FRENCH POLISHING

AND

ENAMELLING.

CHAPTER I.

THE IMPROVING AND PREPARATION OF FURNITURE WOODS.

For a French polisher to be considered a good workman he should, in addition to his ordinary ability to lay on a good polish, possess considerable knowledge of the various kinds of wood used for furniture, as well as the most approved method of bringing out to the fullest extent their natural tones or tints; he should also be able to improve the inferior kinds of wood, and to stain, bleach, or match any of the fancy materials to which his art is applied, in a manner that will produce the greatest perfection.  The following information is given to facilitate a thorough knowledge of the above processes.

=Improving.=—­Iron filings added to a decoction of gall-nuts and vinegar will give to ebony which has been discoloured an intense black, after brushing over once or twice.  Walnut or poor-coloured rosewood can be improved by boiling half an ounce of walnut-shell extract and the same quantity of catechu in a quart of soft-water, and applying with a sponge.  Half a pound of walnut husks and a like quantity of oak bark boiled in half a gallon of water will produce much the same result.  Common mahogany can be improved by rubbing it with powdered red-chalk (ruddle) and a woollen rag, or by first wiping the surface with liquid ammonia, and red-oiling afterwards.  For a rich mild red colour, rectified spirits of naphtha, dyed with camwood dust, or an oily decoction of alkanet-root.  Methylated spirits and a small quantity of dragon’s blood will also produce a mild red.  Any yellow wood can be improved by an alcoholic solution of Persian berries, fustic, turmeric, or gamboge.  An aqueous decoction of barberry-root will serve the same purpose.  Birch when preferred a warm tint may be sponged with oil, very slightly tinted with rose-madder or Venetian red; the greatest care should be used, or it will be rendered unnatural in appearance by becoming too red.  Maple which is of a dirty-brown colour, or of a cold grey tint, and mahogany, ash, oak, or any of the light-coloured woods, can be whitened by the bleaching fluid (see “MATCHING").  Numerous materials may be improved by the aid of raw linseed-oil mixed with a little spirits of turpentine.  Artificial graining may be given to various woods by means of a camel-hair pencil and raw oil; two or three coats should be given, and after standing for some time the ground should have one coat of oil much diluted with spirits of turpentine, and then rubbed off.