Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts and Processes

How to silver a mirror, brew ginger beer, kill moths, make fireworks, tan a hide, bronze iron, cure a ham and clean a straw hat: William B. Dick's numbered encyclopedia answered the questions a nineteenth-century household actually had.

HomeHouse Painting › To Stain Mahogany Color

To Stain Mahogany Color

Pure Socotrine aloes, 1 ounce; dragon's blood, 1/2 ounce; rectified spirit, 1 pint; dissolve, and apply 2 or 3 coats to the surface of the wood; finish off with wax or oil tinged with alkanet. Or: Wash over the wood with strong aquafortis, and when dry, apply a coat of the above varnish; polish as last. Or:

Logwood, 2 ounces; madder, 8 ounces; fustic, 1 ounce; water, 1 gallon; boil 2 hours, and appearance of dark rosewood; or, the black streaks may be put in with a camel's hair pencil, dipped in a solution of copperas and verdigris in a decoction of logwood. A handy brush for the purpose may be made out of a flat brush, such as is used for varnishing; cut the sharp points off, and make the edges irregular, by cutting out a few hairs here and there, and you will have a tool which will accurately imitate the grain. 2852. Το Imitate Rosewood. Stain with the black stain (see No. 2850); and when dry, with a brush dipped in the brightening liquid (see No. 2828), form red veins, in imitation of the grain of rosewood, which will produce a beautiful effect.

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