goldleafing a bronze eagle.

[spectrum maine]

i have a customer who just brought me a bronze eagle. its about 18" wingspan & heavily oxidized. i am planning to wire wheel/scotchbrite the oxidation off. should i just size & guild? or etch primer, paint yellow then size & guild? how did they do it in the old days? i want to do it right & not have $300 in gold flake off. thanks in advance. erik michaud / spectrum signs

 

[Chuck Peterson]

I would think size and gild would be fine. I would use a slow oil size. I have gilded bronze letters that look fine after a couple of years.

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

I would prime, and paint black instead. That way you can see the missing "holidays" much easier.

 

[Billct2]

Treat it first as though it were not going to be gilded, but have a paint finish. Clean it thoroughly, if there are any hints of rust hit them with POR15 even if they clean up, as a matter of fact I would use POR15 as a primer on the whole thing. Then top coat with a good enamel, personally I like to use red, it is said to make gold leaf look more lustrous.
After that size & gild. I would use loose leaf because it works into the cracks & crevices better.
Now for the reason for my method...we did a couple hundred metal fence finials and were told by an "expert" that we only needed to prime them before gilding. After a few months they started to rust right through the leaf. We had to redo them all. So even though bronze won't rust, and even if it's inside I treat all metal like I said before I gild.
Also the paint gives a nice smooth finish that enhances the leaf.

 

[spectrum maine]

this is how i did it. i wirebrushed , scotchbrited all the oxidation off, only to find it was aluminum that was bronze plated. got it shiny clean. hand painted 3 coats of matthews high build etch fill primer. sanded,then coated twice with a 50/50 mix of size mixed with brass 1 shot. let dry 2 days the guilded with a 50/50 mix fast & slow size (gives you about a 7hr window) guilded beautifully. thanks guys

 

[Gino]

I like happy endings.

 

[GraClay]

Can you post a pic of the finished eagle please? I'd love to see that.