Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/317

Rh with the work, producing scratches which are very troublesome to get rid of. All the dust caused by the glass paper must be carefully removed by means of the duster. When the priming has been properly rubbed down the next operation is that of stopping.

Stopping consists in filling in and making good all nail-holes, bad joints and cracks with putty, or with a paste made of putty and white lead, called hard stopping; this is done with the stopping knife.

This is another of the operations which, although simple, require a certain amount of care, lest instead of contributing to, they may mar the success of the work. Thus let it be required to stop a crack in a panel; it will not be sufficient merely to press into the interstice a small quantity of stopping and then smooth it over, for as the stopping dries it contracts and sinks below the surface, and the crack becomes just as great an eye-sore as ever.

In such a case, the stopping should be forced as far down into the crack as possible; this may be done with the edge of the stopping knife, or with a thin piece of wood, leaving the stopping, however, slightly raised above the surface. In a day or two, before the second painting is proceeded with, the stopping will, owing to a certain amount of shrinking during drying, be found nearly level with the panel and may then be smoothed down with the stopping knife.

The circumstance calling for the greatest care in stopping, is where a panel or other part of the work has received a blow and a delve or shallow concavity is formed, for it will be clear that the mere skin of stopping required to level up such a spot, would be almost certain to crack off, leaving the place totally uncovered by paint. The best way to avoid such a result is to deepen the recess in parts by pricking holes in it with a bradawl and these should incline in different directions and should be more closely placed and more numerous near the edges than in the