The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Furniture Finishing
LACQUER MATERIALS
The advent of nitro-cellulose lacquers into furniture finishing is a very recent experiment. It has passed the experimental stage, as far as being accepted, for many of the manufacturers of cabinet furniture today are using some form of nitro-cellulose lacquer for a finish coating over water stain. This material was not at first adopted universally by furniture manufacturers because it was so radically different from varnish in drying, application and other properties, but time has ironed out these preliminary difficulties and proved its suitability for furniture use. With the use of clear lacquer it is advisable to choose carefully the type of stain and filler to avoid trouble?. Water and "non-grain-raising" liquid stains have proven most satisfactory and paste wood fillers, for use under lacquer, are available.
Lacquer enamel, made from a combination of nitro-cellulose and pigments, mixed or ground together, forms a large part of the opaque materials used, instead of enamel formerly used for painting furniture. A good covering lacquer can be made by adding colors ground in japan with a suitable clear nitrocellulose lacquer, although it is advisable to use ready-made lacquer enamels whenever they are available.
Clear lacquers were first made by using resin gums for solids but later the development of synthetic gums have improved the quality of lacquer films as to tenacity and toughness and we may expect greater advancement in the manufacture of all finish material as a result of the development of synthetic gums.
DECORATIVE MATERIALS
To furnish bright furniture for drab surroundings or to satisfy a taste for the unusual, many different decorative finishes have been developed. Gilded furniture is quite an old thing with the Italians and French, but has never been popular in America.
Before the advent of aniline stains, painted furniture, decorated in gold, was the vogue, but since permanent dyes were first used for stain, decorative furniture has been secondary in importance. In Book III will be found a description of all the modern decorative finishes and how to create them. By using different colors in polychrome finishing, many effects can be created. Glazing over different enamel ground coats and painting of floral and other designs is another type of decorative finish. Deealcomania transfers are now used in cheaper decorative furniture, rather than the high priced hand-painting, and many beautiful effects can be created at a low cost.
After all, plain wood finishing has followed the lines of least resistance and all woods are stained usually to imitate oak, walnut and mahogany. Few woods can imitate oak, but walnut and mahogany can be successfully imitated by skillful manipulation of stain. The above mentioned woods were the first to be made into furniture, especially the first two, and because of the naturally beautiful figure or grain of these woods, all others are made to look like them, with the possible exception of bird'seye or curly maple.
