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Coloring Finishing And Painting Wood

8. After the filler is thoroly dry, apply a coat of white shellac. Sandpaper the shellac coating smooth after 12 to 24 hours. Sanding sealer may be substituted for shellac.

9. Two coats of white semigloss lacquer should be sprayed over the shellac undercoats if a spray-gun is available.

10. Rub the lacquer with pumice-stone and rubbing-oil for a smooth finish, or smooth with No. 3/0 steel wool and oil.

11. Polish the smoothed finish with furniture wax and much rubbing.

Air-Drying Finishes For Metal

351. Some Much-Needed Metal Finishes.—Many earnest requests for information about suitable finishes for metal indicate that there is a drift toward metalworking; and, especially, the inquirers point out that there is a dearth of available up-to-date knowledge that is helpful in this field of human endeavor.

Metal finishes are related to wood finishes, but there arc some important differences between them. One difference is that metals are not as porous as wood is, and for this reason no silex filler is needed on metals to fill open cells, like those found on coarse-grained woods. It might also be pointed out that dipping in a pickling bath as a cleansing process is quite usual for metals, but not for woods. Another dissimilarity is that baked finishes which are very hard and durable can be used on metals, but not on wood. Ovens are required for baked-on finishes and they are available only in factories.

Air-drying coatings for metal are often needed for refinishing about the home and school shop as well as by the small-shop craftsman. This chapter has been written to present helpful procedures to metalworkers who wish to try new and attractive metal finishes.

The methods used to shorten the finishing time are: (1) thru the use of air-drying lacquers in place of baking enamels, (2) thru the selection of enamels that will bake quickly at rather high temperatures, and (3) thru the choice of undercoats which can be air-dried and then given a single final baking. Fillers that dry more rapidly than do the old types are obtainable and helpful in the speed-up.

A real problem has recently confronted the manufacturers of quick-drying enamels because of the shortage of China-wood oil, which has been an important ingredient in the composition of baking enamels. This restriction is a result of the Sino-Japanese war. It has been stated by manufacturers that air-drying synthetic or four-hour enamels that will dry very hard cannot be compounded unless they contain China-wood oil.