Preliminary to applying the varnish the pores of the wood should be filled, according to instructions given in the preceding receipts. Sufficient time should be allowed for the filler to become perfectly hard, and if any lumps or inequalities remain, the surface should be made perfectly smooth by the use of glass paper. All dust, specks, etc., should be carefully removed by the brush made for that purpose, and the work is then ready for the varnish.

Varnishes of all kinds should be uniformly applied, in very thin coats,sparingly upon the edges and angles,where the varnish is liable to accumulate. In first placing the brush on the surface, it should be applied, not close to the edge, which would be liable to give too thick a coat at that part, but at a little distance from the edge, and the strokes of the brush should be directed towards the ends alternately, with steady rapid strokes, and only very moderate pressure. If the surface is small, the whole may be passed over in one operation, and then the brush may be returned to the edge at which work was begun, and it may be passed over the surface a second or a third time, to distribute the varnish uniformly, and work out the air bubbles. Sometimes, in small surfaces, the second series of strokes is made at right angles to the first, in order to distribute the varnish more equally, and the third is laid on in the same direction as the first; but unless this is done expeditiously and equally, it leaves cross-lines, which injure the appearance of the work.

Large surfaces are more difficult, as the varnish thickens too rapidly to allow of the entire surface being covered at one operation. They must therefore either be worked gradually from the one edge to the other, as in laying a tint of water-color, or the varnish must be applied upon separate portions successively; but it is rather difficult to join the portions without leaving irregular marks. It may, however, be successfully accomplished by thinning oft" the edge with light strokes of the brush made in the same direction as those on the finished portion; but some care is required to avoid disturbing the former coat while it is still soft and easily acted upon by the fresh varnish. In the same manner, in laying on a second or any subsequent coat of varnish, care must be taken not to continue the application of the brush sufficiently long to disturb the previous coat, which is speedily softened by the fresh varnish; and if the application of the brush were continued too long, the preceding coat would be disturbed, giving to the work an irregular or chilled appearance. A sufficient interval of time should be allowed between each coat for the perfect evaporation of the solvent, whether alcohol, turpentine or oil. The time required for this depends partly upon the kind of varnish employed, and partly on the state of the atmosphere. Under ordinary circumstancss, spirit varnishes generally require from two to three hours between every coat; turpentine varnishes mostly require six or eight hours; and oil varnishes still longer - sometimes as much as twenty-four hours. But whatever time may be required, the second layer should never be added until the first is permanently hard; as when one layer is defended from the air by a second, its drying is almost stopped, and it remains soft and adhesive.

In applying spirit varnish, some little tact and expedition are necessarv, in order to spread the varnish uniformly over the sur-face before it becomes too much thickened by evaporation, or it will exhibit a very irregular surface when finished. If the surface does not exceed a lew inches 6quare, no material difficulty is experienced, as tin- whole may be brushed over two or three times before the varnish becomes too thick; but surfaces containing two or three square feel present much greater difficulty, as it is necessary that the varnish should be sufficiently worked with the brush to exclude all minute air-bubbles, which would spoil the appearance of the work, and can seldom be entirely removed until just before the varnish is becoming to thick to flow or spread uniformly after the brush has passed over it.

Turpentine and oil varnishes are applied in the same general manner as spirit varnishes: but as they dry more slowly, more time may be occupied in laying on the varnish, and therefore large surfaces may be more easily and uniformly covered; but the same precautions with respect to the dryness and warmth of the atmosphere are likewise desirable when it is wished to produce a brilliant surface.

Every precaution should also be taken to prevent any dust, or loose hairs from the brush, becoming accidentally attached to the varnish. Should this occur they will require to be carefully picked out with the point of a pen-knife and the surface of the varnish leveled with fine glass-paper, prior to the application of the next coat.

In using spirit varnishes, it is at all times of the first importance that particular attention should be given to doing the varnishing in a dry atmosphere; as all solutions of resins in alcohol are precipitated by the addition of water, not only as visible moisture, but even as vapor, which is at all times deposited by the atmosphere at a reduced temperature, in the form of invisible dew, and in this state it precipitates the resin in the thin coat of varnish, and gives the surface a milky, clouded or opaque appearance, when the varnish is said to be chilled. But this effect is frequently produced even on a warm and apparently fine summer day, when the atmosphere happens to be more than usually charged with moisture. This is a frequent stumbling block in varnishing, and is only to be obviated by carrying on the process in a room sufficiently warmed to keep the moisture suspended in the air until the solvent has completely evaporated.

Not only should the room be sufficiently heated, but all currents of cold air must be avoided, as cold drafts if suffered to pass over the recently varnished surface, are quite sufficient to dull the varnish wherever they extend. When the varnish has been chilled, the brilliancy and clearness may frequently be restored by giving the chilled surface another thin coat of varnish, taking care to avoid the causes of the former failure, and immediately holding the varnished surface at a moderate distance from a fire, so as to warm it sufficiently to partially re-dissolve the chilled coat; but care is necessary to avoid heating the varnish so much as to raise blisters, in which case no remedy would remain but to scrape off the entire coat.

The temperature generally preferred for the varnish room is about 72 deg. F., but a few degrees more or less are not important

Brushes For Varnishing

For spirit varnishes, camels-hair pencils and brushes are used, the sizes of which vary from one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch diameter, according to the size of the work. When the surfaces are very large, flat camel-hair brushes are used; but from their comparative thinness they scarcely contain a sufficient quantity of varnish to preserve the brush uniformly charged in passing over a large surface. Turpentine and oil varnishes require less delicacy; and flat brushes, made of fine soft bristles, are generally used, or sometimes ordinary painting brushes are empioyed, but they are rather harsh, and, owing to the adhesion of the varnish, the hairs are apt to be loosened, and come out. Brushes should always be kept perfectly soft and clean, and therefore should never be laid aside when through work, without cleaning. For this purpose turpentine is best; the brushes can either be washed out quite clean in it, dried on a cloth, and laid aside, or the bristles can be partially immersed in turpentine and allowed to remain in it until wanted for use. Warm water and soap will also serve to clean the brushes. If however the brushes are laid aside without being thoroughly cleaned, they will certainly be ruined by the hardening of the varnish.

Varnish Pan

This can be procured at the color-shops. It is constructed of tin, with a false bottom; the interval between the two bottoms is filled with sand, which being heated over the fire keeps the varnish Quid, and it flows more readily from the brush. There is a tin handle to it, and the false bottom slopes from one end to the other, which gives sufficient depth when the varnish is low. It should also have a wire fixed across the top to wipe the brush against. An ordinary preserve-jar is frequently used for containing the varnish, and is sufficiently suilable; but it also should have a wire or string stretched across the top, for reducing the quantity of varnish taken up by the brush. The quantity of varnish poured into the jar should be sufficient to nearly cover the hairs of the brush in order to keep it soft. Too small a quantity of varnish is liable to thicken rapidly by evaporation, which should at all times be prevented as far as possible, by keeping the vessel closely covered when not in actual use.