The Framers Forum

One for the gilders...

I need to gild just a particular detail on a frame which otherwise will have a painted finish.

First question is can it be water gilded or will I have to oil gild?

If I can water gild a detail, do I gesso the whole frame or can I get away with just gessoing the detail to be gilded?

And do I gild the detail plus a little extra and paint over the the excess gold? Or do I rub it away? Or do I paint the finish first then gild the detail?

Thanks all

Any or all of these options depending on the finish you want/need.

These various videos cover most of the options and the resulting effect:

http://www.youtube.com/user/CJFRAMES

thanks for the links

I'm still not clear on what to do about the edge where gold meets ungilded surface. Is it best to try to mask the ungilded bit with tape, gild then remove tape? Or can any superfluous gold around the edge simply be painted over?

Any advice gratefully received!

Thanks again

You can do either.

The ragnar clip I gave you shows the ungilded area being masked off before gilding and if you have a look at our member framemaker's excellent blog you will see examples of gilded areas being masked off before painting the ungilded section including over the ragged leaf edge.

In terms of your first question the method to be used will depend on your needs for the finish for example whether the gilding is with gold or metal leaf, burnished or not burnished and whether or not you want the wood grain to show through the paint and/or gilding.

Yes, I noticed the masking. Is there a recommended tape for this? I just tried a bit with some regular masking tape it took the gilding off.

Thanks heaps

I use standard blue painters tape to protect the wood surface of harps that I guild for a Luther.

However if you are doing intricate shapes, I would suggest going to an auto body paint supplier for their specialty pin striping tapes.

Thanks!