using gold leaf paint

[stevebuk]

i am using a couple of pieces of oak to make a trophy of sorts for a mate, i want to put on it raised oak letters and paint them using gold leaf paint, what should i use as an undercoat for it, or do i need an undercoat for it.

 

[StevieB]

Never done it, but recall people using 'size' as an adhesive for the gold leaf - the sort that comes as a foil sheet from craft shops. If you mean paint as in paint then sorry, no idea!

Steve.

 

[tekno.mage]

What kind of gold leaf paint? Does it not suggest on the tin the type of undercoat required?

If you intend to burnish the gold leaf after the paint is dry, I would expect some kind of undercoat to be required to make a nice smooth surface under the gold leaf paint so the grain of the wood doesn't show through and spoil the shine.

As an alternative you could use gold rub'n'buff cream, which can be applied directly to the wood. It contains carnuba wax and metal powder and can be burnished to a nice satin shine when dry. I used the copper version of this on the inside of a platter and it looked really good - like the inside of the platter had been plated with real metal.

Another alternative would be to use real gold leaf (which is something I've never used but would like to try...)

tekno.mage

 

[stevebuk]

thanks guys,
the stuff is called 'brush and leaf' but no instructions on the bottle, i also have some guilding paste that is used when on paper but i think i will try it on a spare piece of oak just to see.
Many thanks
steve

 

[TrimTheKing]

Just found this which seems to indicate you just bung it on as is. Can't find anything concrete though, as you say.

 

[stevebuk]

just a quick reply, it paints straight from the bottle onto the wood, but it looks better if i teak oil it first, so many thanks.