510 BUILDING [GASFITTING. admission of air through, its louvres, which arc worked by a wire or cord as necessary. Hartley s patent perforated glass attempts to gain the same end by small slits formed in the pane. For publications relating to the glazier s chief material, see the article GLASS. For patterns of lead-work, see Shaw s reprint of "YV. Gidde, Booke of Sundry Draughtcs, Svo, 1615. SMITH-WORK AND GASFITTING. Smith- work. The smith is the worker in wrought metals of all kinds required chiefly by the carpenter and joiner, who fixes them in the building. Smithery is the art of uniting several lumps of iron into one lump or more, and forging them to any desired shape. The earlier parts are done at the forge and on the anvil with the hammer, and hence is produced " wrought work," whether for useful or for ornamental purposes. Machinery has been brought extensively to the smith s assistance, for rolling, drilling, planing, &c. The ornamental portion of his work is wrought iron shaped by hand into devices and patterns according to the various styles of architecture, as in gates, railings, standards, hinge bands, locks, handles, knockers, lanterns, candlesticks, and other lighting contrivances, which are also executed in brass-work and in cast-iron. Founder s The founder s work is all cast metal, such as for orna- work. mental gates and railings, rain-water pipes, cistern heads, and other portions, guttering, stable-littings, coal-plates, &c. These commonly require to be fitted and fixed by the smith. The founder supplies all fire-grates, stoves, and other apparatus for warming and also for ventilation. Gasfitting. The gasfitter is a smith who supplies and fixes cast-iron pipes for diameters above two inches, and wrought iron for those of smaller bore, where gas is required to be used. A three-quarter inch pipe is considered by some as the least size to be used even for supplying rooms on an upper story ; tin or composition metal pipes are fixed for sizes under half an inch, and also flexible tubes. It is recommended that no pipes should be embedded in the plastering, as is usually the case. In Paris the gas pipes must be seen for their whole length, and where passing through a floor or partition they must be let through a larger pipe having both ends open. Lights should not be fixed within 36 inches beneath wood-work. The solar or sun light is one of the modern additions for lighting large halls, as well as for dwelling- rooms ; the globe lights, and some others of the same kind, all assist also in ventilating the apartments by tubes carrying off the products of combustion, which tubes are ordinarily fixed in the thickness of the floor ; and as the air therein is raised to a very high tempera ture, great precautions are required to prevent danger by fire to the timbers, and also where the tubes pass through the roof. The effect of continued hot air on wood is little understood by the public generally. The star light, an invention of the late Mr Owen Jones, consists of a num ber of jets placed either horizontally or slightly inclining upwards at the jets ; this is productive of a pleasing and brilliant light. There are many varieties of gas burners, such as the one called a fish tail, from which the form of the flame is the worst as regards economical results ; the bat s-wing is better, and the argand is the best. The latter is a metal ring, pierced with numerous small holes, which divide the flame and allow of the proper combus tion of the gas. Besides the common metal burners, there are some made with a soapstone or other cap, to pre vent corrosion ; and one of the better class is Bronner s patent burner, into which the gas is admitted through a very small opening adapted for supplying only a certain quantity of gas per hour. The usual burners have a large opening up to where the gas is consumed, and hence a waste of it. For publications relating to the smith and founder s trade, see the article IRON; also Brandon, Analysis of Gothic Architec ture, 4to, 1847 ; Yiollet-le-Duc, Diet. Eais., s.v. Grille raid Sermrerie ; Wyatt, Metal Work, fol., 1852 ; Jousse, La fidilc ouverture dc Part du Scrrurcric, fol., 1627; IS Art du Serrurerie, in Description des arts ct metiers, fol., 1767; Fordnn, Livre du Ser rurerie, fol., 1723; Cottingham, Smith, Founder s, d-c., Director, 4to, 1823; Pugin, Designs for Iron and Brass Work, 4to, 1835; Shaw, Examples of Ornamental Metal- Work, 4to, 1825; "Welldon, The Smith s Eight Hand, Svo, 1765 ; Leconte, Choix de nouxeaux modelcs dc Scrrurcric, fol., 1838 ; Scott, Ornamental Designs, fol., 1852 ; King, Orfcvrcrie ct outrages au moyen age, fol., 1853-60 ; Tijou, A New Booke of Drawings, fol., 1693 ; Bordeaux, Serrurerie du moycnagc, 4to, 1858 ; Bury et Hoyau, Modelcs de Serrurerie, fol., 1826 ; Thiollet, Modules, &c., fol., no date; Lachave, Balcons, d C., fol., 1864; Normand, CEuvrcs, Ac., fol., 1824. HOUSE-PAINTING. The real object of painting is to protect wood, metals, and stuccoes from the action of the atmosphere, by cover ing them with a material which is capable of resisting it. A continued succession of moisture and dryness, and of heat and frost, soon effects the decomposition of woods, causes oxidation in most of the metals used for economic pur poses, and destroys the generality of stuccoes if their surfaces be exposed nakedly to it. A solution of ceruse or white lead in linseed oil spread over them prevents these injuries in a great measure, and for a considerable period of time; and as the application of such an unction can be repeated without much trouble or expense as often as occasion may require, it may be said to furnish a protection against the contingencies named. In addition to the utility of painting, it is also available as an ornament, by bringing disagreeably or diversely coloured surfaces to a pleasing and uniform tint, or by diversifying a disagreeable monotony of tint, to suit the taste and fancy; and this is done in a great measure by the addition of various pigments to the solution before mentioned. The painter works with brushes of various sizes, made Tools, of hog s bristles, or of hair with a mixture of bristles, and pencils made of badger s hair; these, with the addition of pots to hold his colours, a grinding-stone and grinder or muller for grinding or triturating them, a pallet and a pallet knife, dusting brushes and a scraping knife for cleaning iron-work before repainting, are almost his only implements. In painting the outside of windows he sometimes uses the glazier s horse. His materials are com paratively few also; but for some purposes these require a great variety of ingredients, the preparation and combination of which, however, now devolves principally on the manufacturer or colourman, and not on the painter himself. The colours are ground with a muller, "which Colours is worked on the stone until they become a very fine powder ; with some, the more they are ground the better is the colour. The powder is moistened with a little water or oil, as necessary, from time to time. They should all be ground separately; it is not good to produce a tint by mixture until they are well prepared. Only the quantities necessary for the work undertaken should be got ready. Common colours are those which are produced by the addition to white lead (or zinc white) and oil of lamp-black, red lead, or any of the common ochres ; blues, greens, rich reds, pinks, and yellows, &c., being more costly, are taken as such. Unflatted white is a common colour ; flat ted it classes with the rich colours. If the same surface bo painted of two different tints, it is said to be in party colours. The substance generally constituting nine-tenths of the body of paint is carbonate of lead, commonly called white lead,
the quality of which is therefore of the greatest importancePage:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/572
This page needs to be proofread.
ABC—XYZ