We've all seen them, rusty old black mantels. We wish they had the pristine, original paint, but no. My question; How in the world did (considering they were mass produced ) they get the "gold" into the shallow decorative depressions in the castings? Surely not by hand.

Gary,
Welcome to IHC. Lots of good people here, I hope you enjoy the chapter.
You have raised a very good question. Having tried to gold leaf some complicated pieces, I know exactly what you mean. Here's hoping someone has some good information on the original process.

I have had some success using a Krylon gold leafing pen. They are available in art and hobby stores.
After the article has been repainted (I use High Temperature enamel and bake it on) take the pen and fill the lines. Before it dries use a cloth, damp with mineral spirits, to wipe away the excess. If necessary do a second or third application. I have used this method on slate as well as cast iron clock cases.

Joe

Glad you posted Joe.I picked up one of those pens on a whim at Michaels the other day but wasn't sure what the proper plan of application should be.Your post was a great help.Have you ever used the silver leaf pen for any applications?Just curious.Thank you for your input.
Respectfully,Bob Fullerton

Hi Bob,
I haven't used silver but it should work the same.
Another product called Rub-N-Buff works well also. I have used it to fill in the designs as well as recoating decorations such as lion heads and cast feet. I think R-n-B is a wax rather than paint. Once it dries it is very durable.

Joe

Thank you for the timely reply Joe,much appreciated.
Respectfully,Bob Fullerton

Tom,Joe,I am enjoying the chapter. Thanks for the "Krylon" tip. I'll try it before I "KILL" again. As stated, though, am still curios as to how, say, Ansonia did it.Thanks again.

Gary...before using the gold leaf, be sure there is no "checking " in the finish. Any open line will pickup the gold. Then it becomes a challenge to remove a "gold cloud". That's experience talking!

Bill

William, Just noticed your most recent post, on this subject. Thanks for the tip. And thanks for all the tips by our other members. I have also had cases where the gold is still there, albeit under years of grime or polish. A gentle "scrape" brought somewhat satisfactory results.I know it is unlikely any of our members worked at Ansonia in the 1880's, but would love to know how it was done in production. Any theories?

Hi GARY: I have been reading all the posts on gold leafing. I wished I had know about this forum earlier. I had to do some experiments. I have a french marble clock with multiple fine lines and designed on the face and base. some one long time ago painted the whole clock black even the gold leafing. It look bad. I got mad and stripped all of the paint off. I used a tooth brush to get the paint out of the fine lines. I sprayed the clock and the base with Krylon simi flat black. two good coats. after drying for 48 hrs i used a Avery Gold Metallic Gel [marker]. It will dry very fast so i did 1/3 of the face at a time. Just follow the lines. then use a norton "ooo" steel wool flat pad to remove the excise gold. the black paint will dull put that is OK. the gold lines will show up sharply. It took me only one hr. to do all the leafing. then when finsh with the leafing rub the whole clock down with the steel wool and clean the dust off. then spray two coats of Minwax polyurethane clear high gloss on. It looked like it was made yesterday. I believe this should work on the medal ansona clock as well. the lines are wider so it might not work as good. I have one put I had an artis paint the lines on. Hope this will help some one, moe schmidt

Hi: ALL. Just a little more information about gold leafing. I got a waterbury iron case that someone had painted gold with a brush. the gold leafing would not even show. the lines and designs are about the same on a Asonia, deaper and wider. I used the same method as posted May 08 06. I had to use Prang metallic Marker. comes in gold and silver. can not get Avery marker. Had to use 2 coats of gold to cover the wider groves. came out as good as the French clock I did. need some one to try it and let me know if it works for you. have a good day Moe Schmidt