Gold Leaf vs. Angel Gilding
We named our company Angel Gilding to honor the process that led us to mirroring. You can read more about this journey on our About Us page, but to make a long story short our founder, Sarah King, learned about all the ways to put gold onto glass. They each have their own special attributes and applications. Here we focus on Gold Leaf and Angel Gilding- where and when to use each application and what to know if you are looking to make a switch.
Firstly, there are two main ways to apply gold onto glass-with or without heat. Learn more here:
Heat fuses the gold into the glass making it permanent, food safe and waterproof.
- If you are a glass blower, you can embed gold leaf into molten glass working at the 'glory hole'
- Paint your design with a liquid bright gold over glaze from Dogwood Ceramics and fire it in a ceramics kiln
Surface gold can be removed by abrasion or with gold remover.
- We have the tools and supplies to apply gold and other metal leaf to glass
- We specialize in applying gold and other metals by chemical deposition - ie mirroring
Comparing Angel Gilding and Gold Leaf
| Angel Gilding | Gold Leaf |
|---|---|
| Apply to a horizontal surface | Apply to a vertical surface |
| Apply to the back of the glass | Apply to either side of the glass |
| Use on a work bench | Use in any location |
| Requires careful measurements | Requires well developed fine motor skills |
| Can be chemically removed | Can be chemically removed |
| Uses gold efficiently | Uses more gold per square foot 1 |
| Easily gilds textured glass | Difficult to apply to textured glass |
| Faster for large areas 2 | Faster for small areas |
| Screen print for selective designs | Screen print for selective designs |
| Apply over a vinyl mask | Can not be applied over a vinyl mask |
| Apply to the inside of a container | Apply to non-glass surfaces |
| Seamless reflection | Shows lines between the leaves |
1 In October 2007 Robert Frese of Chicagold Signs told me that he would need 32 gold leaves to gild one square foot of glass perfectly. At that time the spot price of gold was $750 a Troy ounce and a book of 500 gold leaves cost about $635. Robert’s 32 gold leaves would have cost him $40. He could have Angel Gilded the glass for $18.
2 It takes the same amount of time to Angel Gild 4 square feet as it does 1 square foot. Gold leaves are applied one leaf at a time.
For detailed instructions on gold leaf gilding, read Gold Leaf Techniques by Raymond LeBlanc, edited by Kent Smith and published by ST Media Group International, 1986, ISBN: 0-911380-71-X
