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Furniture Finishing

PUTTING IN THE COLOR

With the same type of brush described for striping, or with a slender, pointed artist's brush, the shallow groove is lined with the color. It is also possible to use a small oil can such as is used for bicycles and small lubrication work, flat and oval, rather than round and tapering. This is filled with the lining color, the flow being controlled by placing the thumb over a hole punched near the neck. A sewing machine can may also be used, or for very small tracings an eye dropper, but both require closer attention as the flow is not so readily controlled.

BRONZE COLORS

In order to enrich plain veneers on cheaper furniture the scratch or vein line is often colored with fine lining bronzes. The choice, however, is not confined to ordinary gold but ineludes a variety of metallic effects—peacock blue, apple green, magenta red, etc. Aluminum powder is not popular, due to its lack of color and tendency to tarnish, and some colored bronzes fade quickly when exposed to strong light. As a mixing liquid for all bronzes, varnish or japan gold size is preferred to lacquer bronzing liquids, because the former are easier to work with, wipe off clean from edges with a benzine moistened rag and have no solvent effect on the shellac sealer coat. Japan gold size, a pale grade of japan drier, is quicker-drying than varnish though not so quick-drying as lacquer bronzing liquid.

PIGMENT COLORS

On better grade furniture vein lining is done with pastel shades in pigment colors—soft blues, greens and ivories prepared from japan colors thinned with turpentine and fortified with a little varnish. An ebony line is produced with drop black in japan and a natural effect, frequent in two-tone work, is simply finished like the rest of the piece, the vein line being coated with shellac to prevent spread of the stain.

Polychrome


POLYCHROME, as generally understood for furniture, originated in the sixteenth century with the Italian Renaissance period. The modern revival reached its peak shortly after the war when it was profusely applied to moulded, beaded and fluted carving—all raised ornamentation in fact. There is still a demand for polychrome, but confined to smaller objects— candle sticks, plaques, lamp bases, book ends, cigarette boxes, picture frames and novelty furniture. Today the methods used depend on whether the polychroming is to be applied to carved ornamentation, to stippled surfaces or to flat surfaces.