Thread: Application of Gold Leaf

After a while I thought of application to a raised print above the scales surface, like was mentioned above. As an industrial model maker that was sometimes required.

Gold leaf is nice but is a gold surface usually with some variation. The below process is also usable to have the glue /adhesive product properly applied to the tops of raised letters for a gold leaf application.

What we did was to use a good enamel or lacquer and spread it evenly and thinly upon a bit of shirt cardboard and then use that to touch only the top surface of the letters by rolling the object against the paint surface.
That way, the paint is where needed and not sloppy along the edges of the lettering.

Have fun!
~Richard

Some excellent alternatives to try out, gents!

I don't think they did it like that at the time, though - it was probably done the same way as they tooled books. An iron is made for the design, heated to just above the temperature of boiling water, and pressed into the leather of the book. This leaves an impression for the gold leaf.

The depression is sealed/sized (I have used used gold leaf and dutch leaf and silver foil a lot, and a glue-size is always used) with a sizing agent referred to as 'glaire' (glaire seems to have been used by bookbinders mostly- I used a concoction made of rabbit skin glue for woodwork, etc) it is simply the white of an egg, the same type of stuff used to paint plaster walls in the renaissance - lasted well in my opinion!

Then the gold leaf is put over the sized area and the tool is applied again, once more heated, directly into the impression it made before. If it was not hot, the gold leaf would not stick. It didn't require a varnish - real gold does not tarnish.

In the pressed horn scales example, the lettering is already pressed into the horn. The same die set could be used again, or it would be a simple enough job for a die-cutter to cut another one just for the lettering.

No doubt cheaper, oil-varnish methods were resorted to to keep prices down - you can see evidence of this sometimes when the gilding is tarnished or discoloured - it is quite usual to find red or green discolouration on the designs hot-pressed into paper coffin-cases that have gilding, for example.

Not a trememdous lot of help to us now though, but it is nice to know the basic principles things were made from. Buffing paste, gilding compound or acrylic paint all sound a lot easier!

Regards,
Neil

I used it when I was a kid & back then I bought it from a large art supply in Houston. It came in sheets in a book. My mother had a bad habit of throwing things away when she didn't know what something was. It disappeared after so long & I know what happened to it. It was good while it lasted.

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Some excellent alternatives to try out, gents!

I don't think they did it like that at the time, though - it was probably done the same way as they tooled books. An iron is made for the design, heated to just above the temperature of boiling water, and pressed into the leather of the book. This leaves an impression for the gold leaf.
...snip...
The depression is sealed/sized (I have used used gold leaf and dutch leaf and silver foil a lot, and a glue-size is always used) with a sizing agent referred to as 'glaire' (glaire seems to have been used by bookbinders mostly- I used a concoction made of rabbit skin glue for woodwork, etc) it is simply the white of an egg, the same type of stuff used to paint plaster walls in the renaissance - lasted well in my opinion!

Then the gold leaf is put over the sized area and the tool is applied again, once more heated, directly into the impression it made before. If it was not hot, the gold leaf would not stick. It didn't require a varnish - real gold does not tarnish.
Not a tremendous lot of help to us now though, but it is nice to know the basic principles things were made from. Buffing paste, gilding compound or acrylic paint all sound a lot easier!
Regards,
Neil

Hi Neil,
You are quite correct in what you say, They, later in 1860's or so, began to hot stamp the items with a roll of the particular metal or foil on a paper backing and that was between the hot "shoe / design stamp" and the object to be decorated. Then the hot press drove the "shoe" design and foil into the surface of the object to be decorated.
Almost all of the logos we see colored into scales since then are hot stamped in one operation.
Hot stamping - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The raised logos may or may not have been hot stamped, but the process is similar. for most jobs, they usually used a pad printer; a flat rubber plate with a very thin amount of colored paint spread upon it and it is touched to the raised logo. It is a simple version of offset printing. I have used it for raised logos like the Crown and Sword of Ern.
Offset printing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Or, it may be that a reversed image was printed onto the pad/rubber sheet and the sheet then transferred that image right side up onto the object to be decorated.
( often the way resist was placed onto a blade prior to the etching and gilding, when silk screening or decals were not used.)
It is now grown far beyond the original usage and tools.
Pad printing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lots of goodies can be figured from this simple set of links.
Have fun, all!
~Richard