Brown Stain

Boil 1 lb. of the brown pigment called Terre de Cassel with 4 quarts of water, until it is reduced one-third. Mix two ounces (Troy) of white potash with sufficient water to dissolve it. and mix with the Terre de Cassel. This stain must be applied with a brush, two or even three times, according to the depth of the shade required.

Walnut Stain

Mix together, by stirring, 1 quart spirits of turpentine, 1 pint asphaltum varnish, 1 pint of japan, 1 lb. dry burnt umber, 1 lb. dry Venetian red; apply with a brush. This stain is transparent, and allows the grain of the wood to show through.

Another

Boil 1 1/2 ounces washing-soda, and 1/4 ounce bichromate of potash, in 1 quart of water; add 2 1/2 ounces Vandyke brown. This stain may be used either hot or cold.

Another

With a brush apply a thin solution of permanganate of potassa in water, until the desired color is produced, allowing each coat to dry before another is applied.

Oak Stain

Add to a quart of water 2 ounces each of potash and pearlash. This is a very good stain, but it should be used carefully as it blisters the hands and softens brushes. The stain may be made lighter by adding more water.

Other Oak Stains

To darken the color of oak any of the following may be used :

Liquid ammonia laid on evenly with a rag or brush will deepen the color immediately, and it will not fade, this being an artificial production of result produced naturally by age.

Bichromate of potash, dissolved in cold water, and applied with a brush, will produce a similar result.'

A decoction of green walnut-shells will bring new oak to any shade or nearly black.

Rosewood Stain

Mix in a bottle 1/4 lb. of extract of logwood, 1 oz. salts of tartar, and 1 pint of water; in another bottle, put 1 lb. of old iron in small pieces, and 1 pint of vinegar, which, after standing twenty-four hours, will be ready for use; make a hard stiff brush with a piece of rattan sharpened at one end in a wedge shape, pounding it so as to separate the fibre. Mix in 1 pint of varnish, 1/4 lb. of finely-powdered rose-pink. The materials are now ready, and the first thing in the process is to stain the wood with the logwood stain; give two coats of this, allowing the first to become nearly dry before applying the second; then dip the rattan brush in the vinegar, and with it form the grain, after which give the work a coat of the varnish and rose pink. There can be no definite directions given for graining, except to study the natural wood and imitate it as near as possible. With the above materials skilfully applied, any common wood can be made to resemble rosewood so nearly that it will take a good judge to distinguish the difference.

Another

Boil 1 lb. of logwood in i gallon of water, add a double handful of walnut shells, boil the whole again, strain the liquor and add to it 1 pint of the best vinegar. It is then ready for use. Apply it boiling hot, and when the wood is dry, form red veins in imitation of the grain of rosewood with a brush dipped in the following solution: Nitric acid, 1 pint; metallic tin, 1 oz.; sal ammoniac, 1 oz. Mix and set aside to dissolve, occasionally shaking.