Gold Leaf embellishment questions

[Ricc Havens]

Looking to do a gold leaf rim embellishment on a walnut bowl or two. What is the process you guys use?

Do you completely finish the bowl with a topcoat before applying the sizing/adhesive? Or, do you leave the wood raw in the area the sizing will be applied?

I assume you don't topcoat the gold leaf with poly - is that correct?

Any other suggestions, hints, tips, etc?

I searched youtube but didn't find much. So, if anyone has links to other available videos online or club handouts, etc that can be downloaded it would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks
Ricc

[Brian Brown]

Ricc,

Low experience level here, but I'll try to answer your questions. John Keaton has some experience, and may be able to help more. I completely finish the piece with lacquer, or shellac. You want a buffer between the adhesive sizing and the wood. Also, if you patinate the metal leaf after, you want something to keep the chemicals from penetrating the wood. As for the topcoat… if the leafing you use is 23.5 ct gold (hard to find, and expensive), don't top coat. Anything less than 23.5 ct always topcoat. 23.5 ct gold will not tarnish or corrode, but real gold alloys will. Most gold leaf you buy at craft stores is actually brass, and if you don't top coat, it will tarnish/corrode. Craft store silver is aluminum, and copper is… well, copper. All of these corrode, which make them ideal if you want to create a patina. 23.5 ct is very thin, and burnishes nicely, hiding the seams between sheets. The faux materials are usually 8-20 times thicker than 23.5 ct gold and it is much harder to burnish and hide the seams. I spent some time watching a Master guilder do a statue in gold a few weeks ago, and he was a great source of information. Last tip, use oil base sizing and exactly follow the instructions on waiting for the sizing to "tack up" before applying the metal leaf. There are special russian squirrel hair brushes for burnishing, but so far I just use a paint brush from the craft store, and wrap some masking tape around the base of the bristles to stiffen it a bit. The squirrel brushes start at $850.00, and I'm not ready for that yet. Good Luck.