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Furniture Finishing

FINISHING

Without sanding, the work after graining is brush- or sprayvarnished with clear baking copal varnish, the latter method being preferable. For a high-grade finish two coats are applied, each baked at 175°-230° F. for two to three hours. The first coat is sometimes sanded lightly with fine paper and the latter rubbed with 3/F pumice stone and paraffine oil to produce a velvet finish, or a coat of eggshell baking finishing varnish may be used to get the same effect without rubbing. This latter will not give a finish that will remain dull as permanently, nor will it be as durable under ordinary conditions as a gloss varnish rubbed dull.


BLOCK GRAINING

The block is produced by copper etching from a photograph of the piece of wood to be imitated, the dark portion on the work being depressed in the plate. A graining ink similar to oil color is furnished by the maker of the block. This compound is thinned to the consistency of cream and applied to the face of the block with a squeegee or thin steel scraper, then wiped off so as to leave the material only in the etching.

Next a clean soft rubber roller is run over the plate, taking up enough of the compound in the process to acquire the design. The roller is now rolled over the ground color coat on the metal, transferring to it in one operation the complete grain impression as shown on the block. The roller is cleaned, the block recoated and the operation repeated indefinitely—by machinery if production methods make it economical. When the ink has been dried by baking or air drying, decalcomania floral decorations may be applied and the work finished as for brush graining. The block method may also be used for transferring marble effects, an operation previously done by skilled artists known as marbleizers. "Where sufficient work is involv d, the block method is undoubtedly the most efficient method of graining.

AIR DRYING SCHEDULE

While the methods outlined under both brush and block for building up, graining and finishing call for baking, it is by no means impossible to secure similar results by omitting heat. This, however, would considerably slow up the schedule and would render it impractical for production work. For small jobs air drying would mean eighteen to twenty-four hours each for primer and ground color coats, overnight for graining color, and forty-eight hours for each coat of varnish. This would also involve some sacrifice of durability and adhesion.