Take sh.e.l.lac varnish, one-half gallon; lampblack, five ounces; powdered iron ore or emery in fine powder, three ounces. If too thick, thin down with alcohol. Give the wood three coats of the composition, allowing each to dry before putting on the next. The first coat may be of sh.e.l.lac and lampblack alone.

TO CLEAN STEEL PENS.

Potato is used to clean steel pens, and generally act as a pen-wiper. It removes all ink crust, and gives a peculiarly smooth flow to the ink. Pa.s.s new pens two or three times through a gas flame, and then the ink will flow freely.

STATIONERS' WINDOWS.

It is important that strangers should get a good impression with a tasty window, or a polite reception when entering the store. Remember that first impressions go a great way, and when once formed, good or bad, are very hard to get rid of. Make it a special point to clean the window once a week, put in different stock every time, and do not be afraid to display goods because the dust will spoil them. If the article in question is delicate and easily ruined, leave it in the window only a few days; display samples of the latest goods, and, if necessary, buy some article that is showy, and which you think will attract people, especially for the window, even though the amount expended is "sunk." It will certainly pay in the end. If your stock of a certain article or cla.s.s of goods is large, devote the whole window to it for a week.

It is impossible to give rules for the arrangement, which, of course, depends on the goods to be shown and the taste of the person dressing the window. Stamped papers and visiting cards can be shown effectively in the following manner:--Have a number of wooden blocks made the size of a quarter of a ream of paper and a package of visiting cards; wrap these neatly with a sample sheet of paper or cards on the outside, tied with ribbon. Another way to show printed visiting cards is to make a small pyramid of them by taking three small square boxes of different sizes, which, when placed one on top of the other, will form a small pyramid.

Cover these entirely with samples of visiting cards, and place in the center of the window.

PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHIC TRANSFER PAPER.

Photo-lithographic transfer paper and ink are prepared in the following manner:--The paper is treated with a solution of a hundred parts of gelatine and one part of chrome alum in 2,400 parts of water. After drying, it is treated with the white of egg. It is made sensitive with a bath consisting of one part of chrome alum, 14 parts of water and 4 parts of alcohol. The latter ingredient prevents the white of egg from dissolving. On the dark places the white of egg, together with the ink with which the exposed paper has been coated, separates in water. The transfer ink consists of 20 parts of printing ink, 50 parts of wax, 40 parts of tallow, 35 parts of colophony, 210 parts of oil of turpentine, 30 parts of Berlin blue. It is found that a varnish formed of Canadian balsam, dissolved in turpentine, supplies a most valuable means of making paper transparent. The mode by which this is most satisfactorily accomplished is by applying a thin coating of this varnish to the paper, so as to permeate it thoroughly, after which it is to be coated on both sides with a much thicker mixture. The paper is kept warm by performing the operation before a hot fire, and a third and even a fourth coating may be applied until the texture of the paper is seen to merge into h.o.m.ogeneous translucency. Paper prepared according to this process is said to come nearer than any other to the highest standard of perfection in transparent paper. Care must be used in making, as the materials are highly inflammable.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF ENGRAVING.

"Line" engraving is of the highest order. All engravings are done in "line"--simply straight lines. Next comes "line" and "stiple." "Stiple"

means dots--small dots like this:--....--.... These small dots are used to lighten up the high parts of the face or drapery. It is very hard to engrave a face in lines, simply, and only master engravers have ever undertaken it. The masters understand and practice both in "line" and "stiple." Claude Mellan engraved, in 1700, a full head of Christ, with one unbroken line. This line commenced at the apex of the nose, and wound out and out like a watch spring. Mezzotint engravings are produced thus:--The steel or copper is made rough like fine sand paper. To produce soft effects, this rough surface is sc.r.a.ped off. If you want a high place or "high light" in your engraving, sc.r.a.pe the surface smooth, then the ink will not touch it. If you want faint color, sc.r.a.pe off a little. Such engravings look like lithographs. Etching is adapted to homely and familiar-sketches. Etching is done thus:--The copper or steel plate is heated and covered with black varnish. The engraver scratches off this varnish with sharp needles, working on the surface as he would on paper with a pencil. Nitric acid is then pa.s.sed over the plate, and it eats away at the steel and copper wherever the needle has sc.r.a.ped off the varnish.

When the varnish is removed with spirits of turpentine, the engraving is seen in sunken lines on the plate.

HOW TO PRESERVE PENCIL SKETCHES.

The pencil drawings of mechanical draughtsmen and engineers may be rendered ineffaceable by the following process:--Slightly warm a sheet of ordinary drawing paper, then place it carefully on the surface of a solution of white resin in alcohol, leaving it there long enough to become thoroughly moistened. Afterward dry it in a current of warm air. Paper prepared in this way has a very smooth surface. In order to fix the drawing, the paper is to be warmed for a few moments. This process may prove useful for the preservation of plans or designs when the want of time or any other cause will not allow the draughtsman reproducing them in ink. A simpler method than the above, however, is to brush over the back of the paper containing the charcoal or pencil sketch with a weak solution of white sh.e.l.lac in alcohol.

CARE OF WOOD TYPE.

Wood type should always be kept in a cool and dry place--not, as is often the case, a few feet from a large stove, or directly over the lye and wash tub. The drawer or shelves--drawers or cases are preferable to shelves--where they are kept, should not, as very often happens, be made of unseasoned wood, for this reason: type wood is usually perfectly seasoned, and when allowed to remain for any length of time on a damp surface, the moisture is absorbed, the bottom expands, and a warped type, ready to be broken at the first impression, is the result.

Wood type should only be washed with oil. A moistened cloth is sufficient, is more economical, and is certainly much cleaner than using their weight in oil. All wood type have a smooth and polished face, and if properly cleaned when put away will last for years. In fact, proper use only improves the working qualities. Wood type forms should not be left standing near hot stoves, or left locked up over night on a damp press or stone to warp, swell, and perhaps ruin a costly chase.

COPPER-PLATING ON ZINC.

Take an organic salt of copper--for instance, a tartrate. Dissolve 126 grammes sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) in two litres of water; also 227 grammes tartrate of potash and 286 grammes crystallized carbonate of soda in 2 litres of water. On mixing the two solutions, a light bluish-green precipitate of tartrate of copper is formed. It is thrown on a linen filter and afterwards dissolved in half a litre of caustic soda solution of 16 B. when it is ready for use.

The coating obtained from this solution is very pliable, smooth and coherent, with a fine surface; acquires any desired thickness if left long enough in the bath.

Other metals can also be employed for plating, in the form of tartrates.

Instead of tartrates, phosphates, oxalates, citrates, acetates and borates of metals can be used; so that it seems possible to entirely dispense with the use of cyanide baths.

TO TRANSFER ENGRAVINGS TO MOTHER-OF-PEARL.

To transfer engravings to mother-of-pearl, coat the sh.e.l.l with thin white copal varnish. As soon as the varnish becomes sticky, place the engraving face down on it, and press it well into the varnish. After the varnish becomes thoroughly dry, moisten the back of the engraving and remove the paper very carefully by rubbing. When the paper is all removed and the surface becomes dry, varnish lightly with copal.

METAL FOR STEREOTYPING.

For every six pounds of lead add one pound of antimony. The antimony should be broken into very small pieces, and thrown on the top of the lead when it is at red heat. It is a white metal, and so brittle that it may be reduced to powder; it melts when heated to redness; at a higher heat it evaporates.

The cheapest and most simple mode of making a stereotype metal is to melt old type, and to every fourteen pounds add about six pounds of grocer's tea-chest lead. To prevent any smoke arising from the melting of tea-chest lead it is necessary to melt it over an ordinary fire-place, for the purpose of cleansing it, which can be done by throwing in a small piece of tallow about the size of a nut, and stir it briskly with the ladle, when the impurities will rise to the surface, and can be skimmed off.

In the mixing of lead and type-metal see that there are no pieces of zinc among it, the least portion of which will spoil the whole of the other metal that is mixed with it. Zinc is of a bluish white color; its hue is intermediate between that of lead and tin. It takes about eighty degrees more heat than lead to bring it into fusion; therefore, should any metal float on the top of the lead, do not try to mix it, but immediately take it off with the ladle.

HOW TO FIX PENCIL MARKS SO THEY WILL NOT RUB.

To fix pencil marks so they will not rub, take well skimmed milk and dilute with an equal bulk of water. Wash the pencil marks (whether writing or drawing) with this liquid, using a soft camel-hair brush, and avoid all rubbing. Place upon a flat board to dry.

HOW TO OBTAIN A BRIGHT AND LASTING RED EDGE.

A bright and lasting red edge may be obtained by the following process:--Take the best vermillion and add a pinch of carmine; mix this with glaire, slightly diluted. Take the book and bend over the edge so as to allow the color to slightly permeate it; then apply the color with a bit of fine Turkey sponge, bend over the edge in the opposite direction, and color again. When the three edges have been done in this manner, allow them to dry. Next screw the book tightly up in the cutting press, and after wiping the edge with a waxed rag, burnish well with a flat agate burnisher.

TO RESTORE THE l.u.s.tRE OF MOROCCO LEATHER.

The l.u.s.tre of morocco leather is restored by varnishing with white of egg.

TO RESTORE THE ORIGINAL WHITENESS OF COPPER-PLATE, WOOD ENGRAVING, ETC.

The following process will restore the original whiteness of copper-plate, wood-engraving or printed matter:--Place a piece of phosphorus in a large gla.s.s vessel; pour in water of 30 centigrade (that is 86 Fahrenheit) temperature until the phosphorus is half covered. Cork up, but not tightly, the gla.s.s vessel, and lay it in a moderately warm place for fourteen hours. Damp the paper that is to be bleached, with distilled water; fasten it to a piece of platinum wire and hang it up inside the gla.s.s vessel. The faded paper after a short time will regain its original white color. It should then be taken out and washed in water; next drawn through a weak solution of soda, and finally dipped in pure water and laid on a gla.s.s table, and thus made dry and smooth.

FOR ELECTROTYPING ON CHINA.

For electrotyping on China and similar non-conducting materials:--Sulphur is dissolved in oil of spike lavender to a syrupy consistence; then chloride of gold or chloride of platinum is dissolved in ether, and the two solutions mixed under a gentle heat. The compound is next evaporated until the thickness of ordinary paint, in which condition it is applied with a brush to such portions of the china, gla.s.s or other fabric as it is desired to cover, according to the design or pattern, with the electrometallic deposit. The objects are baked in the usual way before they are immersed in the bath.

PAINTING ON EBONIZED WOOD.

The great difficulty to be overcome in painting on ebonized wood, is the non-absorbent character of the surface, which will not allow the paint to sink in. Washing the panel over with onion juice enables the paint to adhere more easily. The paint, whether oil or water color, must be laid on thickly. In order that the painting, whether of flowers or figures, shall prove a decoration, the black s.p.a.ce between the painted figures must be graceful in shape. Water color paintings on such panels require to be varnished. Oil color does not need the varnish.

HOW GILDING IS DONE.

Letters written on vellum or paper are gilded in three ways. In the first a little size is mixed with the ink, and the letters are written as usual; when they are dry a slight degree of stickiness is produced by breathing on them, upon which the gold leaf is immediately applied, and by a little pressure may be made to adhere with sufficient firmness. In the second method some white lead or chalk is ground up with strong size, and the letters are made with this by means of a brush; when the mixture is almost dry, the gold leaf may be laid on and afterward burnished. The best method is to mix up some gold powder with size, and make the letters of this by means of a brush.

The edges of the leaves of books are gilded while in the binders' press, by first applying a composition formed of four parts of Armenian bole and one of sugar candy, ground together to a proper consistence; it is laid on by a brush with white of egg; this coating, when nearly dry, is smoothed by the burnisher; it is then slightly moistened with clear water, the gold leaf applied, and afterwards burnished.