Research Note

The following quote comes from:

THE COACH-MAKERS' ILLUSTRATED HAND-BOOK SECOND EDITION, 1875 CONTAINING COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS IN ALL THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF CARRIAGE BUILDING.

GOLD LEAF.

The metal gold has been known from the remotest times.

It is the sol or sun of the alchemists, who represented it by the circle, the emblem of perfection. When pure it is nearly as soft as lead, and is the most malleable and ductile of all the metals, but inferior to many in its tenacity. It is not affected by air or water at any temperature. Perfectly pure gold is denominated gold of 24 karats (a karat is a weight of four grains), or fine gold. Gold containing two parts of alloy in twenty-four, is said to be 22 karats fine. Perfectly pure gold is too soft for use as coins, vessels, ornaments, etc., and is therefore alloyed with copper and silver.

As to the origin of the idea of foliating or beating gold, we have been unable to search it out. As the metal has been known from the remotest times, doubtless its malleability was early discovered; this would lead naturally to foliating or beating the ingot, it being a more economical method of using tire precious metal, and lessening the cost when employed for ornamental purposes. The Bible mentions beaten gold as early as 1491 B. C. The Lord directed Moses concerning an offering from the people, in order to erect a tabernacle. The offering he was to take was gold, silver, brass, fine linen, dyed goat skins, etc. Among the directions to Moses as to the materials to be used, and the form of the sacred furniture for the tabernacle, we find the following: "And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold: of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy-seat." The golden candlestick also, "with his shaft and his branches, his bowls, his knops and his flowers," were to be one beaten work of gold. (Ex. xxv. 18, 31, 36.)

It is not clear what was meant by beaten work, for other portions of the sacred furniture wore covered with plates of gold, which must have been drawn out under the hammer, or rolled by some form of pressure applied. Of one fact we may rest assured, that at that early day the malleability and ductility of metals was well known. The people had in their possession silver chargers, golden bowls and spoons, which were probably of Egyptian manufacture, and their offerings were taken from among these, cast into ingots, and then beaten or rolled, according as the command directed.

The Egyptians were experts in foliating gold, they being able, it is said, to surpass us at this day in reducing the leaf to an extreme degree. Mummies have been exhumed that had been buried three thousand years, the finger nails of which were coated with gold leaf of a very fine quality and exceeding thinness, the gold leaf being a mark, probably, of the wealth of its possessor in his life-time.

GOLD BEATING.

is the process by which gold is extended to thin leaves used for gilding. Attempts have been made to apply machinery to gold beating, but though very ingenious, their application is very limited. Most of the gold leaf is still beaten by hand, as follows: The gold is first cast into oblong ingots about three-fourths of an inch wide, and weighing two ounces. The ingot is flattened out into a ribbon of about 1-800ths of an inch in thickness, by passing it between polished steel rollers. This is annealed or softened by heat, and then cut into pieces of one inch square; 150 of these are placed between leaves of vellum--each piece of gold in the center of a square vellum leaf, another placed above, and so on, till the pile of 150 is formed. This pile is inclosed [sic] in a double parchment case, and beaten with a 16-pound hammer. The elasticity of the packet considerably lightens the labor of beating, by causing the hammer to re- bound with each blow. The beating is continued until the inch pieces are spread out to four-inch squares; they are then taken out and cut into four pieces, and squares thus produced are placed between gold beaters' skin instead of vellum, made into piles and inclosed in a parchment ease, and beaten as before, but with a lighter hammer. Another quartering and beating produces 2,400 leaves, having an area of about 190 times that of the ribbon, or a thickness of about 1-200,000ths of an inch. An ounce of gold is thus extended to a surface of about one hundred square feet, a still greater degree of thinness may be attained, but not profitably. After the last beating, the leaves are taken up with wood pinchers, placed on a cushion, blown out Bat and their ragged edges cut away, by which they are reduced to squares of 3 1/4 inches; 25 of these are placed between the leaves of a paper book, previously rubbed with red chalk to prevent adhesion of the gold, and are sold in this form.

LAYING GOLD LEAF.

In handling gold leaf, much depends on the kind of work in hand. Scroll work, and all large patterns and plain surfaces require only that the book be opened and a whole leaf put on at once; this is repeated, allowing each leaf to overlap the other about an eighth of an inch, and when sufficient has been applied to cover the work, rub it down with raw cotton or rabbit's paw, being careful not to get any size on them. Small gold ornaments, less than the size of a leaf of gold, we gild direct from the book, any pieces of gold worth saving is allowed to drop back into the book when we remove the loose gold. To do this, without wrinkling or crushing the remnants, the leaf must be handled gently, and be broken away from the size around the edges, placing the book directly under the ornaments and catch it as it falls. For striping and lettering, the leaf should be cut a trifle wider than the sizing, and applied with a "tip" or from the leaves of the boot, cut of a proper width. To handle gold leaf, it is well to provide a gold cushion, gold knife and a tip. The cushion is designed to hold the leaf while being cut, and during the operation of applying the leaf with the tip. The knife is a thin blade of steel, set in a handle, and made for the purpose and for no other. The tip is made by inserting camel's hair between two pieces of paste- board, and should be two and a half or three inches wide. The gold is removed from the book to the cushion by turning back a leaf and exposing the gold, then invert the book and press the gold on the cushion. If it should wrinkle, a puff or the breath directly over it will straighten it. The knife should he made to do its work by one cut. The tip may be drawn across the hair or beard, and excited by friction, or be slightly greased.

In using the tip. take up as much gold as it will carry, first placing on the size the piece at the outer end of the tip, and following down toward the heel. By practice, leaf may be laid on very rapidly with the tip, especially on fine lining, but there are other methods employed which work fully as well if not better. The most approved of these is to take an empty gold book, and draw a leaf of it across the hair or board, (or apply a minute portion of viscid matter in any other form) and press this greased leaf upon the gold. It will adhere throughout its surface and may be cut to any size required, and applied more rapidly than by using the tip. Every leaf of gold requires to be thus treated, when they may be laid together and several cut at once.

Striping and ornamenting in gold requires practice in the mixture and use of sizing, as the gold leaf is rendered brilliant, or dull and lifeless, according as the sizing is clean, thin and evenly laid, or gritty, thick and ]aid on with

[^* "Oil" = Linseed oil]
overlapping edges. Size made of either varnish, or fat oil^*, should be run on very thin, and the leaf be laid when the size retains but a slight tack. Varnish size must be gilded while the tackiness is more decided than that of fat oil, for varnish, after it begins to set, soon forms an outer pellicle, or thin skin, which incloses the under body of the varnish, and prevents the proper adhesion of ally bind of leaf, or even bronze. Fat oil dries slowly, and retains a tackiness sufficient to take leaf even when it requires pressure to cause the leaf to adhere. When the gold has been laid, it may be rubbed down with clean raw cotton, until it shows a bright, even surface.

[^* "Pencil" = brush]
Gold powder or bronze may be laid on with a camel-hair pencil^*, and to do it only requires that the bronze be mixed in a vessel containing as little acid as possible.

In the every-day routine of the shop we use raw oil and japan, japan gold size, boiled oil and varnish, either of which will answer the purpose. We prefer, however, raw oil and a small portion of japan, in which we rub up a little orange chrome and add the bronze in the proportion of two-thirds bronze to one-third color, or use the bronze clear, mixed in an oil drier or varnish. The Bessemer gold paint is now very popular, and comes prepared for immediate use.

Bronze is not suitable for ornamenting, but striping and fine scrolls will admit of its use. Having prepared your work for striping, obtain a small stoneware or porcelain vessel, mix the bronze as directed, and when using the striping fluid stir it occasionally in order to keep the particles of bronze afloat, for the pencil must take a like quantity of the mixture charged with the same amount of bronze (as nearly as possible) at every dipping, to produce stripes of equal brilliancy. Do not be disappointed if, when the work is finished, you find it inferior to gold leaf. Bronze used in this way answers a very good purpose, saving the time and trouble of sizing in; but to assert that it produces as good work as gold leaf would be to mislead those who have not seen it. Bessemer's gold paint is put up in packages, containing two ounce bottles; one containing fine gold bronze, the other a liquid in which to mix it.

[^* Price in 1875!]
Price, $1.25^*. Fine gold bronze is worth $1 an ounce.

SIZING FOR GOLD LEAF.

Use fat oil, with sugar of lead for a dryer, if you desire a good wearing job. You may add a small quantity of chrome yellow to the fat oil to assist in tracing the lines, or the oil may be used clear, which, we think, is the better plan.

For all ordinary purposes on carriage work a size mixed of varnish, to which a few drops of fat oil is to be added, will be found good enough. Fat oil prevents the varnish from drying out on the edges and other parts, and will save the painter a great deal of trouble.

Sizing should always be put on as thin as possible to prevent the gold from being "drowned," that is, sinking into the size. The size should have tack sufficient only to take the gold.

The leaf laid with a "tip" by cutting the books to the sizes required, or by turning down the leaf of the gold book to the size you wish; then pass the finger nail across the gold leaf and apply it to the sizing; rub down the leaf with cotton, or rabbit's paw.

There is no economy in attempting to cut the leaf to the exact size of stripes or other work; let it be a little full, and you will obtain clean edges and a perfect piece of work.

TO PREVENT LEAF FROM ADHERING.

The white of eggs will effectively prevent gold leaf from adhering to the surface surrounding sizing, if laid on heavy enough to form an even thin film. If it is a varnished surface, we rub the varnish down as level as it will bear, and barring ejected the white of an egg into a clean cup, add a small quantity of water to it, sufficient only to cut the albumen, without destroying its body. Then with a clean piece of sponge mix them, by dipping in the sponge, filling and squeezing it out, until the albumen is thinned out to a ropy consistence; this, when applied, leaves a thin film on the surface after the water has evaporated.

When an excess of water is used, the adhesive part of the egg is destroyed. In hot weather, when varnished surfaces "sweat out" soon after being leveled down, the egg size should be used somewhat heavier than under more favorable circumstances.

Egg size should be laid on some distance outside of the scroll pattern, letters or ornaments, so as to avoid the possibility of the leaf adhering should it be necessary to let it overlap the pattern.

ANOTHER METHOD.

Take ball liquorice and dissolve it in water, and with a flat camel-hair brush size over the portion you would gild. Make the solution weak. The fluid maybe prepared and kept in a bottle ready for use. Made thick will preserve ornaments or work to be repainted.

Whiting and water, mixed and applied with a sponge, and when dry brushed over with a duster, to remove the superfluous particles, may be made use of to prevent gold from adhering, but we would not recommend its use, because it is apt to cloud the work, by fastening itself to the varnish; and further, it requires a great care in removing it, especially on a carriage part.

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