Practical Graining, with Description of Colors Employed and Tools Used

Seventeen kinds of varnishes, hardwood finishes, spar composition, etc., were applied as stated, and the result was highly disastrous, as, with two exceptions, they all cracked in less than twelve months. The two exceptions were, first, a mixture of linseed oil two parts to japan drier one part; second, a preparation said to contain ninety per cent. of linseed oil. This is the only thing on the side of the house to-day (February 29, 1888) that has any gloss; all the others except the oil and the drier are in various stages of imitation of alligator skin, or they have cracked so minutely as wholly to destroy the gloss. Some of the hardwood finishes cracked in twenty-eight days after being applied, and their makers claimed that they could be used on outside work without danger of cracking. The longest time that any varnish stood without cracking was slightly over eleven months, and that kind cost five dollars per gallon, and was sold for wearing body varnish.1 I have some of these varnishes and finishes applied to inside work, and at present they show no signs of cracking, but I am afraid that it will be only a question of time when they too will crack. For interior work I am in favor of using shellac over grained work in preference to varnish, and I have shellac applied to the doors of my rooms, the casings, etc., being finished with first-quality varnish; so that I will have an opportunity of observing their respective merits and durability. Shellac finish is less glaring than varnish, and has the advantage of drying quickly; so that it escapes the dust which is invariably present in new buildings. It can be rubbed down, if necessary, in the same manner as hardwood, and where graining is done to match wood finished in shellac it makes the work look uniform. I have yet to see a job of new work that has cracked after being shellacked if properly grounded. There are some of the old-fashioned varnishes that stand without cracking on inside work. One case I remember where an office had been grained and varnished when the factory was built, and, so far as known, had been revarnished but once for thirty-two years afterward. There was no sign of cracks in the varnish, and those people who profess that the cause of cracking is due to wax in the graining color would be surprised to see that the graining color in this case appeared to contain plenty of wax.

Varnish may stand for a long time on inside work without cracking; but the reverse is the rule in my experience; for varnish that has been bought from the factory expressly for inside work, and for which a good price has been paid, has cracked in less than six months after being applied, and this was on new wood; so that there was apparently nothing to hasten its early decay.

Some seven years ago I varnished a table-top which had been grained. I chose what a master carriage painter called one of the best makes of rubbing varnish, and applied three coats to the table, rubbing it on the third day after each coat. It looked nicely when finished, but in less than four months it had cracked. The cracks finally became so deep that they were faced up with putty; and this was a solid walnut table-top which had been thoroughly planed off and shellacked before being painted and grained. This is but one of many instances which have led me altogether to discard varnish for any work I wish to preserve; and where interior work is not too much exposed to wear I prefer to leave it as grained in oil or to shellac it, and for exterior work to give it an occasional coat of oil and drier rather than to varnish it.

I have not mentioned the names of the makers of the varnishes, but they were some of the representative makers of the country, and most of the labels expressly stated that the contents of the packages would not crack, blister or turn white.

I hope that the experience of others has been more favorable than has mine, but we must speak of things as we find them.

CHAPTER XV.

GRAINING CONSIDERED AS A FINE ART

Graining—that is painting in imitation of wood or of marble—is generally looked upon as a business branch of the house-painting which any competent painter is, or should be, able to do, but in reality we find that only about four or five men in each large city do all the best work in this line, and make a business of it, doing nothing else—"graining for the trade," as it is called. One grainer will do the work of twenty or more paint-shops, and if he is a first-class workman, he will earn more than double the wages of an ordinary painter, and will find employment all the year round.

Now, any large city can boast of twenty to thirty artists—landscape, marine, portrait, etc.—whose work is praised and is accepted at art-galleries, and in some cases brings enormous prices at sales; but why is it that their work is lauded to the skies; when at best it is but an imitation of nature, and when an equally good imitation in another form is (as a rule) condemned by architects and critics as unworthy a place in artistic residences or in the more prominent rooms of such houses? Any person of ordinary intelligence can at a glance discover that an oil painting is a mere copy or representation of nature, but the grain of wood or of marble can be so closely imitated that it is impossible even for an expert to detect at a glance that it is counterfeit, and a close examination sometimes fails to reveal whether it is genuine or not.

Some people think that successfully to imitate the color and the grain of any wood or any marble is as much of an art as is the representation of a landscape, for, while there are dozens of artists who can faithfully reproduce a landscape on canvas, there are few who can make a pine door look like the oak or cherry jamb and casing that surround it, as first-class grainers often have to do, and do so well that not one person in a thousand could tell the real wood from the imitation. And not only is the wood imitated by such men, but mouldings, cornices, panels, etc., are so faithfully represented as to pass for such except on close inspection.

It is said that in order to become an artist one must be born with certain qualifications or he will fail to be successful: this is equally true in the case of the grainer; and some people think that in order to become a first-class grainer more gifts are required at birth than if the person were destined to become an artist, as the artist generally has before him models or the original of his picture, while the grainer is supposed to imitate whatever kind of wood or marble is called for—in most cases, without any of the original before him and doing the work from recollection of the grain of the particular wood or marble he is imitating. While it is very true that the average imitation of wood or marble is poorly done, still the whole business should not be condemned, and any large city can furnish illustrations of the fact that graining is so well done as to deceive workers in wood; and they ought to be competent judges.

The idea of representing wood by painting is as old as any branch of the business, and, though excellent work has been done in days gone by, the efforts of the foremost grainers of the present time will favorably compare with those of any age, as, with new inventions to aid them, they have taken rapid strides toward perfection.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE TOOLS USED BY GRAINERS

Steel combs (Fig. 1) are four or five inches wide, with teeth of three regular sizes—course, medium and fine. They may be used for all woods where the grain is strongly marked, whether the work is done in oil or in distemper; there is also a four-inch steel comb with teeth graduated from coarse to fine (Fig. 2) that is often useful; a few one- or two-inch steel combs are handy for use on mouldings or on odd corners.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

Fig. 7.

Fig. 8.

Leather combs (Fig. 3) can be purchased from most of the large dealers in painters' materials, but they are inferior to combs cut from the best sheet rubber. In making the latter choose a piece of rubber measuring about two by four inches and not over a quarter of an inch. Cut the teeth on each of the four inch sides, making those on one side coarse and those on the other side fine, thus you have two combs in one, and by turning over the comb different lines can be made; do not cut the notches of the comb too deep, and leave considerable space for the face of the teeth. A rubber comb can be often used, especially on rough work, without covering the teeth with a rag, as being soft it conforms to the inequalities of the surface, and leaves a more distinct pattern than does a leather comb.

Fig. 9.

Fig. 10.

Fig. 11.

Fig. 12.

Fig. 13.

Fig. 14.

Fig. 15.

Fig. 16.

Fig. 17.

Fig. 18.

Fig. 19.

Fig. 20.

In representing the grain of oak, the tracks of the steel comb should cross or interlock so as to make a series of disconnected lines similar to the pores of the wood; for ash and other straight-grained woods, the grains should never interlock but appear clean and sharp in regular order from the side of the hearts to the edges of the board.

Fig. 21.

Fig. 22.

Fig. 23.

Fig. 24.

The piped bristle or fitch hair overgrainer (Fig. 4) may be used in oil or in distemper for representing ash, walnut, cherry, mahogany, etc.; for maple it may be used as an overgrainer. For overgraining any wood in distemper there is no better tool than the plain bristle overgrainer (Fig. 5) the bristles being separated into clusters with a bone comb after charging the brush with color.

Fig. 25.

Fig. 26.

The badger blender (Fig. 6) is used for all graining done in distemper and is sometimes used for oil work, a similar brush made of bristles is sometimes used for marbling. The flat bristle brush used for applying the graining color is the only blender necessary for oil work.

The castellated or knotted overgrainer (Figs. 7, 8 and 9) is used for graining in distemper work, which has previously been grained in oil.

The plain overgrainer (Figs. 10, 11 and 12) may be used for shading in distemper or for graining maple.

Mottlers or cutters made of bristles (Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17) are for use for distemper color in graining maple, mahogany, etc.

The angular cutter (Fig. 17) is used for taking out the high lights in mahogany.

The waved mottler (Fig. 18) is used for representing maple, mahogany or satinwood in distemper.

Camel's-hair mottlers or cutters (Figs. 19 and 20) are used for very fine work on maple, etc., but the bristle brushes answer all practical purposes.

The serrated mottler or marbler (Fig. 21) is used for maple or satinwood in distemper or for marbling.

For applying distemper color a tin bound bristle graining brush (Fig. 22) is excellent, it should be about 1/2 an inch thick.

The bristle stippler (Fig. 23) is used for walnut or for mahogany in distemper.

The fitch or sable piped overgrainer (Fig. 24) is used in distemper for maple, satinwood or other delicate work.

The check roller is used for putting in the pores of oak and the dark streaks or lines in the hearts, and is used to best advantage in distemper. A well charged mottler supplies the color. The mottler is laid against the edges of the wheels, and by revolving the roller the color is transferred to the work. A guard of tin may be soldered to the mottler so that it fits the handle of the roller, being held in place by the thumb.

One or two flat fresco bristle liners (Figs. 25 and 26) No. 1 and 2 for putting in hearts, veins, etc., and one or two tin bound sash tools complete the list of all tools necessary for use, and any wood that grows may be represented by using the tools mentioned.

CHAPTER XVII.

PATENT GRAINING MACHINES

Various devices other than those usually employed—brushes, combs, etc.—have been invented for representing the grains of wood, and some of these machines are excellent, and are so constructed that by properly using them a very good imitation of wood may be obtained. The majority of them, however, seem to have been invented for the express purpose of being sold to gullible painters. The work done by such machines bears but little resemblance to the grain of any wood, and the only merit they possess is their boasted "ease of manipulation." It would seem that the majority of the patent pads, rollers, etc., now in use were designed by persons totally unfamiliar with the various woods which they claim their machines can represent; they bear the same relation to good handwork as the schoolboy's drawing of a house bears to that of an architect. The quality of the work seems to be immaterial if it can rapidly be executed; and if there are plenty of knots in the pattern, so much the better. It is of no consequence what wood it is supposed to represent, so long as it pleases the eye of the painter, and he will often purchase at an exorbitant price that which is practically useless for ordinary housework.

I have before me a circular containing some photographic illustrations of the work done by a patent roller process; and if any wood ever grew that bears a resemblance to the illustrations, I am ignorant of its name. Aniline colors are the means employed to represent the grains, and the process is designed to obviate the necessity of first painting the work, as the color is directly applied by the roller, without the wood being prepared in any way. It is claimed that any shadows or grains existing in the wood will only add to the beauty of the finished work. This will be news to the intelligent workman. The circular says nothing about how to use the rollers on painted work, so I presume it is worthless except for new work, and nearly so for that; for the painter who attempts to represent wood in the manner described will find that in the end it costs as much as though he had employed a skilful workman; and when the job is finished, he will have but a poor imitation of wood.

So far as I am aware, the oldest machine for representing the graining of wood is the Mason pad, which consists of a convex pad with handles at either end. The face of the pad is made of a rubber composition, on which are engraved the grains, the pad being about two feet in length. The graining-color is applied to the work, and while wet the pad is pressed against it, thus removing sufficient color to show the grain. This process is now seldom used; the composition of which the face of the pad is made hardens in cold weather and in hot weather it is inclined to run together, and great care must be taken to avoid defacing the pad.

The objection common to all roller processes or machines is that they do the same work over and over again, which is contrary to what we find in nature, as the grains are always different from one another, so that it would require an endless variety of patterns to do such work as is done by any first-class grainer.

Another method for the rapid imitation of wood is found in stencil-plates, which consist of thin sheets of brass so constructed that when laid against the panel to be grained they leave no mark until a cloth is passed over the plate, when the graining-color exposed by the stencil is rubbed off, thus making the grains. This sort of work looks much better than that done by any of the pads or rollers, but is open to the same objection—viz., repetition.

Another process is operated by having rolls with leather or composition surface, with the grains cut thereon; after the graining-color has been applied to the work, the rollers are passed over it, thus removing the color wherever the roller touches. As a rule, the work done by this process is not very distinct, nor is it particularly clean. Very large rollers have to be used in order to grain a panel four feet long, as the work will seldom join without showing the joints; and while a door was being grained in this manner (with joints in the panels), a skilful workman could do one by hand and in a much better manner.

The best work that I have ever seen, not done by hand, was by means of a composition roller with a smooth surface; it can be used only for the imitation of porous woods, as chestnut, ash and walnut, and is useless for oak, cherry or any of the close-grained woods. The work can first be stippled in distemper, and when dry rubbed in lightly in oil; or the roller can be applied directly to the stippled work or to the groundwork, and afterwards stippled if necessary. It is requisite to procure several pieces of the wood to be imitated, smoothed carefully with the pores open; then directly apply the graining-color and with the composition roller go over the wood, taking the color from the pores and applying it directly to the work by transfer. If carefully done, you have an exact duplicate of the grain of the real wood, and no man can do better work than this; but, in order to grain a room or a house in this manner, it is necessary to have a great variety of pieces of porous wood, and to use each piece only for imitating the wood of which it is composed.

The gransorbian is another transfer process, by which the grains are produced as follows: The graining-color is applied in the usual manner, and heavy absorptive paper on which the grain of the wood to be imitated is impressed is laid against the wet color; a roller with a smooth surface is passed over the paper, using considerable force, so that the color is absorbed into the paper wherever it is pressed against the work by the roller. The paper can be used several times before it becomes useless through becoming saturated with color, but, being cheap, it is an inexpensive manner of doing fair to good work. All depends on the man who makes the patterns, as, if they are not true to nature, the effect is very bad, and some of the samples that I have seen are very poor imitations of the grain of any wood. I should judge that the paper is produced by applying the pulp to a block of wood on which the pattern to be produced is engraved, using considerable pressure to force the pulp into the carved work. The plain work is done with combs in the usual manner.

Another transfer process is the transfer paper. The grain is printed on paper similar to the best wall-paper, and is transferred to the groundwork by pressure after first wetting the back of the paper and allowing time for the water thoroughly to soften the printed color. The surface of the groundwork must first be damped in order to receive the moist color from the paper. Two or three impressions may be obtained from each wetting of the paper. Some of the work done by this process is excellent, and approaches very near the work done by the smooth transfer roller, but the majority of the paper is printed from blocks or cylinders, designed not by nature, but by man, and are unworthy of comparison with those printed from nature.

There are various processes other than handwork, but the above are the principal methods employed.

The first-class grainer has nothing to fear from any of the foregoing processes, for while some were being used the work could be done in the old way, and equally well, provided the workmen were at all skilful. I have never seen any work that can excel fine handwork, as there is more grace and variety in such work than there is in any done by any other methods. When the services of a grainer cannot be obtained, machine processes may answer for ordinary work or for small work, such as ice-chests, pails, etc., but the chief objection I have to them is that they claim too much, and the average painter who buys the process is deceived, because he is told that any wood can be imitated by this or that machine, when such is not the case.

CHAPTER XVIII.

IMITATIONS OF CARVED WORK, MOULDINGS, ETC., BY GRAINING

In imitating carved work, mouldings, etc. in graining color, more than ordinary ability is required in order to succeed in deceiving people; and this kind of work should not be attempted unless there is ample time for its proper execution, nor should its use be contemplated for too exposed positions, as if not thoroughly done it is an eyesore to the intelligent beholder, but if done in a recessed doorway or other suitable place, inside or outside, it enhances the value of the work if it agrees with the general style of the architecture or of the surroundings. Mouldings or raised panels are often imitated on front doors where the real article would never be placed by an intelligent carpenter, owing to the shape of the door; hence it would be displaying poor judgment to place the imitation where the real article ought to find no place. It is wonderful how a thorough grainer can transform a plastered wall into one apparently sheathed or wainscoted, and I have seen doors so perfectly imitated that persons would grasp at the knob in attempting to open a door that was grained on a plastered wall. Imitations of carved figures, scrolls and game-birds are favored by some workmen, and are very effective if well done; as a rule such work should be seen in a subdued light to render the deception more complete.