The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
ANTIQUE GLAZE PATCHING
Over many different types of finishes, besides bronze finishes, will be found a glaze coating of umber or sienna, raw or burnt, and the method of patching depends on the undercoating. If the undercoating is enamel it is, of course, necessary to match the color by adding enamel color tints to a white spirit enamel. The method of matching is shown in Chapter VII. When the under surface has been smoothed down level, brush over the glazing color and wipe off where desired to match.
If a glazed surface is over a dark background, it will only be necessary to match the ground coat with spirit enamel, tinted to correct color, and the same operation of shading of glaze color over this. On rough metal surfaces little difficulty will be encountered in patching with the above materials.
COLORED ENAMEL LACQUERS
Wood cement of all colors is available to match the new brightcolored lacquer finishes. The Chinese red stick is made in two colors and a blending of the two will frequently allow a good match. The same is true of the blue and green cements of different shades. These cements are burned into the indentation or damage and smoothed down with an asphalt naphtha on a piece of felt to avoid disturbing the rest of the finish. Of course the cement should be leveled down to the rest of the surface as much as possible without burning the finish. Garnet paper, 7/0, is used for this sanding. Pumice stone and oil on a felt can be used if the surface is first made nearly level, and with dulled finishes, this will complete the repair provided the match is good. In case the piece is high-polished, the spot can be leveled with garnet paper dry, and a small amount of clear lacquer or colored lacquer can be blown on with a mouth-spray from a small container. Many of the lacquer enamel finishes must be patched with spirit enamel or lacquer enamel of the correct shade. The same process of mixing lacquer enamel tints with the white lacquer is used as with the spirit enamel only special tints are prepared for the lacquer enamel.
When a satisfactory base of cement has been burned into the indentation and smoothed down, spray a matched lacquer over the spot with the mouth- or hand-spray. It is sometimes necessary to thin down the lacquer enamel with the thinner in order to have it sufficiently thin to spray. Always use the thinner made by the manufacturer of the lacquer enamel for the reason that the solvents in the thinner should be in the same proportion as the solvents in the lacquer, and when they are thus balanced, the lacquer can be thinned to any consistency.
