Hi from Norway..

[Marius Mellebye]

Hi, newbie here from Oslo, Norway.. I´ve done a little gilding, pinstriping and lettering, especially on motorcycles, but would love to learn more about leafing and making signs.. am 41 and work as an upholster, beside also doing leather craft, again mostly for motorcycles

Some of my leafing work..









This was my very first try at painting and gilding on glass.. a lot harder than I thought.. and want to learn more about water gilding.


And some lettering in progress...



Some of my leather work.. actually inspired by a lot of the lettering stuff I´ve seen..




Well, got a lot more, but won´t bug you with all that.. at least you know a little of what I do

I´ll do a little searching around the forum, and I´m sure there is a lot to learn from you guys from what I´ve seen so far

Cheers!

[Marius Mellebye]

While at it, I have a few question

I have found a few recipes of gelatine size.. to get that shiny look, will it work with those metal "gold imitation" leafs as well, or is it only the real deal that makes it so shiny.. I have both real 24k gold leaf and some different "fake" gold leaves..

So far I have mostly been gilding with one shot size, but I hear a lot of people talk good about the Rolco size. What is your thought of One Shot vs Rolco.. or is there any other size you would prefers when it comes to the oil based size?

Found a few water based gild size on eBay.. will that also make it easier to get that shiny look, as the gelatine size on glass?

One last question.. when making gelatine size (someone said about 1/6th of a plate and about 200 ml of water) what would you suggest the drying time is before I can apply the leaf? I understand it depends on the temperature etc, but in room temperature is it 30 to 60 minutes, many hours, or..? Does it stay tacky a while.. or is it like the One Shot which only stays tacky a "little" while..

Trying, failing and learning, so hoping the questions isn´t too silly

[Danny Baronian]

Hi Marius, welcome to the forum!

There was a discussion on oil size recently, browse through it, and you'll get a good idea of what others are using: https://handletteringforum.com/forum ... f=2&t=3412

I've found OneShot Quick Size to be unreliable unless you have some old stock. Even at that, size one job and it'll be ready to go in an hour, other times two - three hours under the same temp and weather conditions.

I have some old Rolco and use that occasionally, and find it to be more reliable. Doug Bernhardt turned me on several years ago to Luna, available in 3,6 and 12 hour size, as a replacement to Le Franc when they dropped the lead from several of their products, and found it to be very reliable.

As for a 'glossy gold' with gelatin, it's used mainly for reverse glass work. Use of gelatin size on glass will produce a bright gold, whereas oil size will produce a matt gold. There is a 2 part, water based size available, for surface gilding that produced a very bright surface. I don't know if it's still available, so if anyone else could provide information, it would be helpful. The only problem I remember is that it's pricey, and has a very short shelf life.

The gelatin used frequently comes in sheets, scored into 'diamonds'. The gelatin sheets can be purchased at a grocery store that specializes in bakery goods, or online. Ratio is 4 diamonds to 16 ozs. of water, heat till dissolved but not boiled. I don't remember of using gelatin size for anything other than gold. Metal leaf requires a heaver tack that gelatin provides.

Danny

Well, I should have looked first. Check this out, Rick Glawson's information on size. Keep in mind this was written when 1 shot was reliable, as was LeFranc, unlike now: http://www.theletterheads.com/glawson/goldsize.html

Also look over this - The Letterheads Site, a compilation of information and supplies: http://www.theletterheads.com/index.html

You can also access the above link when you log in. After logging in, click on the tab at the top right - The Letterheads Site.

Lastly, in the frist link the two part size is mentioned that will give an extremely bright surface gild: INSTACOLL, http://www.noris-blattgold.de/English/p ... 25317.html

The problem with any surface gilded project that will be in easy reach, or handled, the gold should be clear coated, which in turn diminishes the beauty of the gold itself.

[Anthony Bennett]

Hi Marius,
Welcome to the forum.
That is some really neat leather work you have there. How is it done please is it stitching, burning and paint or something else please?

[Marius Mellebye]

Hi and thanks for the welcome!

Anthony, the leather work is hand tooled.. very quick explanation: First I draw the motive on paper before I transfer it to some sort of "grey paper" in plastic. Then I moist the leather and put the plastic paper over the leather, and then going over the design yet another time with something that looks like a pen, to slightly mark the leather. Then I use a swivel knife to cut deeper into the leather, following the motive I transferred. Then I start tooling with a maul and leather tools and stamps.. also uses tools to press it down by hand.. At the end I use leather dye and paint it with a brush to get the different tones.

Hope that explained what you was looking for

[Dan Seese]

Two quick notes:

First: Nice summary, Danny, about the different types of gilding and products to use. Follow this information, Marius, and it will steer you in the right direction.

Second: I really appreciated looking at your work, Marius. Top-shelf!

I don't know anything about gilding leather and the types of challenges it presents like expansion/contraction, weather variables, moisture, etc. but it would be great to see more of this application. When I was in Italy a few years ago I photographed the ceiling of a leather working shop where there were tooled, gilded leather panels on the ceiling. You can see a photo here: https://handletteringforum.com/forum ... 548#p18548

[Marius Mellebye]

Thanks a lot Dan! I´ll try to mix some gelatine and do a little testing today

Yea, the gilded leather is very cool! In Norway it´s a tradition to use gilded leather on some kinds of chairs.. and we have fixed quite a few of those at the upholstery shop. I´m also experimenting a little with gilded leather, and will eventually try to make it for a motorcycle seat.. It´s a very cool effect, and I promise to let you know about the progress

Thanks again all, seems to be a great forum

[Marius Mellebye]

Thanks again guys for a great and very informative forum.. doing a little searching and getting lost in all the great information, but I have gotten some really great tips..

Did my first try at mixing gelatine and water, and I think it went pretty good (but not perfect).. also found a few youtube videos that helped me out. The only problem is that I didn´t have the loose gold leaf, only the tissue attached ones, but I had to try anyway.. the good thing about that is that now I know how that looks and works, even tho I knew it had to bee loose leafs

A question about the real loose gold leaf.. I guess the more karat the better?, but does it work with like 22 karat as well as 24 karat? If so, what is the big difference of he result? More karat, more shiny?

In Norway, these things costs the white out of the eye, so I´m about to order some from eBay, but I´d wait to order to I fond out if the 22 karat is more or less useless?

In Norway, 25 leafs of 22 karat costs about $150. Including shipping, I can get the exact same from under $45 on ebay.. so no doubt!

And another little thing.. was about to order a few fonts from: http://www.letterheadfonts.com (some really cool ones there) but the store was closed for new registrations at the weekend.. it´s no other way to open an account this weekend? No big deal, but was carried a little away..

[Bill Riedel]

Hi Marius, this may be much too late, but I haven't been here in a while.
I have been in Oslo several times in the past 8 years and wish I knew where you are so I could stop in to say hi and maybe be of some help with the gold leaf. Been doing it for a long time and enjoy being helpful.
Hand lettering is something else, been doing it since 1948.
Expect to make the next trip in 2014.
Bill Riedel

[Marius Mellebye]

Hi Bill, thats awesome! It´s never to late for some expert advices as they are always welcome! Let me know when you are back in Oslo, would be cool to say hello I live at Majorstua/Frogner and have my little shop at Grünerløkka together with a motorcycle builder, near Akerselva.. both places is very central and close to "down town".

I have finally got the Gold Leaf Techniques book, but I have spent the last months finishing some custom bikes for this season, a few with metal leaf, some pinstriping, lettering and leather seats.. Next week I´ll be pinstripng my first car, and have two others this summer too, which is pretty exiting for me. Also planning a sign for our new shop.. a few days ago I was given an old vintage "sign holder" (I´m not sure what it´s called in english) I´m planning to use.



You can reach me at: marius.mellebye (at) gmail.com so feel free to send me an email any time

Thanks for your kindness and hope we´ll catch up in 2014!

[Bill Riedel]

Marius, the book Gold Leaf Techniques is the best I know of. Kent Smith put a picture of one of my signs in it.
When dates are set for my next trip, I'll let you know.
Keep up the good work.
Bill Riedel