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WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

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Noah Moore
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:01 pm

WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Post by Noah Moore »

hello all.

im looking to buy some more gold leaf and im curious what and who everyone favors the most when it comes to making their purchase. ive bought from a few different places but i am no expert in the variations of gold quality. if you all could suggest a place to buy the best quality with reasonable prices, i would greatly appreciate it.

thank you for your time.
noah.
THE SKYS THE LIMIT
Larry White
Posts: 1213
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:18 am

Re: WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Post by Larry White »

Last time I ordered gold leaf, I ordered from Sepp Leaf.
They have a good selection from about a dozen different manufacturers.
Glad I did....it's a bit more expensive now.

I've heard several good things about Golden Leaf Products
Contact Jim Harris at (360) 977-1739 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (360) 977-1739      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or jim.harris@goldenleafproducts.com

Golden Leaf Products website

'Course if ya need other gilding supplies at the same time, there's always Letterhead Sign Supply.



-Aho!



.
Tony Segale
Posts: 702
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 10:20 am

Re: WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Post by Tony Segale »

Other good sources are... Sepp Leaf and Art Essentials of New York

If you would like to order from either, that would be alright.
and he took that golden hair and made a sweater for baby bear.
http://www.tonysegale.com
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BruceJackson
Posts: 251
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2004 7:28 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Post by BruceJackson »

I faced this dilema a few years ago when my favorite manufacturer and supplier stopped hand-beating leaf and started importing it. They were importing from German beaters and also from China

I decided to simply go direct. With a bit of hunting around you can easily find several makers based in China. What's more, some of them also supply to the European "gold-beaters" who are on-selling it anyway.

Some people have the opinion that Chinese-made leaf is not as good, but that is simply a matter of specifiying it properly. I have some some stuff that was very cheap but also very thin. If you buy at the cheapest price you will get lower quality of course. A good maker will make whatever you want in leaf size, carat and weight.

Personally i prefer and specify 85mm square in size (European standard is 80mm). I also specify either 17 or 18grams per 1000 leaves. So the leaf I use is slightly more robust and feels better on the tip. It also needs less patching. This is where quality comes into play. European standard is 15 gram and some of the less expensive options may be only 12 or 13 grams.

You generally have to buy a minimum of maybe 40 books at a time but you get much more leaf for your money though.

I also sell it online through my website to a few friends and other users at a bit of a profit which makes it easier to buy in bulk, but I'm not spruiking for sales. I don't think it's good value for you guys if I have to re-export it and add on the additional freight costs. You are better off doing it direct yourself.
Kelly Thorson
Posts: 502
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 11:53 pm
Location: Penzance, SK Canada
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Re: WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Post by Kelly Thorson »

W&B Gold Leaf get my vote. Family owned, they have great friendly service, competitive pricing, fast delivery and a good selection of brands and products. I really like their roll gold for borders it comes from 3/8" to 4" wide.
They also advertise special pricing for Letterheads, so make sure you mention that.
I believe there is no shame in failure. Rather, the shame lies in the loss of all the things that might have been, but for the fear of failure.
Kent Smith
Posts: 569
Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:41 pm
Location: Estes Park, CO
Contact:

Re: WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Post by Kent Smith »

I agree, Sepp, W&B, Easy Leaf and Art Essentials are all small family owned/operated and care about their customers. I don't have enough info or track record for Golden Leaf or imports from China to have an opinion. In the past, I have had calls about how to fix leaf that has dark spots or streaks from inconsistent alloying in oriental brands of leaf. I have never been a fan of the 15 to 16 gram gold common in Italian leaf and some central European leaf. My control leaf, vintage Hastings brand, was consistently 18 gram so that is what I look for and try to get as close to that as possible. Like Bruce, I don't like to patch or have weak areas for burnishing. As an aside, W&B are the only remaining domestic gold beaters, making their own 23K.
Noah Moore
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:01 pm

Re: WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Post by Noah Moore »

i really appreciate everyones helpful feedback. many of these things i was unaware of before i asked the question. all of this information was very useful. i even burnt my dumplings this morning as i read everything closely.
before i posted this question, i spoke with jim from golden leaf products. i already had in my mind that i wanted to purchase from him because of his demeanor over the phone. he was very down to earth and super easy to communicate with. we got to know each other in just a few brief moments. nice fella to say the least. its also true they do, in fact beat their own 23k gold. (not that i even knew this was important and or a factor in making an educated purchase.) i asked him if he had what i needed and he was out of 18k leaves. (also finding out this particular kind was referred to as "lemon gold". good to know). he was about to make another order but wouldnt have it to me in the time frame i needed. i asked him if he would have any brother shops or friends he could refer me to. he said they are all competition but if he had to, he would recommend sepp. this was already a recommendation before my post. i called sepp and it took no time at all to see they were pretty corporate. i wouldnt say this is a major downfall but its always nicer to support the smaller guys that put forth the effort to chit chat and get to know their customers. people that actually want your business. i told sepp i needed to inquire about an order and they patched me through to someone else. nice enough fella. he asked me a bunch of questions that i couldnt answer due to my ignorance. i explained i didnt have any extensive knowledge and this was what i was told to order. he then explained they only do bulk ordering and didnt do single book orders. they gave me a number of someone they supply to in n.y.c. that could sell me single books. i says "thanks" they says "no prob". i then called their number and what i asked for they purchased at almost $70.00. i said thank you and ill probably give you a call back. i then decided to call W&B because of your guys' suggestions. yet another very down to earth fella whom goes by the name urban. i asked him for the exact same thing (now owning a tad more knowledge in the matter) and he has plenty in stock and with an affordable price of almost half of the sepp referral. i gladly took him up on his price and continued to chat it up with him. i told him about my post and said he came recommended from this hand lettering forum. that made him proud. i asked him if it was family owned and he gave me the whole story. very cool.
now, with all this being said, i feel like i would love to keep ordering product from the both of these fellas. they seem to be pretty close in price and definitely share a down home attitude. i hope this information is worth a hoot to any of you in the same position i was in. also, i would love to hear why the prices were so dramatically different from one guy to the next. what am i clearly missing here?

thanks again in your feedback. im happy to know i can have a Q&A in a forum that shows nothing but support.
noah.
THE SKYS THE LIMIT
Dan Seese
Posts: 324
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2004 11:29 pm
Location: Fort Collins, CO
Contact:

Re: WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Post by Dan Seese »

Noah,
Correct me if I'm wrong:
After reading Bruce's and Kent's posts about wanting their leaf to be 18 grams, did you then order 18k gold (Lemon Gold)? There is a difference. 18 grams refers to the weight, thus the thickness of the leaf, whereas 18k refers to the amount of gold in proportion to other alloys contained in the leaf. If you ordered 18k, it will be considerably lighter in color (a nice effect on glass), and less expensive but not the rich deep color you would expect in 23k leaf.
Dan
Dan
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Noah Moore
Posts: 41
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 9:01 pm

Re: WHERE TO ORDER LEAF?

Post by Noah Moore »

No. I ordered 18k because that's actually what I needed. I understand the confusion. Mostly, I was in search for a good supplier that backs with quality as well. Everyone was helpful for my needs and gave me a little extra knowledge. A free bonus. I appreciate your effort to correct a possible problem. Thanks again for everyone's 2 cents..................should I be adding an emoticon?
THE SKYS THE LIMIT
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