Enamel Wood Finish, Enamel Stain

¶ New Interior Wood Trim. - A moderate priced job on birch, poplar, maple, soft pine, fir, cedar, redwood, and gum.

¶ Operation 1: Brush down with a duster brush, scrape off any dirt or grease accumulations, sandpaper any rough places and clean up generally.

¶ Operation 2: Shellac knots and sap streaks with a thin orange shellac, about a two-pound-cut (2 pounds of shellac gum in 1 gallon of denatured alcohol).

¶ Operation 3: Paint. Prime with a thin coat of white lead paint tinted the final color and well brushed. Thin the lead with about ½ boiled linseed oil and ½ turpentine. If pitch pine, cypress or any sap or oil-filled wood is used thin the paint with about ¼ linseed oil and ¾ turpentine.

¶ Operation 4: Putty. Fill all nail holes, cracks and bruises with good putty made with white lead in oil, dry whiting and a very little japan drier. Let the putty dry over night if possible.

¶ Operation 5: Sandpaper the surface lightly when it is bone dry, using No. ½ paper or steel wool. Dust off the surface.

¶ Operation 6: Paint. Brush on three coats of paint, white or tinted the final color wanted. The pigment of this paint should consist of about 60% white lead ground in oil and 40% zinc oxide ground in oil. Thin these coats with turpentine only, or with flatting oil. Allow at least 12 hours for each coat to dry and more time if possible. Sandpaper each coat with No. ½ paper or steel wool and dust or wipe clean with a damp chamois skin.

¶ Operation 7: Paint. One coat of zinc oxide ground in oil, white or tinted the final color wanted. Thin with about 4/5 turpentine and 1/5 white mixing varnish or good white enamel. If preferred this coat may be one of the factory-prepared enamel under coaters. Allow at least 24 hours for drying. Sandpaper lightly with No. 0 or 00 paper and dust off. Then wipe clean with a chamois skin dampened with water or benzine. Be sure to remove every trace of grit and dust from the corners, carvings, mouldings, etc.

¶ Operation 8: Enamel. One coat of first quality white or colored enamel. Brush it on freely, but keep your eyes open for runs, sags and wrinkles especially under mouldings, on edges and corners. After spreading the enamel and laying it off, wipe the brush out quite dry and with this empty brush go over the surface with long, light strokes, using the tip ends of the bristles only. That will pick up any excess of enamel laid on and avoid the runs, sags and wrinkles which result from too much material on the surface. See that the temperature of the surface and of the enamel is between 70 and 80 degrees. Otherwise, the enamel will not brush and flow as it should. If white enamel is to be tinted for this coat use colors ground in japan and thinned a very little with turpentine. Mix the color into the enamel thoroughly and strain it before adding it.

¶ (Note: linseed oil finish should be used only in the first coat on new wood and then very sparingly. This to avoid having the enamel turn yellow when not exposed to strong light.)

¶ A high quality enamel job.

¶ The preceding plan will give an ordinarily good and serviceable job. A strictly high quality job, one with even better appearance as to surface texture and more durable can be produced this way:

¶ To Operation 5 add one more coat of paint, making four instead of three coats.

¶ To Operation 7 add one more coat of enamel, after rubbing the gloss off of the first coat with No. 00 sandpaper or with pumice stone and water on a soft felt pad.

¶ If a hand-rubbed dull lustre is wanted rub the last coat when bone dry, after two or three days, with grade FF pumice stone and water or oil on a felt pad. Note the rubbing details. The same procedure is used for varnish and enamel rubbing.

¶ Enamel on old interior wood trim.

¶ Operation 1: Sandpaper the old paint, enamel or varnish to remove dirt, grease and gloss. Then clean off thoroughly with a duster and a damp chamois skin. If the old surface was waxed or flat varnished every trace of the wax must be removed by sandpapering and washing with benzole, benzine or turpentine. No paint, varnish or enamel will adhere to a wax coating.

¶ If the old paint is cracking and scaling badly, it should be stripped off with liquid paint and varnish remover. Then sandpaper well and wash up with benzole, turpentine or benzine to remove the film of wax left by the remover. Operation 2: Follow Operations 5, 6 and 7 specified for new wood. If working on old paint or enamel in good condition and if the new color is not greatly different from the old you may be able to eliminate a coat or two of paint from Operation 5.

Next Page: Repairing Enamel Finishes.