. The corners should be cut off, so that if the board is dropped on one end, it does not get all the force of the blow on the extreme points, a thing which often starts a board to split.
Scaffold Construction. — The subject of scaffold construction will not be dealt with in the present work. It is usually left to special hands, who have had special experience, and does not come within the range of ordinary painters' work.
A few self-explanatory sketches of ties and knots which may be of occasional use are, however, given here.
In Fig. 4, 1 and 2 represent the method of tying cross poles or ledgers to uprights, back and front view ; 3 and 4, the method of attaching slings to uprights to take a plank without
36
PAINTING AND DKCORATING.
ledgers, the plank resting in the slings, back and front view given ; 5 is the method of tying two ropes together to make a longer one, to use as a ladder fall or for haulage ; 6 and 7 show the method of tying two uprights — viz., splicing poles — to add to their height, back and front view ; 8 is the same for per- manent scaffold, wedged and the ends tucked in ; G shows the
Fig. 4. — Heaffolding knots and ties.
appearance of this method when seen from the back ; 9 13 a suspensory sling used for dropping the pole a stage lower than the supporting ledgers; 10 and 11 show the hitch and half hitch used for hauling poles and planks to the top of the scaffold, a ready method that cannot slip. The technical names for these knots differ with localities.
Trestles. — Trestles, or tressels, are double ladders hinged
PLANT AND APPLIANCES. 37
together at the top and arranged for use in pairs to support a plank. Both sides of the trestle being equally available for use, it is not the practice to insert staves on both sides at every step, but to omit one alternately on each side, thereby proportionately lightening and cheapening the construction.
A single trestle or ladder set upright in a fixed frame or stand is used in the Midlands, but the extra thickness required to make the trestle of sufficient strength, and the ungainly shape of the stand at bottom, causes it to compare unfavourably with the ordinary hinged trestle. This trestle cannot be used apart from a plank, and is not easy to ascend and descend.
The trestles in common use appear generally to err on the side of weight and clumsiness. If designed with a more scientific knowledge of construction they might be equally safe and of half the weight. They are frequently set out and made by an ordinary carpenter in his slack time. If made in hard wood they might be less cumbrous and would last longer. No staves, except a stay bar, are required in the lowermost 2 feet, and for high trestles staves 18 inches apart are quite close enough. Some of the trestles and steps used in the north of England are so substantial as to materially interfere with the view of the general effect of the work in progress and the free movement of the men. It occurs to the writer to mention here, as a companion fault, that many decorators have their steps, &c, painted in such a pronounced and assertive fashion as to interfere with one's sense of colour and correct judgment. This should be avoided. The top of the trestles should not be wider than will con- veniently hold a wide plank; the bottom should slope out to from 2 to 3 feet, according to the height of the trestle, so as to give stability.
A form of trestle used on the Continent has much to recom- mend it. It is especially steady in use; it leaves the wall clear and impedes the worker less than the usual form. The sides are made of ash, lance-wood, or hickory, and are curved to the well- known Eddystone lighthouse form. The middle staves are thus shorter and lighter, and the stability is retained. They are hinged at the top in such a way as to be readily disconnected and used singly as short ladders.
Trestles range in height from 6 to 20 feet, the generally useful being from 8 to 10 feet.
Steps. — Steps, or step ladders, commonly referred to as a pair of steps, a name generally misapplied, are so common as to need little or no description here.
The fronts, or steps proper, consist of a couple of boards 3 or
38
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
4 inches wide and an inch thick, between which are set flat steps about 9 inches apart, and at such an angle as to be horizontal when the steps are in use. They are kept in position by a back, consisting of two (3 inches by 1 inch) sides framed up to the neces- sary width by tenoned rails and hinged to a fixed back piece at the top. They are held open at the correct angle by cords pass- ing from the back to the sides of front. Above all is a top board,
Fig. 5. — Steps.
lather broader and wider than the steps, but not necessarily more than 6 inches in breadth.
The form and details of steps vary considerably. Fig. 5 shows a usual form. There are a number of patent patterns, but when the wear and tear and other matters are taken into account they do not appear to be equally serviceable to the
PL-ANT AND APPLIANCES. 39
painter. The old style steps can. be readily adapted to various positions, spaces, and uses.
They should be of fine dry pine, light, with strong wrought- iron hinges; the framing together must be strong and accurate to stand the knocking about it is necessarily subjected to. Strength and lightness combined should be the idea aimed at in selecting a serviceable "steps." The hinges should be of L-form, and fitted on the inside, so that there is no, strain on them when the steps are in use. The edges of the top piece and back should be shot on the bevel, so that when the steps are open the weight is taken off the hinges. In practice, in order to economise time, they are more often hinged on the outside, so that all the weight falls upon the hinges, and gradually loosens them. Steps are often made wider at the top than is necessary ; 9 inches between the sides at the top is quite wide enough ; the width at the bottom depending on the height of the " steps."
Cords. — Scaffold cords are an important item, being costly if purchased without proper consideration. Good hempen cord prepared by saturation in Stockholm tar is to be preferred for outside work. For indoor work lighter cords without tar are preferable, especially for securing scaffolding to beams, columns, and structural work. A cord made from a number of strands is better than one made of a few. A cord % inch in diameter is usually selected for ordinary scaffolding, but practice varies according to the quality used, and a |-inch cord may be as strong as an inch one. Thin cords are more easily manipulated, and a fine quality |-inch cord will outlast a |-inch cheaper one. Long cords for pulley blocks and ladder falls should not be so tarred as to be stiff. From 50 to 100 feet is their usual length. Tarred ropes must be used for scaffolding which has to be left standing out of doors for months together.
Many special appliances are used in certain districts, and are more or less peculiar to those districts, but our space will not f.llow us to do more than just mention one or two of these.
Window Brackets. — Window or gal'ows brackets, to fit on to sills and project over the thoroughfare sufficiently to allow the painter to paint outside sashes, frames, and louvre shutters or sun-blinds, are used in the south of England and in London and the home counties. They are especially useful at seaside resorts, where external sun-blinds are much used. In principle they are merely large brackets ; the back of the bracket rests against the wall outside ; the top plank extends into the room, and a series of holes and pins, or a ratchet attachment, allows a
40
PAINTING AND UKCOKATING.
second back plank to be adjusted on the inside to the thickness of the wall, which it grips immediately below the window.
Cradles. — Cradles or boats are suspended scaffolds for lowering from the roof in narrow streets or busy thoroughfares, thus replacing ladders. They are also useful in cases where buildings overhang rivers, or where glass houses or abutting buildings prevent the use of ladders. They consist of a broad plank slung on iron hangers, with hand rails for protection. A couple of poles are run out from the roof, and pulley blocks rigged on their ends through which the suspending ropes are worked. The loose ends of the ropes are carried down and are under the control of the men using the cradle, who raise and lower themselves as required.
Pulley Blocks. — Pulley blocks have already been referred to. Single and double blocks are required. They are useful for many purposes, as for taking stuff up to the top of the scaffold, the erection of poles, and the erection and striking of scaffolding.
Paste Boards. — Paste boards and trestles are requisite for the paperhangers. Paste boards are light ^-inch pine boards, 21 inches wide, for cutting and pasting upon. They are usually made from two 11 -inch boards, each G feet long, hinged together so as to fold for the convenience of carrying. The ends should
be tonsued with hard wood tongues.
Fig. 6. — Paperhanger's trestle.
A groove is cut into the end grain of the board J? inch wide, and an inch deep, and a piece of oak or ash glued into the groove. The hinges should be brass butts fixed with long fine screws. This allows the board to be used on both sides, and the brass hinges will not rust. Some paste boards are made with ledgered backs and wrought - iron back flap hinges, which are neither so light nor so convenient. If both sides are available for use one side can be
use one side can kept for pasting narrow work and oddments, and the other for work which does not soil the board.
The trestles to hold the boards are made in several ways. The best are small shut up trestles, in pairs; one for each end
PLANT AND APPLIANCES, 41
of the board, consisting of two light frames each hinged together with webbing or light hinges (Fig. 6). They are compact and firm. Another good form is a collapsible X-shaped trestle (Fig. 7) made from 1-inch by 1^-inch stuff, and pivoted so as to
Fig. 7. — Paperhanger's trestle.
close one within the other when not in use. Sheard's patent combination board and trestle has recently placed all others out of date.
Paint Bench Trestles. — Bench trestles, similar in construc- tion to the first-mentioned paperhanger's trestles, but rougher and heavier, are recommended for the portable paint bench. A board constructed of four 6-feet lengths of 6-inch x 1-inch flooring, and battened at the back, forms the top. Paperhanger's boards should never be used for a paint bench, because of the danger of oil working into the paper ; neither should the provision of a proper paint bench be left to chance, but a bench such as is here described should be sent to all jobs of any size or import- ance.
Dust Sheets. — Dust cloths or drop sheets are frequently neglected. They form a most necessary part of the painter's outfit. Rough unbleached sheeting of a coarse make, 2| yards wide, in lengths of 5 yards each will be necessary. They should be stamped with the owners name, and sent to every job in sufficient numbers to cover up the floors and furniture. With those who care for a clean and tidy house, a sufficiency of cloths form a powerful recommendation, and no outlay on plant brings a better or more profitable return to the employer. A few narrow 1-yard wide cloths are useful for covering passages, stairs, hand-rails, &c, and a few square ones for throwing round gas
42 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
fittings and small objects. Some smaller, heavier, close-woven cloths, about 1 yard by 1 1 yards, for men to move about with them when doing dirty jobs, as when rubbing down or burning off, are very desirable. The canvas used for packing bales of paper is of little use as drop cloths, as, from its coarseness, the spots of paint and distemper splash right through them. A few heavy twill or sail-cloths of very large size are desirable fur covering the whole floor of a room, when it is likely to be in the painter's hands for some weeks. This will stand the constant wear and tear of men and trestles. The material of which shop blinds are made is good for this purpose, and the expense should not be grudged when it is considered that the use of such means to protect the floors, does so much to ensure the confidence and respect of the client.
All dust sheets should be hemmed round and stamped near the edges, or they are apt to become smaller by degrees and beautifully less, as strip by strip is appropriated for paint rags.
To Protect Stone Floors, Tiles, &c. — It may be noted here that the best method of protecting tile or stone floors where much painting is being done, as in churches, &c, is to liberally strew the floor with sawdust. This absorbs the spots of oil paint as they fall and prevents irreparable injury where soft stone is in question. It also prevents scratching or grazing upon tiles, when shifting scaffolding about.
Testing Scaffolding; Marking and Repainting Plant. — All scaffold-poles, planks, steps, &c, must be periodically examined and tested for flaws, loose hinges, rotten cords, and similar defects. Every article should be marked anew with the full name and address of the owner, both as a safeguard against loss and as a good advertisement. They should be both branded and lettered.
The re-painting should be done at stated periods when other work is slack, and should not be overdone, as every coat of paint adds to the weight and consequent cost of handling and cartage.
Cartage. — Oartage is a question which may fairly be con- sidered in this connection. It is not possible to make any general rule for this item, as ch'cumstances in urban, suburban, and rural districts and city centres all vary. A hand-cart or truck must of course be kept; or two, if necessary. In few town cases is it economical to keep one's own horses and carts, but in suburban or country districts a light cart is a necessity.
A valuable general principle is that apprentices or skilled workmen should not be employed in the handling or haulage of scaffolding. Labourers and horse power are cheaper and more effective. The delegation of this work to the skilled craftsman,
PLANT AND APPLIANCES. 43
though in no sense derogatory to him, inevitably lowers his standard, lessens his pride in his craft, and gradually makes him a rougher and more careless workman, besides which it is unprofitable to the employer.
Storage of Scaffolding. — The storage of scaffolding is a matter that is frequently overlooked. All classes of scaffolding require putting under cover, if possible. Ladders should be Avell supported to keep them straight, and not be suspended by the two ends. A good plan is to form a rack with rollers, so that the sides of the ladders do not get all the paint scratched off them in getting them in and out. When ladders are hung up by one side there is a tendency to loosen the staves. Poles may be laid on the ground, and piled one upon another, but the lower ones should be kept ventilated by being raised on short cross poles or they will draw dampness from the soil. If the ladders and poles cannot be kept under cover, the next best plan is to keep them erect, safely kept in place by rails, cords, or chains. They must be quite upright with no strain on them. Planks may be set on edge, with air spaces between them, firmly supported so that they are kept straight. The outhouse m which the steps and trestles, as well as the foregoing scaffolding, are kept will be better if freely open to the air — viz., with lattice sides. They must be kept dry or, when taken indoors, the joints will shrink and the wedges fall out.
Iron Bods and Tube for Scaffolding. — In considering the question of scaffolding, it may be borne in mind that ordinary iron barrels (gas-piping) with the usual elbow and tee joints and sockets are very useful adjuncts ; difficult bits of work may often be reached by the use of them. The writer has seen them used with considerable ingenuity in theatres and churches.
The weight sustainable by a 30 feet drop of -|-inch bore iron gas-pipe, connected in the ordinary way by f-inch iron threaded sockets, is, in a vertical pull, no less than 4^ tons. Even an ordinary gaselier with | inch connection, if properly fixed, will sustain a weight of 2 tons. The knowledge of these facts is often turned to profitable account by painters who are also plumbers and gasfitters, as is usual in London suburbs and many other places. Due regard must be paid to the question of leverage, as the threads will not stand diagonal pressure in any great degree.
Small Articles. — In addition to the scaffolding, very little actual plant is required except brushes, which will be dealt with in a separate chapter, but the few remaining small goods which are now enumerated are indispensable.
44 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Buckets. — As buckets for distemper, washing oft", &c., ordinary 2- and 3-gallon galvanised pails or buckets are the best.
Cans or Kettles. — Paint cans or kettles are made of tinned iron, galvanised iron or zinc. Of these, a large number is requisite. Zinc will scrape out easily, but will not stand paint solvents or removers. Tinned and galvanised iron can be left soaking in the pickle tub till the paint will rinse off. Three, four, live, and six, and a small number of eight-inch cans are required, the same in height as in diameter. In some parts of the country they are made bucket or tapered shape. The gain in convenience is counterbalanced by their increased liability to overturn. Some cans are made with provision for hooking to ladders for outside work, and some have a nick in the handle to keep the ladder hook in the centre.
Pots or Pans. — Thumb or hand pots or pans are desirable for distemper colours, and are useful for many purposes. Ordinary red-clay or brown-clay pots, glazed on the inside, are made for this purpose, with handles at the side. Iron vessels must not be used for distemper, as they rust, but zinc ones may be used, and are extremely light and serviceable.
The pots must be thoroughly soaked in water before use, and after being well soaked, they may be used for paint ; the larger sizes are very convenient for general mixing. Pots are some- times made with a lip to facilitate pouring. In the larger sizes this is an advantage.
Small Pots, &C. — For small bits of colour, galipots, jam pots, and small tins may be accumulated ad libitum. Bottles, both of glass and sheet tin, with wide necks or with narrow ones should also be stoi'ed up for use. Odd plates, saucers, and cups are always useful in the paint shop, the former for using over- graining or glaze colours from, and the latter for using on the finger when picking out cornices and similar work. Tin handled drinking mugs are also light and extremely convenient for this work.
Stock Drums or Kegs. — Drums, kegs, and varnish bottles for storage and mixing purposes may be retained instead of being returned. Many up-to-date firms now send all small quantities up to 2 gallons in free packages, so that there are always plenty of small tins available. It is better to repaint all drums that are retained, your own distinctive colour, as soon as you decide not to return them. This will prevent errors arising.
Mixing Boards. — Mixing boards as a substitute for the paint stone on the jobs, and for making up tints when upon the scaffolding, may be made from f-inch pine boards, about 12 inches
PLANT AND APPLIANCES.
45
by 9 inches and 15 inches by 10 inches irrespective of handles. A handle may be left at the narrow end, making the shape like that of the back of an ordinary hair brush, with a hole through
BOTTOM &R1HG
Fig. 8. — Paquelin lamp.
the handle to hang it up by when not in use. If covered with thin sheet zinc they will keep clean and scrape easily.
Burning-off Lamps. — For removing old paint nothing is more
Fig. 9. — Swedish lamp.
effective than the spirit lamp, which is made in several forms. The writer prefers the " Paquelin " lamp (Fig. 8), to all others.
46
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
This lamp can be used indoors and out, and in any position is easily controlled, and the blast is strong and steady. All the working parts are renewable. It is made in different sizes, and a medium lamp burns at full blast for nearly two hours, giving a heat of 1500 degrees Fahr. The spirit used is benzoline, and the action of the blast is automatic, commencing as soon as the blast chimney is heated to the flash point of the oil.
' r; ~-<so*_
Fig. 10.— The Invincible British blow lamp (Allen's patent).
Other good lamps are the Swedish torch (Fig. 9), the Invincible
(Fig. 10), and the Etna, which differ in the method of producing the blast Barthel's patent automatic is also a useful pattern.
The latest lamp is the Ridgelv, of which I illustrate a section showing the valve, which will not jam, and the automatic pump. This lamp is guaranteed not to explode. It is self-cleaning, there- fore never clogs, as by the simple process of turning on or off it is cleaned, dispensing entirely with wire and needles that ac- company other torches to clean
Fig. 10a.-
-The Ridgelv blow lamp.
PLANT AND APPLIANCES.
47
them with, screw.
The pump valve is automatic, requiring no set
Fig. 11. — Patent strainers for paint or distemper.
Charcoal Burners.— In some situations charcoal burners are useful, and several patterns are on the market. They are especially recommended for burning-off large flat surfaces.
Strainers. — Strainers for both distemper and paint are requisite. Those with removable bottoms which allow of the gauze being realily replaced by new are the most convenient. They may be made by any tinman. Two patterns which have been tested and found useful are illustrated here. A is suitable for either paint or distemper, but the other is especially designed for paint, and the perforated bottom prevents any mishap owing to breaking away of the gauze under the weight of paint. These strainers will be found very convenient, as the gauze can be easily taken out and replaced ; the arrangements for this purpose being very handy and effective. As shown in the illustration, the clips B secure the band C, and thus firmly hold the gauze D in position. A new strainer with loose interchangeable bottoms and no under edges has been recently introduced by Mr. Bennett, of Manchester.
Other sundries will be mentioned in connection with the operations with which they are used.
Fig. 12.- — Hamilton & Co.-'s improved paint strainers.
48 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Plant Book. — The importance of a correct record of the whereabouts of plant, and the assurance of its due return to the shop, cannot be too strongly emphasized. A plant book in which each item is tabulated should have a page devoted to every job, with columns for date and enumeration. This ensures the return of each item sent out. A second book should be kept as a stock plant book, in which a page is devoted to every article, and its whereabouts clearly entered from the preceding book. The employer can then see at a glance where the par- ticular ladders or trestles are, and judge whether they are at liberty to be fetched away and taken elsewhere.
Rough Entry or Day Book for Paint Shop. —The work of trans- posing the entries from the rough day book to the plant book will of course be the duty of the clerk, and will not be done at the workshop, where the only book that is necessary is the rough day book, in which everything, plant or material, that goes out or comes in, must be set down in the order of its coming or going, for future separation and allocation in the office.
Quantity of Plant Required, on Jobs. — In sending out plant to a job a complete and sufficient quantity should be sent at once to avoid additional expense of single items going in supplementary journeys. It may be calculated that a pair of steps or a trestle will be necessary for each man sent, and a plank to each two men. For every man on an outside job one ladder will be necessary, this allows for splicing and contin- gencies. These suggestions are, of course, comparatively useful. A better plan is to know exactly what will be the actual require- ments by a careful look round the job itself. Scaffolding must be calculated for with care and accuracy, length and number of poles, planks, number of ropes, wedges, &c, as all these items, in the absence of a correct list of requirements, may mean an unnecessary amount of haulage. Two cans, and a bucket, and a set of brushes, are the minimum allowance required for each man. A good plan is to have a printed requisition form setting forth all the items usually required, and having spaces for filling in the quantities. This saves much time and thought, and obviates the possibility of important items being left out. There must be a space left for contingencies, as there are many items that are only occasionally required which it would be useless to enumerate. A copy of this form can be filled in by the foreman or the employer when making out the estimate.
There are many additional items of plant which are required in shops where special classes of work are predominant.
sr *wr
^
/• V- s.
9
fe j^Sfe jj
Tf'ir \r \t ir ir \Y (r
■d
aoraoifJikTtic^
Plate 7.— CONTRASTING ARRANGEMENTS OF PAPERHANGINGS. To face p. 48.]
49
RUSHES
PAINTING BRUSHES
RUSHES for painting are various and costly, ranging from coarse dusting brushes to those composed of the finest and rarest hair found in the animal kingdom. Various kinds of hair and bristles adapt themselves to special manipulative processes ; thus the variety used is considerable. The bristles are set in holders and handles of wood and metal of various kinds and shapes, and are held together by twine, cord, wire, metal bands, quills, and other contrivances.
Hog-hair. — The principal ordinary kinds are made from hog's hair of various qualities, obtained from Russia, America, and, in lesser quantities, Germany and France. With this is mixed for the commoner brushes other less expensive substances, as horse hair, whalebone, vegetable fibre, &c.
Hog's hair is divided into grades ; the finest, used for small tools of the very best quality, is usually termed "Lyons hair," and comes from France. This is not available for very large and
4
50 PAINTINO AVD DECORATING.
long brashes. The next quality used for best varnish and paint brushes is termed "lily hair" or "best whites." Then come "yellow" and "grey" bristles, and, finally, "black," which are the cheapest.
Various Hair used in Brushes. — Brushes for fine lining, artist's work, graining and special processes, are made from a large assortment of hair ; among the most important are ox hair, or taurus hair, fitch hair, camel hair (which is not obtained from the camel now, but from the fox), bear hair, sable hair, badger hair, and others. Indeed, nearly all fur-bearing animals are laid under contribution to the cause.
Hog-hair brushes are more freely sophisticated than any others, and they form the bulk of the whole list of brushes. The articles use 1 for adulteration are horse hair, cow hair, whale- bone, and vegetable fibre, the latter being usually the fibrous sinews of the evergreen aloe leaf, a plant found in South America, and having thick, fleshy, long, spear-like leaves.
Foreign Brushes. — A large variety of hogdiair brushes are made in Germany and in America for export, and find their way into this country. Most of the bristles used in them are of fair quality and genuine hog hair ; but it is so dressed and bleached that it is not safe to assume its quality without a practical test. A large amount of care is bestowed in making these brushes presentable for th« market, and practical utility is sacrificed thereby. Actual experiment proves that in wear the bristles that have been so bleached have less spring and durability than ordinary English grey brushes of similar weight.
French Brushes. — French brushes are usually carelessly and clumsily made, so far as appearance goes, but in working they are excellent, and it will be found that proper allowance has been made in French brushes for swelling, wearing in, &c. They are often dipped in glue size and allowed to dry, in order to keep them in good shape till they are required for use, a proceeding that does not improve their saleable appearance, but a good one from a practical standpoint. French scene painting and dis- temper tools are particularly serviceable.
Methods of Fixing Hair.— The method of tying or binding hog- hair brushes are so varied that space will not admit of par- ticularisation. In practice, it will be found that heavy metal ferrules are objectionable ; that for large brushes string binding is liable to get cut, to burst, or to rot ; that the method selected should offer the least possible harbour for grit, the lodgment of hard colour and water; and that it should be capable of scraping and cleaning without danger of loosening the hairs.
PAINTING BRUSHES. 51
Selection. — Care must be taken in making a selection that brushes intended for paint shall stand both turps and water without coming to pieces, as some brushes made for special pur- poses will not do so. Hog-hair brushes should be soft at the point, the hair being split and divided at the ends when left in their natural state. Inferior bristles are cut and trimmed up at the ends, and are thereby rendered coarse and stiff. In a well-made brush the bristles are sorted into lengths, and any irregularities are corrected by a process of grinding or scraping the bristles. The selection of brushes made from good hog-hair is not a diffi- cult matter to a man who understands the technique of painting, because he knows the qualifications of a good brush and looks for them. The most that a maker of a poor brush can do is to make it present an appearance of the real article.
Test of good Brushes. — The first test of a good brush is its price. The value of hog bristles, fit for the best brushes, is about 10s. per lb. Allowing for a margin of waste in making up, it is thus at once apparent that 8 ounces of genuine bristles in a brush, means a cost of at least 5s., plus the cost of making-up. But this is merely a negative test, because a spurious brush may be sold at a high figure.
The next test is microscopic. The horny appearance of the true bristle is thus readily distinguishable from all kinds of fibre, while its complete sectional form prevents its confusion with split whalebone or with horse hair. Next, the spring of the brush is a fairly reliable test, especially if single hairs be bent at a sharp angle and then released.
A final, and most reliable, test for fibre is to singe the hairs singly. The true bristle frizzles up and gives off an offensive odour, while the fibre burns clear and is odourless. Different hairs give off different odours, which are distinguishable with practice. Fibres leave an ash after burning, bristle leaves none.
Returning to the microscopic test a good complete bristle tapers from root to point, while horse-hair tapers much less, indeed, to any but a keen eye, it is apparently of the same thick- ness throughout its length.
From these remarks it will be apparent to the practical man that he need not be imposed upon by the substitution of other materials for bristles. The real difficulty of selection lies in the distinguishing of the different qualities of the genuine a) tide, and here there is a wide field in which to buy experience.
The microscope will again be of assistance, revealing any defects in the condition and preservation of the bristles, ex-
[>2 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
posing hollowness, dryness, lack of solidity and bleaching or other doctoring up of cheap bristles. It will further show if all the bristles are of the same quality. It would, however, take a complete course of study to become an expert in the quality of bristles. The safest plan is to buy of a maker who has a reputation to maintain, and to use practical judgment in the selection of what feels to be a brush having the qualities you know that such a brush requires.
A brush, the bristles of which have any tendency to spread outwards, should be avoided. The wood core of the brush should not be too large, or it will cause separation of the brush and hollowness in wear, nor should the core project too far into the brush, but only sufficient to take the pressure of the binding. The quantity of bristle should be compared with the size of the brush, by winding a piece of string tightly round below the stock. The diameter of the core should not be more than one-third that of the brush.
Fig. 13. — Two- and three-knot distemper brushes.
Distemper Brushes. — The following list comprises most of the general brushes used in the trade.
Distemper brushes for large surfaces, as walls and ceilings, are made in various qualities of bristle and of various patterns. They are made in separate knots of hair, each knot separated by and bound to the stock. Two-knot brushes (Fig. 13) are the most generally used, but three and four knots get over the ground more quickly, and are preferable for large ceilings or
PAINTING BRUSHES.
53
Avails. The labour is proportionately heavier, so that the saving is not great.
The three-knot brush (Fig. 13) is the commoner kind used for rougher work. Distemper brushes are also made in the flat form shown in Fig. 14, in which the bristles are evenly distributed along both sides of the stock, and kept in place by leather bands nailed to the stock. This form is used in country places, and is a favourite in the North of England.
Fig. 14. — Nailed stock distemper brushes.
The Best Distemper Brushes. — Two patterns of these are shown, the smaller one being the Yorkshire pattern. Another form, and one fast becoming a favourite, consists of a single flattish knot of bristles kept in place by a copper or brass band (Fig. 15). The better qualities of this description are used in America and elsewhere, for painting compo or weather boarded
54
PAINTING AM) DECORATING.
outsides where a considerable space has to be covered. Various patterns, showing the most important variations in make, are
Fig. 15. — The best form of distemper brush.
illustrated (Figs. 16, 17 and 18). Some of the slight differences of form are due to local prejudices.
Fig. 16. — Common tin bound distemper brush.
The American brush (Fig. 17) is light and sparse in bristle, and is particularly well adapted for the plastico and gypsum
Fig. 17. — American distemper brush.
preparations which are apt to set and harden in the stock of a full bristled brush.
PAINTING BRUSHES.
55
Sizes. — Distemper brushes are denominated by the weight of hair they contain, which ranges from 8 to 12 ounces. They
Fig. 18. — Wall, shingle, and weather boarding brushes.
are also distinguished by the number of knots, and in the case of flat brushes by their breadth, ranging from 3J to 8 inches.
Wash-off, Caustic, and. Lime-white Brushes. — Wash-off brushes (Fig. 19) are like distemper brushes in form, but made
Fig. 19.— Wash-off brush.
from cheaper hair. Some brushes are made for use in strong alkali, and vegetable fibre is used for these in place of hair. They are made in both the knot and nailed stock forms.
Special round coai'se fibre brushes are made for applying
56
PAINTING AND DKCORATINO.
caustic solutions and paint removers (Fig. 20). Lime-washing brushes are a cheaper form of distemper brushes, but another form, shown in Fig. 21, is also used for lime.
All the foregoing brushes should be well soaked before use, not only when new, but also after any length of disuse. They
Caustic brush.
must be thoroughly washed out, after using, in warm water and rinsed in cold water. If they have been used in Duresco, or other washable distemper, they must be thoroughly freed from all trace of it by rinsing in vinegar. They must on no account be left standing in any preparation containing lime for a length
Fig. 21. — Loose head lime white brush.
of time, neither should they be left in water sufficiently long for it to attack the binding.
Painters' Dusters. — Dusters — that is, brushes for removing the dust from work prior to painting, and for sweeping the margins of the floor near the skirting, treads and risers, &c. — are made in many forms (Figs. 22, 23, and 24).
The pattern used in Manchester (Fig. 23), and in the North generally, is better for getting into corners than the round duster, and is especially useful on staircases. Dusters should be occasionally washed, the bristles only being wetted, or they may be loosened from the stock.
For dusting down brickwork or compo walls prior to repainting
PLATE II
PAINTING BRUSHES. 57
a fibre scrub-shaped brush (Fig. 25) is used. It is also very
Fig. 23.— Manchester painter's duster.
Fig. 24. — London painter's dnster.
necessary for well brushing fences or gates near the ground, and kindred purposes.
58
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Paint or Ground Brushes. — Paint or ground brushes is the name given to tlie larger brushes used for oil painting. They are made in a variety of forms of which we illustrate t lie more
general types. No. 1 (Fig. 26) shows a knot brush. This brush is elliptical in form and keeps its shape when in use fairly well. No. 2 is an oval wire - bound brush. These brushes, which are termed Fig. 25.— Fibre scrub brush. oval, are more correctly
speaking elliptical. It is a reliable form of brush, and is readily cleaned and changed from colour to colour. No. 3 is a round brush, and No. 4 is a
m
No. 1.
No. 2. No. 3.
Fig. 26. — Faint or ground brushes.
No. 4.
"flat oval." All these brushes are wire-bound, and the wire binding is soldered together to prevent untying. They are
PAINTING BRUSHES. 59
made by C. A. Watkin's patent, and we regard them as the most perfect brushes in the trade.
Ground brushes are made in sizes distinguished by numbers, and weights in ounces which designate the weight of bristle in the brush, as Nos. 1 to 8, and 1 oz. or 1/0 to 8 oz. or 8/0. The 4/0 brush is usually the best size for general purposes.
Before putting a new brush into paint it is desirable to soak the stock of the brush if it be a string-bound one or has a wooden stock. Many of the better patterns made now do not require soaking,asthe bristles are held in place bymechanical contrivances. Do not wet the bristles, but hold them open and pour water into the centre, or stand them handle down in water up to the binding for a few hours. When not being used, after having once been put into the paint, they must be submerged to the stock in water, or if not likely to be used for some time, they should be well washed in hot water and soap. These rules apply to all brushes used in paint. Yellow bar soap is better than any other for this purpose.
Patent Eeady-Made Brush Bridles. — When new, a ground brush or tool will require tying up, or bridling, so that the bristles are not too long for use. This added binding will require partially removing, from time to time, as the bristles wear down. A ready-made bridle (Fig. 27) is supplied by brushmakers.
How to Bridle a Brush. — Most practical men prefer to bind on their own bridling, a process somewhat difficult to adequately describe in words. There are several methods of accom- plishing the purpose. Our illustration describes Fig. 27. — Brush one of the neatest. It represents the pro- bridle,
cess of tying up a 4/0 round brush. A knot of whipcord is used for the purpose of making the bridle. Taking the brush in the left hand, make a cross loop at the end of the cord, and lay it on the brush as in 1 A (Fig. 28) ; then, on the •opposite side, place a loose loop of ordinary twine or string, which will not form part of the finished bridle, but is merely for the purpose of bringing the end through from the top of the bridle when the binding is finished. Then, keeping the two loops in place with the thumb and forefinger, proceed to wind the cord round the brush, starting from the binding and working toward the tips of the bristles. 1 A and 1 B show the upper and under side of the brush when three or four coils have been wound round. Do not wind too tightly. Continue plain winding till within about three strands of the required height, but in the last
60
PAINTING! AND DECUKA 1 INC.
three intertwine the cord as shown in 2 B and 3 B, and in the last round of all, thread it through the two loops. Then draw the loops down as shown in 2 A on the one side, and in 3 B on the other side. In the latter case disengage the twine loop which is done with, and draw the loose end of the cord through until tight. Then knot the two loose ends as in E, and drive a tack through the centre of the knots into the stock (as in 0). D shows the finished bridle and gives the correct proportional depth of bridle to brush. The size of the cord is purposely exaggerated to show the twisting more clearly. It will be noticed that in this method, both the straight cords are kept inside the bridle, thus making a neat and strong finish.
Fig. 28. — Bridling a brush.
To partially release the bridle and lower it, take out the tacks, and unthread the last few coils by passing them over the ends of the bristles. This may be carefully done, without cutting and without allowing the ends to slip under. Tighten up as before, and re-knot, cutting off the unnecessary ends of cord.
PAINTING BRUSHES.
61
Messrs. Bennett have recently introduced a useful addition to paint brushes that require bridling. It is known as the Joyce patent shoulder and loop, and is a practical improve- ment.
Varnish Brushes. — Yarnish brushes (Fig. 29) are similar in form to the foregoing, but, in consequence of their never being used upon rough preparatory work to break them into shape, they are bevelled for use. In the case of paint brushes, their use in rough work accomplishes this bevelling. Varnish brushes are also specially cemented to withstand the action of spirits, and are not always made to resist water, as they are not supposed to be put into water.
Fig. 29. — Ordinary varnish brushes, three patterns.
The bristles are usually of a superior quality, finer and straighter than those used in any but the very best paint brushes.
Flat varnish brushes (Fig. 30) are a more recent innovation than the preceding form, and are designed for coach and highly- finished wood-work, and for use in the enamels now prevailing. They are of far better form for leaving a highly-finished surface than the oval or knot brush, but do not last so long in wear if used on ordinary general work.
An additional form of varnish brush is shown in Fig. 31, which is useful for general outdoor work, sashes, fences, and gates, railings, &c. ; also an ordinary varnish sash tool (Fig. 33).
62
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Varnish brushes of every pattern, when not in use, should he suspended by the handle in oil or varnish, and care taken that the bristles do not touch the bottom of the vessel.
Nickel Plated Cases. Polished Cedar Handles.
Fig. 30. — Bevelled flat varnish brushes.
Fig. 31. — A form of varnish brush for general work.
Fig. 32. — Varnish tool specially recommended for paper varnishes.
Sash Tools. — Sash tool is the name given to the smaller brushes used in painting. The forms they take are legion, and a few selected patterns are shown (Figs. 33 to 35), with notes on their special uses. They are intended for the smaller parts where the 4/0 brush is too large and bulky, and also
PAINTING BRUSHES.
63
for cutting up the edges of work, sash bars, &c. The same form of brush is used as an auxiliary to the distemper or flat brush ; they should therefore stand the action of both water and temperature. The same class of tools are frequently used for varnishing.
Fig. 33. — Sash tool, string bound, ordinary form.
Fig. 34. — Copper bound sash tool — C. A. Watkins's patent.
Fig. 35.- — Sash cutting tool in tin.
Fig. 36. — The Ensign Brand, newest method of fastening bristles into brushes. A copper ferrule closed over the bristles by patented machinery.
Tools are known by numbered sizes ranging from 1 to 12. Paint tools must be kept suspended in water when not in use, or may be washed and put away.
64
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Stipplers. — Stipplers are brushes used for producing a soft and even surface to paint and distemper. The brush is dabbed against the painted wall after the paint has been spread, and while it is still wet, producing a granular instead of the usual brush-marked surface. Stipplers must be washed in soap and water, ordinary yellow soap, not soft soap, and dried and hung up so that the bristles remain straight The water must not be boiling, and the wooden portion of the brush should not be put into the water. Dip the tips of the hairs in and then rub them across the soap till there is a composite lather of soap and paint, then rinse. Do not scrub or bend the bristles unnecessarily,
Fig. 37. — Hog-hair "fitches" in tin, round and flat.
Fig. 38. — Hog-hair lining fitch in tin.
bis. 39.— Frenc
lair tool string-bound for distemper painting.
Fig. 40. — Quilled hog-hair for stippling and distemper lining.
but give the soap time to amalgamate with and destroy the oil in the paint. Shake out the surplus moisture, dry by stippling on a cloth and leave hung up or stood on edge. Never leave the brush lying on its back, or the water will cause the back to buckle up. In common with all other brushes, the bristles, if they get doubled up, or "crippled" are materially injured, and the injury is more or less permanent. Care must therefore be taken that brushes are so packed or stored as to keep them straight. The best way to remedy accidental crippling is to
Wl
in
jW
■smk
•
Plate 8.-TW0 BREADTHS OF A DROP PATTERN PAPER. To face p 64.]
PAINTING BRUSHES. 65
stand the bristles of the brush in hot water for a quarter of an hour. Then straighten them with a comb or the hand and leave them to dry slowly. Stipplers are illustrated in the chapter on Painting.
Paperhangers' Brushes. — Paperhangers' brushes are of soft, long, pliable bristles set in knots, and are used for pressing the paper on to the wall or ceiling. They are illustrated in the article on paperhanging.
Fitches. — " Fitches," or hog-hair brushes in tin or albata ferrules are used for decorative work, picking out enrichments, painting mouldings, and the painting of ornament. They are made both round and fiat in section. Fitches are also made with a bevelled edge for lining. They are used in distemper and in oil, and when laid aside should be washed in soap and water or stood in water. The latter course is apt to rust them and corrode the tin or metal ferrules. They are numbered in sizes 1 to 12.
The usual term for fitches is derived from the fact that they were formerly made of fitch hair. To avoid confusion, they are usually to be found catalogued as "hog-hair tools in tin," but in the trade the word " fitch " is universally employed to denote them.
Softeners. — Softeners are brushes used for blending or softening one colour into another, or for softening down the brush marks in painting. They are made in both hog hair and badger hair, set in knots in a wooden handle, and are illustrated in the chapter on Graining. They must always be well washed in soap and water immediately after use, or they will become coarse, harsh, and useless. After washing they should be hung up to dry. It is especially important that the water used for washing should not be too hot, and that they should be rinsed in cold water and whisked as dry as possible before leaving them. The hog-hair softener is used for heavy body colours and varnish colour, and the badger for glazes, water-colour, and similar purposes. They are illustrated, and all other graining brushes are dealt with under the head of Graining and Marbling.
Stencil Tools. — Stencil tools or brushes (Fig. 41), as their name implies, are used for stencilling. Large sizes are made in sets or small inserted knots in a wooden stock. The smaller sizes are set in tin. Still smaller ones, sometimes termed "poonah" brushes, are quilled and thread-bound. Stencil tools must be washed out in hot water and soap after using, and thoroughly dried. To keep the bristles straight, soak them in cold water after washing. They must not be allowed to lie in the hot water, or the cement in ndiich the bristles are set may
5
GG PAINTING AND DEC0BAT1NG.
give way. They must not be soaked in turpentine, unless specially made to withstand turpentine.
Sable Writers. — Sable writers' and sign-writers' brushes need little description other than the illustrations given in another part of the book. Red sables are the best in quality, and are recommended for use in heavy pigments as white lead, or upon a rough wall. Brown sables are superior for use in deep colours which have little weight, and for use on sign boards and glass. They are a little less costly than the red hair. Ox hair writers are useful on the rougher kinds of compo wall, and for large coarse work. They are less than half the cost of sables.
Fig. 41. — Stencil tool in tin and in sets.
Camel-hair writers are only of use in working under-hand upon a bench, but are especially recommended for glass-painting, or for use on tiles or other hard shiny surfaces. They are quite useless for heavy pigments, as white lead. Writers are made in both metal and quill settings. The latter work best ; the former, of course, stand rougher usage. The setting does nut affect the life of a pencil if properly cared for. Short sables of red and brown hair, and also short ox hair, fitch hair, and camel hair, are used for various classes of work by the decorator. Extra long sables, known as riggers, are used for underhand tracing and outlining. Liners are long sables having a square top instead of a point. The hair is about 2 inches long, and they are used, as their name implies, chiefly by coach painters.
All the foregoing pencils are known in size by the size of their quills, as swan, goose, duck, crow, &c. Pencils in ferrules are sometimes numbered from 1 to 12, commencing with the smallest. They all require washing out in turpentine and moistening with grease or Russian tallow when not in use. This should be done as follows : — The whole of the paint should be rinsed out by agitating the brush in a vessel of turpentine ; the brush must then be dried by pressing on an absorbent piece of
PAINTING BRUSHES.
67
cloth, and the tallow should be well worked in to the stock or heel of the brush by careful manipulation of the left thumb and forefinger, taking great care not to cripple the hairs. It should be drawn gently through the fingers, the tallow being pressed into the brush, and left with a fine point. These pencils should be kept in a tin case or box to prevent vermin nibbling them for the sake of the tallow.
Swan quills (Fig. 42) are full pencils of soft camel or other
Fig. 42. — Swan quills in quill and in ferrule.
hair, somewhat stumpy, and with straight cut points. They are used for laying even washes of colour on mouldings, bands, or small surfaces. They are mostly made in quills, but sometimes in metal ferrules, and are made in four sizes, 1 to 4, com- mencing where the smaller pencils leave off.
A larger kind of camel-hair round brushes are known as " mops or d&bbers " (Fig. 43), and are used by gildei's and for lacquering and spirit varnishing.
Fig. 43. — Camel-hair domed mop quill and wire bound.
Camel-hair brushes of flat form (Figs. 44, 45, and 46), set in tin, are used for laying washes of colour, for spirit varnishes and ormolus, and for lacquers, isinglass, and other sizes, &c. The hairs are firmly set in tin and secured by cement and rivets. They are known by their width in inches, which range from | to 4 inches. They vary greatly in quality and also in thickness.
When used in lacquers or varnish, these brushes should be washed in methylated spirits otherwise, in water. Spirit
68
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
washed brushes should be kept in a canister free from the air. This keeps them soft.
Brushes Found by the Employer. — The tools and brushes described here are such as are always found by the employer, as
Fig. 44. — Thin camel-hair, flat, unri vetted.
Fig. 45. — Best thick camel-hair, flat, rivetted.
Fig. 4li. — German domed camel-hair, flat
they are worn out during the progress of the work. Other tools, which are sometimes found by the workman, will be described in their separate connections, together with their uses.
The Purchase of Brushes. — In the purchase of brushes one element of importance is frequently overlooked. Each class of brush and each pattern require different treatment in use. Some are made to stand water and some turpentine, some both, and some neither. Nothing but a personal acquaintance with a particular make of brush will enable a man to use it to the best advantage. Familiarity with a particular pattern of brush or tool in painting, as in other trades, leads to expertness. It is quite as unreasonable to expect the best and most economical results from a workman to whom you are continually, giving different makes of tools and brushes, as it would be to expect a man to write his best hand with a strange kind of pen.
Mere caprice and lack of thought is responsible in many
PAINTING BRUSHES. 69
instances for a continual change of policy in respect to brushes, and causes a sacrifice of efficiency and the destruction of many good brushes because they are unfamiliar to the men, in addition to much loss through ignorance of the character of the brushes themselves.
True Economy in Brush. Buying. — It cannot be too strongly laid down that the truest economy is to obtain the best quality of brushes, and to always adhere to the same kind for the same work. Personal observation has convinced the writer that of two employers doing a fairly equal business, both in volume and class, one may be spending just double what the other spends upon brushes and tools, and yet have no increase in efficiency.
Storage of Brushes.— Brushes should be carefully stored. It is absolutely necessary that they be kept in a moderate temperature. Heat and dryness will cause the wood stocks to shrink and perhaps crack, the animal glues to split and crack, and the twine to loosen. On the other hand, dampness or frost will destroy the glue, rust the metal, cause the wood to swell and the leather to give way, and rot, and finally burst the twine. Next, it is equally important that they be laid so as to avoid crippling. The tools should be kept in the boxes or packages in which they are supplied, free from dust and dirt. The camel-hair and sable brushes are very liable to be attacked by moth. Pepper, camphor, or insecticide may be placed in the drawers with them to keep away these pests, who will soon do a pound's worth of damage, and will, when once established, remain till every brush has been ruined. Most of the brushes illustrated are made by Messrs. Hamilton &, Co., and are personally knoAvn and have been used by the writer for many years, but this fact does not by any means imply that they are the sole manufacturers of x'eliable brushes.
Wire Brushes. — Brushes set with stiff wire are much used for removing loose paint, rust, &c, from metal work, girders, railings, <fec.
No. 355 is useful for laying on varnish remover, lime, &c, as well as for rough wet dirt-removing from gutters, &c.
Brush Suspenders are used for keeping the points of brushes from contact with the bottom of the can. A simple device — one of many — is illustrated (see next page).
70
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
"I 'H'PfffBlf
;.-><;
N!
36S
370
Fig. 46a. — Wire brushes,
Fig. 4(V<- — Ridgely brush suspender.
71
CHAPTER Y.
JOR a complete manual of materials used in painting, the reader is referred to Hurst's Painters' Col- ours, Oils, and Varnishes.
In the present Chapter the principal necessary materials are merely enumerated, and their technical qualities noted.
PIGMENTS. — Pigments claim first attention.
Whites. — The staple whites now in use are white lead and white zinc, both of which in various forms, singly and combined, enter into the composition of every tint of oil paint.
During the past ten years great and far-reaching changes have been made in the general trade custom as to the use of whites.
Only a few years ago white lead was the base white for almost all paints, but at present it is certain that at least f)0 per cent, of painting is carried out without the use of any white lead at all. White lead is, however, still very largely used, especially
72 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
for exterior work and for important public and private eon- tracts where it enters into the architect's specification.
Many factors have assisted in bringing about the change. The heavy cost of white lead per square yard of work covered, in spite of the undoubted superiority of it as a protective coating for external work, especially upon work that is subjected to extremes of temperature and great humidity. The somewhat exaggerated danger involved in its use and the more real danger to those engaged in its preparation, coupled with the increased attention bestowed by democratic governments in all questions affecting the health of the labouring classes. But most of all, the immense improvements effected in the manufacture of substitutes, at a price and of a quality that induce the painter to make the exchange both in the interests of his work and his profits.
At the present time there are many zinc and other whites on the market that will produce a better surface, a whiter surface, and a finer finish than white lead. Many of these will cover better and brush out more evenly than the best white lead. They are all lighter in weight and therefore oover much more ground per cwt. of material. They do not discolour by the action of sulphur, or sulphuretted hydrogen and do not turn yellow with age or when shaded from the bleaching action of light. They are less susceptible to many acids, such as carbonic, by reason of the fact that the oil in which they are mixed undergoes less change and encases the particles of pigment, thus rendering them immune from the direct action of such acids. As a homogeneous paint white lead stands alone. The saponifi- cation of the oil that takes place during the oxidisation of the paint, tends to produce a tough leathery skin that is both elastic and durable, and science has not yet discovered an equally useful outside white paint for this climate. Linseed oil alone is a fairly good protection to wood-work, but it lasts very little time under bright sunshine and frost ; the addition of pigments that merely mix with the oil in the physical sense, adds nothing to the life of the oil. White lead chemically modifies the oil, and the intermixture is apparently so complete that both ingredients combine to aid each other in the defence against decay. It may therefore be safely asserted that well-made white lead and pure raw linseed oil, unadulterated and unspoiled by driers or gums, is still the best paint for protecting external wood or metal work.
White Lead. — The usual commercial paint is made from a carbonate of the metal, with which is present a percentage of lead hydrate. The proportion of carbonate of lead to hydrate of
MATERIALS. 73
lead should be at least 75 per cent, to 25 per cent. It is usually- ground at the works in linseed oil, and sent out in stiff paste form in casks of not less than 1 and not more than 5 cwt.
When genuine it is stable, durable, works exceedingly well under the brush, covers well, and dries in about 24 hours, becoming hard in about a week without the assistance of driers.
In consequence of its great cost it is much reduced or adul- terated with mineral whites, such as barytes and China clay, or the covering power and colour are enhanced by lithopone. Cheap oils are also added in the grinding process, especially mineral oil and cottonseed oil. It does not follow that admix- ture of other whites with white lead lessens the value of the Avhite as a paint. The addition of zinc in certain proportions may actually improve the material for some purposes, but, inasmuch as these additions invariably cheapen the product, they should be clearly declared by the vendor.
Many attempts have been made to improve the quality of white lead and to remove many of the objections to its use and manufacture. The Bischof, Brimsdown, Hannay, and Pattinson methods of using lead whites as paint material all aimed at the production of a better white lead. Messrs. Mander produced lead known as Mander-Hannay white lead for some years, but it was never an entire success, and the competition of newer zinc whites, coupled with trade objections to the displacement of an old material, prevented its becoming commercially successful. White lead may, of course, be tested for quantitative adultera- tion by analysis, but there are many rough-and-ready tests based on chemistry that will suffice for the painter to discover whether he is getting genuine Avhite lead or white lead with earthy matter added. One of the easiest is to put some white lead in a ladle and convert it into blue lead by heat, weighing both the white lead and the resultant piece of metallic lead, and com- paring notes and noting whether any dross or earthy particles are left in the ladle unconverted. If the white lead is pure, it should weigh about 10 per cent, more than the lump of blue lead recovered from the ladle, the 10 per cent, representing the weight of the oil in which it was ground.
Another method is to mix the paste white lead to a paint with sulphuric acid, using a glass slab and a thin strip of glass. If the paste mixes into a smooth paint without effervescence and the production of vaporous fumes, it may be regarded as pure.
Dry white lead may also be tested for earthy matter by dissolving it in nitric acid. Any sediment that will not dissolve is
74 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
China-clay, barytes, or a similar adulterant. The test should be conducted in a small phial or test tube.
White lead is produced by carbonating the metal, which is cast or rolled into convenient shapes and placed above receptacles of acid. There are several methods, of which the old Dutch process is considered the best, in which stacks of alternate pots of vinegar and bars of lead are built up, together with layers of tan bark, and left until the bars are entirely converted into the white carbonate.
Zinc Whites. — There are several whites prepared from this metal, of which the oxide is the most durable and the sulphide the best in body and covering power.
The oxide is prepared by the sublimation of the metal. The best qualities are obtained by the French and English makers, especially from the works at Vieille-Montagne and Grenelle, and at Widnes, Lanes. Some of the cheaper brands of zinc oxide have a yellowish cast, but these cover more satisfactorily than the purer whites when used in oil. The use of zinc oxide is increasing rapidly, and the product improves in quality year by year. If a percentage of white lead be added to zinc oxide, a most useful paint, with more durability than zinc and more resistance against discoloration than white lead, is produced. This mixture may vary from 25 per cent, of zinc white up to 75 per cent., according to the class of work on hand. The exact durability and utility of these mixtures have not yet been assessed, but, in my opinion, the paint so prepared is a more generally useful one than either white used alone. It is also a moot question as to whether alternate coats of each would not bring about a more definite improvement than the actual inter- mixture of the pigments, and, from limited experiment, I have proved that an outside wooden building coated with two coats of white lead and a finishing coat of zinc white has all the apparent virtues of both materials.
Zinc white should be examined for carbonate of lime and sulphate of baryta, and the acid test, using hydrochloric or nitric acid, will be the simplest, as the inert earths are insoluble in these acids, whilst the zinc dissolves completely. In using nitric acid it must not be used at full strength.
Another useful form of zinc is the sulphide. Those manufac- tured in America and Germany are found to be less free from variation than the French zinc products. There are incontest- able' superior zinc sulphides produced in this country. The Silicate Paint Company have had their well-known " Charlton white" on the market for nearly 40 years, and have continually
MATERIALS. 75
improved the product, whilst Mr. J. B. Orr, of Widnes, to whom more than to any other inventor is due the credit for the development of this manufacture, is turning out thousands of tons annually of most reliable quality, far superior to the cheaper and more largely advertised German lithopones and zinc whites. A recent improvement of the product at Widnes has been named sulfoxide of zinc. It is an oxy sulphide of zinc, and for whiteness, body, fineness, and flexibility is very much superior to the older sulphide. Its particles are perfectly homogeneous and very soft, and it mixes most intimately with the oils in grinding, so much so as to almost vie with the chemical saponification that goes on between white lead and linseed oil.
Sulphide of zinc is the base of most of the white enamels on the market, and also forms the body-colour of the best of the water-paints, such as Duresco and those of the same class, but these real paints must not be confounded with the ordinary washable distempers made from common chalk or whiting.
The general utility of zinc whites is such that, for all indoor work, decoration, and for many purposes other than painting outsides, it is to be preferred to white lead, and that it has not already entirely displaced lead for internal decorative work is due to old-fashioned prejudice and a lack of acquaintance with the modern products from zinc. Zinc sulphide cannot be safely recommended for external work. The sulfoxide, or, as it is termed under the patent, " Silox," is much more likely to become popular for outside painting in consequence of its more complete amalgamation with the oil and the more durable properties of the combined oxide. I see no reason why it .should not prove as enduring and protective a covering as white lead, but it has yet to stand the tests of ordinary everyday use under the varying conditions of our climate and on the very varied grounds to which paint is usually applied. The only tests I have yet been able to make proved entirely satisfactory.
Since a previous revision of this book, the oldest zinc white works at Grenelle have been practically transferred to Widnes, and Messrs. Orr are turning out considerably more than 10,000 tons per annum.
Proprietary Whites. — Of these there are now a very large number, both in paste form and as ready-prepared paints. Their composition is in most cases undeclared, but it may be taken for granted that they are based on zinc oxide, sulphide, and litho- pone. Few of them are reliable for outside painting. They may be divided into at least four classes : —
76 PAINTING AND DEC0KAT1NG.
1. Paste whites that are as costly as white lead, and in which sulphide of zinc and zinc oxide predominate. These are valuable for any work except exposed outside painting, and better than white lead for most internal work.
2. Paste whites, which are cheaper than white lead and con- tain at least 50 per cent, of barytes. These are suitable for rough internal work as preparatory coats only. They are usually difficult to brush out to a fine surface, and will be found to separate from the thinners very readily, forming a putty-like paste at the bottom of the can.
3. Ready-made under-coating whites for enamelling upon. These are mainly zinc sulphide, and are quite free from objection for the purpose for which they are recommended. A certain percentage of varnish imparts an even flow to most of them.
4. Ready-mixed whites of a cheap and rough kind, containing a good proportion of barytes and China clay and enough litho- pone to give body. These are of little protective value, but may be safely used for bodying up inside work, between the priming and finishing coats.
Ochres. — Ochres come next in importance. Spruce ochre or Oxford ochre, yellow ochre, and golden ochre, and Mander's yellow are the yellow varieties principally used, the latter being of a very fine hue. All are good, stable pigments, and are not much adultei'ated. They are varieties of yellow earth. The excellence of an ochre lies in its particular brilliancy of hue, and its colouring properties or staining power. A common trick in cheaper varieties is to grind it in oil when insufficiently dry to increase its weight, and also to add clays and earths of little or no colouring power to increase both bulk and weight. Ochres owe their colour to the presence of iron.
Red ochre, light red. and burnt ochre are varieties of yellow ochre subjected to calcination in kilns, but sometimes this is due to volcanic action. The same remarks apply as in the case of the raw ochres.
Raw Sienna is a translucent and strongly tinctured variety of yellow ochre originally found in North Italy. Burnt Sienna is raw Sienna calcined. Both the Siennas are permanent and valuable pigments, and their relative value depends on their transparency.
Umbers. — Raw Umber is a brown earth found in England and in the Levant. It owes its colour to the presence of iron and manganese. The Turkey Umber is the richest in colour. It is of a greenish-brown. Burnt Umber is the result of calcining raw Umber ; the colour changes to a more transparent and warmer brown.
MATERIALS. 77
The whole of these earth colours are permanent and safe in both oil and water colours, and can be purchased either ground in linseed oil or in water, as well as in powder or lump form.
Burnt Sienna and burnt Umber are very hard to grind, and it is therefore unwise to purchase them in dry form.
Browns. — Vandyke brown is the only other brown in common use by house painters. It is a peaty earth containing some amount of bitumen and iron. Artificial Vandyke brown is also much sold. The genuine article is rich in colour aud very transparent, a powerful stainer, and cannot easily be replaced by any substitute. It is a bad drier, and changes colour and substance under the heat of the sun. The artificial variety is much less dangerous in use, dries well, but has not half the depth or translucency and richness of the first named. Some of the best Vandyke, brown in colour, is liable to fusion after use in oil. In this quality it resembles bitumen or tar. If used in a water-colour glaze upon a hard ground, and varnished, it may always be relied upon. When used in oil there must be no excess of raw oil, and the substitution of varnish for raw oil is desirable. It should only be used when its transparency demands it in preference to other pigments, as for graining, &c.
Amongst other browns used by decorators, and for ornamental painting, are Cappagh brown, Mander's Seville brown, Caledonian brown, asphaltum or bitumen, Prussian brown, and Spanish brown.
Chromes. — Chrome yellows are the most brilliant yellows which are within commercial range of the house painter. Non- scientifically, chromes may be described as white pigments dyed yellow, and the different depths are produced by intensified action of the yellow dye. In most chromes the white base is white lead, and lead chromes will not retain their colour if used in water. But chromes are also made on a barytes and zinc white base under the names of lemon yellow, permanent yellow, and non-poisonous chromes. These colours are fairly permanent either in oil or water colour, but sometimes they gradually assume a greener hue. Failing any other yellow that will compare in price and purity of tone, lemon yellow is the best pale yellow for distemper colour. Chromes are sold as pale, middle, deep, and orange.
Dutch Pink. — Dutch pink, a familiar colour in the scenic artists' list, was much used by the older house painters. It is transparent when of good quality. It is less permanent than lemon yellow, and of a slightly olive tone. For glazing in oil colour or for tinting in distemper it is useful.
78 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Artists' Yellows. — Other yellows available for the artistic details of decoration are the cadmiums, gamboge, yellow lake, Indian yellow, aureolin, Naples yellow, orpiment, pure orange, or alizarin yellow.
Reds. — Venetian red of commerce is an artificial preparation of iron oxide. There is also a natural variety which is used under the name of " rouge," and constitutes the base of the red chalks so much used by artists. Venetian red is one of the best and least expensive of painters' colours, and is extremely useful and permanent in oil, water, or any other form.
Persian or Indian red is a natural earth owing its deep purplish -red to a large percentage of iron. It is perfectly permanent and useful in oil or water.
A number of red earths are sold under fancy names, all of which owe their colour to red haematite or red iron ore, different localities providing different qualities and hues; all such colours are absolutely safe for use in oil or water.
Vermilion is the brightest red at the disposal of the decorator, and although costly can hardly be dispensed with. It is a sulphide of mercury. Many qualities of artificially produced vermilion are sold. In tint they range from orange to deep scarlet. Vermilion is a permanent pigment and can be used in oil or water.
Chinese or Derby red and vermilionette are factitious repre- sentatives of vermilion at a lower cost, and are now generally superseded by Mander's Persian red, Berger's mail reds, <tc.
.Red lead is the least expensive bright red, and has all the good qualities, as well as all the failings, of white lead as a pigment. It is a most indestructible and strongly protective agent when properly incorporated with its diluents. Orange lead is a washed variety of red lead.
Brown lakes, as Victoria and mahogany lakes, damp lake, &c, are useful for water colour, and some of them are suitable for oils. They are prepared from aniline matter, and from other sources, and their permanence and use depend upon their origin and preparation.
Of artists' colours, crimson lake is used for obtaining delicate pinks. It is a product of the cochineal. Though fugitive it is sufficiently permanent for much ordinary house painters' work.
Crimson and scarlet alizarin are powerful reds of similar character to the carmines and crimsons, but are permanent. They are colours obtained from the coal-tar products.
A number of substances are now in the market under fancy names which owe their richness of hue to the same source and
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Plate 9.— PANEL DESIGNS FOR SEMI-NATURAL COLOURING. To face p. 78- ]
MATERIALS. 79
are reasonable in price. Some of the earthy reds are heightened in hue by aniline dyes and make an inexpensive class of useful bright reds. Empire fast red (Goodlass, Wall) is a non-bleeding red that may be safely used under white.
The madders are too costly for any ordinary work, except for fine touches in flower or figure painting.
Aniline Reds. — Recently introduced reds of great value and at commercial prices are Sunlight red, fire red, Antwerp crimson, Bordeaux red (all these are Mander's colours), and are due to the improvements in chemical research among the aniline group of reds.
Blues. — Prussian blue is the standard blue for oil colour use, and is quite sufficiently permanent in oil for house painting. It is useless in distemper, rapidly changing in colour as soon as mixed with whiting or any form of lime. It can be safely used in water as a glaze, and also with zinc white, if not upon a lime surface. Antwerp blue is a finer tone of a similar class of pigment, being slightly greener. The better qualities of Prussian blue are sold under the name of Chinese blue and bronze blue.
New blue or artificial ultramarine is a permanent blue of great purity. Its tint ranges from a fairly pure blue inclining to green to a decidedly violet hue. It is absolutely permanent in oil or water.
Lime blue is a cheaper pigment than artificial ultramarine, and is frequently replaced by adulterated ultramarine. It is made from copper and is unaffected by lime. It is not recom- mended for use in oil.
Other blues made from copper are useful for distemper, especi- ally for the production of pale sky blues. Of these Bremen blue and blue verditer are the best known. A recent blue of fine hue is azuline, introduced by Messrs. Mander Bros.
Cobalt is a blue of rare purity, but its price places it beyond ordinary reach. It is useful for artists' work, and is permanent in any medium.
Indigo is a useful blue for distemper or oil. It is not as much used as it might be. It is economical on account of its intensity. For deep neutral tones of blue it is unsurpassed. It is of suffi- cient permanence for ordinary decoration. Smalt is a cobalt blue not now used to any great extent. Strewing smalts were formerly much used for sign boards, &c, and consist of fine particles of blue glass, which is strewn over a coat of varnish and adheres to it.
Greens. — Most painters' greens are admixtures of yellows and blues, or yellows and blacks; these are sometimes mixed in manufacture and sometimes in grinding. The exceptions worthy
80 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
of note arc emerald green, the finest and brightest green that can be produced, for which there is no substitute. It is reliable in oil or water, but lacks body, and is crude and staling in tone if used without admixture. Natural green or terra vert — viz., green earth — is a deep olive green of translucent character, useful in oil or water, and permanent, but of no great power. Others, in less common use, are verdigris, a copper green of great intensity, but very poisonous ; only used in oil. Verditer, a copper green of a fine bluish tone, useful for artistic purposes. Cobalt green, expensive, but useful for the highest class of work in oil or water. Viridian, a transparent pure toned blue-green, quite permanent, and of great value to artists in oil or water.
The commonly known commercial mixed greens are bronze greens and quaker greens, which are ochre and black or chrome an 1 black; Brunswick greens, in shades of light, middle, deep, and ex-deep, are made from chrome and Prussian blue, with a base of bai-ytes. There are also the chrome greens — made from chrome yellows and Prussian blue, with less barytes. (There are true chrome greens obtained chemically — oxides of chrome — but they are expensive, and made for artists' use.)
Another useful class are emerald tinted greens — viz., Bruns- wick green, with an admixture of emerald green and common mineral green ; a colour made up to match the true mineral green or malachite, from verdigris and other ingredients.
The decorator will find the green lakes and aniline greens useful for glazes and stains ; also many fancy greens termed peacock, Queen Anne, olive, &c. Suffield green, of which there are several grades, Berger's holly green, Lincoln green, zinc green, and others are displacing the cruder inexpensive green pigments. They are permanent, unfading, and of greater cover- ing power than the greens of Brunswick type.
Blacks. — Blue black is a charcoal black, permanent in oil or water, but not absolutely black in colour. It is the best black for use in water, being free from fatty matter. Lamp black is a soot black of great opacity, slightly brownish in colour, useful in oil, but not a good drier, and too greasy for water. Vegetable black is a soot black of a higher order of merit. It is intensely black and of a finer, silkier texture than lamp black. It is of extreme density, and is very light in weight ; it also is too greasy for water. Drop or ivory black is a carbon black from bones and other animal refuse. It is, to use a double positive, a black black ; indeed, the blackest black we have. It has less body than vegetable black and makes a good glaze. It is a bad drier, and better adapted for oil or spirit colour than for water colour.
MATERIALS. 81
Ordinary black paint, as sent out by the dealer in paints, is usually either lamp black or vegetable black, to which has been added a certain amount of barytes, usually as much as can be added without detriment to the colour of the black. Barytes with black oxide of manganese is also sold as a black paint.
But a few years ago it was usual to grind the majority of these pigments one's self, and certainly the obligation to do this made the painter take a greater interest in the quality and nature of his materials. Now, however, even the finest colours can be procured ground in linseed oil, turpentine, or water, in the most perfect manner and by highly scientific methods.
There are numerous most useful additions to the list of pig- ments that space does not permit mention of, the most numerous being the colours made from gas-tar residuum, the number of which are constantly being increased and their purity of tone intensified.
Consistency of Colours Ground in Oil. — Colours ground in oil should have about the consistency of butter, while those ground in water may be slightly more solid — that is, of the consistency of soft clay. The finer colours should be purchased in collapsible tubes, holding 1 lb. each, and the commoner ones in -|-cwt. kegs. Those coming between these extremes may be in 7-lb. tins.
Matsine. — Colours are prepared under this and other names from transparent pigments and a matt medium, which dry hard and firm and with an eggshell gloss surface. They are useful for staining new work, scumbling or graining on painted work, &c.
Commixture of Pigments. — The commixture of pigments having different derivations is a subject that is much overlooked. In the present advanced condition of the science of chemistry we can have no certain guarantee that the colours or pigments of commerce are composed of just what we have supposed they are derived from; we are only able to form general deductions. It is, however, safe to assume, for all practical purposes, that as long as we know a pigment to be of mineral, or vegetable, or of organic origin, whatever identical means have been used to produce it, the origin will remain the same.
Derivation of Pigments. — Broadly speaking, we have altogether three classes: — Mineral, both natural and artificial; organic, both animal and artificial; and vegetable, as indigo.
Now, each of these classes will fail to prejudicially affect others of the same class as that to which they themselves belong. The first named may be taken as positively permanent, and the last ms representing fugacity. The more preparation, chemically, a colour demands in its manufacture, the less able we appear to
6
82 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
be to depend upon its lasting powers. The moral of this is that
simple pigments are most dependable ; and whenever we can produce our tints from ochres, earths, &c, we may be sure that it is best to do so, from the double point of view of economy and permanence; and when mixing, to use, where possible, each class of pigment separately.
Adulterations of Pigments. — The same difficulties meet us in detecting so-called adulteration in purchasing pigments, inas- much as the great desideratum of the painter is to get a paint which shall meet certain requirements, and not necessarily to obtain a given chemical compound. His business is chiefly to ascertain whether the paints he purchases answer his purpose, and are good relative value for their cost. It is really extremely difficult for an expert chemist to say what is and what is not adulteration, in regard especially to tinting colours.
In reference to adulteration, see that the colours are free from grit or foreign matter, and test them for staining capacity, pay- ing always a good price for a good article. Every respectable firm prefers to sell a genuine article at its real value to those who will prefer and appreciate such, rather than to deal at cutting prices for inferior stuffs. The item of great cost is not paint, but labour; and it takes a man longer to spread 2 lbs. of bad stuff over a given space, than li lbs. of good stuff over the same ground
Test for Staining Power in Pigments. — To test colours for staining powers it is necessary to have standard samples ; obtain tubes of artists' colour from a thoroughly reliable maker, and mix, say ^ ounce of each with 1 ounce of white lead of best quality. The results should be painted on a piece of glass, and preserved for reference. To use the test samples mix the same weight of the colour to be tested — viz., \ ounce with an oi nee of white lead, and compare with sample.
Twelve Colours for Oil Colour Box. — When filling an oil colour box whose capacity is restricted to, say, 12 tubes, and permanence is desired, the following will be found capable of matching every other pigment with sufficient accuracy for the decorators' purpose : —
Flake white. Vermilion.
Ivory black. Cadmium yellow .
Cappagh brown. Aureolin.
Burnt Sienna. French ultramarine.
Raw Sienna. Cobalt.
Carmine. Viridian.
Whiting. — Whiting is ground chalk (carbonate oi lime), and forms the basis of our distemper colours. All the ordinary
MATERIALS. 83
mineral colours may be used for tinting it, but it is destructive to vegetable pigments. It has great body when finely gipund. A finer preparation than that usually sold is known as gilders' whiting. Whiting is of no use as an oil paint. Its extreme lightness and porosity permit it to absorb so much oil, that it becomes almost transparent.
Prussian blue, Brunswick green, and the lakes are useless as tinting colours in whiting, the two former rapidly changing colour in a few clays.
Indigo, the ochres, Umbers, Siennas, emerald green, blue- black, Venetian or Indian red, vermilion, and lime blue, or cheap fictitious ultramarine are suitable tinting colours for distemper tinting, and will, in combination, produce almost every conceivable hue. Chrome may be used for delicate tints of cream colour, if not on a white lead base — viz., lemon yellow or barytes chrome.
Coach-Painters' Colours. — The colours used in coach -painting are similar to those used in house -painting, but are usually sold either in dry specially impalpable powder, or ready ground in turps or other prepared mediums. The latter should be sent out in hermetrically sealed and full tins, so that no oxidisation can take place prior to use. They are also put up in tubes varying from 5 inches by 1^ inches to 3 inches by 1 inch in size.
Ferrodor Paint is a mineral paint specially designed for the coating of ironwork. It will stand better on iron or steel structural work than anything I have tried, and is made in several colours, but the natural steel-grey is preferable as a preservative. This paint will stand a strong acid bath without injury, is very elastic, and of great covering power.
Eeady Mixed Paints. — Colours mixed ready for use were originally intended for amateurs, but are now largely prepared expressly for the trade, and are invaluable for export and for work removed from large centres of supply. Where a large bulk of work, as the exteriors of large public buildings, are concerned, much labour may be saved by ordering in this form, if the quantity required amounts to half a ton or more.
The past few years have, however, seen the introduction and continually extending use of paints prepared ready for use expressly for the painting trade. This has been the result of a demand for hard finish in plain colours, both in glossy and flat or dull surfaces. The supply of these paints is also due to the fact that the mixing of many paint ingredients can be better and more thoroughly accomplished by machinery in large quantities at a time than by hand. Another contributory cause
84 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
is undoubtedly the hich price and decreasing supply of tur- pentine. Many substitutes for, and many combinations of, turpentine with gums and other oils can be manipulated during the preparation of ready-made paints, and by heat and chemical additions can be made really efficient and economical substitutes. Pigments and substances that are not usually recognised by the painter may also be incorporated by the manufacturer with success and assist in the production of good paint, when, if the same substances were ignorantly added during the ordinary hand mixing, they would properly be called adulterates, and would be detrimental to the life of the paint.
Among the recent improved paints that are upon the market we find that Messrs. Lewis Berger's, Harland's, and others are thoroughly practicable painters' paints.
Many of these paints are prepared for special purposes to dry with or without a gloss, as Berger's " Varnol," which has a high gloss ; " Harlanid," which dries with little gloss and is for under- coating ; Matone, a flat enamel surface ; Robbialac, a highly glossy finish ; indestructible paint, whose name carries its object ; " Opako," a white having great cuvering power, etc. The number of these is too great to specify all. Those named are beyond question for quality, as are doubtless many others.
DRIERS. — Driers are necessary to almost all colours. Some paints, as antimony, red lead, &c, have a strong affinity for oxygen, and thus act as driers; others, as verditer and lakes, are of opposite character. The general painters' drier is termed patent driers. The original patent drier was made from sulphate of zinc, acetate of lend, litharge, and boiled linseed oil ; to make it into bulk and to reduce its rapidity to reasonable limits, white lead and barytes were added. It is now made in many ways and of many materials, the above remaining the staple ingredients. Copperas is frequently admitted into patent driers, and vitriol in other forms than the sulphate of zinc.
Good patent driers should not deepen to brown in drying or skinning ; water should have no effect on it. The skin formed should be tough and leathery.
Drying Agents for Paint. — Red lead is a drier. Sugar of lead is one of the best and safest driers for lead paints. Litharge is another good drier for all lead paints. Borate of lead and borate of manganese are used to make drying oils.
Most of these substances are capable of causing pure linseed oil to dry, if added in the proportion of about 1 lb. to the cwt. as their ulterior action on the paint is always detrimental, except in the case of litharge, sugar of lead, and red lead with white
MATERIALS. 85
lead paints, a sparing use of them is recommended. The ordinary commercial drier is often very low in drying power, and consists of as much as 80 per cent, of larytes or whiting, For. ordinary purposes 1 lb. to 14 lbs. of white lead is excessive. Varnishes may be utilised as drying agents, and are safe, if of goncl quality.
Liquid Driers and Terebine. — Liquid driers and terebine arc much used by painters, as they are conveniently added at any stage of mixing, or after mixing. The more powerful kinds are li tble to be dark, and will discolour delicate tints. The pale varieties are not such strong driers. Used too freely, all tere- bines are strongly contractile, induce cracking, and some react under heat as a kind of solvent, if very excessively used. Messrs. Harland & Sons, of Merton, produce a reliable pale liquid drier, as do Goodlass, Wall, of Liverpool. Different kinds of driers should not be used in conjunction ; indeed, the drying may be retarded, instead of hastened, by adding one kind of drier to paint that already contains another kind. The true effect of most liquid driers is seen by the soft, sticky mass that will form in the spout or about the neck of tins containing them. They must never be used in such excess as to overbalance the natural oxidisation of the oil ; about an ounce of terebine to 3 lbs. of colour is recommended. If the colour is very oily this may be increased by one-half.
Seccoline, a combination of japanners' gold size and terebine made by Messrs. Blume, is a medium between ordinary driers and the latter. It is a safe and useful article which does not discolour the tints, and is less contractile and solvent than most of the older liquid driers.
Powder Driers. — A good white powder drier for zinc or Charl- ton white may be made by mixing in powder equal quantities of sulphate of zinc, acetate of manganese, and sulphate of man- ganese, and adding sixteen times their combined weight of white oxide of zinc.
French Powder Driers. — This is a similar composition to that known as French packet driers, or powder driers. One ounce of this powder is added to 7 lbs. of ordinary paste zinc or Charlton white.
PAINTERS' OILS. — Painters' oils are usually bought by the barrel of 36 gallons. Turpentine, linseed oil, and boiled linseed oil are those in ordinary use. Nut oil, poppy oil, oil of lavender, &c, are used in decorative processes, and in picture painting.
Turpentine. — The most important is turpentine. The best turpentine should remain limpid and clear for at least a month,
86 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
if placed in an open jar and left exposed to the air] a piece of muslin laid across the jar will keep out dust, <fcc. It should also leave no oily mark if a drop is dripped upon a sheet of note- paper and held near a fire so as to allow it to evaporate. Turpentine is prepared from many sources and is of varying quality and smell. The odour of really good turps is refreshing and not nauseous. Turpentine dries mainly hy evaporation, leaving behind a resinous and somewhat sticky residuum. When used as a thinner, to paint, it causes it to dry with flat, dead, or dull surface. American and Russian turpen- tines are the most frequently used, the latter being considered the best for general purposes ; but by far the greater part of the turpentine used is American, and is perfectly reliable.
Petroleum and turpentine substitutes are used for low grade work, and are dangerous and untrustworthy, unless for special purposes.
Linseed Oil. — Tlie next in importance is linseed oil. Colour and smell are a valuable test for linseed oil in its raw state. Compare the odour with that of good crushed linseed meal. 80 also is the comparative test of weight, as against water. A measure of oil weighing 9 lbs. 6 ozs., should hold 10 lbs. of water, if the linseed oil be what it professes to be. Oil dries by oxidisation, remaining in the paint in the form of an elastic, transparent, and leathery skin.
Boiled oil is linseed oil heated to boiling point, in which a little manganese is generally steeped during the boiling process It is also known as "drying oil." The chief fault in the boiled oil of commerce is ropiness and viscidity. It should be a good colour, quite as limpid as the raw oil, and should, if spread upon a piece of glass, dry or have a skin over it in twenty-four hours. Boiled oil is often dark and cloudy (if so it should be rejected), and is slightly deeper and richer in colour than the raw oil.
Size, Glue. — For distemper colours the binding medium is size or glue. These materials are extracted from bones, horns, hoofs, leather, skins, ifcc.
Two principal qualities are present in them — viz., gelatinous- ness and adhesiveness.
For painting purposes a gelatinous size is preferable to an adhesive one, but for some purposes, as preparing walls for papering, adhesiveness is desirable. The adhesive quality in glue can be reduced, and the size therefrom purified by soaking the glue for a couple of days in cold water preparatory to dissolving it for use, This method also tests the quality of the glue, as the best glues will absorb the largest weight of water in
Plate 10.- PATTERNS SUITED TO STAINED WOOD DECORATION.
To face p. 86.]
MATERIALS. 87
a given time. One pound of good Scotch glue, when placed in water for twenty-four hours, aud taken out and weighed, should weigh at least 7 lbs.
The various products used in preparing and refining size should be removed before the size is fit for use, as acids and alkalies are often present in sufficient quantity to affect the colour of painters' pigments. Pure gelatine size is insoluble in cold water. The use of alum or vinegar in size is to precipitate the adhesive portion of the compound, leaving the gelatinous part pure and clear. It is added to the size while hot, and the size strained after the addition. Overheating of size prevents its jellying.
The addition of oil of cloves or peppermint to size gives it a pleasant odour, and prevents decomposition ; a lump of camphor floated in it, or a teaspoonful of carbolic acid, has a similar effect.
Size is purchased in the form of cake glue, cake gelatine, desiccated glue, or concentrated size, and in jelly form, known as "patent size" and "double size." The concentrated size known as Mander's, requires a 1- lb. packet to make 1| to 2 gallons of jelly size of usable strength.
Undoubtedly the most convenient form of size is the patent jelly, especially for distemper, as in this form much of the adhesive gluten has been extracted or precipitated, and the remaining part is more or less pure gelatinous matter. It is so treated as to keep good for a length of time.
It is a far more dependable and workable size for general use, always maintaining a standard strength. The strength of a size in solution may be tested by the same kind of instrument as milk is tested by for added water — viz., a lactometer, the specific gravity of a size of sufficient strength for general use being the same as that of pure milk.
The addition of sugar or glycerine to distemper colour keeps it from drying rapidly, which is sometimes desirable.
Mediums and Binders. — Starch, milk, gum-water, honey- water, and beer are all used for fixing or binding water-colour, as is also fuller's earth and other substances, but not generally by the house painter.
Washable Distempers. — Washable distempers are produced in various ways, usually by the introduction of oils made miscible with size by the addition of some solvent or medium common to both, as the addition of enough alkali to saponify the oil, or render it amenable to the action of water. They have a use in the economy of painting, being especially serviceable upon damp or new walls, and as damp-resisting media. The best washable distemper in the market is that known as " Duresco."
88 PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Plasters and Stoppings. — Plaster of Paris is gypsum. It makes a good useful stopper for walls under paper, or for distemper work, but cannot be painted upon for a few clays with safety. It is mixed with water. Caustic soda and powdered resin added to plaster will make it more porous and extremely tenacious. Plaster and red lead used mixed with oil makes a good pointing between wood and brick. Keen's cement, a sub- stitute for plaster for painted walls, can be painted upon at once ; mix with water. Mastic cement is a cement used for connecting wood and stone, or stone and metal ; it is mixed with boiled oil. It can be made from slacked lime in powder, finest sand and litharge, in equal parts, or with less litharge if not required to set quickly. Putty is linseed oil and whiting, mixed to the consistence of clay and well kneaded. It is used for stopping ordinary painted woodwork, on previously painted wall surfaces, and for glazing.
Plastine. — The best substance, however, for glazing is "plas- tine," a proprietary article of Messrs. Carson's, Battersea, which, whilst forming a skin on the surface hard enough to paint on in twenty-four hours, never gets bone dry or hard and brittle, and can always be cut out easily though holding tenaciously. It is always soft, and, therefore, does not get wasted as putty does.
Hard stopping, dry white lead, and ordinary putty, or paste white lead, and whiting are used for stopping after first coats.
Extra hard stopping is made with dry white lead and whiting, and Japan gold size, boiled oil, and turps, and is used for facing up when required to harden off at once. Filling-up powders are preparations of clay, silica, or slate in dust form ; they are used in hard varnish and turps. Harland's filling-up powder is a very reliable one and rubs down well.
Glass Paper and Smoothing Materials.— In the production of smooth surfaces, several rubbing down materials are necessary. First, glass paper for new wood, soft paint and distemper, plaster, &c. Glass paper is strong paper coated with glue, and strewn over with powdered glass, sand, firestone du-t, or emery powder. It should be flexible and stand repeated creasing with- out breaking and the sand and other particles should adhere firmly, as may be ascertained by slightly rubbing the surface with the finger tips. The particles should wholly cover the glue and be sharp and angular, points which can be determined by examination with a magnifying glass. The glass paper should be kept in a dry place and at a moderate tempera- ture, as in a moist hot place grains will become detached. It is made in degrees ranging from 0, very fine: to No. 3, very
MATERIALS. ^9
coarse; Ik is the most useful number for general work. The numbers do not express the same degree of fineness in all makes, those quoted being Oakey's. The life of glass paper in use varies considerably ; if the glue used in making the paper is a poor one it will clog immediately, especially on paint that is not too hard.
Firestone paper is good for rubbing distemper filling ; it clogs less than other papers in working.
Pumice stone in blocks is used for rubbing old or hard surfaces. It should, be light in weight and open in grain. Patent composition blocks are also made for the same purpose, of varying degrees of grain from 1 to 4, and, being of even grain throughout, are very convenient in working, especially for coach or door work. Powder pumice is used for rubbing with a felt and water, for finishing varnished or enamelled surfaces. It is sold in several degrees of fineness. Rotten stone and putty powder are used for polishing and fine finishing; rouge and fine flour for varnish polishing by hand. Steel wool has lately been much used as a surfacer. It does not clog like glass paper, and is made in varying grades up to steel shavings for coarse work. Messrs. Ridgely supply the best we have tried.
Other materials, such as varnishes, will be dealt with, and their merits discussed under their special headings.
Importance of Good Pigments. — In conclusion, it is desir- able to insist on the use of the very best materials of every description, and, in paints especially, not to rely too much upon chemical analysis and chemical purity. It is frequently a source of amazement to the initiated to find that after an architect or surveyor has made sure that he is getting the real article used that he has specified, he is really obtaining a material which, though chemically pure, is of so low a grade, and made in such a careless manner, as to be of far less value, from a technical point of view, than that which he has rejected as adulterated. The writer remembers a case, in which, for a large amount of indoor painting, where covering power was required to produce a certain effect with a specified number of coats, a mixture of § best white lead and J Charlton white was being used, it was condemned by the rather young and inexperienced architect. The employer who had the job in hand was so disgusted at his skill and honesty being called in question, that he at once ordered a ton of white lead of a cheap grade, and produced the warranty from the manufacturer; this was passed and used. The work, however, looked 50 per cent, less satisfactory, while the cost of material was just 40 per cent, less than it would have been. The true way of ascertaining if the material is good is to see how it behaves in working.
90
PAINTING AND DECORATING.
Comparative Prices of Materials. — The following is a. list of some of the principal materials now in use, with their pre- sent market values. The prices are for the best genuine articles, except when more than one price is s'ated for the same article, in which case the two prices represent the extremes of quality : —
White lead varies with the m
irket price of the metal
|
Present price, . |
25/ to 16/ per |
cwt. |
|
Red lead, |
21/ , |
|
|
Orange lead, . |
32/ , |
|
|
Patent driers, |
28/ to IS/ , |
|
|
Sugar of lead, |
6d. per |
lb. |
|
Zinc powder driers, |
•Id. . |
|
|
Putty, .... |
10/ per |
cwt. |
|
Zinc white in oil, . |
36/ to 24/ , |
|
|
Note. — Its hulk is nearly d |
3uble that of white |
lead |
|
Lead chromes in oil, |
1/ to 9d. per |
lb. |
|
Drop black in oil, . |
6d. , |
|
|
,, in turps, |
9d. , |
|
|
Black paint, . |
24/ per |
cwt. |
|
Prussian blue in oil, |
2/6 pe |
•lb. |
|
Body blue, viz., blue paint, |
6d. , |
|
|
Purple brown, |
4d. , |
|
|
Raw Sienna, . |
6d. , |
|
|
Burnt Sienna, |
9d. to 6d. |
|
|
Raw Umber, . |
4d. to 2£d. , |
, |
|
Burnt Umber, |
6d. , |
|
|
Vandyke, |
6d. . |
|
|
No. 1 Brunswick greens, (id |
per Lb. to 20/ per |
cwt. |
|
Quaker green, |
6d. to 4d. per |
lb. |
|
Ochre yellow (English), . |
36/ to 18/ per |
cwt. |
|
Real Oxford ochre or Italian, |
48, , |
|
|
Indian red, |
9d. to 6d. per |
lb. |
|
Venetian red, . |
24/ to 18/ per |
cwt. |
|
Red oxide, |
24/ to IS/ , |
|
|
Colours in powdt r— |
||
|
Chromes, |
1/3 to 6d. per |
lb. |
|
Zinc chromes, . |
1/6 , |
|
|
Dry flake white, |
6d. , |
|
|
,, zinc ,, |
4d. , |
|
|
Vermilion, |
2/9 „ |
|
|
|