if you grind other Colours after it let the stone be well cleansed from the first colour with a cloath and fine dry Ashes CHAP. VI. How to order Colours for working after they are ground WHen you have ground your Colours if you observe my Directions in grinding they will be too thick for use without the addition of more Oyl therefore when you have ground those Colours you desire and intend to use them either simply by themselves or compounded with others according as your fancy or occasions require you must then add more Oyl unto them till they be so thin as not to let the ground on which they are laid be seen through them for if it be so thin as to let the ground be seen through them or to run about when it be laid on it is not good and will require to be coloured the oftner before your work be perfect and substantial whereas if your Colour be as stiff as it can well be wrought your work will be done with more speed once doing being more substantial then three times doing with thin Colour Here by the way take notice of the fraud and deceit of Common Painters who commonly agree to do work by the Yard at a certain price and the work to be coloured three times over which they commonly paint with such thin colour to avoid the labour of grinding a little Colour serving a great deal of Oyl and besides it works with less pains and takes up less stuff that all three times doing over is not so substantial as one time would be if the Colour had a thick and substantial body and I 'le maintain that three times colouring with substantial and well bodied Colour shall last ten times as long as that which is wrought thus sleightly by common Painters In mixing Oyl with your Colours take this further Note That if the colour to be mixt be your priming Colour that is the first colour you lay on it ought to be made very thin that it may have Oyl enough to pierce into the Wood which is much for its preservation but after your first colour is laid let your next be thicker as before is taught But if your Colour to be mixt be for the drawing of the Hour Lines or making the Figures in a Sun-Dial then let it be tempered as stiff as is possible to work it that it may not presently decay but may be capable by the quantity laid on to last as long as any Colour on the Dial to which purpose its being wrought in fat Oyl will much conduce to its lasting How this fat Oyl is made see Chap. 7. where you have the manner of it taught at large CHAP. VII How to make Gold size to lay Gold on when you guild GOld size is made of fat Oyl and Yellow Oaker the Oyl is no other than Linseed Oyl thus ordered Take what quantity of Linseed Oyl you judge will serve your turn put it in a Brazen or other Vessel that will endure the fire when it is in the Vessel put to it a certain quantity of Red-Lead the more you put in the better will your Oyl be provided you put not in so much as to hinder its boyling for this Red-Lead adds a drying quality to the Oyl which otherwise being thus ordered would not dry in any time when the Oyl and Lead are thus mingled together let them gently boyl over a fire of coals without flame a pretty while when it 's boyled enough which you may know by taking a little of it and let it cool and if it roape like thin Treacle then it is enough then with a lighted paper set it on fire which fireing will burn away much of the greasiness of it which let burn about a minute or two or more or less according as your quantity of Oyl is and then let it be extinguished by clapping a Cloath over it afterwards let it stand to cool and settle and when all the Lead be sunk to the bottom and the Oyl be clear then pour it off and reserve it in a Bladder for use Your Yellow Oaker must also be thus ordered before it be made into size Take Yellow Oaker and grind it on a stone with water till it be very fine and afterwards lay it on a Chalk stone to dry this is the common way but a better is to wash it as is taught in the Fourth Chapter For when it is washed to be sure nothing but the purest of the Colour will be used and besides it 's done with more ease and less daubing When your Oyl and Oaker are thus prepared you must grind them together as you do other Oyl-Colours but it 's something more laborious work and must be ground very fine even as Oyl it self for the finer it is the greater Lustre will your Gold carry that is laid on it Here Note That you must give it such a quantity of your fat Oyl that it may not be so weak as to run when you have laid it on nor so stiff that it may not work well but of such a competent body that after it is laid on it may settle it self smooth and glasie which is a chief property of good size CHAP. VIII What Colours set off best one with another YEllowes set off best with Blacks Blews and Reds They set off indifferently well with Greens Purples and Whites Blews set off best with Yellowes and Whites They-set off indifferently with Blacks and Reds But they set not off with Greens Purples and Browns Greens-set off best with Whites and Yellows They set not off with Blacks Blews or Reds Reds set off best with Whites and Yellows They set off indifferently with Blews and Blacks Blacks and Whites set off well with all Colours because they differ so much from all CHAP. IX What Colours are sufficient for Painting Sun-Dials IF you are to Paint a plain Sun-Dial these four Colours serve viz. Spanish Brown White Lead Vermillion and Lamp-Black The Spanish Brown is for the priming Colour the VVhite Lead is for the last colour of â—â—e plain the Vermillion is for drawing the Lines and the Lamp-Black is for drawing the Figures But if your Dial be more rich you must have besides the four fore-mentioned Colours Gold size to make the Figures to lay Gold on and Smalt or Blew Bice for the Margin and inner Table and if you intend to bestow Curiosity then you may use such other Colours as your fancy shall direct you may be most suitable to your design for which purpose your care must be to observe the Ornament and Fashion of whatsoever good Dial you meet with and to register your Observations This will be a great help to your fancy on all occasions CHAP. X. Some Instructions for making of Plains and Boards to draw Dials on DIal Playns are of two sorts first such as are of the Wall of a Building it self or secondly such as are drawn on Tables The first sort if they are made
on Brick-work is done with Lime and Hair plaistered on the Wall of what bigness the Owner pleaseth This is the Common way But a better and more durable way is to temper Lime and Sand with Linseed Oyl 't is not very chargeable but exceeding profitable for this substance will harden to the hardness of a stone and not decay in many Ages If you cannot have Oyl enough to temper a quantity of Plaister sufficient for your Playn then temper your Lime and Sand with scummed Milk this you will find to last six times as long as your Common plaister Now for Tables of Wood they being the most Common I shall give such Directions for the making of them as I have alwayes found most profitable and fit for this purpose The Woods that I find best for this use are the clearest Oak and the reddest Firr provided it be not Turpentiney between these two Woods I find little difference as to their alteration by the weather both being subject to split in case they are bound and have not free liberty to shrink with dry weather and swell with wet but as to their lasting I judge Oak to be the better and how long Firr will last thus secured and defended with Oyl Colours I have not yet experienced but we may judge that good red Firr that is very Roseny will last the age of any man whatsoever if it be secured as things of this nature ought to be In working any of these woods I advise that first your Boards be cut to such a length as you intend your Dial Board shall be of and so many of them as may make up the breadth designed then let them be Joynted and plained on both sides and afterwards set to dry for 't is observed That though Boards have layn in an house never so long and are never so dry yet when they are thus shot and playned they will shrink afterwards beyond belief if kept dry when you think they are dry enough and will shrink no more let them be again shot with good Joynts and every Joynt in the glewing doubled together with Pins as Coppers do the bottoms of their Tubs after it is thus glewed and the Joynts be sufficiently dry then let the face of the Board be very well playned and tryed every way that it may be both smooth and true and the edges shot true and all of a thickness as panels of Wainscot are commonly wrought the edges must be thus true and even that it may sit into the rabet of a moulding put round it Just as a panel of Wainscot doth in its frame This will give liberty to the Board to shrink and swell without tearing whereas Mouldings that are nayled round the edge as the common way is doth so restrain the motion of the wood that it cannot shrink without tearing but Boards made this way will last a long time without either parting in the Joynts or splitting in the wood Dials are sometimes drawn on Playns lined with Copper or Lead that they may be free from splitting or tearing but I prefer a Board if it be made as above is directed before them in many respects As first it is much Cheaper Secondly Lead and Copper too a little will swell with the heat of the Sun and grow in time so hollow and as it were swelled outwards that the truth of its shadow will be much injured Thirdly the Colours will be apt to peel from the metal and the Dial will be that way more defaced than on woodden Playns CHAP. XI How to make the best Glew for glewing the Joynts of Dial-Boards TAke a quantity of Milk that hath stood so long to Cream that no more will arise from it scum it very clean and set it over the fire in a Leaden Pot and let it boyl a little and if any Cream arise take it off then put in your Glew first divided into small pieces and it will soon melt and when you have boyled it to a good body that it be neither too thick nor too thin for in the right observance of this lyes much of the Art then use it as you do other Glew This binds beyond belief and will not be subject to resolve with any Competent moisture of the weather 'T is certain that when any sort of Glew is burnt to the sides of the pot the whole is spoiled of its former strength to prevent this let your Glew be alwaies melted in Balneo Maria which is thus Take a large Skillet or a little Kettle full of water into which put your Glew-pot with a wispe of Hay or Straw under it to keep it from the bottom of the Vessel and as the water in the Vessel heats so will your Glew melt And thus you may do at the first making of your Glew by which means you may boyl it to what body you please without danger of burning to the sides of the pot CHAP. XII A Catalogue of such Books as are necessary for him that would be a Compleat Dialist DR Record's Castle of Knowledge This Book though something scarce is an Excellent Book for those that would attain the Knowledg of the Sphere or motion of the Heavens which every one that would be a Compleat Dialist ought perfectly to understand Stirrup's Compleat Dialist In this Book is contained a Brief Explanation of the Sphere as likewise three several wayes to draw Dials two of them Geometrically and the third Instrumentally All of them as Expeditious and True as most To this Book is added an Appendix by Mr. Leybourne shewing the best wayes for furnishing Dials with such Lines as shew the Suns place in the 12 Signs his declination right ascension length of the Day and Night the rising and setting of the Sun his Azimuth and Circles of altitude with the Jewish Babylonish and Italian hours Collins Sector on a Quadrant In this Book among other things are Excellent Scales and Instruments for Dialling To which is added an Appendix by John Lyon shewing the way of drawing all manner of Dials on the Seelings Floors and Walls of Rooms to receive the reflection of a small glass Collins Dialling This Book among several good Geometrical ways for drawing Dials shews also wayes to draw Dials from a Gnomen stuck into a Wall at random without knowing the declination a good Book throughout Leybourne's Art of Dialling A very Ingenious Piece where you will find among many other good Conceits a very Easie Exact and Speedy way for drawing fair upright Decliners and also an Instrument the most Compendious of all others especially in drawing small Dials Leybourn's Introduction to Astronomie Sold by Robert Mordant at the Atlas in Cornhill In this Book is shewed how to draw all manner of Dials by the Globe And among the rest he shews a way to draw an East or West Dial Geometrically the best of any extant The Use of Sutton 's large Quadrant Sold at the Atlas in Cornhill which together with the Instrument is very
the dust with a Fox tail as likewise preserving them from Flies by dressing up your Rooms with green boughes to which the Flyes will gather themselves and so not hurt your Pictures Sir Hugh Platt in the First Part of his Garden of Eden and 17 page tells us of an Italian Fancy for this purpose by hanging in the roof and sides of the Room small Pompions or Cow combers stuck full of Barley which will sprout into green spiers on which the Flyes will lodge Querie Whether Vessels of Tin made round about full of holes filled with Earth and every hole planted with a sprig of Orpen Penyroyal Mints c. and watered as need requires would not be more beautiful and useful for this purpose Another Note worth Observation is That all Pictures especially those that are wrought with mixtures of White Lead are apt to tawnish and grow rusty as is seen in all ancient Pieces To prevent which in the Moneths of May and June let your Pictures be exposed to the hot Sun three or four dayes this will draw off much of the tawnish and make the Colours more fresh and beautiful and thus doing from year to year will preserve them wonderfully Although in the beginning of this Chapter I mentioned Dials among those things that are not to be refreshed but by new painting yet here take notice That I think it not convenient at all to lay new Colouring upon the old ground of a Sun-Dial that is to draw the old Lines and Figures over again in the same posture wherein they were drawn before but rather to take the declination anew and according thereunto make a new draught of your Dial and proceed in the painting of it in all respects as if it were a new Dial For it is observed That Dials which were made many years ago which we believe went true when first made will not give the true hour now but go very false and unequal which is caused by some secret motion of the Earth not hitherto taken notice of which apparently alters the declination of all Playns whatsoever If any one requires more satisfaction herein let him repair to some old Dial that was made many years ago and according to the distance of the Substile from the Meridian let him find out the declination when first made as any man that is an Artist can easily do then let him take the declination of the Plain by the Sun and he shall find these two declinations to differ considerably according to the number of years contained between your observation and the time of the Dials first making so that a Plain that stood full South 30 40 or 60 years ago shall now decline some degrees either to the East or West according to the nature of the Earths motion CHAP. XVIII Some Improvements in Painting to resist weather and preserve Timber or woodden works from rotting TAke the hardest Rosin you can get clarifie it well to which Rosin add Linseed Oyl so much as you find by experience to be sufficient let them be well melted and incorporated together on the fire then take either Umber Verdigrease or Red Lead these being extraordinary drying Colours first ground fine which put into the Oyl and Rosin and when they are well mixed together you may use them in Colouring Timber as you do with other Colours it 's best alwayes to be used hot least it be too stiff This is a most excellent thing to preserve Timber it lyeth like the China Varnish and will endure 10 times as long as other Painting if rightly wrought this is a most excellent way to preserve the Border Boards in Gardens and any other thing that we would have last long in wet and moysture this Colour spread on Cloath with a Trowel is a most excellent Covering for Tents Huts Turrets Houses of Pleasure and the like And let me add one Experiment more that will much commend the use of this mixture which is this Let those woodden Vessels whether Hogsheads Barrels Kilderkins or any other Vessel whether upright or decumbent that you design to keep any drinkable Liquors in be well and intirely painted on the outside therewith which Vessel so painted shall keep and preserve all manner of Liquors equally to the best Bottles whatsoever by reason that the sponginess and porusness of the wood is intirely closed and shut up by this tough rosinious varnish thereby keeping the spirits of the liquor from flying away and so consequently preserving the whole body thereof in its strength and vigour The best way to make the Varnish or Colour for this purpose is to put no more Oyl to the Rosin than what shall just serve to toughen it nor to mix any Colour with it but burnt Umber because Verdigrease and Red Lead may be objected against by reason of their corroding quality The best way to lay this Colour on is to heat it hot before you work it which will make it close the firmer to the wood Postscript ONe thing I had forgot when I spake of Pencils in the First Chapter that is whereas I told you that Pencils or Brushes were to be cleansed from their colour by washing them with Sope and warm water it is to be understood that this is most convenient in large Brushes but for smaller Pencils the better way were to dip them in clean Sallet Oyl and draw them between your fingers divers times till they are clean and when you come to use them again dip them in a little Linseed Oyl and squeeze it out again and then use them FINIS