Hi, all- I recently rolled some kuem-boo foil, using a copper sheet
as a backing to get the gold thin enough. Unfortunately, the gold
appears to have picked up some of the oxides from the copper sheet in
the process, and now looks like antique gold rather than the bright
yellow that it should. Will this present a problem when adhering the
foil to the silver? If so, what is the best way to clean the foil?
A second, related question- I have seen reticulated silver that was
kuem-boo’d, which makes a degree of sense since the silver must be
depletion-gilded anyway prior to reticulating. My question is, how
on earth does one get the foil to conform to all of those little
wrinkles and ridges?
My thought about the color on the foil would be to try a small piece
and see if it adheres. If it does, the discoloration may pickle off
and if it doesn’t, I would then try to pickle it with some peroxide
added to the pickle. The foil will slump easily into all the texture
when the temperature is right and pressure is applied with the
burnisher. There is no problem at all. Marilyn Smith
If the ridges in your reticulated piece are not too deep, you should
have no problem attaching the gold. On the other hand, If the
ridges are very deep you may get air pockets which will pose a
problem. Therefore, it would be advisable to plan your design
so that the gold will be burnished over areas that are not too
deep. Shallow ridges will be an advantage as Keum boo takes better
over a surface with a tooth. I have found that if I rolled my gold
a bit thick, it burnished over ridges very well,whereas, gold
rolled out thin, tended to disappear into the silver. When this
happens, I merely apply another layer, which gives it a nice rich
deep color. Hope this helps. Alma