Handbook on Japanning: 2nd Edition by William N. Brown
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William N. Brown >> Handbook on Japanning: 2nd Edition
A HANDBOOK ON JAPANNING
_FOR IRONWARE, TINWARE, WOOD, ETC._
WITH SECTIONS ON TIN-PLATING AND GALVANIZING
BY
WILLIAM N. BROWN
_SECOND EDITION: REVISED AND ENLARGED WITH THIRTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS_
LONDON
SCOTT, GREENWOOD AND SON
"THE OIL AND COLOUR TRADES JOURNAL" OFFICES
8 BROADWAY, LUDGATE, E.C.
1913
D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY
8 WARREN ST., NEW YORK
_First Edition under title "A Handbook on Japanning and Enamelling",
1901_
_Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged, under title "A Handbook on
Japanning"--January, 1913_
CONTENTS.
PAGE
SECTION I.
INTRODUCTION. 1-5
Priming or Preparing the Surface to be Japanned 4
The First Stage in the Japanning of Wood or of Leather
without a Priming 5
SECTION II.
JAPAN GROUNDS. 6-19
White Japan Grounds 7
Blue Japan Grounds 9
Scarlet Japan Ground 9
Red Japan Ground 10
Bright Pale Yellow Grounds 10
Green Japan Grounds 10
Orange-Coloured Grounds 11
Purple Grounds 11
Black Grounds 11
Common Black Japan Grounds on Metal 12
Tortoise-shell Ground 12
Painting Japan Work 13
Varnishing Japan Work 17
SECTION III.
JAPANNING OR ENAMELLING METALS. 20-28
Enamelling Bedstead Frames and similar large pieces 24
Japanning Tin, such as Tea-trays and similar goods 25
Enamelling Old Work 27
SECTION IV.
THE ENAMELLING AND JAPANNING STOVE--PIGMENTS SUITABLE FOR
JAPANNING WITH NATURAL LACQUER--MODERN METHODS OF JAPANNING
WITH NATURAL JAPANESE LACQUER. 29-48
Appliances and Apparatus used in Japanning and Enamelling 29
Modern Japanning and Enamelling Stoves 34
Stoves heated by direct fire 34
Stoves heated by hot-water pipes 36
Pigments suitable for Japanning with Natural Lacquer 45
White Pigments 45
Red Pigments 46
Blue Pigment 46
Yellow Pigments 46
Green Pigment 46
Black Pigment 46
Methods of Application 46
Modern Methods of Japanning and Enamelling with
Natural Japanese Lacquer 47
SECTION V.
COLOURS FOR POLISHED BRASS.--MISCELLANEOUS. 49-57
Painting on Zinc or on Galvanized Iron 49
Bronzing Compositions 49
Golden Varnish for Metal 51
Carriage Varnish 51
Metal Polishes 51
Black Paints 52
Black Stain for Iron 53
Varnishes for Ironwork 55
SECTION VI.
PROCESSES FOR TIN-PLATING. 58-60
Amalgam Process 59
Immersion Process 59
Battery Process 59
Weigler's Process 60
Hern's Process 60
SECTION VII.
GALVANIZING. 61-66
INDEX. 67-69
HANDBOOK ON JAPANNING.
SECTION I.
INTRODUCTION.
Japanning, as it is generally understood in Great Britain, is the art
of covering paper, wood, or metal with a more or less thick coating of
brilliant varnish, and hardening the same by baking it in an oven at a
suitable heat. It originated in Japan--hence its name--where the
natives use a natural varnish or lacquer which flows from a certain
kind of tree, and which on its issuing from the plant is of a creamy
tint, but becomes black on exposure to the air. It is mainly with the
application of "japan" to metallic surfaces that we are concerned in
these pages. Japanning may be said to occupy a position midway between
painting and porcelain enamelling, and a japanned surface differs from
an ordinary painted surface in being far more brilliant, smoother,
harder, and more durable, and also in retaining its gloss permanently,
in not being easily injured by hot water or by being placed near a
fire; while real good japanning is characterised by great lustre and
adhesiveness to the metal to which it has been applied, and its
non-liability to chipping--a fault which, as a rule, stamps the common
article.
If the English process of japanning be more simple and produces a
less durable, a less costly coating than the Japanese method, yet its
practice is not so injurious to the health. Indeed, it is a moot point
in how far the Japanese themselves now utilize their classical
process, as the coat of natural japan on all the articles exhibited at
the recent Vienna exhibition as being coated with the natural lacquer,
when recovered after six months' immersion in sea water through the
sinking of the ship, was destroyed, although it stood perfectly well
on the articles of some age. In the English method, where necessary, a
priming or undercoat is employed. It is customary to fill up any
uneven surface, any minute holes or pores, and to render the surface
to be japanned uniformly smooth. But such an undercoat or priming is
not always applied, the coloured varnish or a proper japan ground
being applied directly on the surface to be japanned. Formerly this
surface usually, if not always, received a priming coat, and it does
so still where the surface is coarse, uneven, rough, and porous. But
where the surface is impervious and smooth, as in the case of metallic
surfaces, a priming coat is not applied. It is also unnecessary to
apply such a coat in the case of smooth, compact, grained wood. The
reason for using this coating is that it effects a considerable saving
in the quantity of varnish used, and because the matter of which the
priming is composed renders the surface of the body to be varnished
uniform, and fills up all pores, cracks, and other inequalities, and
by its use it is easy after rubbing and water polishing to produce an
even surface on which to apply the varnish. The previous application
of this undercoat was thus an advantage in the case of coarse, uneven
surfaces that it formed a first and sort of obligatory initial stage
in the process of japanning. This initial coating is still applied in
many instances. But it has its drawbacks, and these drawbacks are
incidental to the nature of the priming coat which consists of size
and whiting. The coats or layers of japan proper, that is of varnish
and pigment applied over such a priming coat, will be continually
liable to crack or peel off with any violent shock, and will not last
nearly so long as articles japanned with the same materials and
altogether in the same way but without the undercoat. This defect may
be readily perceived by comparing goods that have been in use for some
time in the japanning of which an undercoat has been applied with
similar goods in which no such previous coat has been given. Provided
a good japan varnish and appropriate pigments have been used and the
japanning well executed, the coats of japan applied without a priming
never peel or crack or are in any way damaged except by violence or
shock, or that caused by continual ordinary wear and tear caused by
such constant rubbing as will wear away the surface of the japan. But
japan coats applied with a priming coat crack and fly off in flakes at
the slightest concussion, at any knock or fall, more especially at the
edges. Those Birmingham manufacturers who were the first to practise
japanning only on metals on which there was no need for a priming coat
did not of course adopt such a practice. Moreover, they found it
equally unnecessary in the case of papier-mache and some other goods.
Hence Birmingham japanned goods wear better than those goods which
receive a priming previous to japanning.
PRIMING or PREPARING THE SURFACE TO BE JAPANNED.
The usual priming, where one is applied, consists of Paris white
(levigated whiting) made into a thin paste with size. The size should
be of a consistency between the common double size and glue, and mixed
with as much Paris white as will give it a good body so that it will
hide the surface on which it is applied. But in particular work
glovers' or parchment size instead of common size is used, and this is
still further improved by the addition of one-third of isinglass, and
if the coat be not applied too thickly it will be much less liable to
peel or crack. The surface should be previously prepared for this
priming by being well cleaned and by being brushed over with hot size
diluted with two-thirds of water, that is provided the size be of the
usual strength. The priming is then evenly and uniformly applied with
a brush and left to dry. On a fairly even surface two coats of priming
properly applied should suffice. But if it will not take a proper
water polish, owing to the uneven surface not being effectually filled
up, one or more additional coats must be applied. Previous to the last
coat being applied, the surface should be smoothed by fine glass
paper. When the last coat of priming is dry the water polish is
applied. This is done by passing a fine wet rag or moistened sponge
over the surface until the whole appears uniformly smooth and even.
The priming is now complete and the surface ready to take the japan
ground or the coloured varnish.
THE FIRST STAGE IN THE JAPANNING OF WOOD OR OF LEATHER WITHOUT A
PRIMING.
[The leather is first securely stretched on a frame or board.] In this
case, that is when no priming coat is previously applied, the best way
to prepare the surface is to apply three coats of coarse varnish (1
lb. seed-lac, 1 lb rosin to 1 gallon methylated spirit, dissolve and
filter). This varnish, like all others formed from methylated spirits,
must be applied in a warm place and all dampness should be avoided,
for either cold or moisture chills it and thus prevents it taking
proper hold of the surface on which it is applied. When the work is
prepared thus, or by the priming made of size and whiting already
described, the japan proper is itself applied.
SECTION II.
JAPAN GROUNDS.
The japan ground properly so called consists of the varnish and
pigment where the whole surface is to be of one simple colour, or of
the varnish, with or without pigment, on which some painting or other
form of decoration is afterwards to be applied. It is best to form
this ground with the desired pigment incorporated with shellac
varnish, except in the case of a white japan ground which requires
special treatment, or when great brilliancy is a desideratum and other
methods must be adopted. The shellac varnish for the japan ground is
best prepared as follows: shellac 1-1/4 lb., methylated spirits 1
gallon. Dissolve in a well-corked vessel in a warm place and with
frequent shaking. After two or three days the shellac will be
dissolved. It is then recommended to filter the solution through a
flannel bag, and when all that will come through freely has done so
the varnish should be run into a proper sized vessel and kept
carefully corked for use. The bag may then be squeezed with the hand
till the remainder of the fluid varnish is forced through it, and this
if fairly clear may be used for rough purposes or added to the next
batch. Pigments of any nature whatever may be used with the shellac
varnish to give the desired tint to the ground, and where necessary
they may be mixed together to form any compound colour, such as blue
and yellow to form green. The pigments used for japan grounds should
all be previously ground very smooth in spirits of turpentine, so
smooth that the paste does not grate between the two thumb nails, and
then only are they mixed with the varnish. This mixture of pigment and
varnish vehicle should then be spread over the surface to be japanned
very carefully and very evenly with a camel-hair brush. As metals do
not require a priming coat of size and whiting, the japan ground may
be applied to metallic surfaces forthwith without any preliminary
treatment except thorough cleansing, except in the cases specially
referred to further on. On metallic surfaces three to four coats are
applied, and in the interval between each coat the articles must be
stoved in an oven heated to from 250 deg. to 300 deg. F.
WHITE JAPAN GROUNDS.
The formation of a perfectly white japan ground and of the first
degree of hardness has always been difficult to attain in the art of
japanning, as there are few or no substances that can be so dissolved
as to form a very hard varnish coat without being so darkened in the
process as to quite degrade or spoil the whiteness of the colour. The
following process, however, is said to give a composition which yields
a very near approach to a perfect white ground: Take flake white or
white lead washed and ground up with the sixth of its weight of starch
and then dried, temper it properly for spreading with mastic varnish
made thus: Take 5 oz. of mastic in powder and put it into a proper
vessel with 1 lb. of spirits of turpentine; let them boil at a gentle
heat till the mastic be dissolved, and, if there appear to be any
turbidity, strain off the solution through flannel. Apply this
intimate and homogeneous mixture on the body to be japanned, the
surface of which has been suitably prepared either with or without the
priming, then varnish it over with five or six coats of the following
varnish: Provide any quantity of the best seed-lac and pick out of it
all the clearest and whitest grains, take of this seed-lac 1/2 lb. and
of gum anime 3/4 lb., pulverize the mixture to a coarse powder and
dissolve in a gallon of methylated spirits and strain off the clear
varnish. The seed-lac will give a slight tint to this varnish, but it
cannot be omitted where the japanned surface must be hard, though
where a softer surface will serve the purpose the proportion of
seed-lac may be diminished and a little turpentine oleo-resin added to
the gum anime to take off the brittleness. A very good varnish
entirely free from brittleness may, it is said, be formed by
dissolving gum anime in old nut or poppy oil, which must be made to
boil gently when the gum is put into it. After being diluted with
turps the white ground may be applied in this varnish, and then a coat
or two of the varnish itself may be applied over it. These coats,
however, take a long time to dry, and, owing to its softer nature,
this japanned surface is more readily injured than that yielded by the
shellac varnish.
According to Mr. Dickson, "the old way of making a cream enamel for
stoving (a white was supposed to be impossible) was to mix ordinary
tub white lead with the polishing copal varnish and to add a modicum
of blue to neutralize the yellow tinge, stove same in about 170 deg.F. and
then polish as before described". "This," continues Mr. Dickson,
"would at the best produce but a very pale blue enamel or a cream. It
was afterwards made with flake white or dry white lead ground in turps
only and mixed with the polishing copal varnish with the addition of
tints as required, by which means a white of any required character
could be produced."
BLUE JAPAN GROUNDS.
Authorities state that these may be formed from bright Prussian blue
or verditer glazed over with Prussian blue or of smalt. By bright
Prussian blue possibly a genuine Prussian blue toned down to a sky
blue with white lead is meant, and by verditer the variety known as
refiners' blue verditer, and as to smalt it must not be forgotten that
it changes its colour in artificial light. Be that as it may, the
pigment may be mixed with the shellac varnish according to the
instructions already given, but as the shellac will somewhat injure
the tone of the pigment by imparting a yellow tinge to it where a
bright true blue is required, the directions already given as regards
white grounds must be carried out.
SCARLET JAPAN GROUND.
Vermilion is the best pigment to use for a scarlet japan ground, and
its effect will be greatly enhanced by glazing it over with carmine or
fine lake. If, however, the highest degree of brightness be required
the white varnish must be used. Vermilion must be stoved at a very
gentle heat.
RED JAPAN GROUND.
The basis of this japan ground is made up with madder lake ground in
oil of turpentine, this constitutes the first ground; when this is
perfectly dry a second coat of lake and white in copal varnish is
applied, and the last coat is made up of lake in a mixture of copal
varnish and turpentine varnish.
BRIGHT PALE YELLOW GROUNDS.
Orpiment or King's yellow may be used, and the effect is enhanced by
dissolving powdered turmeric root in the methylated spirits from which
the upper or polishing coat is made, which methylated spirits must be
strained from off the dregs before the seed-lac is added to it to form
the varnish. The seed-lac varnish is not so injurious to yellow
pigments as it is to the tone of some other pigments, because, being
tinged a reddish yellow, it does little more than intensify or deepen
the tone of the pigment.
GREEN JAPAN GROUNDS.
Green japan grounds are produced by mixing Prussian blue or distilled
verdigris with orpiment, and the effect is said to be extremely
brilliant by applying them on a ground of leaf gold. Any of them may
be used with good seed-lac varnish, for reasons already given. Equal
parts by weight of rosin, precipitated rosinate of copper, and
coal-tar solvent naphtha will give a varnish which, when suitably
thinned and the coats stoved at a heat below 212 deg. F., will give a
green japan second to none as a finishing coat as regards purity of
tone at least. To harden it and render it more elastic half of the
rosin might be replaced by equal weights of a copal soluble in solvent
naphtha and boiled linseed oil, so that the mixture would stand thus:
rosinate of copper 1 lb., rosin 1/2 lb., boiled oil 1/4 lb., hard
resin (copal) 1/4 lb., solvent naphtha 1 lb. When heated to a high
temperature this rosinate of copper varnish yields a magnificent ruby
bronze coloration, especially on glass. Verdigris dissolves in
turpentine, and successful attempts might be made to make a green
japan varnish from it on the lines indicated for rosinate of copper.
ORANGE-COLOURED GROUNDS.
Orange-coloured grounds may be formed by mixing vermilion or red lead
with King's yellow, or orange lake or red orpiment (? realgar) will
make a brighter orange ground than can be produced by any mixture.
PURPLE GROUNDS.
Purple grounds may be produced by the admixture of lake or vermilion
with Prussian blue. They may be treated as the other coloured grounds
as regards the varnish vehicle.
BLACK GROUNDS.
Black grounds may be formed either from lamp black or ivory black, but
ivory black is preferable to lamp black, and possibly carbon black or
gas black to either. These may be always applied with the shellac
varnish as a vehicle, and their upper or polishing coats may consist
of common seed-lac varnish. But the best quality of ivory black ground
in the best super black japan yields, after suitable stoving, a very
excellent black indeed, the purity of tone of which may be improved by
adding a little blue in the grinding.
COMMON BLACK JAPAN GROUNDS ON METAL.
Common black japan grounds on metal by means of heat are procured in
the following manner: The surface to be japanned must be coated over
with drying oil, and when it is moderately dry must be put into a
stove of such heat as will change the oil black without burning it.
The stove should not be too hot when the oil is put into it nor the
heat increased too fast, either which error would make it blister, but
the slower the heat is increased and the longer it is continued,
provided it be restrained within a due degree, the harder will be the
coat of japan. This kind of japan requires no polish, having received
from the heat, when properly regulated, a sufficiently bright surface.
TORTOISE-SHELL GROUND.
This beautiful ground, produced by heat, is valued not only for its
hardness and its capacity to stand a heat greater than that of boiling
water, but also for its fine appearance. It is made by means of a
varnish prepared thus: Take one gallon of good linseed oil and half a
pound of umber, boil them together until the oil becomes very brown
and thick, strain it then through a coarse cloth and set it again to
boil, in which state it must be continued until it acquires a
consistency resembling that of pitch; it will then be fit for use.
Having thus prepared the varnish, clean well the surface which is to
be japanned; then apply vermilion ground in shellac varnish or with
drying oil, very thinly diluted with oil of turpentine, on the places
intended to imitate the more transparent parts of the tortoise-shell.
When the vermilion is dry, brush the whole over with the black varnish
thinned to the right consistency with oil of turpentine. When set and
firm put the work into a stove where it may undergo a very strong
heat, which must be continued a considerable time, for three weeks or
even a month so much the better. This ground may be decorated with
painting and gilding in the same way as any other varnished surface,
which had best be done after the ground has been hardened, but it is
well to give a second annealing at a very gentle heat after it has
been finished. A very good black japan may be made by mixing a little
japan gold size with ivory or lamp-black, this will develop a good
gloss without requiring to be varnished afterwards.
PAINTING JAPAN WORK.
Japan work should be painted with real "enamel paints," that is with
paints actually ground in varnish, and in that case all pigments may
be used and the peculiar disadvantages, which attend several pigments
with respect to oil or water, cease with this class of vehicle, for
they are secured by it when properly handled from the least danger of
changing or fading. The preparation of pigments for this purpose
consists in bringing them to a due state of fineness by grinding them
on a stone with turpentine. The best varnish for binding and
preserving the pigments is shellac. This, when judiciously handled,
gives such a firmness and hardness to the work that, if it be
afterwards further secured with a moderately thick coat of seed-lac
varnish, it will be almost as hard and durable as glass. The method of
painting in varnish is, however, far more tedious than with an oil or
water vehicle. It is, therefore, now very usual in japan work for the
sake of dispatch, and in some cases in order to be able to use the
pencil (brush) more freely, to apply the colours in an oil vehicle
well diluted with turps. This oil (or japanners' gold size) may be
made thus: Take 1 lb. of linseed oil and 4 oz. of gum anime, set the
oil in a proper vessel and then add the gum anime powder, stirring it
well until the whole is mixed with the oil. Let the mixture continue
to boil until it appears of a thick consistence, then strain the whole
through a coarse cloth and keep it for use. The pigments are also
sometimes applied in a gum-water vehicle, but work so done, it has
been urged, is not nearly so durable as that done in varnish or oil.
However, those who formerly condemned the practice of japanning
water-coloured decorations allowed that amateurs, who practised
japanning for their amusement only and thus might not find it
convenient to stock the necessary preparations for the other methods,
might paint with water-colours. If the pigments are ground in an
aqueous vehicle of strong isinglass size and honey instead of gum
water the work would not be much inferior to that executed with other
vehicles. Water-colours are sometimes applied on a ground of gold
after the style of other paintings, and sometimes so as to produce an
embossed effect. The pigments in this style of painting are ground in
a vehicle of isinglass size corrected with honey or sugar-candy. The
body with which the embossed work is raised is best formed of strong
gum water thickened to a proper consistency with armenian bole and
whiting in equal parts, which, being laid on in the proper figures and
repaired when dry, may be then painted with the intended pigments in
the vehicle of isinglass size or in the general manner with shellac
varnish. As to the comparative value of pigments ground in water and
ground in oil, that is between oil-colours and water-colours in
enamelling and japanning, there seems to have been a change of opinion
for some time back, especially as regards the enamelling of slate. The
marbling of slate (to be enamelled) in water-colours is a process
which Mr. Dickson says well repays study. It is greatly developed in
France and Germany. The process is a quick one and the pigments are
said to stand well and to maintain their pristine hue, yet if many
strikingly natural effects result from the use of this process, its
use has not spread in Great Britain, being confined wholly and solely
to the marbling of slate (except in the case of wall-paper which is
water-marbled in a somewhat similar way).