COLOR & SURFACE
Gold Leaf
Gold and precious-metal leaf applied between gathers for lustre.
Specifications
- Leaf thickness
- 0.1 – 0.3 µm
- Metals
- Gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper
- Application temperature
- Roughly 600 – 800 °C — hot enough to stick, cool enough to survive
- Casing
- A layer of clear glass over the leaf, applied immediately
- Consumption
- A few square centimetres per small piece
- Storage
- In a book, between sheets of tissue, away from draughts
- Cost band
- Very high — gold leaf is priced by the gram and the gram matters
Technical parameters
- Leaf vs foil
- Leaf is thinner and gives a finer shimmer; foil is easier to handle
- Gold
- Warm yellow lustre, the most stable in the kiln
- Silver
- Cool white lustre; can yellow slightly if over-heated
- Platinum
- Bright white, very stable, very expensive
- Casing
- Essential. Uncased metal oxidises and dulls
- Cost band
- Very high
Overview
Gold, silver and platinum leaf are applied to a hot gather and then cased in clear glass, which traps the metal inside the wall where it cannot tarnish. The effect is a metallic shimmer that no oxide can reproduce. Leaf is applied with tweezers to a gather that is hot enough to make the metal adhere but cool enough not to burn it away — a narrow window that takes practice, and a great deal of expensive material.
Where it fits in the process
Gold Leaf is used in color, gather. The stage decides how hot the glass has to be when the tool touches it, which in turn decides how much of the work it can do in one pass.
Safe use
- Metal leaf is thin enough to be drawn into the air and inhaled. Work with the extraction running.
- A hot gather will burn leaf away instantly, along with the money it cost. Watch the glass, not the leaf.
- Silver and copper leaf can spit when applied too hot. Keep your face back and wear eye protection.
- Leaf is handled with tweezers, never fingers — skin oils ruin the finish and the leaf will not lie flat.
How it is used
- Apply to a gather that has cooled to a dull red. Too hot and the metal burns off; too cool and it will not stick.
- Handle leaf with tweezers or a leafing brush, never fingers.
- Case the leaf immediately with clear glass so it cannot oxidise.
- Keep the casing layer thin. A thick case distorts the shimmer into a smear.
- Practise on silver before you practise on gold. The technique is the same and the mistakes cost a fraction.
Compatible glass types
Matching the tool to the glass family matters less than matching the glass to itself — see the COE compatibility calculator before combining two glasses.
