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Coloring Finishing And Painting Wood
It is not desirable to varnish over a white-enamel finish, however, as the color in the varnish is apt to discolor the snowy whiteness of the enamel.
169. A Cheap Enamel Finish.—Specifications for a cheap, quickly-made enamel finish are as follows:
1. Prepare the surface of the wood with tools and sandpaper.
2. Size the surface with shellac of one-half strength if the wood or surface be of a porous or very absorptive kind.
3. Apply two coats of properly colored lithopone paint, or some other enamel undereoating material, such as that which is purchased already prepared, or which is similar to the mixture previously described, in paragraph 4. page 204. Puttying and sandpapering should be done between the undercoats. Each application of paint must have at least two days for drying.
4. A coat of equal parts of enamel and undercoating paint should next be brushed on as a foundation for the finishing-film of enamel. It should be of the same color as the final coat. Approximately three days are required for drying; then the surface should be sanded with No. 2/0 to No. 4/0 sandpaper.
5. The final finishing-coat is of enamel, often in full strength, but sometimes thinned slightly in order to make it flow more easily and evenly with a brush.
6. A rubbed finish may be obtained, if gloss enamel is used, by nibbing the surface with water and pumice-stone after the coat has dried for four or five days. Satin-finish and dull enamels are not rubbed, and require no polishing.
170. Refinishing Old Painted or Enameled Surfaces.— The reenameling of old surfaces which were finished originally with varnish, paint, or enamel often presents rather difficult problems, especially if the old finish be in bad condition. The workman must carefully inspect and scrape the old finish with his putty-knife to determine whether it is firmly adhering or clinging to the surface in blisters, scales, or loose fragments. If the former finish consisted of paint or enamel which has become loosened, then paint and varnish-remover should be used to take off everything down to the original surface. On the other hand, if the former paint and enamel have not cracked or scaled off in spots, and present a firm, hard, smooth, and level surface after thoro sandpapering, then new undercoats of the proper color can be brushed over the old finish and resanded between coats. Before any new paint is applied, all surfaces should be scraped, sanded, and washed to remove any grease.
