John Sawtelle Ford

“ Few know how to judge of quality except by the price they pay for it. But price is no criterion; neither is color, upon which so many depend. Its adhesive and lasting properties depend more upon the material from which it is made, and the method of securing purity in the raw material, for if that is inferior and not well cleansed, the product will have to be unduly charged with alum or some other antiseptic, to make it keep during the drying process. Weathered glue is that which has experienced unfavorable weather while drying, at which time it is rather a delicate substance. ”

“ Draughtsmen are aware that lines drawn on paper with good India ink well prepared cannot be washed out by mere sponging or washing. Now, however, it is proposed to take advantage of the fact that glue or gelatine, when mixed with bichromate of potassa, and exposed to the light, becomes insoluble, and thus renders India ink, which always contains a little gelatine, indelible. ”

“ To gild in oil, the wood, after being properly smoothed, is covered with a coat of gold size, made of drying linseed oil mixed with yellow ochre. When this has become so dry as to adhere to the fingers without soiling them, the gold leaf is laid on with great care and dexterity, and pressed down with cotton wool. Places that have been missed are covered with small pieces of gold leaf, and when the whole is dry the ragged bits are rubbed off with cotton. This is by far the easiest mode of gilding. ”

“ Where machine rollers are required for a weekly newspaper, they should be washed ready for the first set of forms, and when the number is long, a second set should be got ready and inked to work the second side, as the paper throws off a quantity of cotton waste, and powder, and neutralizes the tack so necessary to the face of a good roller and a clear impression. Should a roller require cleaning for a hurried work, the old ink may be removed with turpentine, but must be done quickly, and immediately distributed on the ink table, or the face will harden. ”

“ To make aniline ink paper thick filtering paper is soaked in a very concentrated solution of an aniline dye and allowed to dry; it may then be soaked again to make it absorb more color. With a little attention it will not be difficult to prepare the paper so as to have a known quantity of coloring matter in a square of a given size. Paper prepared as above is very convenient to have when traveling; when one wishes to write, it is only necessary to tear off a small piece of the paper and let it soak in a little water. Aniline blue paper may also be employed conveniently for bluing in washing. ”

“ Perhaps the first qualification about a good writing paper is its cleanliness and freedom from specks of all kinds. A dirty paper is never salable except to dirty people and firms who don’t mind using dirty materials.
Paste for Labels.
For adhesive labels dissolve 11⁄2 ozs. common glue, which has laid a day in cold water, with some candy sugar, and 3⁄4 oz. gum arabic, in 6 ounces hot water, stirring constantly till the whole is homogeneous. If this paste is applied to labels with a brush and allowed to dry, they will then be ready for use by merely moistening with the tongue. ”

“ 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 homogeneous translucency. ”

“ When rollers have been lying for weeks with a coating of ink dried on to the surface—a circumstance that often occurs, more especially when colored inks have been used—get an ordinary red paving brick (an old one with the edges worn away will be the best) , place the roller on a board, then dip the brick in a trough of cold water, and work it gently to and fro on the surface from end to end, taking care to apply plenty of water, dipping the brick in repeatedly; and in a short time the ink will disappear. ”

“ Leaning on the brush not only wears away the bristles, but sometimes injures the face of the type, too. It is a bad practice.
After washing, before printing, a sponge with pure water should be passed lightly over the form, and then the form should be dried with a cloth. Care should be taken not to use a woolen cloth, which is liable to leave little pieces on the face of the types, and to see that there are no hard substances in it. After printing it is always best to wash with turpentine. ”

“ Gold leaf printing requires much more care than bronze printing, but if properly managed will be found to be a great improvement. Ink should be made of chrome yellow, mixed with Venice turpentine, virgin wax and varnish. Cut the gold leaf into slips a shade wider than the lines it is to cover, ink the form in the usual way, and pull a sheet; then lay on the gold leaf with [Pg 81] no great harm. Some colors will not keep at all, and others deposit at the bottom of the can almost all their solid ingredients. ”

“ Pale leaf gold has a greenish-yellow color, and is an alloy of gold with silver. Dutch gold leaf is only copper colored with the fumes of zinc. Being much cheaper than [Pg 48] gold leaf, it is very useful when large quantities of gilding are required in places where it can be defended from the weather, as it changes color if exposed to moisture; and it should be covered with varnish. Silver leaf is prepared like gold leaf, but when applied should be kept well covered with varnish, as otherwise it will tarnish. A transparent yellow varnish will give it the appearance of gold.
Gilding in Oil. ”

“ Gamboge, a transparent color, is very useful in mixture with Prussian blue; or chromate of lead and Prussian blue may be used. The varnish, having a yellow tinge, has an effect upon the mixture, and should be taken into account. With a slight quantity of Antwerp blue, varnish in itself will produce a decidedly greenish tint. Verdigris and green verditer also give greens. If Chinese blue be added to pale chrome, it gives a good green, and any shade can be obtained by increasing or diminishing either color. ”

“ To make incombustible writing and printing paper, asbestos of the best quality is treated with potassium permanganate and then with sulphuric acid. About ninety-five per cent of such asbestos is mixed with five per cent of wood pulp in water containing borax and glue. A fire proof ink is made of platinous chloride and oil of lavender, mixed for writing with India ink and gum, and for printing with lampblack and varnish. ”

“ A copying ink, so slow drying that writing in it can be copied by the use of no greater pressure than the hand can produce when passed over a sheet of paper, may be made by boiling away nearly half of some ordinary writing fluid and then adding as much glycerine.
A Good Paster.
Let a little starch lie in vinegar over night. Pour in boiling water, stirring briskly till it thickens. It will keep better if a few drops of carbolic acid are added. A very little corrosive sublimate will keep out insects. A little glue dissolved in the vinegar will make it stronger. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Red printing ink may be made in this way:—Boil linseed oil until smoke is given off. Set the oil then on fire, and allow it to burn until it can be drawn out into strings half an inch long. Add one pound of resin for each quart of oil, and one-half pound of dry, brown soap cut into slices. The soap must be put in cautiously, as the water in the soap causes a violent commotion. Lastly, the oil is ground with a sufficient pigment on a stone by means of a muller. Vermilion, red lead, carmine, Indian red, Venetian red, and the lakes are all suitable for printing inks. ”

“ Tints of any desired depth may be made by using a finely-ground white ink as a basis, and toning it with the color desired.
Varnish tints are made by adding color to full-bodied, well-boiled printers’ varnish, using a little soap and drying preparation to make them work smoothly and dry quickly.
In mixing tints to print with, the muller should be used to rub in the colors thoroughly, otherwise the work is liable to be streaky. It is advisable to mix no more of a tint than is needed for the work in hand. ”

“ Red and some other colored inks are often found to become so hard in a few weeks after the can has been opened that the knife can scarcely be got into them, and they cannot be got to work at all. Oil, varnish and turpentine are of no use in such a case; the remedy is paraffine oil mixed well up with the old ink. Many prefer paraffine oil rather than boiled oil or turps for thinning down both black and colored inks. ”

“ Steep in a solution of common salt and alum, and after being made into paper coat with an alcoholic solution of shellac. By plunging a sheet of paper into an ammoniacal solution of copper for an instant, then passing it between the cylinders and drying it, it is rendered entirely impermeable to water, and may even be boiled without disintegrating. Two, three, or any number of sheets rolled together become permanently adherent, and form a material having the strength of wood. By the interposition of cloth or any kind of fiber between the layers, the strength is greatly increased. ”

“ To take printer’s ink out of silk without damaging the goods:—Put the stained parts of the fabric into a quantity of benzine, then use a fine, rather stiff brush, with fresh benzine. Dry and rub bright with warm water and curd soap. The benzine will not injure the fabric or dye.
To Remove Ruling Ink Stains From Fingers.
Wash in chloride of lime and then rinse hands in a spoonful of alcohol. The operation should be done quickly, as the lime, of course, eats into the flesh. The alcohol renders the hands smooth again, and takes away the disagreeable odor. ”

“ To remove ink stains from mahogany apply carefully with a feather a mixture of a teaspoonful of water and a few drops of nitre, and rub quickly with a damp cloth.
Solid Pocket Glue.
Is made from 600 grams of glue and 250 grams of sugar. The glue is at first completely dissolved by boiling with water; the sugar is then introduced into the hot solution, and the mixture evaporated until it [Pg 21] becomes solid on cooling. The hard mass dissolves very rapidly in lukewarm water, and then gives a paste which is especially adapted for paper. ”

“ Put two pennyworths’ lunar caustic (nitrate of silver) into half a tablespoonful of gin, and in a day or two the ink is fit for use. The linen to be marked must first be wet with a strong solution of common soda, and be thoroughly dried before the ink is used upon it. The color will be faint at first, but by exposure to the sun or the fire it will become quite black and very durable.
Blue Marking Ink for White Goods.
Dissolve the silver salt in the ammonia; dissolve the carbonate of soda, gum arabic, and sulphate of copper in the distilled water, and mix the two solutions together. ”

“ Improved cardinal ink for draughtsmen is made as follows:—Triturate 1 gram of pure carmine with 15 grams of acetate ammonia solution and an equal quantity of distilled water, in a porcelain mortar, and allow the whole to stand for some time. In this way a portion of the alumina which is combined with the carmine dye is taken up by the acetate acid of the ammonia salt and separates as precipitate, while the pure pigment of the cochineal remains dissolved in the half saturated ammonia. ”

“ Postage stamp mucilage can be made by dissolving an ounce of dextrine in five ounces of hot water, and adding one ounce of acetic acid and one ounce of alcohol. The dextrine should be dissolved in water in a glue pot, or some similar vessel, which will prevent burning. The quantities in this recipe may be varied by taking any required weights in the proportions mentioned. Dr. Phin says that dextrine mixed with water makes a good label mucilage if a drop or two of glycerine be added to it. Too much glycerine will prevent the mucilage drying; with too little it will be likely to crack. ”

“ Glue thus prepared will keep for years, and is at all times fit for use, except in very cold weather, when it should be set in warm water before using. To obviate the difficulty of the stopper getting tight by the glue drying in the mouth of the vessel, use a tin vessel with the cover fitting tight on the outside to prevent the escape of the spirit by evaporization. A strong solution of isinglass made in the same manner is an excellent cement for leather.
A valuable glue is made by an admixture with common glue of one part of acid chromate of lime in solution to five parts of gelatine. ”