=To Make Labels Adhere to a Polished Surface.=—­Brush the back of a label over with thin varnish or polish, and press down with a soft rag; this must be done quickly, as the polish soon becomes dry.  This is the way labels are put on pianofortes, and also the paper imitation of fancy woods on polished pine-work.

=How to Remove French Polish or Varnish from Old Work.=—­Cleaning off old work for re-polishing or varnishing is usually found difficult, and to occupy much time if only the scraper and glass-paper be used.  It can be easily accomplished in a very short time by washing the surface with liquid ammonia, applied with a piece of rag; the polish will peel off like a skin, and leave the wood quite bare.  In carvings or turned work, after applying the ammonia, use a hard brush to remove the varnish.  Unadulterated spirits of wine used in a tepid state will answer the same purpose.

=Colouring for Carcase Work.=—­In the best class of cabinet-work all the inside work—­such as carcase backs, shelves, etc.—­is made of good materials, such as wainscot, soft mahogany, Havannah cedar, or American walnut; but for second-class work, pine or white deal is used instead, and coloured.

The colouring matter used should match with the exterior wood.  For mahogany take 1/2 lb. of ground yellow ochre to a quart of water, and add about a tablespoonful of Venetian red—­a very small quantity of red in proportion to the yellow is sufficient for mahogany—­and a piece of glue about the size of a walnut; the whole to be well stirred and boiled.  Brush over while hot, and immediately rub off with soft shavings or a sponge.  For the antique hues of old wainscot mix equal parts of burnt umber and brown ochre.  For new oak, bird’s-eye maple, birch, satin-wood, or any similar light yellowish woods, whiting or white-lead, tinted with orange chrome, or by yellow ochre and a little size.  For walnut, brown umber, glue size, and water; or by burnt umber very moderately modified with yellow ochre.  For rosewood, Venetian red tinted with lamp-black.  For ebony, ivory-black; but for the common ebonised work lamp-black is generally used.

When the colouring is dry, it should be rubbed down with a piece of worn fine glass-paper, and polished with beeswax rubbed on a very hard brush—­a worn-out scrubbing-brush is as good as anything—­or it can be well rubbed with Dutch rush.  In polishing always rub the way of the grain.  The cheap work seldom gets more than a coat of colour rubbed off with shavings.

=Cheap but Valuable Stain for the Sap of Black Walnut.=—­Take 1 gallon of strong vinegar, 1 lb. dry burnt umber, 1/2 lb. fine rose-pink, 1/2 lb. dry burnt Vandyke brown.  Put them into a jug and mix them well; let the mixture stand one day, and it will then be ready for use.  Apply this stain to the sap with a piece of fine sponge; it will dry in half an hour.  The whole piece is then ready for the filling process.  When completed, the stained part cannot be detected even by those who have performed the work.  This recipe is of value, as by it wood of poor quality and mostly of sap can be used with good effect.