HOW TO GOLDLEAF EFFECTIVELY Gold Leaf gilding is an ancient art that has remained through Modern times. Covering a surface to give the appearance of metal goes back to antiquity-and continues as a desired decorative method. Gilding with gold leaf is a process in which tissue-thin sheets of real or imitation gold are applied to a surface. This may be as a complete covering a stripe or an ornamental design. Gilding is easy to do if it's done the right way, but if the gilder is careless, or forgets to follow the basic rules it can cause headaches for him and his customers too. SURFACE GILDING - Surface gilding is the name applied when gold leaf is laid on the outside or "reading" surface instead of on the back, as in glass gilding. It applies to all such jobs, whether exposed to the weather or not, except truck or wagon lettering. On all surface gilding jobs, the feasibility of gold leaf in rolls should be considered, since the speed and ease of roll application can result in great time savings (Surface Preparation is the same for roll and book.) Surface Prep - Preparing the surface properly, as suggested elsewhere, is particularly important with surface gilding that is to be exposed to weather. As a final preparation just before sizing, smooth the sign surface down with sandpaper. The chief differe6ce between surface gilding and glass gilding is in the size used. For surface gilding "slow" size should be used whenever practicable. Depending on atmospheric and surface conditions, Slow Drying Oil Size, excellent for this type of gilding, is usually ready for gilding in 10 to 12 hours. It holds its tack for many hours thereafter. Application of Gold Size may be by brush, spray or roller. Full, even coverage is necessary. Any skips or misses will leave open spots where leaf will not adhere. Japan color may be added to size when background is needed. Size is applied to the prepared surface with the same brushes and in the same manner used when applying paint. After you have applied size, and after it has become dry enough to be gilded. It should possess a barely perceptible sticky feeling. Test the tack with a knuckle. You have the proper tack when the size does not stick to your knuckle, yet when you feel a slight pull and hear a slight “tick" as your knuckle is pulled away. If gold leaf is applied to size that is too wet, the gold will be drowned and the burnish killed. The burnish of gold depends largely upon the accuracy with which tack is judged. When proper tack has been reached, lay the gold leaf, and make certain that all sized surfaced are well covered. When the letters are all covered, and when all spots or cracks, caused by broken places in the leaf have been patched, the sign is ready to be rubbed down and burnished. First, batten down with cotton to insure the gold sticking even7l before you wipe off surplus gold and burnish. To burnish, rub the gold briskly and lightly with absorbent cotton until all laps and wrinkles are removed. OUTSIDE GILDING - To re-gild signs in place, or to gild in places where it may be windy, proceed as in ordinary surface gilding, with this exception: Use gold leaf in rolls or "patent" gold leaf. Trying to gild with loose gold in outside locations is apt to be unsatisfactory and cause an undue loss of gold leaf. Each leaf of patent gold is adhered to a thin sheet of paper which you can handle with your fingers. Lay the gold from the paper, smoothly and evenly. Before removing the paper, rub the back of it to make sure the gold is thoroughly adhered to the size. After laying, burnish with absorbent cotton and finish as usual. Where the job is so small that it would be too costly to wait f or slow size to dry; where there is a good deal of dust; or when the likelihood of inclement weather makes it inadvisable or impracticable to use “slow" size, Quick-Drying gold size may be used instead. This will dry to a tack in from I to 2 hours. The addition of a few drops of fat oil size will slow up the drying according to amount used. Always remember, however, it is much easier to obtain a good burnish with a slow size, which is also more durable on exterior work. On a fairly good-sized job where it is necessary, for one reason or another, to use quick size. it is advisable to burnish the first letter, gild the third letter and then burnish the second, gild the forth and burnish the third, and so on. Quick Rubbing Varnish is a quality varnish. This material can also be used as a size when quick surface gilding is desired. Tack time for this material is approximately 10 to 30 minutes on average. Except where it will be subject to abrasion through much washing or other causes. 23K gold leaf needs no protective covering. Do not, therefore, varnish over the gold in surface gilding, it kills the brilliance. Where gold leaf is to be varnished over, as in truck lettering, use a quick, hard-drying size. TRUCK LETTERING - The method of gilding on truck bodies varies somewhat, depending upon the type of "paintjob" on the truck. Methods that are satisfactory with a varnish job, for example, are not so suitable as others with a synthetic finish. No wax, grease or oil should be on a surface to be sized. Wax that may have been polished with a mechanical buffer is very difficult to remove with solvent. The only sure method of obtaining a clean surface in this case is to sand the entire panel before application of the size. Polish can be removed by gasoline or benzine but great care must be taken to be sure the Polish has been removed and not just smeared around. It is best to go over the surface several times, using a clean rag each time. It is usually possible to determine the presence of wax or polish by rubbing a finger on the finish. A streak will show up if grease is present. Always use a quick, hard-drying size where the lettering is to receive a protective coating. On modern finishes, best results will be obtained by using a size designed for this use, such as Quick Drying Size. If no protective coating is to be applied, either a quick or slow-drying size may be used. As in all exterior surface work greater durability will be obtained with the more elastic oil size. Remember using Gold Leaf on Rolls can save time on many jobs. Never apply a protective coating over leaf until the sizing is hard dry. The best assurance of long life is when the panel has been sanded to a clean surface to receive the size and leaf. For this surface a clear coating or varnish compatible with the finish of the panel must be used. When lettering, applied to a highly finished panel, is pencil varnished, His also advisable to use a varnish for clear coater similar to the liquid used as the base in the panel finish. Satisfactory results can be obtained by using a long oil exterior type varnish, providing it is not brushed out too thin. A flow coat or even two coats are advisable to prevent early breakdown. SOME SURFACES NEED SPECIAL PREPARATION Gold leaf of good grade is one of the very few sign materials, which, by its very nature, cannot contribute to the premature breakdown of sign or lettering work. When breakdown occurs with its consequent dissatisfaction, the trouble is always found in one, or both of two causes: (1) improper or insufficient preparation of the surface, or (2) faulty methods of laying. Of the two, particularly in outside work, improper preparation is by tar the more common and serious. Adequate preparation of the proper kind is absolutely essential to good gold work. It is the basis of everything. Without it, signs cannot hope to stand up or look well. The following suggestions will help you to start your signs right. Galvanized Iron or Zinc - Put one-half ounce, each, of copper chloride, copper nitrate and sal ammoniac in a glass jar. Add one-quart soft water. Stir with wooden paddle until dissolved. Then add, slowly, one-half ounce of muriatic acid. Apply to metal surface with a broad flat brush. When the first tone, black, has changed to gray, the metal is ready for the priming coats. This treatment will kill corrosion and keep it from working through the paint and gold leaf. It will also remove any traces of grease on the metal. Apply one coat of red lead, brushing out well. Then apply one or, better still, two coats of white or yellow lead. Allow each coat of lead to dry thoroughly before sizing and laying. There are many new synthetic lacquers and primers suitable for the above work, but in any case these surfaces should be prepared in exactly the same manner as you would for a permanent paint job. NOTE- Some sheet metals require special treatment as a preparation for painting. When working with any "trade name" sheet metal, therefore, you should get the advice of the manufacturer or dealer as to what treatment is necessary to insure good results. Lead - All lead surfaces should be washed with a very weak solution of muriatic acid or sand blasted to give it "tooth." Apply slow oil size directly to the lead. Gild when proper tack is reached. Aluminum - Cast aluminum letters and plaques should be coated both front and back. Satisfactory results may be obtained with any good commercial metal primer as a first coat and one or two coat5 of white lead and oil paint. Slow-drying oil size is to be applied to the dried final coat. Utmost precaution must be taken during sanding to preserve primer and, finish coat on sharp edges! And points. Wooden Surfaces and Wooden Letters - The essential object here is to seal the wood thoroughly so that moisture cannot get in from any direction. If moisture gets into the wood, it will not only shorten the life of the wood itself but will work under the paint and gold and literally "push them off". To prepare a wooden surface, prime it with one coat of raw linseed oil. Avoid shellac, except