Gold leaf gilding - need advice

[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.