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Miscellaneous Recipes and Processes.(Pre World War II) Part 2.

WARNING! Many of the substances used in the following recipes are highly poisonous and several of the ensuing processes are very dangerous and should NOT be attempted by persons unless expert in their use and knowledgeable of the chemicals involved.

Celluloid, Cement for.
A cement suitable for joining together sheets of celluloid can be made from old pieces of clean celluloid, dissolved in acetone or cellulose thinner. If trouble is experienced, owing to this puckering or shrinking, use retarder thinner (such as is employed for brushing cellulose) or, alternatively, add a very little castor oil to the cement solution. Any excess of oil will prevent the cement from hardening properly, so that it must be added very cautiously.

Cement Aquarium.-
Litharge. . . . . . . . 3 parts. -
Plaster of Paris . . . .3 parts
Clean washed sand . . . . . . 3 parts
Rosin . . . . . . . . 1 part.
Mix with boiled linseed oil to a thick paste consistency.

Cement for Fixing Metal Tiling, Letters, etc.
Most manufacturers of metal imitation tiling, for use in bathrooms, sculleries, etc., supply a mastic of their own composition for fixing purposes. Failing this, the best all-round compound is made from a mixture of paste white lead and thick gold size, the proportions of each depending on the degree of plasticity required. In most cases the cement mixture should be stout enough to be spread with a broad-bladed knife, without any suggestion of running.

On bare plaster, the porosity of the wall must first be sealed by painting - and the back of the metal scratched with coarse emery cloth to provide a key. The mastic should be applied both to the wall surface and to the back of the sheeting in an even coating. When this reaches a fairly strong state of tackiness, apply the sheeting to the wall, rolling out with a squeegee to eliminate air bubbles, working from the centre outwards and finishing at the edges. Any surplus cement squeezed out in the process should at once be removed with a rag moistened either with turpentine or white spirit.

Alternatively, a spirit varnish, bodied up with pigment, can be employed in place of the white-lead and gold-size mixture. In this event, the wall surface should be coated with shellac, in place of paint, as mentioned above, and any excess mastic which may be exuded wiped off with a rag wetted with methylated spirit. The spirit-varnish mixture is more suitable for light-weight sheeting and the white-lead and gold-size compound will give stronger adhesion.

Either of the two cements described above can be used for fixing metal letters to glass. It is not necessary to wait until the cement becomes tacky provided that the letters, once placed in position, are held there by means of. adhesive tape or similar material which can be easily removed when it is no longer required.

Cement Wash .
The simplest form of cement wash is made by taking fresh Portland cement and adding it to water, in the proportion of  14lb.cement to a gallon of water, stirring thoroughly to produce a creamy con­sistency. Only as much as can be used within a period of half an hour - should be mixed at a time. The brickwork or other surface to which the - wash is being applied should be well wetted with cold water. Application should not be made in direct sunlight. The reasons why such washes sometimes fail are usually either that the water evaporates before the cement has become fully hydrated, or that the wash is allowed to stand too long before being applied.
Some decorators make a practice of adding common salt to a wash, the purpose being to conserve the moisture until hydration has taken place.
Not more than  ½lb. of salt to the gallon of wash should be added, but it is open to the objection that the salt may crystallise on the surface and form unsightly patches.

Chalk or Crayon Drawings, Preserving.
Chalk or crayon drawings can be “fixed,” or treated, to prevent the colours from being rubbed or smudged, by means of gum arabic, shellac, or cellulose lacquer, any of which must, however, be applied by spray. Gum arabic is suitable only when the drawing is to be kept in a dry place as the gum is soluble in water.
In each case the solution must be very thin and of water-like consistency, and must be applied in a “mist” coat only, to prevent the colours from running. About ½lb. bleached shellac to a gallon of methylated spirit is a serviceable mixture for the purpose. Cellulose lacquer should be similarly well thinned down. The second and all succeeding coats can be applied more thickly. The choice of medium will be governed, to a large extent, by the nature of the paper or fabric as well as by that of the chalks or crayons.

Chamois Leathers, Treatment of.
To keep chamois leathers in good condition, avoid using them in very hot water; wring out thoroughly after use, gently spread out, and hang out to dry. Soap should be used only in moderation and is best avoided; as a rule, leathers become slimy because soap has been employed to clean them and so worked into the texture that even prolonged rinsing fails to remove it.
In mild cases of sliminess, rinsing in water to which a little liquid ammonia has been added should be successful. If it is not, the following treatment should be tried: thoroughly wet the leather all over and lay it out flat on a clean board or slab. Then sprinkle fine, sifted whiting or, alternatively, fuller’s earth, uniformly over the surface and allow it to stand for about an hour. Next take a clean nail-brush or soft scrubbing-brush and work the whiting or earth well into both sides of the skin. Rinse by holding the leather for a long time under clean running water until all traces of whiting or earth have been removed. This procedure should leave the leather soft and in good condition.

Cinema Screens, Painting.
The painting of screens for the modern sound cinema necessitates special care and treatment since it is essential that any coating which is applied shall not interfere with the acoustic properties of the screen. The latter is usually of loosely woven fabric, or of cellular material, with small holes which must not be clogged up or the reproduction of the sound may be seriously affected.
Special screen paints are obtainable from the leading manufacturers and these should be employed. Application must be made by spray, not brush, two thin coats being preferable to one thick one. Immediately after the first coat, the paint supply is disconnected, the air pressure increased, and a stream of air is directed at full force against the screen, holding the nozzle of the gun about 6 in. away, in order to clear any holes which may have been clogged. After the coat has dried, a second coat is applied, and the clearing process repeated.
A drop cloth should be suspended a few inches behind the screen to catch any spray which may pass through the holes.

Concrete Colouring.
Reference has already been made in this work to the painting of concrete, but this type of surface can also be coloured by the integral method, in which suitable pigments are mixed with the cement.A fairly wide range of colour effects is possible in this way, but careful consideration must be given to the choice of pigments. The chief requirements for this purpose are as follows:

1. Colours used must be proof against alkalis and fast to light.
2. They must be perfectly dry and free from impurities.
3. They must be extremely finely ground.
4. They must not react chemically with the cement or other constituents of the concrete.
5. They must not be added in amounts liable to decrease seriously the strength of the mixture.
6. They must be insoluble in water.

The following are among the pigments which can safely be used:
Reds.-Oxide of iron.
Green.-Oxide of chromium.
Blues.-Ultramarine, cobalt.
Blacks.-Oxide of manganese, carbon.
Yellows and Browns.-Varieties of oxide of iron will give these colours, in addition to reds.

Pure White is best obtained by using white Portland cement, with white sand or crushed white marble as the aggregate. Ordinary grey Portland cement can be made whiter by adding white metallic oxide pigment, such as titanium white, or by the addition of a small proportion of hydrated lime.
It should be borne in mind that pigments remain unaltered in the mixture and do not act as do stains or dyes. For this reason, fineness of grinding is very important, since the more pigment particles there are, the greater will be their colouring effect.
Intimate mixing of the dry pigment with the cement is essential to ensure uniform coloration. It is best carried out by means of a pebble mill, though it may be achieved by the use of an ordinary concrete mixer on the job.
When the concrete is mixed it will appear to be several shades darker than it will look when it has dried out. The work must be kept in a damp condition for at least a week, so that the cement may have time to harden properly without the evaporation of mixing water which may bring effiorescent salts to the surface. Clean damp sand or wet sacking can often be successfully employed for this purpose.
Self-coloured cements are obtainable in an attractive range of shades and, since the colours are incorporated in the process of manufacture, are usually more satisfactory than mixtures made up on the job.

Concrete Floor, Hardening.
Concrete floors subject to a good deal of wear are liable to a certain amount of surface disintegration and dusting. They may be hardened and toughened to prevent this by the application of silicate of soda (water-glass) in solution.
The surface of the concrete should be clean and free from grease and the silicate of soda diluted with about four times its own volume of water. Apply by means of a floor mop. Leave for twenty-four hours and apply a second coat. Repeat the process, if necessary, should the porosity of the concrete still not be satisfied.
Silicate of soda has a waterproofing effect in addition; care should be taken in applying it to a floor that no splashes of the solution come into contact with adjoining paintwork or other surfaces, or with clothing, since it sets to a hard mass which is not easy to remove.

Dents in Furniture, Removing.
Shallow dents and “bruises” in table-tops and other pieces of furniture can sometimes be successfully re­moved in the following manner:
Having stripped the existing finish down to the bare wood, wet the affected part with clean water until it is thoroughly well soaked. Place a pad of half a dozen sheets of thick, white blotting-paper on top and apply a hot flat-iron for a few minutes. The steam produced in this way will swell the fibres of the wood until they are level with the rest of the surface. Allow the spot to dry thoroughly, rub down with fine sandpaper and refinish. Alternatively, instead of wetting the wood, wet the blotting-paper well before it is placed in position.
Very shallow dents can occasionally be removed without stripping the finish by this process, though seldom without the finish being affected, particularly if it happens to be a French polish.

Distemper, Preservatives for.
While it is desirable to add a pre­servative to size distemper and other materials liable to putrefaction in keeping, the choice must depend primarily on the type and grade of the size.
With this reservation, it may be said that preservatives in common use include: phenol, benzoic acid, boric acid, and sodium orphophenylphenate. If one with a more pleasant smell is wanted, either mirbane oil or oil of red thyme can be used. About  ¾oz. of the former or ½oz. of the latter should be stirred in to every pail of distemper.

Dr. Angus Smith’s Process.
In 1848 Dr. Angus Smith patented a process for coating the interior of water pipes; though the patent has long since expired, the process is not infrequently specified to-day. Articles were heated to a temperature of 300 deg. F. as soon as they were cast, before corrosion could take place, and dipped into a prepared tar. Coal tar was employed and this was boiled until all the ammoniacal liquor, water, and lighter oils had been expelled. After being immersed in this for some time, the articles were taken out and allowed to drain.
The process, somewhat modified, is still used for coating water pipes. A simpler alternative is a high-grade bituminous composition.