How To Make Varnishes For Ironwork
A reliable authority gives the following as a very good recipe for ironwork varnish
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Take 2 lb. of tar oil, 1/2 lb. of pounded resin, and 1/2 lb. of asphaltum, and dissolve together, and then mix while hot in an iron kettle, taking all care to prevent the flames getting into contact with the mixture.
When cold the varnish is ready for application to outdoor ironwork.
Another recipe is to take 3 lb. of powdered resin, place it in a tin or iron vessel, and add thereto 21/2 pints of spirits of turpentine, which well shake, and then let it stand for a day or two, giving it an occasional shake. Then add to it 5 quarts of boiled oil, shake it thoroughly well all together, afterwards letting it stand in a warm room till it gets clear.
The clear portion can then be drawn off and used, or reduced with spirits of turpentine till of the requisite consistency.
For making a varnish suitable for iron patterns, take sufficient oil of turpentine for the purpose of the job in hand, and drop into it, drop by drop, some strong commercial oil of vitriol, when the acid will cause a dark syrupy precipitate in the oil of turpentine, and continue to add the drops of vitriol till the precipitate ceases to act, after which pour off the liquid and wash the syrupy mass with water, when it will be ready for use.
When the iron pattern is to be varnished, it must be heated to a gentle degree, the syrupy product applied, and then the article allowed to dry.
A fine black varnish suitable for the covering of broken places in sewing machines and similar articles, where the japanned surface has become injured or scratched, can be made by taking some fine lamp-black or ivory-black, and thoroughly mixing it with copal varnish.
The black must be in a very fine powder, and to mix the more readily it should be made into a pasty mass with turpentine. For the ordinary repairing shop this will be found very handy.
The following is a simple way for tarring sheet-iron pipes to prevent rusting.
The sections as made should be coated with coal tar, and then filled with light wood shavings, and the latter set alight.
The effect of this treatment will be to render the iron practically proof against rust for an indefinite period, rendering future painting unnecessary. It is important, of course, that the iron should not be made too hot, or kept hot for too long a time, lest the tar should be burnt off.
The following is a varnish for iron and steel given by a recognized authority: 5 parts of camphor and elemi, 15 parts of sandarach, and 10 parts of clear grains of mastic, are dissolved in the requisite quantity of alcohol, and applied cold.
Another good black enamel for small articles can be made by mixing 1 lb. of asphaltum with 1 lb. of resin in 4 lb. of tar oil, well heating the whole in an iron vessel before applying.
A good brown japan can be prepared by separately heating equal quantities of amber and asphaltum, and adding to each one-half the quantity by weight of boiled linseed oil.
Both compounds are then mixed together. Copal resin may be substituted for the amber, but it is not so durable. Oil varnish made from amber is highly elastic.
If it is used to protect tin-plate printing, when the plates after stoving have been subsequently rolled so as to distort the letters, the varnish has in no way suffered, and its surface remains unbroken.
A bronzing composition for coating iron consists of 120 parts mercury, 10 parts tin, 20 parts green vitriol, 120 parts water, and 15 parts hydrochloric acid of 1.2 specific gravity.
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