It differs from varnishing in the manner of applying it to the articles. This is done by rubbing it upon their surface with a fine cloth, and using oil and spirit of wine during the process, as will now be more particularly described.

The varnish is composed of—

Shell-lac, three parts;
Gum-mastich, one part;
Gum-Sandarach, one part;
Spirit of wine, 40 parts.

The mastich and Sandarach must first be dissolved in the spirit of wine, and then the shelllac: the process may be performed by putting them into a bottle loosely corked, and placing it in a vessel of water heated to a little below 173°; or the boiling point of spirit of wine, until the solution be effected; the clear solution may be poured off into another bottle for use.

In applying it to large surfaces, use a rubber formed of a flat coil of thick woollen cloth, such as drugget, which must be torn off the piece, in order that the face of the rubber, which is made of the torn edge of the cloth, may be soft and pliant, and not hard and stiff, as would be the case were it to be cut off, and thereby be liable to scratch the soft surface of the varnish. This rubber is to be securely bound with thread, to prevent it from uncoiling when it is used; and it may vary in its size from one to three inches in diameter, and from one to two inches in thickness, according to the extent of the surface to be varnished.

The varnish is to be applied to the middle of the flat face of the rubber by shaking up the bottle containing it against the rubber; it will absorb a considerable quantity, and will continue to supply it equally, and in a due proportion to the surface which is undergoing the process of polishing. The face of the rubber must next be covered by a soft linen-cloth doubled, the remainder of the cloth being gathered together at the back of the rubber to form a handle to hold it by, and the face of the cloth must be moistened with a little raw linseed-oil, (which may either be coloured with alkanet-root, or not,) applied upon the finger to the middle of it, and the operation be commenced by quickly and lightly rubbing the surface of the article to be polished in a constant succession of small circular strokes; and the operation must be confined to a space not more than 10 or 12 inches square, until such space is finished, when an adjoining one may be commenced, and united with the first, and so on, until the whole surface is covered. The varnish is inclosed by the double fold of the cloth; which, by absorption, becomes merely moistened with it, and the rubbing of each place must be continued until it becomes nearly dry. The rubber may, for a second coat, be wetted with the varnish without oil, and applied as before. A third coat must also be given in the same manner; then a fourth, with a little oil, which must be followed, as before, with two others without oil; and thus proceeding until the varnish has acquired some thickness, which will be after a few repetitions, and depends on the care that has been taken in finishing the surface. Then a little spirit of wine may be applied to the inside of the rubber after wetting it with the varnish, and being covered with the linen as before, it must be very quickly and uniformly rubbed over every part of the surface which will tend to make it even, and very much conduce to its polish. The cloth must next be wetted a little with spirit of wine and oil without varnish, and the surface being rubbed over, with the precautions last mentioned, until it is nearly dry, the effect of the operation will be seen; and if it be found that it is not complete, the process must be continued with the introduction of spirit of wine in its turn, as directed, until the surface becomes uniformly smooth, and beautifully polished. The work to be polished should be placed opposite to the light, in order that

the effect of the polishing may be better seen. In this manner a surface of from one to eight feet square may be polished at once, and the process, instead of being limited to the polishing of rich cabinets, or other smaller works, can now be applied to tables, and other large pieces of furniture, with very great advantages over the common way of polishing with wax-oils, &c. In some cases, it is esteemed preferable to rub the wood over with a little oil applied on a linen cloth before beginning to polish; but we doubt the propriety of this method.

115. When the colour of the wood to be polished is dark, a harder polish may be made by making the composition of one part of shell-lac and eight parts of spirit of wine, and proceed as before.

Various receipts for the French polish have been published, in which ingredients are inserted that are insoluble in spirit of wine, and therefore useless; and others contain ingredients that are soluble in water, so as to render the mixture more easily injured.

For work polished by the French polish, the recesses, or carved work, or where the surfaces are not liable to wear, or difficult to get at with the rubber, a spirit-varnish made, without lac, and considerably thicker than that used in the above process, may be applied to those parts with a brush or hair-pencil, as is commonly done in other modes of varnishing.

116. The French polish is not proper for dining-tables, nor for any thing where it is liable to be partially exposed to considerable heat; but the beautiful effect it produces has caused it sometimes to be improperly applied.

Of Varnishing Furniture.

117. There are several species of furniture which are varnished; such as works in whitewood, boxes, and other small articles much used, and carved work, which is difficult to polish. Lately, varnish has also been used for tables, side-boards, and chairs. The best method of proceeding is to purchase the varnish ready made for use, as the process of making is tedious and expensive.

118. Copal varnish is of an extremely durable kind; it is transparent, and forms one of the most beautiful and perfect varnishes for coloured wood, where a slight tinge of brown is not objectionable. It is difficult to make, but may be procured of japan-manufacturers or coachmakers. It may be used for various articles, and is the only species which succeeds for diningtables. The coats should be laid on as thinly as possible, and allowed to become well dry between each.

119. For light coloured woods, hard white varnish is used. Various receipts are given for this purpose, in all of which particular attention must be given to choosing colourless gums. A fine colourless varnish may be made by dissolving four parts of gum-Sandarach, and one part of Venice turpentine, in 16 parts of spirit of wine by a gentle heat. 120. A more compound varnish is used by the French artists: it consists of

Spirit of wine, 32 parts;

Gum-Sandarach, 5 parts;
Mastich, 2 parts;
Gum-elemi, 1 part;

Oil of lavender, 1 part.

The whole being dissolved in a vessel placed in a water-bath kept at such a temperature that the spirit does not boil. After the solution is cold, it is to be filtered for use.

121. From four to six coats of either of these varnishes are laid on the work, taking care to let each coat become perfectly dry before another be added; and when the last coat is dry, the work must be polished with tripoli and water, by means of a compact rubber of drugget or list, and the surface being next washed with water, it is finally rubbed off with a clean fine linen rag and bran.

Of Cleaning Old Furniture.

122. The modes of keeping furniture in order, depend on the manner in which it has been polished. When articles have been finished with French polish, they may be cleaned with a little spirits of turpentine, which will remove grease or dirt without softening the varnish, if it be quickly done.

Furniture that has been polished with wax-composition should be kept in order by the use of the same composition (see art. 112) used in small quantity, and well rubbed off.

And where furniture has been polished with oil, it may be occasionally slightly rubbed with oil stained by alkanet-root, (see art. 111,) and well cleared off by continued rubbing.

123. When tables or other articles have got into a bad state by improper treatment, but are not stained, the best mode is to wash them clean with spirits of turpentine, and repolish them with furniture oil. But when stains are to be removed, the surface should be washed with stale beer, or common vinegar, warmed; and the stains removed by rubbing them with a rag dipped in spirits of salt, after which it may be repolished in the manner of new work.

The lacquered brass-work of furniture should be cleaned by washing it with warm water by means of a soft linen or muslin rag. Spots not removable by this method cannot be got out without re-lacquering.

124. Where old furniture of mahogany has to be repaired with new wood, the colour of the new parts may be darkened by applying soap and water; or, where very dark wood is to be imitated, the new parts may be washed with lime-water.

INDEX AND GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS

USED IN CABINET-MAKING;

WITH REFERENCES TO THE PAGES IN WHICH THE VARIOUS SUBJECTS ARE TREATED, AND
AN EXPLANATION OF SUCH TERMS AS ARE NOT ALREADY PARTICULARLY DEFINED
IN THE WORK.