Gold leaf gilding - need advice

[rendoman]

Happy new year!

May I ask some advice about gilding with gold leaf?
I will build soon a pair of speaker with 8" fullrange, I was thinking about a gold-copper inlay on wood front panel. The idea is to use a chisel, or dremel to create a tree pattern, use bolo clay (or vermilio paint as base), glue and try to add the thin gold layer. I read that there are also some bitumen wax or special paint to age the inlay.
I know that a mininum of tools is required for a flat gilding, a sort of special knife (I wanted to use a sharp scalpel), a cushion to lay and cut the leaf and a Vajo brush (squirrel hair?) to move the gold.

Any advice about this mad idea?
Thanks!

[Inner]

Well, bookbinding is a specialty of mine and it involves laying a good bit of leaf. So I guess I can weigh in here.

It sounds like you have the general ideas right. Although by glue I'm you probably mean "gilding size" not Elmer's. The knife you've shown is ideal, but a kitchen table knife can work. It does not need to be particularly sharp, the leaf will cut with ease. The cushion can simply be any smooth cloth folded over several times. The squirrel hair brushes are ideal but fairly expensive and so soft you won't use them for anything else. A goat hair brush or cotton ball can work quite well too. Another approach is to use "transfer gold leaf" which has a tissue paper backing making it easy to apply, no brush needed.

1) No drafts. Windows closed, air vents closed, no pets or kids. The leaf is so very light it will blow away from you with any draft of air. Transfer leaf is the exception to this and hence it's normal use is outdoors.
2) Practice on something non-critical first.
3) You can layer multiple pieces of gold over each other to cover boo-boos and to add "depth" of color.
4) Don't worry about the edges of separate pieces showing when they are laid over one another. They will all burnish into invisibility.
5) Don't try to cut exact shapes of gold. Make the piece larger than needed. The gold will only stick where you've put the size. Any excess can easily be rubbed off.

Probably tons more could be said but just try it. It can take a lifetime to "master" but you can likely do a pretty good job first time out.

Lots of videos and suppliers online.

[thevillageinn]

I’d say Inner has given sound advice.

I’ve used gold and silver leaf in the transfer form and while I’m not skilled at it the results were quite satisfactory.

I definitely recommend practice and test runs. The color of the underlying surface can show through due to inconsistencies in the size so consider base color that will accentuate the look you are going for. And you won’t need any sharp tools. The stuff is so thin that it floats and bunches and sticks and tears and blows and waves. It can be frustrating and yet also very rewarding.

Good luck and have fun with it!

[rendoman]

Thank you all for the advices!
I will try soon, I found real 999/1000 silver and copper, unluckily the gold in different carat is quite expensive, It's probably better to use the similoro (it should be brass,zinc and tin alloy), very inexpensive.
I have a couple of concerns about the building, the first is the smoothness of the trace. The idea was to create a rough path to copy a tree, After watching youtube I noticed that it's better to use very smooth prepared and sealed surface, I should probably to this second method.
The second is about the gilding size, in italian I found the name "Missione". I noticed that there are oil paint base, water with Vinyl (it seems close to a PVA) and the armenian colored bolo with rabbit glue. I was wondering what could be a good solution. If I understood well, for a polished and shiny result, the surface should be flat and smooth, the glue should be sticky but not wet (I read that the wet could create a sort of matte effect). The real trouble seems to find the right moment to apply the gold with unknown product.

[Inner]

The real trouble seems to find the right moment to apply the gold with unknown product.

Yes! You understand perfectly. Knowing what moment to lay on the leaf is what takes practice. Sticky but not wet is the best it can be said with words. How long this is depends on the size being used and your working environment.

Here is a place in Florence that sells various sizes ("Missione"): https://www.manetti.com/en/catalogue...sundries/size/ They all would work. If you want to go ultra-traditional, you can make egg glair size at home. Great results can be obtained with any of these. Personally I use water-based sizes because I work on leather and paper primarily.

The smoothness of your trace (the surface you will be applying the leaf to) will greatly effect the final product. However, this is art. You can leave the surface quite rough if you like that effect. The leaf will stick on just fine. That said, for most people most of the time, the idea is to get the surface as smooth as glass. The Armenian bole not only adds a deep red color but also fills in any small pores in the surface. Wood filler could substitute, but whatever you use sand it or use a card scraper to get a very fine smoothness.

Thevillageinn's description of "floats and bunches and sticks and tears and blows and waves" is great and should come as a warning on all packages of leaf!

[rendoman]

Thank you very much!
I will try soon, finger crossed!

[delta tango]

A few more tips, from a former oil artist who successfully leafed a number of older frames. If you want a brighter gold appearance, the base project surface to be leafed should be painted a glossy, thinned, oil-based RED (Sometimes called VENICIAN or VENITIAN RED - a bright, slightly darker than Fire-Engine Red, a Vermilion Red shade would also work well). The leafing varnish goes over the red paint. The varnish is ready to leaf when it is just slightly tacky to a knuckle touch. A round paint brush is handy to burnish the leaf into detailed moldings.
If you are Silver leafing, a bright BLUE paint base will make the silver brighter.
A final note -- FAUX GOLD LEAF is slightly heavier-thicker, and thus far easier to apply than actual Gold Leaf.
(A friend of mine once SNEEZED AWAY $$$ worth of 22k GOLD LEAF !) Yes, Faux Leaf will fade a bit over time, but this also gives it 'Character', and an antique-like appearance. Initially it will look just like the real McCoy. It's best to experiment with plane wood before applying either to your finished project.
Hope this is helpful.

[rendoman]

Thank you very much!
I hadn't thought about the interaction base color-leaf, I will take also a blue to try the silver. I'm scared about wasting a tons of leaf, but It's even true that I need to learn how to do, the idea is to buy 2 or 3 times the need, above all the faux gold.
I think I will try to carve and place leaf on some scraps of same material, in order to tune a bit the hand, it's a completely new adventure for me

[Floradawg]

I would really love to see the end result.

[rendoman]

Hi!
I changed my mind about the gold leaf finishing, in particular for the Silver 8 fullrange I kept a clear and simple finishing. I built many speakers meantime, some with fullranges, some multiway. The last one is a nice open baffle with 18" modified woofers. If you need info about the silver 8 speaker, feel free to ask