Red Stain For Bedsteads And Common Chairs

Archil, as sold at the shops, will produce a very good stain of itself, when used cold; but if, after one or two coats, being applied and suffered to get almost dry, it is brushed over with a hot solution of pearlash in water, it will improve the colour.

To Improve The Colour Of Any Stain

Mix in a bottle one ounce of nitric acid, half a tea-spoonful of muriatic acid, a quarter of an ounce of grain tin, and two ounces of rain water. Mix it at least two days before using, and keep your bottle well corked.

To Stain Horn In Imitation Of Tortoiseshell

Mix an equal quantity of quick-lime and red-lead with strong soap lees, lay it on the horn with a small brush, in imitation of the mottle of tortoiseshell; when dry, repeat it two or three times.

How To Weld Tortoiseshell

Provide yourself with a pair of pincers or tongs, so constructed that you can reach four inches beyond the rivet; then have your tortoiseshell filed clean to a lap-joint, carefully observing that there is no grease about it; wet the joint with water, apply the pincers hot, following them with water, and you will find the shell to be joined as if it were one piece.