Greetings one and all,
I looked up the Holtzapffel ref on japanning
Holtzapffel C 1864 Turning and mechanical manipulation ....
Volume 3 Abrasive and miscellaneous processes ...
Holtzapffel and Co, London
pp. 1404+: japanning on metal, wood, etc.
Lots of details on what to use, and how to do it. BUT I imagine that
a lot of the ingredients would now be difficult to obtain.
As you can guess from the date, the book is long out of print. Have a
look at Rita Shenton's website, she is currently offering copies for
sale.
BTW: anyone interested in making dials should have a copy of all
five volumes of Holtzapffel's monumental work. At least a couple of
the volumes have been reprinted by Dover and are available in cheap
paperback.I have a vague recollection that one of the other volumes
ahs also been reprinted. I don't know about the others. It is
FANTASTIC source of all sorts of information on working metal, wood,
stone, etc. Has to be read to be believed. Throw away your bedside
"Country Life" magazines and Laura Ashley catalogues and read this
in bed instead. You will definitely neglect your spouse or partner
once you start reading!
For chemical finishing of metals, the bible is:
Hughes R & Rowe, M 1991 The colouring, bronzing and patination of
metals.
Thames & Hudson, London.
Lovely book with lots of colour platers showing the exact results of
different receipes. ALL the receipes are in modern terminology. A
GREAT source.
I don't know if it is still available, I got mine several years ago
from (surprise, surprise) Rita Shenton. (I should be on a
commission!)
Final BTW, Rita has just told me that the Stalker book that I
mentioned yesterday refers ONLY to wood.
That's all folks, enjoy the rest of your day. I am now off to a staff
meeting (groan, but they do pay my princely salary!)
John
Dr John Pickard
Senior Lecturer, Environmental Planning
Graduate School of the Environment
Macquarie University, NSW 2109 Australia
Phone + 61 2 9850 7981 (work)
+ 61 2 9482 8647 (home)
Fax + 61 2 9850 7972 (work)
