glue for gold flake - EDIT sorry - Gold leaf!

axisus · May 2018

I want to attempt a gold flake leaf finish, what sort of glue would one use? I plan to spray with nitro varnish afterwards.

Corvus · May 2018

Flake is mixed into clearcoat and sprayed. It is poss to spray on clear and drop dry flake on while still the clear is still wet - but it's messy, very wasteful, hard to make it look good, and flakes stand up on end so take a lot of clear to bury.

Normally spray a ground coat first - dark makes the flake more crackly/contrasty, similar colour i.e. gold base for gold flake makes it slightly less dramatic & more even.

Best buy some ready-mixed flake, though I'm not sure if celly flake is available in a spray can. @steverobinson may be your man there.
You can get it in a 1k binder in cans, but putting celly clear onto that is a bit of a lottery - reactions, subsequent cracking etc.

SteveRobinson · May 2018

Yes it takes a lot of lacquer to bury it. Do you have spray equipment?

This guy on TDPRI does sparkly Telecasters
http://www.tdpri.com/threads/the-emeraldcaster-project-aka-son-of-meloncaster.86203/

Corvus · May 2018

Mine and another I did. Not celly though

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/shimmerkaster/bigsby/above.jpg

http://alleykat.co.uk/images/stuff/weazel_tele/24.jpg

axisus · May 2018

er..... OK, in my haste I used the wrong term! I was thinking of that gold leaf stuff, like small pieces of very thin gold paper. Apologies!

Title changed ....

WezV · May 2018

You need some size for leaf.

Andyjr1515 · May 2018

My father used to use gesso for gilding in his calligraphy.

There's some stuff here about the wood preparation and it also mentions gesso
http://www.studioarts.co.uk/links/hintsandtips/gildinggoldleafhintsandtips.htm

Andyjr1515 · May 2018

Andyjr1515 said:

My father used to use gesso for gilding in his calligraphy.

There's some stuff here about the wood preparation and it also mentions gesso
http://www.studioarts.co.uk/links/hintsandtips/gildinggoldleafhintsandtips.htm

Just reading that link, it looks like the gesso is to aid getting a super smooth base. There is some decent extra info of the primer and also the final glue (mentions thinned pva amongst others).

I remember my father stressing how important preparing the surface was, as the gold leaf follows the tiniest flaws and the gold reflection will show up flaws almost invisible to the unaided eye.

Intrigued what you have in mind for this....

axisus · May 2018

Andyjr1515 said:

Intrigued what you have in mind for this....

I just happened to see a few tops I liked that were done with gold 'bits'. They aren't actually expensive gold leaf, just gold tin foil I guess! I made a right hash of the thread title, I should have just posted a picture.

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glue for gold flake - EDIT sorry - Gold leaf!

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