Home › Gilding, Silvering, Etc › To Burnish Gold

To Burnish Gold

When the work is covered with gold, set it by to dry; it will be ready to burnish in about eight or ten hours; but this will depend on the warmth of the room or state of the air.

When it is ready, those parts which are to be burnished must be dusted with a soft brush, and, wiping the burnisher with a piece of soft wash-leather (quite dry), begin to burnish about an inch or two in length at a time, taking care not to lean too hard, but with a gentle and quick motion apply the tool till it is equally bright all over. has flowed smooth and even over the surface.

When the last coat of varnish is quite hard it must be polished; this is done by putting on a horse-hair glove, and rubbing the surface with this first, then with Tripoli, applied with a piece of wet woolen cloth; and lastly, by wet putty powder, first applied with woolen cloth, then with the bare hand, till it is as bright as glass. It must then be varnished over with a thin coat (the thinner the better) of gold size, and when sufficiently dry the gold is to be applied, beginning at the part that is dryest. When gilt, it is to be allowed to remain for two or three days, and then brushed over lightly with a camel's-hair brush to remove superfluous gold. It is next to be varnished with spirit varnish, applying heat as before, then varnished with copal varnish two or three times, allowing it to become perfectly hard between each coat; after the last coat of varnish it is finished by polishing, first with Tripoli, applied with a soft cloth and water, and then with the bare hand and a little oil, and wiped dry.