Brown.—Sepia gives a nice tint, and burnt umber a very hot tint. Raw umber gives a brighter brown, bistre a brighter still.
Neutral tints are obtained by mixing Prussian blue, lake and gamboge.
In using painters’ colors, it is advisable to avoid, as much as possible, the heavy ones.
Tints of any desired depth may be made by using a finely-ground white ink as a basis, and toning it with the color desired.
Varnish tints are made by adding color to full-bodied, well-boiled printers’ varnish, using a little soap and drying preparation to make them work smoothly and dry quickly.
In mixing tints to print with, the muller should be used to rub in the colors thoroughly, otherwise the work is liable to be streaky. It is advisable to mix no more of a tint than is needed for the work in hand. Most colored inks work best if applied to the rollers a little at a time, until the depth of color desired is reached, as colored inks distribute slower than black, and are more liable to thicken upon and clog the type when too much is taken at once.
The most simple and effective contrivance for casting-up work is, for every printer to set up, in vertical parallel lines, the m’s of each font in his office, with figures in succession beside them, and work them upon good hard paper, but little wet or pressed, which ought to be dried very gradually. Ifthecast-up work printed with the same typeas these measures very little variation will be found; for if the measure and the measured page do vary from the measurement, the one is compensated by the other. But even this method can scarcely be trusted in setting the price with the compositor, since the difference between a thin and thick space will carry an en quadrat, and thus may give the turn in the 500 letters, so as to make 1,000 difference.
To ascertain the quantity of plain type required for a newspaper, magazine, and other work, find the number of square inches and divide the same by four; the quotient will be the approximate weight of the matter. As it is impossible to set the cases entirely clear, it is necessary to add 25 per cent to large fonts, and 33 per cent to small, to allow for dead letter. This, of course, is only approximate, but will be found sufficiently close for all practical purposes.
Care should be taken that wood-cuts are thoroughly dry before being sent to the foundry, as the intense heat to which they are subjected frequently causes them to warp and split, especially if pierced.
Great difficulty is sometimes experienced in distributing type which has been allowed to remain in form for any length of time. Prevention, of course, is better than cure; but where the remedy is required, the following may be tried with advantage:—Pour boiling water over the type, and allow it to stand for about half an hour. Repeat, if necessary, until the desired effect has been obtained.
The page as received from the founder, should be carefully unwrapped, and, after having been placed on a galley, soaked thoroughly with thin soap water, to prevent adhesion after the types have been used a short time; then, with a firm rule or reglet, as many lines should be lifted as will make about an inch in thickness, and, placing the rule close upon one side of the bottom of the proper box, slide off the lines gently, taking care not to rub the face against the side of the box. Proceed then with successive lines till the box is filled. Careless compositors are prone to huddle new type together, and grasping them by handfulls plunge them pell-mell into the box, rudely shaking them down to crowd in more. This should never be allowed, as shaking does more injury to type than press wear. Thetype left over should be kept standing on galleys in regular order till the cases need to be again filled or sorted.
Bronze colors can be fixed upon glass or porcelain by painting the articles with a concentrated solution of potash water glass of 30° B., and dusting them with the bronze powder. The latter adheres so firmly that it will not be affected by water, and may be polished with steel or agate.
For the destruction of book worms, put the books into a case which closes pretty well, and keep a saucer supplied with benzine within it for some few weeks. Worms, larvæ, eggs—all are said to be got rid of.
The following is a method of tinning paper and cloth:—Zinc powder is ground with an albumen solution, the boiling mixture is then spread over the tissue by means of a brush, when dry, the layer is fixed by dry steam, which coagulates the albumen, and the tissue is then taken through a solution of tin. Metallic tin is reduced, and sets in a very thin layer. The tissues of paper are then washed, dried and hot pressed.
Books should be shelved in the coolest part of the room, and where the air is never likely to be overheated, which is near the floor, where we ourselves live and move. In the private libraries of our residences a mistake is often made in carrying the shelving of our book-cases so high that they enter the upper and overheated stratum of air. If anyone be skeptical on this point, let him test, by means of a step-ladder, the condition of the air near the ceiling of his common sitting-room on a Winter evening, when the gas is burning freely. The heat is simply insufferable.
To prevent mildew on books, lightly wash over the backs and covers with spirits of wine, using as a brush the feather of a goose quill.
Boil six gallons of water and add while boiling one pound of unslacked lime and four pounds of common soda. When cold, it should be carefully dipped out, leaving the dregs of the lime at the bottom of the vessel, and it is then fit for immediate application. Cost, about two cents per gallon.
A good dryer for printers’ use is made by taking a small quantity of perfectly dry acetate of lead or borate of manganese in impalpable powder will hasten the drying of the ink. It is essential that it should be thoroughly incorporated with the ink by trituration in a mortar.
A very strong printers’ lye may be made as follows:—Take of table salt, 2 oz.; unslacked lime, 2 lb., and bruised Scotch washing soda, 2 lb. Mix together in three gallons of water, stirring frequently until the ingredients are dissolved, when the lye will be ready for use. This is a powerful mixture, and will wash off almost any color.
Although petroleum oil is a highly useful fluid for cleansing wood letter or wood-cuts, the printer should be cautioned that it is highly detrimental to type and stereoplate. While it has no effect in opening the pores of the wood, but on the contrary, hardens the surface, rendering the face peculiarly smooth, it corrodes or rots the metal, and leaves a white powder on the face, which, although it may be removed with a brush, shows that the type has beeninjured. Besides this, petroleum is highly dangerous on account of its inflammability. It cannot be extinguished by water.
A bronze or changeable hue may be given to inks with the following mixture:—Gum shellac, 1½ lb., dissolved in one gallon of 95 per cent alcohol or Cologne spirits for 24 hours. Then add fourteen ounces aniline red. Let it stand for a few hours longer, when it will be ready for use.Whenadded to a good blue, black, or other dark inks, it gives them a rich hue. The quantity used must be very carefully apportioned.
In mixing the materials, add the dark color sparingly at first, for it is easier to add more, if necessary, than to take away, as in making a dark color lighter, you increase its bulk considerably.
Gold leaf printing requires much more care than bronze printing, but if properly managed will be found to be a great improvement. Ink should be made of chrome yellow, mixed with Venice turpentine, virgin wax and varnish. Cut the gold leaf into slips a shade wider than the lines it is to cover, ink the form in the usual way, and pull a sheet; then lay on the gold leaf withno great harm. Some colors will not keep at all, and others deposit at the bottom of the can almost all their solid ingredients. It is not easy to alter this, but colza oil will at least prevent the surface skinning over.
Red and some other colored inks are often found to become so hard in a few weeks after the can has been opened that the knife can scarcely be got into them, and they cannot be got to work at all. Oil, varnish and turpentine are of no use in such a case; the remedy is paraffine oil mixed well up with the old ink. Many prefer paraffine oil rather than boiled oil or turps for thinning down both black and colored inks.
Colored inks can be kept from “skinning” by pouring a little oil or water on the top and closing the can tightly.
Benzine is a powerful chemical preparation which may be used to remove colored inks when lye and turpentine fail. It should, however, not be used after dark, as it is very inflammable, and it should be kept out of doors if possible.
To make a varnish for colored prints, etc., take of Canada balsam, 1 ounce; spirits of turpentine, 2 ounces, and mix well together. The print or drawing should first be sized with a solution of isinglass in water, and when this has dried the varnish above named should be applied with a camel’s hair brush.
Wood type when battered may be repaired by removing the damaged part with a sharp pointed knife, and fill in with beeswax or gutta-percha.
The best inking surfaces or slabs for color work at press or machine are porcelain, litho stone, marble or slab. Metals are injurious to colored inks—even polished iron surfaces give a dullness to bright colors.
If it is necessary to keep colored inks, the best way of preserving them so that they shall be workable after standing some time is to pour a little colza oil on the top, and securely close the vessel containing them. This oil will not generally rob the ink of any of its color, and even if it is not all poured off afterwards, its presence can doa piece of cotton wool; when dry, it may be washed in the same way as bronze. Rolling afterward will improve it very much.
Common qualities of colored inks may be brightened by using the whites of fresh eggs, but they must be applied a little at a time, as they dry very hard and are apt to take away the suction of rollers if used for any lengthend period.
For fine work, a little Canada balsam of the consistency of honey makes a good varnish of great purity. The coarser but similar Venice turpentine may also be used with effect where time is precious and purity of tint not indispensable. A little soft soap may be added to the Venice turpentine.
If the work be coarse and varnish not at hand, a little oak varnish and soft soap form a good substitute.
Setting off may be prevented by slightly greasing or oiling a sheet which may be placed on the tympan if in press work, or the cylinder if at a machine. This will answer for several thousands without requiring to be replaced.
A hardening gloss for inks may be made by dissolving gum arabic in alcohol or a weak solution of oxalic acid. This mixture should be used in small quantities, and mixed with the ink while it is being consumed.
Some pretty effects can be produced by the use of a composition made by thoroughly mixing rice flour with cold water, and allowing it to gently simmer over the fire until a delicate and durable cement results. When made of the consistency of plastic clay, models, busts, etc., may be formed, and the articles when dry resemble white marble, and will take a high polish, being very durable. Any coloring matter may be used at pleasure.
Take a piece of thin muslin and wrap it tightly round a ball of cotton wool as big as an orange. This forms a dabber, and should have something to hold it by. Then squeeze on to the corner of a half-sheet of foolscap a little color from a tube of oil paint. Take up a very little color on the dabber, and work it about on the center of the paper for some time, till the dabber is evenly covered with a thin coating. A little oil can be used to dilute or moisten thecolor if necessary. Then put your leaf down on the paper and dab some color evenly over both sides. Place it then between the pages of a folded sheet of paper (unglazed is best), and rub the paper above it well all over with the finger. Open the sheet, remove the leaf, and you will have an impression of each side of the leaf. Any color may be used. Burnt or raw sienna works the most satisfactorily.
Ruling inks are made to dry quickly by using half a gill of methylated spirits to every pint of ink. The spirit is partly soaked into the paper and partly evaporates; it also makes the lines firm.