This section is from the book "Cassell's Cyclopaedia Of Mechanics", by Paul N. Hasluck. Also available from Amazon: Cassell's Cyclopaedia Of Mechanics.
Lay the material - silk or cambric - upon a board, and coat it on both sides with boiled linseed oil, then hang up to dry. Large balloons are made of oiled cambric or cotton; the joints are made gas-proof with a coating of linseed oil. Allow the joints to overlap, stitch them on both sides of the overlapping part, and apply a coat of boiled linseed oil over the stitches.
 
Continue to: