Important: Safety Warning
This page describes trade processes that use dangerously toxic materials such as cyanide solutions, mercury amalgams, or strong acids. These processes require training, equipment, and precautions far beyond what the text describes.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
Home › Gilding, Silvering, Etc › To Make Shell-Gold
To Make Shell-Gold
Take any quantity of leaf-gold, and grind it, with a small portion of honey, to a fine powder; add a little gum-arabic and sugar candy, with a little water, and mix it well together; put it in a shell to dry until wanted. 3570. Oil Gilding is that which is designed for out-door work, to stand the weather and wash, and is performed with oil and varnish. Where the object is to give a high finish, paint the work with a color composed of the finest white lead and yellow ochre, in such proportions that the color shall be as near as possible to the color of the gold to be employed, mixed with oil (not boiled), and turpentine, till of the consistence of thin just sticky; then apply the gold leaf, and dab it on with a piece of cotton; in about an hour wash off the superfluous gold with sponge and water, and when dry, varnish it with copal varnish.