Can anyone explain the difference between 24 carat gold foil and gold
leaf? Which is the best for the process of Keum Boo?
Thank you
Diane Southwell
www.magicmethods.com.au
Gold leaf is very thin, and not suitable for Keum Boo. Gold foil, on
the other hand is much thicker and will hold up well under the
burnishing, and will show up well against the silver. However, Gold
foil comes in different thicknesses, so when ordering it, be sure to
specify Gold Foil for Keum boo. You can roll out your own from a
piece of 24 K gold, or purchase it. Allcraft carries it.
Alma
Hi Diane:
24K gold leaf is thinner. (much) The foils traditionally used for
Kum-boo tend to be somewhere in the. 0006-.0010" range, while leaf
tends to be around.0002". (I wrote my masters thesis on a technique
that uses similar foils, so I measured a lot of them…)
I learned the technique from a Korean gradschool roommate of mine,
and he taught me how to roll the foil down the way they do it, which
gives a thicker foil.
Once in a blue moon, I teach workshops on Korean style damascening,
which uses the same foils. Part of the workshop is learning how to
roll your own foil, and how to evaluate it. The main difference with
working with the thicker foils is that they don’t diffuse away to
nothing as easily as the thinner commercial foils do. If you look at
a lot of the current literature (Celi Fago’s book, for example) she
talks about using several layers, and several passes to get different
’opacities’ of the foil. As you come back and do repeated heatings
with the thinner foil, it starts to diffuse to the point where it
just fades out. The thicker foils don’t do that. The drawback being
that you have to roll them yourself.
Just FYI, the foils that Allcraft has for kum-boo are .0003" for the
’normal’ and.0006" for the double-thick. I’ve taught classes with
them repeatedly, and always had good results. They’re expensive, but
probably less of a PITA than rolling your own for big stuff. It was
just that when I started, there wasn’t anywhere to buy foil, you
had to roll your own.
Regards,
Brian Meek.
Gold foil is extremely thin and is usually applied with a varnish
(glue). Keum-boo foil is much thicker and, so, it can withstand the
heat and burnishing required to affix it to the silver. If you are
even able to try keum boo with gold leaf, the leaf usually
completely disappears into the silver.
Debby Hoffmaster
Hi Diane,
The difference is in thickness. Gold foil works well for kuem boo.
Gold leaf is used with adhesive.
Christine
Can anyone explain the difference between 24 carat gold foil and gold leaf? Which is the best for the process of Keum Boo?
If you touch leaf it disapears, if you touch foil it is still there.
You need foil for keum-boo. For details see this article at the
Ganoksin Project
best
charles
If you are even able to try keum boo with gold leaf, the leaf usually completely disappears into the silver.
That is true, i’ve tryed Keum Boo with gold leaf and you can hardley
tell the golds there. however, i applied several layers and the
colour buildsup. there is much potential for an subtle and sensative
approach to the technique.
Chris
Diane,
Can anyone explain the difference between 24 carat gold foil and gold leaf? Which is the best for the process of Keum Boo?
Gold foil is thicker than leaf and definitely the one to use for
keum-boo.
It is very hard to say the exact measure of the gold foil. I asked
several vendors and nobody could really tell me the number.I tried to
use a lesser thickness provided by an enamel vendor supplies, which
assured me it was gold “foil”, but the foil revealed to be 23K vs 24K
and was not thick enough (I had to apply it twice and it had a weaker
yellow color). By the way: “Orchid” provides a wonderful article on
keum-boo and how to make your own gold foil…
I hope this helps! Lucia Pasquinelli,
LU.PA Italian Jewelry Design