polishing-msg - 7/23/04

Period polishing and sanding methods and materials.

NOTE: See also the files: charcoal-msg, tools-msg, metals-msg, horn-msg, ivory-
msg, bone-msg, lapidary-msg, wood-finishes-msg.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have 
collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date 
back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These 
files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with 
separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes 
extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed 
to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  
no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the individual 
authors.

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these 
messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this time. 
If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the 
originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: william thomas powers <powers at cis.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: charcoal
To: markh at khyber (Mark Harris)
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1993 13:27:58 -0500 (EST)

Some of the uses of charcoal that would not be thought of today are:

Polishing metals with powdered charcoal, (non-ferreous ones)
Polishing your teeth with powered charcoal
medicine for a "sour stomach", bad breath, gas
meat was packed in it
charcoal could be added to stale water to purify it
wrought iron can be made into blister steel by heating it in a closed
	container full of charcoal, (red hot for a considerable time)
some of the chinese barrows had massive layers of charcoal to help
	protect the inner tomb

BTW sifted wood ashes mixed with a little water and used on a wool cloth
pad makes a GREAT polishing compound for bone, Theophilus was right--
but he forgot to mention the water... The faster you can "buff" it the better.
"shoeshing it with a long narrow strip of wool works well.

Wilelm the smith
Barony of the Middle Marches
Middle Kingdom


Period Sanding Techniques
Tue, 01 Sep 1998 00:20:38 -0500
From: Gunnora Hallakarva <gunnora at bga.com>

At 10:54 PM 8/31/98 -0500, you wrote:
><Jeff Parker <jeffdp at earthlink.net>>
>>Has anyone else any experience with something similar?  I
>>use hand planes and scrapers, which give a different
>>appearance from sanding.  But is their a period technique
>>other than these that would work?

I have gotten good results using wet sand on leather, using progressively
finer sands and finishing with wood ash.  It's a hell of a mess, and it's a
pain to do -- the progress is nowhere near as fast as using sandpaper.

Also, I have used scouring rushes which have such a high silicate content
that they make good "sandpaper" for fine sanding.

Gunnora Hallakarva
Herskerinde


Mon, 31 Aug 1998 22:48:39 -0800
From: Chuck Phillips <cphillips at artnet.net>

Jeff Parker <jeffdp at earthlink.net> wrote:
<< This is sort of an offshoot of an earlier posting.  I have
tried sanding, once, by placing sand on the surface of the
wood and rubbing it with a flat object. >>

This would not be terribly effective, as the grits will tend to roll
around, rather than cut.  Also, the individual grains of sand are
probably pretty well rounded over, depending on where you got the sand.

I recall references to colonial cabinetmakers using sharkskin and a
particular variety of grass (it has a very high silica content) for
smoothing.  No idea how old the technique is, and all my references are
packed away right now.

If you want to make your own glasspaper, I would use a thin layer of
hide glue to adhere a freshly crushed and screened frit (crushed/ground
glass.)

Charles Joiner
Who mostly uses sandpaper for sharpening tools these days.


Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 00:47:28 -0700
From: "J. Kriss White" <jkrissw at earthlink.net>

At 10:48 PM 08/31/98 -0800, Charles Joiner wrote:
>I recall references to colonial cabinetmakers using sharkskin and a
>particular variety of grass (it has a very high silica content) for
>smoothing.  No idea how old the technique is, and all my references are
>packed away right now.

I recall reading a 19th century book that described traditional (Meiji-era
and prior) carpentry techniques and tools in Japan, and sharkskin was
said to be used for sanding.

Lord Daveed of Granada, mka J. Kriss White,
Barony of Calafia, Kingdom of Caid


Subject: [medieval-leather] Re: FYI Polishes
Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 21:24:30 -0400
From: Peter Adams <adamspf at erols.com>
To: medieval-leather at egroups.com

I am not certain why IÕm posting this, but I figured some of you would
find this useful or at least interesting.

The Horse Tail reed is also known as Dutch Reed, Turners Reed, and
Scouring Rushes.  This is a very primitive plant which isolates silica
in crystaline form within its structure.  It is somewhat friable in use,
but easily replaced.  It grows in shady marshy ground, and looks like a
bunch (sometimes a WHOLE buch) of green straws sticking out of the
ground

My rather unscientific tests indicate that The samples I have are
approximately equivalent to 600-800 grit (at least American) sandpaper.

Another nifty polish I have used is wood ash, combined on a rag with
water.  John Leader did extensive work on bone ash polishes, but I
havent read his work yet.

For the ardent recreationists among you, try polishing some brass with
wood ash some time, it gives a lovely satin finish.

Also for the SCAdians among us, Coopers Lake Campground in Pennsylvania
USA (home of Pennsic War) has several acres of equicitum- I cut some from
the roadside, and have not used it all yet.  It dries, and  can be
reconstituted by soaking.  However DO NOT allow your animals to get
ahold of it, as equicitum also produces a plant toxin I canÕt name right
this minute but I believe to be in the family of aconitic acids, and
which is known to have produced sickness and or death in cattle who ate
it in their fodder. 

It has been used since time immemorial as sandpaper, and for (oddly
enough, given the one name above) scouring dishes.

Eliptically,
        Peter


Subject: Re: [medieval-leather] Re: FYI Polishes
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 99 15:44:57 MST
From: Peter Adams <adamspf at erols.com>
To: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" <rsve60 at email.sps.mot.com>

> Can you describe it for me and perhaps tell me where, at or near
> Coopers Lake Campground I should look for it? Is it the leaves I
> want to obtain? Or the stalks?
>
> Lord Stefan li Rous

The answers to most of your queries are in the body of the original
text, but to recapitulate-
Equicitum is a primitive reed (plant) with no leaves, it looks like a
bunch of straws sticking out of the ground.  It rough like fine
sandpaper to the touch.  My guess is 600-800 grit, just right for soft
polishing metal. (When I am in period mode, I occasionally follow with
wood ash and water.  The lye and gentle abrasion make an excellent next
step on brass)

It can be seen in marshy areas.  At Coopers lake this is along the
causeway past the old archery field into the woods, where the reed grows
wild along the road, and in the lowlands. It will be most likely a bad
year for the reeds, due to the drought, but there should be some.  I do
not, however, advocate your harvesting on private property.  I suspect
the Coopers might not care for a landrush business on their flora
either, especially if its a tough year.

I obtained some years ago and dryed it.  I reconstitute it by soaking
overnight (you need a weight to keep it from floating.)  I don't really
have much call for it except to make scrubbers for my dishes, but it
works ok on aluminum, brass, and pewter at least. I haven't tryed it on
antler, bone, or horn, but *my guess* is that it would be a satin
finish. Various bone ashes, (although burning bone stinks), are
presented as an excellent set of polishes by Dr John Leader, an
archaoelogist I know.


Subject: Re: [medieval-leather] Re: FYI Polishes
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 99 11:29:07 MST
From: Peter Adams <adamspf at erols.com>
To: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" <rsve60 at email.sps.mot.com>

Equicetum evolved in the cretacious period, and is present on all
continents.  It has therefore been known to virtually all primitive
riparian cultures, and any others that spend much time near shady wet
ground.

This accounts for the many names.  Equicetum is latin for horse tail,
which the reed somewhat resembles, the rest of the names are colloquial
names based on use or point of origin.  I cant imagine why the English
would call it Dutch reed, unless it is that the lowlands of holland,
shady and wet, must simply be covered in this stuff.

Mark.S Harris wrote:
> I'm not sure why you need to reconstitute/re-hydrate the plant. Is it too
> stiff/brittle to use when it is dried out?

Yep, it gets rather brittle.  This is not sandpaper, more a polishing
rag, once it is wet again.

PA


[Note - Since I obtained some Equicetum in Pennsylvania, I have also
found it growing in central Texas. So it may be available in a multitude
of areas. You might want to try your nieghborhood nursery, particularly
one which deals in landscaping plants for backyard ponds and fountains.

     Stefan li Rous]


Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 17:33:50 -0400
From: "Peter B. Steiner" <petersdiner at yahoo.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Sandpaper?

Anna Troy wrote:
> When did sandpaper come in use and what was used before? I've made a 14th
> century knive and I scraped the handle smooth instead of sanding it but now
> I need dokumentation so I can enter it in the up-coming A&S contest.

    I can't tell you when modern sandpaper was invented...though I suspect it
has been around since about five minutes after the invention of cheap paper.
<grin>  A Period artisan would have used loose grit (powdered garnet, powdered
quartz, fine beach sand, whatever was handy) and rubbed the surface to be
smoothed with either a dry, wet, or oiled rag....depending on which was most
appropriate to the surface being worked.
I'm not certain whether or not I have primary source documentation...but I
shall look through my library and attempt to find something.
I would be -very- interested in hearing more about your knife!

-Peter-


Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 00:42:17 -0500
From: Tom Rettie <tom at his.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Sandpaper?

>    I can't tell you when modern sandpaper was invented...though I suspect it
>has been around since about five minutes after the invention of cheap paper.
><grin>  A Period artisan would have used loose grit (powdered garnet, powdered
>quartz, fine beach sand, whatever was handy) and rubbed the surface to be
>smoothed with either a dry, wet, or oiled rag....depending on which was most
>appropriate to the surface being worked.

Additionally, the skin of dogfish (small sharks) appears in the purchase
records of period carpenters and joiners, apparently for use as an
abrasive.  If you would like a citation, let me know and I'll look it up.

Fin


Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 12:44:12 -0500
From: Tom Rettie <tom at his.com>
To: Anna Troy <owly at hem.utfors.se>
Cc: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Sandpaper?

>>Additionally, the skin of dogfish (small sharks) appears in the purchase
>>records of period carpenters and joiners, apparently for use as an
>>abrasive.  If you would like a citation, let me know and I'll look it up.

>Yes please :-)
>Anna

This is from "Building in England Down to 1540" by L. F. Salzman.  Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 1952 (Special edition for Sandpiper Books, 1997).
ISBN 0-19-817158-7.

This quote is from a discussion on carpentry tools:

page 346.
"For the final smoothing of woodwork the medieval equivalent of sandpaper
seems to have been the rough skin of the dog-fish, as 'a skin called
huyndysfishskyn for the carpenters' was bought, for 9d., at Westminster in
1355 (14).  This also appears at Windsor four years earlier: 'in j pelle
piscis canini pro operibus staff'--vjd.'(9)

The footnotes correspond to the following source references:

9.  Exch. K.R. Accts.; bundle 492, document 27.
14. Exch. K.R. Accts.; bundle 471, document 15.


From: "C. L. Ward" <gunnora at vikinganswerlady.com>
Date: April 14, 2004 7:24:41 AM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at ansteorra.org>
Subject: RE: [Ansteorra] Dogfish anyone?

> Does anyone know where I can acquire/purchase dogfish hide
> (Mustelus canis) or horsetail reed (equisetum hyemale)?

Xanthe, depending on what you're sanding, you can also make a paste of
rottenstone and linseed oil and apply with a rag as a wet sanding agent.
Rottenstone (decomposed limestone) is sold at most art supply stores.

::GUNNVOR::


From: "C. L. Ward" <gunnora at vikinganswerlady.com>
Date: April 15, 2004 1:22:53 AM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at ansteorra.org>
Subject: RE: [Ansteorra] Dogfish anyone?

> Can you also please tell us which cultures used
> this rottenstone in the Middle Ages and when?

Not specifically - the earlier you go, the less evidence survives about how
wood items were finished.  For instance, in Viking contexts, we have wood
that survives because it's been in a waterlogged site - but that means that
any oil or varnish is usually long gone by the time it's dug up, and what
the archaeologists have to do for conservation usually wipes out any traces
that might have survived a millenium of burial and water-logging.

Where we start getting concrete information about "sanding" and finishing is
fairly late period, and there we have data because in a very few places
someone wrote it down.  All the materials, though, are easily available
everywhere, and we have better early evidence that various abrasives were in
use for metalwork that we know were also definitely used later for wood.

Rottenstone is a soft, weathered, decomposed siliceous limestone, used in
powder form as a polishing material.  Another term for this substance is
tripoli, and it is used as a metal polish as well.

Usually the primary "sanding" of wood was done with a powdered pumice stone,
then final polishing/fine sanding was done with rottenstone - and this
technique is still in use today for high-end finishes.  Both pumice and
rottenstone are used powdered, and usually mixed with linseed oil for use
(though I've seen modern woodworking books suggest paraffin oil, kerosene, or
even water instead). Rottenstone is softer than pumice and the particle size
breaks down easily under use, making it good for achieving smooth, final
finishes. It's particularly used today in fine woodwork and luthier-work for
the final "rubbing out" of a lacquer or varnish to achive a very high 
gloss.

L.F. Salzman in _Building in England down to 1540: A Documentary History_
(Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1952) mentions "sanding" using rottenstone,
scouring rush (aka equisetum, horsetail fern, shave grass, etc.), or
dog-fish skin. On the latter, Salzman notes receipts for "hundysfishskyn for
the carpenters" (Westminster, 1355) and "j pelle piscis canini pro operibus
stall" (Windsor, 1351).

In the 11th century, Theophilus (_On Divers Arts: The Foremost Medieval
Treatise on Painting, Glassmaking, and Metalwork_. Trans. John G. Hawthorne
and Cyril Stanley Smith. New York: Dover. 1979) mentions polishing niello
using powedered pumice stone, polishing silver using "chalk" or rottenstone,
and also using shave grass (equisetum) to smooth wood and parchment.

For metal polishing, aside from Theophilus's recommendations above, he also
suggests jeweller's rouge. Jeweller's rouge is powdered ferrous oxide
(Fe2O3, hematite, red ochre), and was used in medieval pigments and paints.
I know big pieces of wax impregnated with jeweller's rouge were found from
the Anglo-Scandinavian excavations at Jorvik (York, U.K.). I don't know that
you can say for certain that the York find was being used for polishing
metal, but I'd tend to think so. Jeweller's rouge has been in use as a
polishing agent all the way back to stone age peoples.  I've seen
speculation that some knapped-flint utsensils were polished with ochre, and
it has been scientifically demonstrated that the Olmecs in the New World
were using jeweller's rouge to polish mirrors (stone, not metal).

There are many other abrasives that were used in polishing prior to the
modern stuff.  Some others I know I've seen mentioned include powdered
volcanic glass, diatomaceous earth, emery, flint, and garnet.

::GUNNVOR::

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	polishing-msg	5