A Complete Guide to the Ornamental Leather Work Part 4

Recipes.

TO MAKE SIZE FOR STIFFENING THE LEATHER WORK.

Simmer 4 oz. of strips of parchment in 8 oz. of water till it is reduced one-half; skim off any impurities that may arise to the surface, then strain it through a fine sieve, or cloth, into a basin; leave it till cold, when it will be firm and clear; when required for use, cut off as much as you want, and warm it. Use while warm.

TO MAKE STIFFENING WHICH IS NOT AFFECTED BY DAMP.

Mix, cold, 2 oz. of Australian red gum, 6 oz. of orange sh.e.l.lac, pint spirits of wine; put all into a bottle, and shake it up occasionally till the gums are dissolved; strain, and it is fit for use.

This is far preferable to the above size, as it is more hardening, dries quicker, is always ready for use, and is never affected by damp in change of weather.

TO MAKE MAHOGANY VARNISH STAIN, WHICH DRIES IN A FEW MINUTES.

Mix, cold, lb. Australian red gum, lb. garnet sh.e.l.lac, 1 pint spirits of wine; put them in a bottle, and shake occasionally, till the gum is dissolved; strain, and it is fit for use. The above makes a capital varnish for leather of all kinds, especially for the leather covers of old books; it preserves them, and gives an appearance almost equal to new.

SPIRIT OAK VARNISH STAIN

Can be made by adding to the above mahogany stain, a small portion of vegetable black, and shaking it up till well incorporated. To use the spirit oak stain on larger surfaces we have found it preferable to apply it in the same manner as a French polish--namely, let all dirt and wax be perfectly rubbed off with fine gla.s.s paper, till quite smooth, then make a flannel rubber in the form of a printer's dabber, put a little stain on the dabber, and put a clean calico rag over it; apply a little linseed oil, with your finger, to the calico, and commence rubbing over a small s.p.a.ce, in a circular direction (never suffering the rubber to remain on any part), till you feel it become tacky, then apply a little more oil, and so on, till the stain on the rubber is exhausted. Should the stain become too thick to work freely, add a few drops of spirits of wine, and shake it well together. When you have raised a fine polish over the surface, let it remain a few hours to harden, then take a clean bit of calico, and just damp it with spirits of wine, rub it lightly over the surface in a circular direction, which, repeated two or three times, will clear off all smears, and leave the most beautiful gloss ever seen.

In this latter process of finis.h.i.+ng off, you must be cautious not to damp the rag too much, for that would instantly destroy all the polish; also, to change the rag often, and not suffer it to remain on any part.

For carved work it is only necessary to clean it as before directed, and apply the stain with a camel's-hair brush, by a gentle fire, letting it dry between each application.

The best oak varnish stain is that made with asphaltum; but, as the manufacturing is attended with great danger, we think it best not to give the particulars; and it can be procured cheaper than it could be made in small quant.i.ties.

TO PRESERVE LEAVES AND KEEP THEM IN FORM FOR IMITATION.

Procure 1 lb. or more of white starch powder, dry it well in an open dish before the fire, put it on one side to cool, when quite cool, put a layer of half an inch at the bottom of a small box, observing that the box also is dry; gather the leaves, if possible, on a fine summer day, and lay as many leaves gently on the starch powder at the bottom of the box as can be done without interfering with each other, then sprinkle starch powder over them, and shake it down so that the powder settles all round above and below the leaves until they are completely covered, and about half an inch of the starch powder above them, then put another layer of leaves, and proceed with the starch powder as before until the box is filled, then press the top part, quite full of starch powder, fastening the lid of the box firmly down until the leaves are required.

Ferns and flat leaves can be preserved by placing them between sheets of blotting paper under a weight.

TO GILD LEATHER WORK.

_The materials necessary for gilding of this kind are_--

A Gilder's Knife.

A ditto Cus.h.i.+on.

Some Gold Leaf.

A little Cotton Wool.

A few Camel's Hair Pencils.

One or two Hog's Hair Tools.

A Tip.

Oil Gold Size.

Fat Oil.

Drying Oil, and a Burnis.h.i.+ng Stone.

They cost only a few s.h.i.+llings, and with care last a very long time.

Size the wood work twice over with parchment size, cut all the leaves, and make the flowers in the usual manner; size them all over twice with parchment size; nail them down to the frame, and glue them when tacks would look unsightly: needle points are very useful in this work to secure it firmly, and cut them short off when the glued parts are dry--all the flowers and leaves being attached, go over the entire work again with parchment size very thinly; the parchment size must be used warm; when the size is dry, mix well in a cup or any clean earthen vessel about an ounce of oil gold size, and with equal parts of fat oil and drying oil thin the gold size to the consistence of cream; take a hog's-hair tool, and with it brush equally and very thinly all over every part that can be seen with this prepared gold size, set it on one side for an hour or two or more, until it has become almost dry, and just sticks to your fingers when touched: it must now be gilded all over, and to do this, take a book of gold, handling it quietly, and mind there is no draft, as a current of air would blow all the gold away: turn out of the book two or three leaves of gold upon the cus.h.i.+on, and blow gently upon the centre of each leaf, to make them lay flat on the cus.h.i.+on; with the gilder's knife cut the gold leaves into the sizes required to cover the work, and with the tip of the gilder's knife take up the gold from the cus.h.i.+on and lay it all over the frame till it is covered, pressing the gold down with a large camel hair tool or a piece of cotton wool, taking care not to rub it backward or forward, but to put it very straight down on to the work; should there be any holes left, cut small pieces of gold leaf and lay over them, pressing the gold down, proceeding in the above manner till the frame is covered all over with gold; it must then be left to dry an hour or two, and when dry brush all the loose gold off with a large camel hair or badger's hair tool, and the gilding is completed. Leather work gilded by the above process will bear was.h.i.+ng, and is the most durable kind of gilding known.

TO BURNISH GOLD.

Acorns and any wooden part attached to leather work can be burnished, which adds much to the variety of the work, and is done in the following manner:--that part of the work intended to be burnished must be prepared exactly as above, except that instead of using the prepared oil gold size take the white of an egg and give the work a coat of it, let it dry, then give it another coat, and when nearly dry see that it lays on evenly; apply the gold leaf all over; leave it an hour or two to become hard; then burnish it by rubbing it all over with a burnis.h.i.+ng stone or any very hard and perfectly smooth substance. This burnish gilding is far more brilliant than the oil gold, but will not wash, and is not so durable.

[Decoration]

BEE HIVES.

Bee Hives can be made with leather stems, as follows:--Cut a piece of wood to the shape and size required; wind and glue upon it the stems, beginning at the top, and finis.h.i.+ng off at the bottom. To join the stems as you proceed, cut each end to an angle, so that they fit; join them with liquid glue, and tie a piece of thread round to hold them tightly together until the glue is dry. When the hive is completed, that portion of thread left visible can be cut off.

To imitate the tying seen in hives, mark with a pen, or a camel's hair pencil, with the darkest stain, lines and dots from top to bottom; cut a small piece out of the lower tier to make the entrance, and put a little handle at the top with a piece of stem.

When made as above, on wood, and well glued, they can be sawn in halves, thus making two. Placed amongst foliage, frames, &c., they are quite in keeping, and have a pleasing effect.

[Decoration]

TO PAINT ORNAMENTAL LEATHER WORK.