DanofNJ

I was wondering if anyone has experience with using real gold paint/leaf. I'm restoring my Singer Model 12 and think that it deserves the royal treatment. You can get gold leaf for about 20.00 for 5 sheets which would be overkill for the machine, to duplicate some of the destroyed decals. Just wondering?

Mom3

I've never used it on metal but have used it on wood. It is VERY fragile. A VERY light touch can tear it but putting a patch over a tear can easily be burnished into place with no visible trace of the original tear. Keywords here: Use a very soft touch.

earthwalker

Like Mom3 I've not used it on metal and to do such intricate work with gold leaf would be really difficult without a very steady hand. I think there is an old post here about decals from keeler sales, they sell reproduction decals. I found this link recently
http://blog.makezine.com/craft/antique_singer_decals/

Many people don't re-touch the worn decals.....these machines are old....and like people, get a little worn and battered by life....adds character...so they leave them as is.

Anyway....good luck with whatever you decide....

makitmama

I used gold leaf when I lived in Italy- the traditional way to apply it to leather there is to paint or stamp the design with egg-white, then pat on the leaf, let dry, then pat off the non-sticky areas. You save the gold leaf flakes, and just use them over and over. I have a journal I did that is 20 years old and in good shape. I believe most of this nowadays is done with glue instead of egg whites.
for the sewing machine, you could certainly apply glue with a stamp pad and drop a leaf on top. Then brush off the leaf after dry, and seal immediately. There are fake flakes available at craft stores, and I have considered covering a machine with them....
take pics!

Patty55

I've used gold leaf before and as someone else said, it's not easy to work with and it's very fragile. Don't breathe too hard! If you are VERY patient it's doable! I've never used the paint and that might be a lot easier.

The best way I found to brush off the excess was a soft makeup brush. Always work over a sheet of white paper so you can collect the flakes that fall off and reuse them.

I would experiment with gold and brass. The gold will be very shiny and the brass will be more 'antique' looking. The brass leaf might actually give you more of the look you want. And since you will seal it to preserve the appearance, the brass won't oxidize.

Post pictures!

DanofNJ

Great advise from all...good point about the brass leaf, I'll look into that. Thanks