HARDWOOD FINISHING Varnish manufacturers, in preparing sam ples, use methods which are impossible to dupli cate in finishing any house. The manufacturer naturally desires to make the best possible showing for his goods, hence his samples are prepared with the utmost possible care. Selected lumber is used, which is sandpapered to the greatest smoothness; and, as the pieces are small, in some cases they receive a final scraping with a freshly cut edge of glass. This gives a very perfect surface to work upon. The is applied in a dust-free room, at an even temperature of about seventy degrees, so that the varnish will dry uniformly and with no chance of being chilled in drying. What is even more important, the piece to be varnished is laid flat, and the material is flowed on, so that it is possible to get a great deal more varnish on in a single coat than when it is applied to the vertical surface of the standing trim in a house. This, of course, gives a greater depth to the luster. A better result can be produced on one of these small pieces of wood with two coats of varnish applied under the conditions used in making the manufacturer's sample, than can be obtained by the painter who finishes the hardwood trim with four coats.
One of the greatest difficulties that the 87 painter meets with in finishing a house is the dust which is constantly rising from the work of other mechanics. It rarely happens that the carpenters are entirely through before the painters must begin their work, and the air is full of flying sawdust; the plumbers are per haps busy, and it may be that the tile setters, too, are at work, so that the floors are dirty, and this dirt is stirred into dust by the mechan ics as they pass through the rooms. Then, too, if it is the fall or the spring season, the tem perature of the room is apt to drop almost to the freezing point at night, while during the day it does not rise as high as it should be kept to produce a properly varnished finish. Even the best varnishes are sensitive to these changes of temperature—in fact, even more so than the cheaper and less durable grades.
It has been suggested that it would be ad visable for painters to prepare samples show ing what can be done with one, two, three, and four coats of varnish on filled and on unfilled wood, and also the effect that can be obtained by staining. These samples should be made on
ordinary pieces of finishing lumber or pieces of trim moulding, and finished under ordinary conditions in a vertical position. Each board should be divided into several sections, one sec tion being given only the first coat, another section showing the effect of two coats, and so on. The architect should be furnished with a set of these samples to act as standards, and the painter should also retain a similar set. Before any work is begun, the owner should be shown a sample of work of the character called for by the specifications; and to avoid all mis understandings, a sample of work so finished may be given to the owner, in order that the finish actually furnished on the house may be compared with it. Such a practice will obviate much fault-finding and disappointment.
In finishing the woodwork of a house, the best results can be obtained if the painters post pone their operations until after all the other mechanics have finished their work and the house has been completely swept out and all the floors wiped free from dust with a damp cloth. Unless the weather is warm and dry, a fire should be built in the furnace, and a steady tem perature of at least 70° should be maintained. Slightly warmer than this will do no harm, but a drop of fifteen or twenty degrees at night will be apt to cause "silking," or a fibrous appear ance of the surface, which will be more or less intense in proportion to the drop in the tem perature. Cold draughts of air striking the surface of varnish before it is entirely dry will cause similar trouble, and dampness will also be a source of danger to the finish. In August, when the weather is close and damp, varnish will often remain tacky, or will not dry hard, if applied in a moisture-laden room that is kept closed and unventilated. Both ventilation and light are necessary for the perfect drying of . . . .