or the color which shows the veins and growth of the wood, is the most important, as the delicate lines of the wood are to be traced in it. When the ground has been laid on and is quite dry, this graining coat is laid on, and while yet moist, the tracings of the peculiarities of the wood are made.

Before proceeding to give specific instructions, it may be well to note a few general suggestions on the figuring of woods.

Knots should have a dark center with a succession of very irregular circles, which on the outer edge become elongated till they merge into the sap of the timber lengthwise.

The sap, which in the natural wood is the smooth, shining part of the board, is made by wiping off the graining coat with a cotton rag drawn over the thumb, the nail of which is made to outline the sap, while by means of the fleshy part the broader lights of sap may be wiped out, observing to move the rag with every stroke to present a clean surface for the next. After having wiped the figures, they should be retouched with a small roll of clean rag.

Veining Or Combing

Take a coarse steel or leather comb and draw it down lengthwise of the wood, and go over the same with a finer comb. Next take a fine comb and go over this work; at irregular intervals give the comb a quick wavy motion, diagonally, thus imitating the growths of the wood. In all cases the combing should precede the sap work.

Ash Graining. Ground

White lead, raw Italian sienna, or golden ochre instead of sienna, mixed with turpentine and oil, using small proportions of oil. To get the desired color, which should be a light straw tint, keep adding sienna to the lead, and try it frequently on a board. Apply with a brush very smoothly. Observe that this ground is the same also for light oak and maple.

Graining Color

Raw sienna, burnt umber, and white lead mixed with turpentine and very little oil form the graining color. The tint is darker than the ground tint, and is made in the same way. The graining coat must be put on in small quantity so that the work may be done before it dries.

To prevent the paint from running, add a small quantity of soft soap. Proceed, with the graining as in foregoing instructions, and if a mistake is made, apply more paint and begin anew. Apply one or more coats of varnish.

Old Oak

Ground

Raw sienna, burnt umber, white lead, and Venetian red; mix with equal parts of turpentine and oil to the desired tint. Let this dry well.

Grain

Vandyke brown, and raw sienna, turpentine, and small amount of oil.

Bird's-Eye Maple

Destemper.

Ground

White lead, yellow ochre, or same as for ash. Use care not to get it too dark.

Grain

Equal parts of raw sienna and burnt umber, mixed with ale or beer. Have two paint buckets and make two thicknesses of paint.

Lay on the thin coat first evenly, then with a smaller brush put in the darker shades. The eye is made by dabbing the color with the tips of the fingers; shade the eye with a little burnt sienna, using a small hair pencil. When dry, varnish.

Mahogany

1. Vandyke brown and a little crimson lake ground in ale, laid on, allowed to dry, and then smoothed, forms the ground. Then lay on a second thicker coat, soften with a badger-hair brush, take out the lights while it is wet, and imitate the feathery appearance of mahogany heart. Soften, and top grain with Vandyke brown laid on with an over-graining brush of flat hosf-hair combed into detached tufts. In softening, be careful not to disturb the under color. Or, 2. Grind burnt sienna and Vandyke brown in ale, lay on a coat, mottle with a camel-hair mottler, and soften. When dry, over-grain as above.

For the proper varnishes to use, the reader is referred to that department of this work.

It is a matter of great difficulty to prevent varnish on outside doors from cracking; for this reason, painters recommend that a coat of oil be applied instead, and where it becomes dingy, apply more oil with a rag. This will avoid the cracking and preserve the graining.

Doors of the parlor may be ebonized if the furniture and carpets will harmonize with it. (See Varnishes and Wood Dyes.)