Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1886-08-25
THE ETCHER.s ART.
The Tools he Works With and the
Effects he Produces.

LET me give you In a connected
story the history of an etching from
the time the copper plate is placed in
position for work until it leaves the
hands of the printer. In the first place,
the copper plate is thoroughly washed
with turpentine, or, better, with ben
zine, for the former is little too thin.
This is to remove any grease. The plate
is then heated, commonly by burning
under it heavy etching paper, or, if the
plate is large one, by spirit lamp.
1t IS heated to such a temperature that
water will roll off in globules. When
the plate is sufficiently heated a prepa-
ration known as etching ground is
applied. This is a composition which
comes prepared in the shape of a round
ball, about the size OF a black walnut,
and is made of asphaltum, beeswax
and oil of lavender. This composition
is carefully tied up in silk, and through
this silk the etching ground oozes on to
the plate, where it IS laid with roller.
Alter the ground is applied and has
sufficiently cooled, il is smoked, in
order to give the etcher a black surface
on which to work. The smoking IS
done with a twisted wax taper, candles,
OF in fact any substance which will
produce the desired effect. When the
plate IS cold the ground is perfectly
hard. So much for the first part OF
the process, that OF preparing the
plate.
OUTLINE OF THE DRAWING.
4s1Nha ofahay &c ,,Nxu raady for work m
earnest. He takes drawing, which,
of course, may be original or a copy,
and etches its fac-simile on the plate
before him. If he wishes to take
special pains with his subject, which Is
usually the case, he does not copy the
drawing directly on the plate, but takes
an intermediate step. Over his draw
ing he fastens perfectly hard trans
parent gelatine composition, and with
his etching point etches the drawing
on this, exactly on the principle of the
transparent slate Of our nursery days.
The gelatine plate is removed, and pre-
sents rough and scratched surface. 1t
is lightly scrapsd, but so lightly that
the indented lines are not disturbed or
effaced. These lines are filled with red
chalk. The gelatine plate is then re-
versed and placed on the etching
ground of the copper plate. a burn
isher is applied, which transfers the
chalk to the etcher's form or upon the
plate. Thus the etcher has perfect
outline of the drawing on the plate on
which he is to work, In this way he
is guided in his task, and his work Is
expedited.
1.-THE etcher now begins to use the
tools of his trade, each of which is
known as an etching point With
these instruments the subject is again
etched, this time on the etcher's
ground. Where the etcher wishes to
obtain the darkest effects fewer lines
are etched and are made further apart
TO enable them to stand longer bite
by the acid. OF course the acid bites
into the copper plate only where the
etching polnthas scratched through the
etcher's ground to the original copper
plate. If the plate on which the artist
is at work is small one, it Is placed
in pan and the acid is then poured on.
If, however, it is large one, there is
put around the edge Of the plate what
is known as frame Of wall wax in
one corner of which is placed spout for
convenience in pouring of the acid.
''BITING ND THE LINES.
1.-The first application OF the acid is
weak. 1t bites clean and delicately. 1t
leaves the sky lines, the distance lines,
and. In general. the lighter part of the
picture. After these lines are bitten
the acid is poured off, aud the ground
Than tho rr
which the artist does not wish to
have longer acted upOt by the acid are
covered with a 'stOpping-out varnish.
The next application OF the acid is
stronger in order to obtain the heavier
effects. So the artist continues stop
ping-out one place after another until
the plate is sufficiently bitten, and until
he has reached the foreground. When
the entire plate has been sufficiently
bitten, or, in other words, when the
picture has been etched into the copper
plate by means of the acid, the wax
wall is removed and the plate thorough
ly Gle ned with benZine. Now he can
go to the printer and see what he has. If
some of the lines are too heavy, little
instrument known as the burnlsher
VIII reQuce l1eU. L He LILIES Can tNcl
be run out entirely. If the lines are
not strong enough, a new rebitlng
ground can be put on wherever de-
sired and the changes made.
when the last touches have been
completed the plate is sent to the publish
ers. The publishers send it TO an cleo
trotyper to have a steel face put on.
This is done to protect the plate, which
would otherwise soon be worn out on
the press. The operation of electro
tipping the plate is so delicately done
that when steeled the picture which it
prints could not be distinguished from
the picture printed before the opera
tion by the original copper plate. The
finest lines are coated; lines which are
hardly visible to the naked eye, and
which originally have the appearance
of a hair.
Various Causes Of Forest Fires: