o hours, or even less; while two weeks could be
profitably employed in rubbing another suite with pumice and water.

=Black Walnut Finishing.=--The fashionable finish for black walnut work,
particularly chamber sets, is what is known to the trade as the
"dead-oil finish." It is admired, perhaps, because it has a gloss,
rather than a shine of the varnish stamp. There is no more labour
required upon it than upon a bright finish, but the process of
manipulation is different, and harder to the fingers.

It should be premised that the walnut work of the day bears upon its
surface, to a greater or less extent, raised panels covered with French
burl veneer. And upon this fact largely depends the beauty of the
production. And the endeavour is to so finish the article that there
shall be a contrast between the panel and the groundwork on which it is
placed. In other words, the former should be of a light colour, while
the latter is of a darker shade. In that view the palest shellac should
be used on the panels, and darker pieces, liver coloured, etc., on the
body of the work. The darker grades of shellac are the cheaper, and will
answer for the bulk of the work, but the clearest only for the panels.

In commencing to finish a job direct from the cabinet-maker's hand,
rough and innocent of sand-paper, first cover the panels with a coat of
shellac to prevent the oil in the filling from colouring them dark.
Next, cover the body of the work with a wood filling composed of whiting
and plaster of Paris, mixed with japan, benzine, and raw linseed-oil, or
the lubricating oil made from petroleum; the whole covered with umber,
to which, in the rare cases when a reddish shade is wanted, Venetian
red is also added. This filling is then rubbed off with cloths, and by
this process tends to close up the grain of the wood and produce an even
surface. More or less time should be allowed after each of the several
steps in the finishing process for the work to dry and harden, though
much less is required in working with shellac than with varnishes
composed of turpentine, oil, and gums. But the time that should be
allowed is often lessened by the desire to get the work through as soon
as possible, so that no standard can be set up as to the number of hours
required between each of the several processes. It would be well if
twelve hours intervened, but if work to which ten days could well be
devoted must be hurried through in three, obviously the