May S, 16fe5.] 



KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



387 



Very well, then i we begin by rougbeiiing the surface to 

 be veneereil with the toothing-j>hine or with a rasp ; and, 

 this done, we provide ourselves, as I have said above, with 

 a glue-pot full of freshly-made, thin, boiling glue, a basin 

 of boiling water, a sponge, a hot flat-iron, and a duster. 

 "We begin by warming the surface to be veneered by ironing 

 it, and, meanwhile, put our veneering-hanimer into the 

 boiling water. Now damp the side of the veneer which is 

 to form the surface of the finished article with boiling 

 water, and rapidly glue the other hide and also the face 

 upon which the veneer is to be laid. This done, the two 

 glued surfaces must be brought together as rapidly as 

 possible, and the thin sheet of ornamental wood rapidly 

 pressed down with the hands ; immediately upon which the 

 hammer is to be taken out of the boiling water, wiped 

 rapidly with the duster, and (being held close to the pane, 

 with the handle turned from the operator) passed heavily 

 and rapidly about, with a wriggling movement, from the 

 centre of the surface to the edges, so as to squeeze the glue 

 out. If this is dexterously done with a moderate-sized bo.\, 

 such as a writing-desk or violin case, the whole operation 

 should be successfully performed before the glue sets ; but, 

 with a big job, some places may be missed, and the veneer 

 not touch the wood underneath, or rise in a blister. We 

 shall want our hot iron to re-liquefy the glue in this case, 

 and then we must go over the sore place or places again 

 with the hammer. N.B. — The hammer sliovild always be 

 kept in the basin of boiling water until the instant it is 

 wanted. Finally, when you have satisfied yourself that 

 the veneer and the wood beneath it are everywhere in 

 intimate contact, sponge the whole veneer over with the 

 sponge, just damped in the hot water, and dry it with the 

 duster. 



The process I have tried to describe is not a very diffi- 

 cult one, but when we come to deal with curved surfaces, 

 veneering becomes a rather more complicated job, as we 

 quite evidently cannot use the hammer to bring the two 

 surfaces close together. In such cases we have to use what 

 are known as " cauls," which are the exact reverse of the 

 surface to be veneered, just as in an embossing press there 

 is a convex counterpart of the concave disc. A g^iod many 

 of these are made of zinc, some of pine, and occasionally 

 (in making telescope tubes of veneer, for example) canvas 

 cauls are used. In the case of the zinc and wood cauls, of 

 course a fresh one is required for every new surface. The 

 wooden ones are sodden with linseed oil to retain the heat 

 and prevent the glue from sticking to the caul. Obviously 

 the pine cauls cannot be heated to the extent that the zinc 

 ones can, and they are proportionately less effective. This 

 ia not the place to enter into the contrivances used in large 

 workshops for obtaining pre-sure. String and bed-ticking 

 will suggest themselves as useful material to bind round 

 the caul and the veneer in the case of the amateur. Veneer- 

 ing elaborately curved work, however, is a job scarcely to 

 be attempted in a Workshop at Home. 



There is a very effective method of decorating cabinet- 

 work with veneers which may just be touched on here. 

 In its highest development it is called Buhl or Reisner 

 work, but inlaying is quite fine enough a name for it for 

 our purpose. It is executed in light and dark woods. 

 Suppose, for example, that we have two veneers — one of 

 ebony, and the other of holly. We glue them together 

 with a sheet of very thin paper between them. This is to 

 enable them to be more easily separated. Then upon the 

 uppermost one we draw a pattern — say, of the conventional 

 honeysuckle. Now, with a very sharp penknife we care- 

 fully follow the outline of this, cutting right through both 

 veneers. It is easy so see that the piece removed from the 

 black ebony will fit with absolute exactness into the opening 



in the white holly, and that the ]iiree of white holly will in 

 turn accurately lit the hole in the ebony. The pieces are 

 separated by sjilittiug the paper, and the blark honeysuckle 

 on a white ground, and the white h(iii(>ysiickle on a black 

 ground, glued on to the article to be ornamented. 



In order to finish our veneered box, or other piece of 

 work, it only remains to French polish it. I'Vench polish 

 is nothing but shellac dissolved in spirits of wine (methy- 

 lated spirit being all but invariably used). Makers add 

 various ingredients, but not one of them is essential, and 

 the amateur can make it for himself by putting a little 

 shellac at the bottom of a bottle, filling the bottle up with 

 methylated spirit, and shaking it from time to time until 

 the lac has all dissolved ; in fact, making very thin 

 (so-called) "liquid glue." Jt, however, is not very ex- 

 pensive to buy if he does not care for the trouble. 1 

 will supjiose that he has obtained it in one of these ways, 

 and wishes to polish a veneered tea-caddy. The first thing 

 is to true up all edges of the veneer that in any way 

 show, the next to sand-paper the article carefully over. 

 After this mutton-su(^t may bo rubbed into the pores 

 of the veneer, which may bo again sand-papered and 

 then well rubbed with linseed-oil by means of a satu- 

 rated ball of cottonwool. Care must be taken, though, 

 to remove all snjierlluous oil afterwards. This done, 

 we saturate another piece of cotton wool with polish 

 and float the whole surface with it. It is then set 

 aside that this may dry in and harden. When this has 

 taken place, we once more go over the surface with very 

 fine glass-paper, and then begin our polishing proper. The 

 best rubber that I know for that purpose is made of what 

 is called " list," torn ofl" the edge of flannel. It is wound 

 spirally to a diameter of a couple of inches or so, and tied 

 tightly round with string. This is well wetted with 

 the polish, wrapped up in and tied into a piece of linen 

 rag, and then a drop or two of linseed oil is placed on the 

 rag, and the polishing begun with a series of circular 

 strokes kept evenly up, very little pressure being used. 

 Particular care must be taken never to let the rubber 

 remain stationary, and never to lift it straight up off th(^ 

 work. Having in this way got up a sufficiently brilliant 

 surface, the work is set aside for an hour or two for the 

 polish to harden, when it is once more rubbed down with 

 the finest glass-paper, and the process of polishing repeated, 

 and so on. Finally, the surface is gone over with a new 

 cotton-wool rubber moistened with a few drops of spirit, 

 and the final strokes are given horizontally instead of 

 circularly. French-polishing should always be performed 

 in a hot room. The atmosphere of those in which the 

 beautiful Tunbridge ware is polished is (juite stifling. 



THE EVOLUTION OF THE SENSE 

 OF BEAUTY. 



By Coxst.vnce C. W. Naden. 



(^Continued from page 3GS.) 



FROM pleasure in colour I pass to pleasure in form, 

 which seems at first sight scarcely explicable on our 

 theory. However, let us take heart of grace, and inquire 

 into the matter. 



Except that there is no actual contact, form exercises 

 the eye much as it exercises the hand. The baby enjoys 

 feeling shapes as it enjoys seeing shapes ; and for a long 

 time it wants to handle everything that it can see. But, 

 growing older, it learns that many things can be seen 

 which cannot be handled ; that very often it " can't reach,' 



