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Slaked lime, 1 bu.; calcined clay, 1 1/4 bu.; washed sand, 1 1/4 bu.
Unslaked lime, 3 bu.; sand, 3 bu.; gravel, 2 bu.; broken stone, 4 bu.
Hydraulic cement, 6 bu. (6-5 London, or 2 New York bbl.); sand, 6 bu. This amount will suffice to lay 1,000 bricks or 2 perches of stone.
1. Stone lime (unslaked), 1 bu.; sand, 3 bu.
2. Stone lime (unslaked), 1 bu.; gravel, 10 bu.
Is superior, in every respect, to concrete. It is made in the same way, using hydraulic instead of common mortar.
Sand, 100 lbs.; marble-dust, 100 lbs.; freestone, 100 lbs.; red lead (minium), 3 lbs.; litharge, 3 lbs.; linseedoil, 21 pts.
Or pozzuolana, from the neighborhood of Vesuvius, is a peculiar mixture of silica, clay, and lime, which has been calcined by the volcano. It it used mixed with lime and sand. The following is the formula of Vitruvius: 12 parts pozzuolana well powdered, 6 sharp sand well washed, 9 rich lime, recently slaked. It has the power of rapidly hardening under water.
One hundred lbs. of pure, dry chalk is moistened and ground in a mill with excess of water; to this is added 137 1/2 lbs. of pure alluvial clay, and the two are thoroughly incorporated. The mixture is made into balls, which are dried and calcined in an ordinary lime-kiln.
Is made by calcining the limestone or cement-stone, found above the Potsdam sandstone and below the Utica slate of the New York survey. It consists of silica, magnesia, alumina, oxide of iron, with some salts of potash and soda. The stone is found in eastern New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Are made 1, by combining thoroughly slaked lime with from 10 to 40 per cent. unburnt clay, and burning the mixture in a kiln; 2, by grinding clay and chalk as directed above for Portland Cement; 3, by making artificial pozzuolana from calcareous sand and clay, and calcining it, 4, by the use of silicate of soda: 8 or 10 per cent. of a solution of the consistence of thin syrup, is to be mixed with mortar of fat lime.
A coat of oxide of zinc (zinc white) mixed with size, is applied to the wall, ceiling or wainscot; over this, one of chloride of zinc, prepared in the same way. The two unite and form a cement smooth and polished as glass.
Take unsalted curd of skimmed milk, press the whey out, dry and pulverize, and warm over a stove. Of this, 90 parts; caustic quicklime, in fine powder, 10 parts; powdered camphor, 1 part. Mix intimately and keep in small bottles corked perfectly tight. To use, mix the required amount with water with a palette-knife, and apply immediately.
Earthen floors are commonly made of loam; and sometimes, especially to make malt on, of lime and brooksand, and gun-dust or anvil-dust from the forge. The manner of making earthen floors for plain country habitations is as follows: take 2/3 lime and 1/3 coal-ashes well sifted, with a small quantity of loam clay; mix the whole together and temper it well with water, making it up into a heap; let it lie a week or 10 days and then temper it over again. After this, heap it up for 3 or 4 days, and repeat the tempering very high till it becomes smooth, yielding, tough and gluey. The ground being then levelled, lay the floor therewith about 2 1/2 or 3 in. thick, making it smooth with a trowel. The hotter the season is, the better: and when it is thoroughly dried, it will make the best floor for houses, especially malt-houses.
Take the hardest and purest limestone (white marble is to be preferred), free from sand, clay or other matter; calcine it in a reverberatory furnace, pulverize and pass through a sieve. One part, by weight, is to be mixed with 2 parts of clay well baked and similarly pulverized, conducting the whole operation with great care. This forms the first powder. The second is to be made of 1 part of calcined and pulverized gypsum, to which is added 2 parts of clay baked and pulverized. These two powders are to be combined and intimately incorporated, so as to form a perfect mixture. When it is to be used, mix it with about 1/4 part of its weight of water, added gradually, stirring the mass well the whole time, until it forms a thick paste, in which state it is to be spread like mortar upon the desired surface. It becomes in time as hard as stone, allows no moisture to penetrate and is not cracked by heat. When well prepared it will last any length of time. When in its plastic or soft state, it may be colored of any desired tint.
Zeiodelite is made by mixing together 19 lbs. of sulphur and 42. lbs. of pulverized stoneware and glass. The mixture is exposed to a gentle heat, which melts the sulphur, and then the mass is stirred till it becomes thoroughly homogeneous, when it is run into suitable moulds and allowed to cool. This preparation is proof against acids in general, whatever their degree of concentration, and will last an indefinite time. It melts at about 248, and may be reemployed without loss of any of its qualities, whenever it is desirable to change the form of an apparatus, by melting at a gentle heat and operating as with asphalte. At 230° it becomes as compact as stone, and therefore preserves its solidity in boiling water. Slabs of zeiodelite may be joined by introducing between them some of the paste heated to 392°, which will melt the edges of the slabs, and when the whole becomes cold it will present one uniform piece. Chambers lined with zeiodelite, in place of lead, the inventor says, will enable manufacturers to produce acids free from nitrate and sulphate of lead. The cost will be only one-fifth the price of lead. The compound is also said to be superior to hydraulic lime for uniting stone and resisting the action of water.
Take 1 part of iron filings, reduced to sifted powder, 3 parts of silica, 4 parts of red clay, the same quantity of pulverized brick, and 2 parts of hot lime; the whole measured by weight and not by bulk.
Put the mixture into a large wooden tub, in order that nothing foreign may be introduced into it. If sufficient water is poured out to extinguish the lime and give a degree of liquidness to the cement, and if all the component parts are briskly stirred, a great degree of heat will be emitted from the lime, and an intimate union formed by the heat.
In mixing cement for cast-iron, put 1 oz. of sal ammoniac to each hundredweight of borings, and use it without allowing it to heat. Multiply the length of any joint in ft. by the breadth in in., by the thickness in eighths, and by 3; the product will be the weight of dry borings, in lbs. avoirdupois, required to make cement to fill that joint nearly.
Or, take of sal ammoniac, 2 oz.; flowers of sulphur, 1 oz.; clean cast-iron borings or filings, 16 oz.: mix them well in a mortar, and keep them dry. When required for use, take 1 part of this powder and 20 parts of clean iron borings or filings, mix thoroughly in a mortar, make the mixture into a stiff paste with a little water, and apply it between the joints, and screw them together. A little fine grindstone sand added improves the cement.
A mixture of white paint with red lead, spread on canvas or woollen, and placed between the joints, is best adapted for joints that require to be often separated.
In 100 lbs. of iron borings mix 1 oz. of flowers of sulphur, and add 1 oz. of sal ammoniac, dissolved in hot water.
Pack it close in an iron vessel, and cover with water.
Fifteen lbs. fire-clay, 1 lb. saleratus, with water sufficient to make a thick paste. This mixture must be applied to the broken part of the retort when the retort is at a good working heat; after this has been done, cover it with fine coal dust, and charge the retort for working.
Where a great quantity of cement is wanted for coarser uses, the coal-ash mortar (or Welsh tarras) is the cheapest and best, and will hold extremely well, not only where it is constantly kept wet or dry, but even where it is sometimes dry and at others wet; but where it is liable to be exposed to wet and frost, this cement should, at its being laid on, be suffered to dry thoroughly before any moisture has access to it; and, in that case, it will likewise be a great improvement to temper it with the blood of any beast.
The mortar must be formed of 1 part lime and 2 parts of well-sifted coal-ashes, and they must be thoroughly mixed by being beaten together, for on the perfect commixture of the ingredients the goodness of the composition depends.
Mortar is composed of quicklime and sand, reduced to a paste with water. The lime ought to be pure, completely free from carbonic acid, and in the state of a very fine powder; the sand should be free from clay, partly in the state of fine sand and partly in that of gravel; the water should be pure, and, if previously saturated with lime, so much the better. The best proportions are 3 parts of fine, and 4 parts of coarse sand, 1 part of quicklime, recently slaked, and as little water as possible. There should always be enough water added at first; if water is added after the slaking has begun, it will be chilled and the mortar lumpy
The addition of burnt bones improves mortar by giving it tenacity and renders it less apt to crack in drying; but they ought never to exceed 1/4 of the lime employed.
When a little manganese is added to mortar, it acquires the important property of hardening under water; so that it may be employed in constructing those edifices which are constantly exposed to the action of water. Limestone is often combined with manganese; in that case it becomes brown by calcination.
This is composed of 3 parts of lime, 1 of sand and 2 of wood-ashes; these ingredients are mixed up with oil and water alternately, till they compose a paste of the desired consistency.
Take 56 lbs. of pure coarse sand, 42 lbs. of pure fine sand; mix them together, and moisten them thoroughly with lime-water; to the wetted sand add 14 lbs. of pure freshburnt lime, and while beating them up together add, in successive portions, 14 lbs. of bone-ash. The quicker and more perfectly these materials are beaten together, and the sooner they are used, the better will be the cement; for some kinds of work it will be better to use fine sand alone, and for others coarse sand, remembering the finer the sand is the greater quantity of lime is to be employed.
To 1/2 pt. of vinegar add the same quantity of milk; separate the curd, and mix the whey with the whites of 5 eggs; beat it well together, and sift into it a sufficient quantity of quicklime, to convert it to the consistency of a thick paste. Broken vessels mended with this cement never afterwards separate, for it resists the action of both fire and water.
Dissolve mastic in as much spirit of wine as will suffice to render it liquid; in another vessel dissolve as much isinglass (which has been previously soaked in water till it is swollen and soft) in brandy as will make 2 oz. by measure of strong glue, and add two small bits of gumgalbanum or ammoniacum, which must be rubbed or ground till they are dissolved; then mix the whole with a sufficient heat; keep it in a phial stopped, and when it is to be used set it in hot water.
A solution of caoutchouc, or India-rubber, for repairing india-rubber shoes, is prepared in the following manner: Cut 2 lbs. of caoutchouc into thin, small slices; put them in a vessel of tinned sheet-iron, and pour over 12 to 14 lbs. of sulphide of carbon. For the promotion of solution place the vessel in another containing water previously heated up to about 86° Fahr. The solution will take place promptly, but the fluid will thicken very soon, and thus render the application difficult, if not impossible. In order to prevent this thickening and difficulty, a solution of caoutchouc and rosin (colophony) in spirits of turpentine must be added to the solution of caoutchouc in sulphide of carbon, and in such quantity that the mixture obtains the consistency of a thin paste. The solution of caoutchouc and rosin in spirit of turpentine should be prepared as follows: Cut 1 lb. of caoutchouc into thin, small slices; heat them in a suitable vessel over a moderate coal fire, until the caoutchouc becomes fluid; then add 1/2 lb. of powdered rosin, and melt both materials at a moderate heat. When these materials are perfectly fluid, then gradually add 3 or 4 lbs. of spirit of turpentine in small portions, and stir well. By the addition of the last solution, the rapid thickening and hardening of the compound will be prevented, and a mixture obtained fully answering the purpose of gluing together rubber surfaces, etc.
Cut 3 parts India-rubber into small pieces, and dissolve it by heat and agitation in 34 parts of cold naphtha, chloroform, or benzine; add to this 64 parts of powdered shellac, and heat the whole with constant stirring until the shellac is dissolved; then pour it while hot on metal plates, to form sheets. When used it must be heated to 248 Fahr., and applied with a brush.
Fine shreds of India-rubber dissolved in warm copal varnish, make a water-proof cement for wood and leather.
Another. - Glue, 12 oz.; water, sufficient to dissolve it; add 3 oz. of rosin, melt them together and add 4 parts of turpentine or benzine. This should be done in a carpenter's glue-pot, to avoid burning.
M. Edmund Davy prepares a new cement, which is well spoken of, by melting in an iron vessel equal parts of common pitch and gutta-percha. It is kept either liquid under water, or solid to be melted when wanted. It is not attached by water, and adheres firmly to wood, stone, glass, porcelain, ivory, leather, parchment-paper, feathers, wool, cotton, hemp, and linen fabrics, and even to varnish.
One part, by measure, of litharge; 1 part plaster of Paris; 1 part fine beach-sand; 1/3 part fine powdered rosin; mix all together. This may be kept for years, while dry, in a well-corked bottle; when used, make in a putty with boiled linseed oil; a little patent dryer may be used; it will stand water at once, either salt or fresh.
For uniting sheet gutta-percha to silk or other fabrics: Gutta-percha, 40 lbs.; caoutchouc, 3 lbs.; shellac, 3 lbs.; Canada balsam, or Venice turpentine, 14 lbs.; liquid styrax, 35 lbs.; gum mastic, 4 lbs.; oxide of lead, 1 lb.
For uniting sheet gutta-percha to leather, as soles of shoes, etc.: Gutta-percha, 50 lbs.; Venice turpentine, 40 lbs.; shellac, 4 lbs.; caoutchouc, 1 lb.; liquid styrax, 5 lbs.
A metallic cement, which answers for all purposes and becomes hard in the heat, may be obtained in the following way : One hundred parts of oxide of zinc, with the same quantity of sulphate of lead, are triturated with 30 parts of linseed-oil, and then a mixture consisting of 100 parts of black oxide of manganese and 100 parts of peroxide of iron added until the mass forms a stiff dough. This is beaten in a mortar for 12 hours, during which the remainder of the above mixture of iron and manganese is added by degrees. The goodness of the cement may be recognized by its not grumbling when rolled out between the fingers.
Gelatine is allowed to swell in cold water the jelly warmed, and so much recently-slaked lime added as is requisite to render the mass sufficiently thick for the purpose. A thin coating of this cement is spread while warm over the gently-heated surfaces of fracture of the articles, and let dry under a strong pressure. What oozes out is removed directly with a moist rag.
Take of the best glue 4 oz.; of isinglass, 2 oz.; and dissolve them in mild ale over a slow fire, in a common gluekettle, to the consistency of strong glue, when 1 1/2 oz. of well boiled linseed-oil must be gradually added, and the whole be well mixed by stirring. When cold and made into cakes it resembles India-rubber. When wanted for use, dissolve a piece of it in a proportionate quantity of ale. This cement is applicable to all joints of wood, to join earthenware, china, glass. It is an excellent cement for leather, for harness, bands for machinery, etc. The joints of these are to be prepared as if for sewing, the cement to be applied hot, laying a weight upon each joint as it is made, in which state it is to be left 6 hours when the joints will be found nearly as firm as if they were of an entire piece. By adding a little tow to the above, you have an excellent cement for leaks in casks, etc., etc.
Take of beeswax 2 lbs., and of resin 1 lb.; melt them, and add 1 1/2 lbs. of the same kind of matter powdered, as the body to be cemented is composed of; strewing it into the melted mixture, and stirring them well together, and afterwards kneading the mass in water, that the powder may be thoroughly incorporated with the wax and resin. The proportion of the powdered matter may be varied where required, in order to bring the cement nearer to the color of the body on which it is employed.
This cement must be heated when applied, as also the parts of the subject to be cemented together, and care must be taken, likewise, that they may he thoroughly dry.
These are used for securing the juncture of vessels in distillations and sublimations. For the distillation of water, linen dipped in a thin paste of flour and water is sufficient. A lute of greater security is composed of quicklime, made into a paste with the whites of eggs. For the security of very corrosive vapors, clay finely powdered and sifted, made into a paste with boiled linseed-oil, must be applied to the juncture, which must be afterwards covered with slips of linen, dipped in the paste of quicklime and the whites of eggs. The lute must be perfectly dried before the vessels are used, or else the heat may cause it to dry too quickly, and thereby cause the lute to crack. If this be the case, it is repaired by applying fresh lute in the cracks, and suffering it to dry gradually. Vessels which are to be exposed to the naked fire are frequently coated to resist the effects of the heat, the best coating for which purpose consists in dissolving 2 oz. of borax in 1 pt. of boiling water, and adding to the solution as much slaked lime as is necessary to form a thin paste. The vessel must be covered all over with it by means of a painter's brush, and then suffered to dry. It must then be covered with a thin paste of linseed-oil and slaked lime, except the neck. In 2 or 3 days it will dry of itself, and the retort will then bear the greatest fire without cracking. The cracks of chemical vessels may be secured by the second lute.
Take 1 lb. of the best glue, boil and strain it very clear; boil likewise 4 oz. of isinglass, put it in a double glue-pot, with 1/2 lb. of fine brown sugar, and boil it pretty thick; then pour it into moulds; when cold, cut and dry them in small pieces. This glue is very useful to draughtsmen, architects, etc., as it immediately dilutes in warm water, and fastens the paper without the process of damping.
Dissolve gum sandarac and mastic, of each, 2 oz., in 1 pt. of spirit of wine, adding about 1 oz. of clear turpentine. Then take equal parts of isinglass and parchment glue, made according to the directions in the preceding article, and having beaten the isinglass into small bits, and reduce the glue to the same state, pour the solution of the gums upon them, and melt the whole in a vessel well covered, avoiding so great a heat as that of boiling water. When melted, strain the glue through a coarse linen cloth, and then put it again over the fire, adding about 1 oz. of powdered glass.
This preparation may be best managed by hanging the vessel in boiling water, which will prevent the matter burning to the vessel, or the spirit of wine from taking fire, and indeed it is better to use the same method for all the evaporation of nicer glues and sizes; but, in that case, less water than the proportion directed, should be added to the materials.
A very strong glue, that will resist water, may be also made by adding 1/2 lb. of common glue, or isinglass glue, to 2 qts. of skimmed milk, and then evaporating the mixture to the due consistence of the glue.
Take 1 lb. of parchment, and boil it in 6 qts. of water, till the quantity be reduced to 1 qt.; strain off the fluid from the dregs, and then boil it again till it be of the consistence of glue.
The same may be done with glovers' cuttings of leather, which make a colorless glue, if not burnt in the evaporation of the water.
Take common glue in very small or thin bits, and isinglass glue; infuse them in as much spirit of wine as will cover them, for at least 24 hours. Then melt the whole together, and, while they are over the fire, add as much powdered chalk as will render them an opake white.
The infusion in the spirit of wine has been directed in the recipes given for glue; but the remark on the use of it in one of the preceding articles will hold good also in this, and the mixture may be made with water only.
Take very fine flour, mix it with white of eggs, isinglass, and a little yeast; mingle the materials, beat them well together; spread them, the batter being made thin with gum-water, on even tin plates, and dry them in a stove, then cut them out for use. To color them, tinge the paste with Brazil, or vermillion for red; indigo or verditer, etc., for blue; saffron, turmeric, or gamboge, etc., for yellow.
This is made by dissolving beaten isinglass in water by boiling, and having strained it through a coarse linen cloth, evaporating it again to such a consistence, that, being cold, the glue will be perfectly hard and dry.
A great improvement is made in this glue by adding spirit of wine or brandy after it is strained, and then renewing the evaporation till it gains the due consistence.
This may also be prepared in the manner above directed for the glue, by increasing the proportion of the water for dissolving it, and the same holds good of parchment size. A better sort of the common size may be likewise made by treated cuttings of glovers' leather in the same manner.
Paste is formed principally of wheaten flour boiled in water till it be of a glutinous or viscid consistence. It may be prepared with those ingredients simply for common purposes; but when it is used by bookbinders, or for paper-hangings to rooms, it is usual to mix a fourth, fifth, or sixth of the weight of the flour of powdered resin; and where it is wanted still more tenacious, gum arabic or any kind of size may be added.
Mix together bullock's blood and quicklime, in the proportion of 1 lb. of the latter to 10 lbs. of the former. It becomes a stiff jelly, in which state it is sold to the consumers, who beat it down with an addition of water, into a state sufficiently fluid for use.
Provide a pair of pincers, the tongs of which will reach 4 inches beyond the rivet. Now file the tortoise-shell clean to a lap-joint, carefully observing that there be no grease about it. Wet the joint with water, apply the pincers hot, following them with water, and the shell will be found to be joined, as if it were originally one piece.
Rosin, 5 lbs.; beeswax, 1 lb.; red ochre, 1 lb.; plaster of Paris, 3 oz. Finely-powdered brick dust may be used instead of the red ochre and plaster.
Soft rosin, 8 oz.; wax, 1 oz.; pitch, 1 oz.; red ochre, 1/2 oz.; hard shellac, 2 oz.; powdered pumice, 1 oz.
Sifted wood-ashes, 1 oz.; melted pitch, 3 1/2 oz.
Rosin, 10 oz.; beeswax, 1 oz.; tallow, 1/4 oz.; red ochre, 1/2 oz.
Take 1000 lbs. of starch, moisten with a mixture of 300 lbs. of water, and 2 lbs. of nitric acid, allow it to dry spontaneously, and heat for 1 or 2 hours in stoves, at a temperature of 212° to 230° Fahr.
1. To any quantity of glue use common whiskey instead of water. Put both together in a bottle, cork it tight, and set it for 3 or 4 days, when it will be fit for use without the application of heat. Glue thus prepared will keep for years, and is at all times fit for use, except in very cold weather, when it should be set in warm water before using. To obviate the difficulty of the stopper getting tight by the glue drying in the mouth of the vessel, use a tin vessel, with the cover fitting tight on the outside to prevent the escape of the spirit by evaporation. A strong solution of isinglass, made in the same manner, is an excellent cement for leather.
2. Take of best white glue, 16 oz.; white lead, dry, 4 oz.; rain-water, 2 pts.; alcohol, 4 oz. With constant stirring dissolve the glue and lead in the water by means of a water-bath. Add the alcohol, and continue the heat for a few minutes. Lastly pour into bottles while it is still hot.
Take 2 and 1-5th lbs. of glue, and dissolving it in 2 and 1-9th pts. of water in a glazed pot over a gentle fire; or, what is better, in the water-bath, stirring it from time to time. When all the glue is melted, 7 oz. Av. of nitric acid (spec. grav. 1.32) are to be poured in, in small quantities at a time. This addition produces an effervescence, owing to the disengagement of hyponitric acid. When all the acid is added, the vessel is to be taken from the fire, and left to cool.
Another. - Dissolve the best isinglass in the strongest (glacial) acetic acid.
Resin, 15 parts; tallow, 4 (or wax, 3) parts; highly dried red ochre, 6 parts; or lampblack sufficient to give color.
Isinglass, 1 oz.; distilled water, 5 oz.; dissolve and boil down to 3 oz.; add 1 1/2 oz. of alcohol; boil for a minute or two. Strain, and while hot add 1/2 oz. of milky emulsion of gum ammoniac, and 5 drs. of tincture of mastic.
In liquid chloride of zinc, of 50° to 60° Beaume, dissolve 3 per cent. of borax or sal ammoniac; add oxide of zinc (zinc white) until the mass is of proper consistence. This cement, when hard, becomes as firm as marble. It may be cast into moulds like plaster, as used in Mosaic work.
Boil the middle part of the holly 7 or 8 hours in water; drain it, and lay it in heaps in the ground, covered with stones, for 2 or 3 weeks, till reduced to a mucilage. Beat this in a mortar, wash it in rain-water, and knead it till free from extraneous matters. Put it into earthen pots, and in 4 or 5 days it will be fit for use. An interior kind is made by boiling linseed-oil for some hours until it becomes a viscid paste.
Dissolve 75 parts India-rubber in 60 parts of chloroform or benzine, and add to the solution 15 parts of mastic.
Another. - Balsam of fir is a strong cement when not exposed to heat. It is to be warmed and applied to the glass, itself previously warmed. It is used for cementing lenses, mounting microscopic objects, etc., and does very well for broken glass when it is not to be washed in warm water. The thicker the balsam the stronger, when too thin it may be thickened by gentle evaporation.
Dissolve 8 oz. of alum and 3 3/4 oz. of white soap in 4 pints of water; in another vessel dissolve 2 oz. of gum Arabic and 4 oz. of glue in 4 pints of water. Mix the two solutions and make the mixture hot. Immerse the paper in the mixture, and then hang it up to dry or pass it between cylinders.
The alum, soap, glue, and gum form a sort of artificial covering which protects the surface of the paper from the action of water, and to a certain extent from fire. This paper will be very useful for packages which may be exposed to the inclemency of the weather.
In order to obtain cheap gun-cotton it may be made of rags instead of new cotton. It is first dissolved in any of its solvents, such as ether and alcohol, and becomes collodion. To this is now added any of the purest animal and vegetable oils, and it forms the new liquid which is to be used as a cement and vehicle. By adding to it gums and resins a cement is formed, which may be rolled out into sheets and stamped in dies into cups, fancy boxes, and various other articles. The oxide of copper imparts a green color to it, and the chloride of lime added renders it uninflammable. The addition of fine flax fibre, or the flocks of wool, renders it strong and flexible. It is stated to be an excellent compound for taking casts required for the purposes of dentistry, the models of jewellers, and other articles requiring sharp and smooth edges and sides.
The collodion oil-liquid, when very thin, may also be employed as a varnish for pictures, prints, etc.
In one of his last lectures at the "Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers," M. Payen called the attention of his hearers to the process of making a kind of ebony or artificial wood, very hard, very heavy, and capable of receiving a very high polish and a brilliant varnish. M. Ladry, the inventor of this process, takes very fine sawdust, mixes it with blood from the slaughter-houses, and submits the resulting paste to a very heavy pressure obtained by the hydraulic press. If the paste has been enclosed in moulds it will take the form of the moulds, and resembles pieces of ebony carved by a skilful hand.
Another curious application of this paste consists in the formation of brushes; the bristles are arranged in the paste while yet soft, the paste is covered by a plate pierced with holes, through which the bristles pass; the pressure is then applied and brushes are obtained, made of a single piece cheaper and more lasting than the usual kind. This artificial wood of M. Ladry is much heavier than common woods.
A cement often used by coppersmiths to lay over the rivets and edges of the sheets of copper in large boilers, to serve as an additional security to the joinings, and to secure cocks, etc., from leaking, is made by mixing pounded quicklime with ox's blood. It must be applied fresh made, as it soon gets hard. If the properties of this cement were duly investigated, it would probably be found useful for many purposes to which it has never yet been applied. It is extremely cheap, and very durable.
To a solution of gum ammoniac in proof spirit, add the best isinglass, and unite them with a gentle heat. The great value of this cement consists in the readiness with which it melts, and the little tendency it has to be affected by moisture. It is generally employed by entomologists in rejoining the dislocated parts of insects, for which it is very convenient.
This elegant cement is made by mixing rice-flour intimately with cold water, and then gently boiling it; it is beautifully white, and dries almost transparent. Papers pasted together by means of this cement will sooner separate in their own substance than at the joining, which makes it useful in the preparation of curious paper articles as teatrays, ladies' dressing boxes, and other objects that require layers of paper to be cemented together.
1. Shellac, 2 parts; dammar resin, 2 parts; Burgundy pitch, 1 part; Venice turpentine, l part; artificial ultramarine, 3 parts.
2. Light Blue. - As the last, with 1 part of dry sulphate of lead.
3. Dark Blue. - Venice turpentine, 3 oz.; finest shellac, 7 oz.; clear amber or black resin, 1 oz.; Prussian blue, 1 oz.; carbonate of magnesia, 1 1/2 dr. The last two to be made into a stiff paste with oil of turpentine and added to the melted shellac and Venice turpentine.
1. Venice turpentine, 4 1/2 oz.; shellac, 9 oz.; colophony, 1/2 oz.; lampblack mixed to a paste with oil of turpentine, q. s.
2. Inferior. - Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; shellac, 8 oz.; 3 oz. of colophony, and sufficient lampblack mixed with oil of turpentine to color it.
3. Shellac, 8 oz.; Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; lamp-black, 6 oz.
4. Common, for Bottles. - Resin, 6 oz.; shellac, 2 oz.; Venice turpentine, 2 oz.; lampblack, q. s.
1. Light Brown. - Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; shellac, 7 1/2 oz.; brown earth (English umber), 1/2 oz.; cinnabar, 1/2 oz.; prepared chalk, 1/2 oz.; carbonate of magnesia, moistened with oil of turpentine, 1 1/2 dr.
2. Light Brown. - Second Quality. - Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; shellac, 7 oz.; resin, 3 oz.; English umber, 3 oz.; cinnabar, 1/4 oz.; prepared chalk, 1 oz.; magnesia as the Inst.
3. Dark Brown. - Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; fine shellac, 7 1/2 oz.; English umber, 1 1/2 oz.; magnesia as before.
4. Dark Brown. - Second Quality. - Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; shellac, 7 oz.; colophony, 3 oz.; English umber, 1 1/2 oz.; magnesia as before.
Venice turpentine, 2 oz.; shellac, 4 oz.; colophony, 1 1/4 oz.; King's yellow, 1/2 oz.; Prussian blue, 1/4 oz.; magnesia as for brown.
1. Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; fine shellac, 8 oz.; leaf gold, 14 sheets; bronze powder, 1/2 oz.; magnesia (made into a paste with oil of turpentine),
2. Use gold talc instead of gold leaf and bronze.
Melt each colored wax separately, and just as they begin to grow solid, mix together.
1. Fine Carmine Wax. - Venice turpentine, 2 oz.; finest shellac, 4 oz.; colophony, 1 oz.; English vermilion, 1 1/2 oz.; magnesia (moistened with oil of turpentine), 1 1/2 dr.
2. Finest Red. - Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; shellac, 7 oz.: cinnabar, 4 oz., carbonate of magnesia (with oil of turpentine), 1 1/2 dr;
3. As the last, with only 3 1/2 oz. of cinnabar.
4. Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; shellac, 6 1/2 oz.; colophony, 1/2 oz.; cinnabar, 2 1/2 oz.; magnesia (with oil of turpentine), 1 1/2 dr.
5. Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; shellac, 6 oz.; colophony, 3/4 oz.; cinnabar, 1 3/4 oz.; magnesia as before.
6. As the last, but use colophony and cinnabar, each 1 1/2 oz.
7. Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; shellac 5 1/2 oz.; colophony, 1 1/2 oz.; cinnabar, 1 1/4 oz.; magnesia as before.
8. English. - Venice turpentine, 2 oz.; shellac, 3 oz.; vermilion, 1 oz.
9. Spanish. - Venice turpentine, 8 oz.; shellac 2 oz.; colophony, 1 oz.; vermilion, 1 oz. Remove from the fire; and add 1/2 oz. rectified spirit.
Venice turpentine, 2 oz.; shellac, 4 oz.; colophony, 1 1/4 oz.; King's yellow, 3/4 oz.; magnesia as before.
Add to any of the above a small quantity of fine benzoin.
1. Dark resin, 18 oz.; shellac, 1 oz.; beeswax, 1 oz. Mix together and color with red-lead, Venitianred, or lampblack.
2. Resin, 19 oz.; beeswax, 1 oz.; color as before.
A stout frame of wood must be made, about 3 yards long and about 1 1/4 yards wide. Within this frame must be placed 2 sides of another frame, running longitudinally and across, so fixed in the outer frame that the 2 pieces may slide independently of each other backwards and forwards about 6 inches. Tapes of canvas must be tacked round the inside of the inner frame, so as to form a square for the material to be sewn in, which when done, the two loop-frames must be drawn tightly to the outer by means of a twine passed round each, in order to stretch perfectly free from irregularities the silk or satin previous to laying on the composition.
Dissolve India-rubber in naphtha or naphtha and turpentine; lay it on with a flat brush on the opposite side to that which is intended for the plaster. When the silk is perfectly dry, and the smell in a great measure dissipated, it will be ready for the adhesive material; to make which take equal parts of Salisbury or fine Russian glue and the best isinglass, dissolve in a sufficient quantity of water over a water-bath, and lay on with a flat hogtool while warm. It is requisite to use great caution to spread the plaster evenly and in one direction, and a sufficient number of coatings must be given to form a smooth surface, through which the texture of the fabric is not perceptible. Each coating should be perfectly dry before the succeeding one is given; after which the frame is to be placed in a situation free from dust, and where a draught of air would facilitate the drying. The quantity of water used and the weight of the two materials must be a little varied, according to the season and the gelatine strength they possess. Lastly, the plaster being ready to receive the polishing coat, which gives also the balsamic effect to it, a preparation is made in nearly the same manner as the compound tincture of benzoin, with the addition of more gums. This preparation must be laid on once only, and with a brush kept for the purpose. For making plasters on colored silk it is only necessary to select the silk a shade deeper than the colors required, as the plaster causes it to appear a little lighter.
Are only recommended when the decay has proceeded so far that the ordinary plugging is impossible. Those containing mercury are objected to by many. They consist of an amalgam of silver gold, or tin, applied warm. The following have been used:
1. Anhydrous phosphoric acid, 12 grs.; pure caustic lime, 13 grs.; both finely powdered, and mixed rapidly in a mortar at the time of using. Smoothe off with the finger moistened with a drop of water.
2. Asbestos, or levigated quartz, made into a paste with mastic varnish.
Tablets of gelatine or glue are immersed in a solution of alumina. When entirely penetrated by the alumina, the slabs are to be removed, dried and polished like ivory.
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