fore any white lead is added.

TOOLS AND MATERIALS FOR WOOD FINISHING

Brushes. It is well to have several varieties to help keep them
distinct. For varnish and shellac, the best are those with the
bristles set in hard rubber. For ordinary purposes, brushes one inch
wide are satisfactory. For stains, cheap, tin-bound brushes are good
enough, and are easily replaced.

Cups. Half-pint enameled steel cups are cheap, satisfactory, and
easily kept clean. For the care of cups and brushes, see Chapter VI,
The Equipment and Care of the Shop.

Steel wool. This consists of shavings, turned from thin steel discs
set together in a lathe. It comes in various grades, No. 00 to No. 3.
The finest, No. 00, is coarse enough for ordinary purposes.

Sandpaper. Use No. 00 smeared with boiled oil. Pulverized pumice stone
and pulverized rotten stone, both very fine, are used to rub down
inequalities and to give a dull finish to shellac or varnish. Use with
oil on shellac and with oil or water on copal varnish. Horsehair and
soft wood shavings are often used to rub down varnish. French felt,
medium hard, is used for rubbing down copal varnish with pumice stone.

Cotton waste is the cheapest available material for wiping.

Cheese cloth is better for some purposes, but more expensive.

Soft cloth without lint is necessary for French polishing. "Berkeley
muslin," "Old Glory," and "Lilly White" are trade names. A fine
quality is necessary. The starch should be washed out and the cloth
dried before using, and then torn into little pieces, say 4" square.

Fillers consist of silex or of ground earths mixed with oil, japan,
and turpentine. Their object is to give a perfectly level and
non-absorbent basis for varnish covering.

Oils. Raw linseed oil is very fat and dries slowly. It is used for
interior work.

Boiled oil is linseed oil boiled with litharge (PbO) and white
vitriol, which removes much of the fatty ingredient and gives it
drying quality.

Turpentine is a volatile oil from the sap of long-leaf pine. It is
mixed with oil in painting to give further drying qualities.

Benzine is a cheap substitute for turpentine. It is a highly
inflammable product of coal tar and evaporates quickly.

Drier is an oil in which resin has been dissolved. It is mixed with
varnishes and paint to make them dry quickly. It is also sometimes
used as a varnish itself.

Japan is a varnish-like liquid made of shellac or other resin, linseed
oil, meta