I have 2 books of silver leaf that were given to me, & I am not sure how to use them. They are Swift Silver Leaf by M. Swift & Sons, 3 3/4"x 3 3/4" Extra Thin. I noticed that the one leaf on the end of one of the books looks a bit tarnished on the edges. I looked it up in my book about gilding, but there is not much written in the way of using it to surface gild something.
Can I use regular size for it? Can I lift it with my regular gilder's tip?
My gilding book did mention that when backing up the silver on GLASS, to watch what paint you use to back up with. Will black One Shot work for plain 'ol surface gilding? I mean, like using the black One Shot, or any other color for that matter, to outline the silver leaf? Or will it tarnish it?
And finally, & most importantly.....do I need to seal it to keep it from tarnishing??? All I have presently on hand is my old can of Frog Juice.
Thanks a bunch....
Posted by W. R. Pickett (Member # 3842) on :
...Silver leaf is typically NEVER used for surface work. It wlll tarnish. Use paladium, 12 K gold or (the best) ALUMINUM. The 12 k gold will tarnish too eventually, since it has silver in it.
...Clear coats are unstable, but for an inside only project, perhaps you could use the silver w. a clear on it. Unless it is new silver though, it may have some brown at the edges, which could look bad. If you do this, consider it an experiment, since the silver may tarnish anyway in time. I have a picture frame that I am experimenting this on. I gilded it with silver, then let it tarnish for awhile until it was a cool mottled brown, and I cleared it to "arrest" the tarnishing at that point. So far it looks OK. Good luck.
Posted by Bobbie Rochow (Member # 3341) on :
Thank you, W.R.. Why isn't silver used for surface gilding? Because of the tarnishing? Sure would have looked nice on my sample dimensional sign I am playing with!
My dimensioanl residential sign idea has taken off, but now I need to fix a price to STICK TO.....
Posted by Jim Moser (Member # 6526) on :
Like Billy said, aluminum leaf is best for surface work. It is thicker and stronger than gold or silver leaf so I would suggest doing some tests before you use it for real. Silver leaf may hold up ok if clear coated...I have never tried it....might be ok on glass with oil size and backed up....Letterhead Sign Supply has gray backup paint. Again, best to do some experiments.
Posted by Dale Feicke (Member # 767) on :
Bobbie, The silver leaf will tarnish, just like silver dinnerware. Even clearcoat will not stop this from happening all the time, especially if it may be outdoors. Aluminum is the way to go. One thing you may do, though. If you want to do a real old, rustic looking gild, use the silver and let it do its thing....like how cedar planks turn color with age. Just do it on something for yourself, or tell the customer what it will do. I lettered a mud drag truck years ago, not knowing about what the silver would do. As it turned dark, the owner actually liked it. So I got away with one. Incidentally, I doubt the Frog Juice will seal it from tarnishing, since most varnishes won't. But give it a try.
Posted by Doug Bernhardt (Member # 1568) on :
Like everyone says silver "leafs" like any other in it's working properties, although usually thicker, but will tarnish...and quickly too. Aluminum is the choice for outdoor work although silver can be cleared. White gold is prettier with a slight amber tone and easier to use on glass as it is thinner. 16k also has higher silver content and needs clearing. I have jobs 10-15 years old outdoors that are still just fine as far as the various carats of leaf and am gonna say that the new acrylic clears are terrific....although based on their history, clears have sometimes deserved the bad rep. It also worth mentioning that any overcoats (clears) dull the overall effect...so back to aluminum that needs no special treatment.
Posted by Joe Cieslowski (Member # 2429) on :
Bobbie,
I've only used AL leaf once. I used a slow size and applied it to a much more "tackier" tack than I would for gold. My intention was to clear it with 1Shot UV clear. But I wanted to let everything dry for a couple of weeks before I cleared. As this was a ReFurb, I installed it with every intention of getting back to clear it.
I haven't yet.....the sign gets full sun all year. When I refurbed it (after 18 years) of the same exposure, the AL leaf was worn away badly but still working. It has a nice shine in it's 4th summer since I refinished it.
I'm gonna pass on the clear.
I agree with Doug.
Good Luck!
Joe,
Makin Chips and Havin Fun!
Posted by Ken Holden (Member # 5653) on :
Then...what is silver leaf used for????
Posted by Monte Jumper (Member # 1106) on :
If you want an antique finish that shows yeas of tarnish and wear use Silver leaf...it'll get there in no time.
Ya might want to hang on to the "Silver" just to say you have some!
White gold rules...if you want it bright forever!
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
Silver leaf is OK for glass 'gilding'- especially good on the back of glue chipped glass. I don't know if you can call it gilding when it's not gold though! The atmosphere doesn't seem to get to the bottom edge of the silver against the glass easily.
A signwriter I know in Sydney lettered a cart in silver leaf, and varnished over it, and within a month it was so tarnished, he had to strip it off and redo it in something else. It did look nice before it tarnished though.
P.S.Bobbie, you'll need double-strength gelatine/water size to get it to stick to glass. Otherwise it can tear off fairly easily. Also it would pay to leave what you want silvered right till the end, and silver it all, and not worry too much about cleaning the excess off- it's really difficult to shift once it's set!
[ August 06, 2006, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: Ian Stewart-Koster ]
Posted by Bobbie Rochow (Member # 3341) on :
Thanks to all of you!
Monte, That was funny, hold on to it just to say I have some! I guess I need to investigate this Aluminum stuff further.
Posted by Doug Bernhardt (Member # 1568) on :
Why use silver?...good question. For the look and expense. From where we sit today doing glass work is different. In the past it was much more commonplace and less specialized so a window "specialist" would do many different projects in a given week. Silver would have been used regularly for effect as well as $$. A quick aside...a couple of years ago there was a bank robbery near here with a hostage situation(yes it happens in Canada too)and they used droid (or whatever it's called) to go through to the bank via an old silver leafed window in a barber shop. I got called to replace the job and when they heard the price replaced it all with vinyl instead...some things have changed. Still there are small apartment buildings with gold windows I and others have done. But back to the practicals...mirror silver is amazing behind chipping/ leaf not as much so, and although I have only used silver leaf on a job occassionally you do need a stronger size as the leaf is thicker...so I just go for white gold instead now. It just works better in the process.
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