posted
1: this is mostly for curiosity, What would happen if I tried to use patent leaf instead of loose leaf on glass? 2: I have a client that has a historic looking house that's painted yellow. They want the number guilded above the door. I'm wondering about 18 kt lemon gold with black one shot. OK choice for glass? 3: Any way to do this in one trip? I'm thinking I need one trip out to put on black, and hopefully size; then a second trip for the gold.
As an additional note, I figured that with the price of gold being what it is per ounce, that leaf would be way, way up there too. But I just went to Letterhead supply in the merchants list; and the prices were a lot better than I expected. Not like imitation leaf at the art store , but I'll probably be able to sell the job.
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Get Letterhead Supply's Back Up Black and you can do this in one trip. Paint your outline first with the Back Up Black, then go grab some lunch. When you get back it will be totally dry and you can then use 1 hour oil size and then loose leaf over that. In about an hour after that you can back up the gold with leaf again. We have used this process many many times (you can see samples on our website of this) and it looks great. You can't get completely solid coverage this way with one leafing, so you can either double leaf it, or leave the tiny holidays which will show the back up black through the cracks, looks very vintage and customers love the effect.
As far as using imitation leaf, we use it all the time. I was told years ago to never use it because it tarnishes (which tends to be true on surface gilds, even clear coated) but if you are doing reverse glass and back it up afterwards it seals it in from oxygen exposure and looks great for many many years. We also use a lot of copper leaf in this way.
Give it a shot, you can open up a really nice little niche providing the look of gold leaf on glass and still offer it affordably this way. We do a couple of jobs a month like this.
posted
I don't really know of any easy way to do this in one trip, James. There's a risk of the leaf sticking in the not-quite-dry-enough paint. In the same vein, I'd be a little afraid of the backing sheets from the patent leaf would stick to the size........big mess.
-------------------- Dale Feicke Grafix 714 East St. Mendenhall, MS 39114
"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." Posts: 2963 | From: Mendenhall, MS | Registered: Apr 1999
| IP: Logged |
-------------------- Kent Smith Smith Sign Studio P.O.Box 2385, Estes Park, CO 80517-2385 kent@smithsignstudio.com Posts: 1025 | From: Estes Park, CO | Registered: Nov 1998
| IP: Logged |
posted
Kent, reverse. I assumed that's how all glass was done; that and gelatin size. I've done some surface gilding on signs and such, with OK results. Sean, thanks for the tips, this is a very "economically challenged" area, having other options is a plus. Dale, I never had the backing paper be a problem with gilding on signs, maybe I'm missing something here. Thanks guys.
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Hi James, I see where Kent's question comes from. It sounds more like you are describing a "First Surface" gild when using oil size. Oil size in a "Second Surface" gild will give you a matte look. A traditional mirrored gold look is acquired when using gelatin size. If you do go with the matte gild patent leaf will be fine but like William says, you need the loose glass gold for a nice burnish like shine.
I am with Raymond on going with a genuine gold gelatin size in reverse gild. It will look great and the cost difference is not enough to deter selling the job. Unless you have very large numerals you will easily use less than a book of gold.
If you absolutely prefer Patent leaf the trick to getting the leaf to release in a gelatin water gild is to wet the back of the transfer paper while holding the leaf where you want it. We supply several interior decorating companies that use this method for making glass back splashes.
I collect reverse glass sign art both old and new (in a small way). I recently purchased a couple of nice glue chipped pieces at a charity auction. The gild was done for the mirrored look with the gelatin size. Looked nice at first. Then in short order the leaf started turning black around the edges and slowly growing darker over time. The gilder used imitation leaf It is very frustrating to see this when so much work went into the item. Why didn't he just use 23K glass or even just 23k loose leaf? The amount of leaf would have been easily less than $40 worth of gold! (Plus we donate genuine gold leaf to this particular event) Alright, there was my whine for the day
920-459-8206 wbgoldleaf@aol.com
-------------------- Urban J. Billmeier W&B Gold Leaf, LLC A Chicago based company PO Box 544 Sheboygan, WI 53082-0544 USA 920-459-8206 Posts: 6 | From: Chicago, Illinois USA | Registered: Jan 2007
| IP: Logged |
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
, but I'll probably be able to sell the job.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
It is very frustrating to see this when so much work went into the item. Why didn't he just use 23K glass or even just 23k loose leaf? The amount of leaf would have been easily less than $40 worth of gold! (Plus we donate genuine gold leaf to this particular event) Alright, there was my whine for the day ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic