As a filler of wood to be stained, apply French plaster of Paris, mixed as a creamy paste with water, and after rubbing in, clean any surplus off; or use whiting finely powdered, or white lead slacked with painters’ drying oil, and used as a filler. Another process is that of oiling, then rubbing crosswise to the grain with a sponge dipped in thin polish composed of melted beeswax, resin, and shellac, and smoothing the surface, when dry, with pumice-stone, or fine glass paper. Embody the work a second time with thicker polish, or a mixture of polish and varnish. The rubbers will work easily with half the quantity of oil which is ordinarily used. This second body should be rubbed very smooth with moist putty.
In the use of any filler, care must be taken in the selection of color, for the employment of a light colored filler on dark wood or vice versa would result in gross defacement, as the lighter color would show at the pores of the wood in the one case, and the darker in the other. Therefore, to avoid this the filler should be as near as possible the color of the wood to be filled.
As a general thing, paint manufacturers who do not make fillers a specialty use opaque colors to stain their filler, as it requires a less quantity. This will do sometimes, but not always. But those which give to the wood a clear and bright appearance, and therefore produce the best results, are stained with transparent colors; those chiefly employed are burnt umber and sienna, Venetian red, Vandyke brown and charcoal black, the charcoal being ground fine in oil, while the others can be used dry and according to the following recipes with good results:
In mixing any or all dark fillers the same pigments used for the light (previously described) should be kept for a basis, with sufficient coloring to stain it to the desired depth of shade.
Filler for Walnut is very often stained with burnt umber; this is reddish in hue and gives to the wood a pleasing effect. Others use Venetian red darkened somewhat with lamp black; this is rather opaque, and tends to deaden the color of the wood. There is another article, namely Vandyke brown, which gives fair results. In order to obtain a rich effect, the filler should be made considerably darker than the wood when new.
Fillers for mahogany, cherry, California redwood, and other woods of similar shade, should be stained with burnt sienna, as they should be finished very clear. It is well to know that charcoal black, and Venetian red will give the desired shade for any dark-colored wood in common use or for all colors in antique, but it does not show up quite as clear as some other combinations.
For rosewood, charcoal as a stain will suffice, and for vanilla or Brazil-wood the use of rose-pink will give good results.
The methods of mixing these fillers are quite numerous. It is impossible to give the proportions definitely, owing to the strength of the colors or the transparency of the chief ingredient, but one cannot go astray by following the preceding rules.
Mix the light pigment to a paste with boiled oil, which must be well stirred up. Then in another pot mix a quantity of the colored pigment with turpentine or naphtha; and when thoroughly “cut” or dissolved, add sufficient of it to the light to give the shade required. After this is obtained, dilute with turpentine or naphtha and Japan, as directed in mixing light filler. This applies to all colors except black, which is seldom obtained finely ground unless in oil, and properly thinned down.
There are many finishers and firms who exclusively use manufactured fillers, and in consequence meet with many difficulties as to the shade they require, as different manufacturers use different colors to stain their filler. But this difficulty can be overcome by a few experiments with the above-named stains.
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