Page:The color printer (1892).djvu/330



HE different specimens of embossed work shown in this book were done in the following manner: In the first place, the embossing plate or border was locked in a chase ready for the press. Then the form was “made ready” so that the impression showed firmly and evenly on the tympan, without the use of ink. Then a paste was made of Barytes powder and a good flour paste thoroughly mixed in equal proportions, the flour paste being free from lumps. Then the face of the form was well oiled, so that when the impression was taken the pasted sheet would not stick to it. Then the paste was spread evenly and thinly over the impression on the tympan with a stiff brush, and a sheet of manilla tissue was laid over this, and an impression taken upon it. Then this impression was again coated thinly with the paste, care being taken to put the paste where it was most needed, and another sheet of the tissue was added. This operation was repeated until every part of the work was embossed as evenly as the plate or border would allow. Then the matrix so made was dried with a hot iron or a piece of burning paper; in the mean time, at intervals of a minute or two, a half dozen impressions were taken on the tympan so that the matrix would not warp or shrink out of position while being dried. After the matrix was thoroughly hard and dry, the