The Photobeacon Volume 10 Author:Books Group This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1898 Excerpt: ...village of conservatories and greenhouses, told us he never intrusted the glazing of them to the builder, but always had it done by his ow... more »n men, under his immediate supervision. Here is the method he adopted: After the builder had completed his part of the work the sash bars were given a coat of thin paint, which soaked well into the wood as it dried. They were then given a second coat of thicker paint, and while that was still wet it was dusted over with fine silver sand, and when dry the excess of sand was brushed off. This was said to give a toothed surface to which the putty held more tenaciously than it does to a smooth one. The putty employed was made by himself. It was composed of the best linseed oil, whiting, and a good proportion of white lead. Of course, such a material as that could not be expected for the price at which the commercial putty is sold. Whether it was the system adopted or the careful workmanship, or the two combined, we cannot say, but we do know that a leaky roof was a rarity in that nursery. A photographer of our acquaintance, instead of painting the outside of the roof sash bars every spring, gave them a coating of gas tar, his idea being that, while the tendency of the heat is to harden and crack the putty, it would, at the same time, soften the tar so that it would fill up the cracks in the former. Tar is very repellant of water. A good slope in the roof is a desideratum, for with it there is less liability of the water finding its way through, as well as less liability to breakage in case of hailstorms, than when it is flatter. If the studio be large, or there is a great expanse of glass in the roof, it may be desirable to have a stout iron bar--T or angle iron--fixed under the sash bars, midway between the ridge and the eav...« less