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.
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Adhesives, Paints, and Varnishes: Remove
Black Asphalt Varnish for Ironwork. Dissolve 3 pounds of asphalt in 4 pounds of boiled linseed oil. Remove from the fire and thin with 15 to 18 pounds of oil of turpentine.
Or boil 22 pounds of foreign asphalt in 3 gallons of linseed oil.
Add 3 pounds of litharge. Boil until stringy, then add 4 pounds of melted gum amber and 1 gallon of linseed oil. Bring to a boil, remove from the fire, and thin with 22 gallons of turpentine. India rubber or gutta percha may be added to any common oil varnish if desired to impart additional flexibility.
Or melt 12 pounds of asphaltum, add 2½ gallons of boiled linseed oil, 24 pounds of red lead, 24 pounds of litharge, and 1 pound of dry and powdered white copperas. Boil 2 hours, add 23 pounds of dark gum amber melted and gallon of hot linseed oil.
Boil 2 hours. To test, take out a few drops and allow to cool on a glass plate. When boiled sufficiently, ADHESIVES, PAINTS, AND VARNISHES it may be rolled into pills. Remove from the fire and thin with 10 gallons of oil of turpentine. This is suitable for varnishing the best grades of ironwork.
Or to pint of boiled linseed oil add 6 ounces of powdered asphaltum.
Bring to a boil and stir in 1 pound of melted amber. Cool, and add 1 pint of oil of turpentine.
Or dissolve 8 ounces of asphaltum and 4 ounces of rosin in 1 pint of oil of turpentine. Rub up 2 ounces of lampblack to a paste with boiled linseed oil and stir into the mixture. The above are suitable for iron fences or hinges exposed to the weather, or for iron shovels, tools, coal scuttles, and other sheet-iron or cast-iron surfaces to protect them from rust and to give them a good appearance.
Or melt 4 pounds of asphalt and add 1 quart of boiled linseed oil and 1 gallon of oil of turpentine. This is suitable for grates and other rough cast-iron surfaces.
Or melt 21 pounds of asphaltum and add 1 gallon of turpentine. When cool, add 1 pint of copal varnish and 1 pint of boiled linseed oil. This is black varnish for wood or canvas.
SPIRIT OR LAC VARNISHES These differ from fixed-oil varnishes in being true solutions of various resins, chiefly anime, mastic, shellac, and sandarac, in spirituous solvents, usually alcohol and wood spirit, or acetone, benzine, etc.