please help- gold leaf on bead?
 

Please can somebody help? I've been trying to make a bead and cover it with gold leaf. The problem is that the moment I try to cover the gold with clear, the gold disappears or breaks up and becomes quite palid! I'm working on a hot head with moretti glass, I've tried white and dark ivory with the same disastrous results. Thanks for the help.
Nelinha

Hi - I'll try and help you out! I too am on a Hot Head, and love to use precious Gold Leaf!

One DEFINITE tip I'll give is to burnish the gold into the bead after rolling it and before putting it back into the heat. Use your graphite marver, or if you have one of those little "spatula" shaped tools (I think Avenue Beads has them for sale now) - this will help a lot!!!

In addition, do not bring the bead back into the FULL FLAME; keep it warm under the flame and have your clear in the flame but the bead below it while encasing it. This will also help with the burn off.

Here's an example of how I was able to get the gold leaf to adhere well and encase before working it in the direct flame again; the clear will protect the gold from burning away and be sure to do a full encasing and then melt it smooth slowly:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...SkullGold5.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...SkullGold4.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...SkullGold3.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...SkullGold2.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...SkullGold1.jpg

I actually WANTED it to break up under the pressure of the Skull Stamp, but it didn't give much!

Hope this helps you a bit!
De in CA

PS..."Burnishing" means to rub the gold leaf fairly firmly onto the bead, thus keeping it from wanting to fly-away or disappear as soon as the heat hits it. To do this, heat your base color well (on this example, I used Moretti White) - get it nice and glowing but not drippy. Then roll it across your gold leaf all the way around - it should stick well if the bead is hot enough. Before encasing, take your graphite marver or other flatish tool and rub, rub, rub that gold nicely onto the surface of the bead.

Now move right to encasing and once the clear is wrapped all the way around, bring it back into the flame and start to smooth out the clear.

Sorry if you already knew this - but others who may be trying to accomplish the same thing may not be familiar with the term.

Good luck! Show us how you do - OK?

De

...and make sure it's real gold leaf. If you got it at a craft store or paid less than around $25 for a book, there's little to no chance it's really gold, and it won't work at all.

Hi, Thanks for the info, will try again tomorrow. I was putting the bead back on the flame while encasing, no wonder it disappeared. I tried with "gold from the craft shop, what a lot of rubbish, it came out black. I now have bought a book from the lampworking shop and will try that. I have also tried some 24carat Sevres gold in powder form that I had from my days as a porcelain restorer and it seems to cover the bead quite nicely, I will try encasing and will let you know the result. Thanks a mil. Nelinha

Gold leaf question
 

If I apply gold leaf to a Boro bead and burnish well (without encasing), will the gold leaf wear off over time?

I haven't applied it to boro, but yes, on 104, if the piece is worn constantly the leaf will start to wear. It's more suited to pieces for occasional wear.