Important: Safety Warning
This page describes practices involving highly flammable materials in ways that create a serious risk of fire or explosion.
This page describes trade processes that use dangerously toxic materials such as cyanide solutions, mercury amalgams, or strong acids. These processes require training, equipment, and precautions far beyond what the text describes.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Home › Adhesives, Paints, and Varnishes › Adhesives, Paints, and Varnishes: Apply
Adhesives, Paints, and Varnishes: Apply
Amber or Varnish Cement. - Dissolve 2 ounces of amber in 3 ounces of sulphide of carbon. Apply with a brush and hold the surfaces firmly together until dry. This cement sets almost immediately.
White-of-egg Cement. -For crockery, white of egg mixed with prepared lime, or mixed with the same material (ground to powder) as the article to be mended, makes a firm and durable cement. Apply quickly to the edges and hold firmly together until the mixture sets. Do not mix more than is required, as it hardens very quickly and cannot be melted.
Or use for this purpose the white of an egg with plaster of Paris or prepared chalk or finely powdered oyster shells.
Or pound the lime or other solid to a fine powder and sift it through cheese cloth. Apply white of egg freely to the broken surfaces. Dust on the powder and hold the edges together firmly until united.
For glassware, grind a piece of flint glass to the finest powder, mix with white of egg, and apply.
To Mend Ironware. - Make a thin paste of finely sifted lime with the white of an egg and thicken with iron filings. Apply to the broken edges and hold them firmly together until the cement sets.
Casein Cement. - Grate 4 ounces of old cheese in pint of milk. Let stand all day, stirring frequently.
Stir in 4 ounces of unslaked lime reduced to fine powder and sifted through cheese cloth. Add the whites of 6 eggs and mix all thoroughly with an egg beater. This was long regarded as a trade secret in England for mending earthenware. Or add pint of vinegar to pint of milk. Separate the curd from the whey and mix the whey with the whites of 4 or 5 eggs by means of an egg beater. Stir in powdered and sifted quicklime to the consistency of a thick paste. This cement ADHESIVES, PAINTS, AND VARNISHES is said to be fireproof and waterproof.
Or dissolve casein in a cold saturated solution of borax. This is a substitute for gum arabic and dextrin for envelopes, labels, and the like.
Or, to mend earthenware, place the pieces together and tie them firmly as possible by means of a string. If one piece of a set is broken, two other pieces of the same set may be placed one on each side of the broken article to assist in keeping the pieces together, but care must be taken to first wind string thickly around the broken plate or dish so as to separate it slightly from the others and permit liquid to flow around it. Then put it in a boiler or kettle, cover with cold sweet skimmed milk, and let stand for an hour or more to get an even temperature. Bring to a boil with gentle heat and let boil ten or fifteen minutes. Remove from the fire and let stand over night. Wash in warm water and let stand two or three days without using. The dish will be found to be as strong as new.