The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
At least five or six small cans or jars of aniline stain spirit soluble are required. The following colors are suitable: American walnut, Bismarck brown, brown mahogany, golden oak, nigrosine, and some yellow and bright red. All of these should be spirit soluble. These jars or cans of stain should be of a convenient size to fit into partitions or clamps that are easily accessible. Such materials as Walnut and Mahogany Lacquer Shading Stains and shading enamels can be carried in small screw cap cans and these materials are very essential when patching shaded finishes.
An assortment of abrasive paper, garnet paper in grades from 2 0 to 7, cut in pieces one-eighth of a 9x11 sheet in size is needed; also some 2/0 steel wool and FPF pumice stone. A small amount of parafine oil or polish must be included for polishing and rubbing.
Few tools are needed, aside from those mentioned in the paragraphs above. Some recommend a scraper for leveling down cement. A scraper is made from tool steel about six inches long, one inch wide and about one-sixteenth inch thick. The edge is sharpened square on each end. Woven felt, one-quarter inch thick and cut in pieces 3x5, is needed.
Primarily the above mentioned tools are all that are needed for a kit, if one is considering the use of the kit for patching alone. If you expect to equip the kit for repairing also, you would add such cabinet makers' tools as a small keyhole saw, block plane, screwdriver, tack hammer, etc. These may be used in repairing furniture in homes and are essential for complaint men working for retail establishments. Of course a striping brush and lining brush, with one or two penciling brushes, could be added, and above all, if dulling is necessary after patching, a rubbing brush should be included. Any stiff bri.stle brush may be converted into a dulling brush by cutting off the bristles reasonably short and square to the sides of the brush.
An unusual amount of materials are used in patching, including abouf all the materials commonly used in finishing, besides an assortment of quick-drying materials not used in finishing, but adapted for patching. It will not be necessary to mention all the materials that are used in patching, and especially the finishing materials, but we must enumerate all the patching materials needed at regular intervals found in a complete kit.
FRENCH VARNISH
French varnish is a refined shellac gum cut in alcohol, and the quality of the product depends on how soon the gum is cut up after being bleached and refined and the amount of filtering done afterward. This product is sold under more names than almost any other product used for patching. It has various trade names such as "etheral varnish," "French lacquer," "quick-drying varnish," and many other names, but all of the same base, with slight variations to hide the identity, or make it individual for each manufacturer. A standardization would benefit all concerned and eliminate many misnomers.
