Have you ordered the gilding size?Is it loose leaf or transfer leaf? there are, as far as i know, 2 types a 1 hour size and a twenty four hour size. The one hour size does what is says on the tin, apply the size in areas that you can comfortably apply the gold onto before the size goes too dry. It usually starts to go tacky enough after about 45 mins in normal workshop conditions , but you will have to experiment. You are supposed to use the hairs on the backs of your hand to judge whether the size is just the right tackiness to apply the gold.(most blacksmiths have no hairs due to hands getting close to the fires!!!!) Too wet and the size will break the gold leaf, The company i used sent me a leaflet on how to apply all types of gold leaf, give your supplier a buzz and see if they will send you one. By the way i am no expert on gilding, i have done a bit and it seems to have been successful (i just followed the instuctions from the leaflet)Hope this has been of some help post some pics of the finished piece.
Adrian
Ps if you paint the area you are gilding with a matt red paint before you apply the gold size it will make the gold alot richer.

Michelle and Andy,

In another life I did a lot of gilding in the course of doing sign work. Surface gilding, as you are doing, is fairly straightforward.

One note about gold leaf - all gold leaf is not created equal. There are different types and grades of leaf: loose leaf, as the name implies, is loose in a book, interleaved with paper; patent (transfer) leaf is lightly adhered to the papers in the book and is used for smooth surface work; loose leaf comes in both surface grade and glass grade, the glass grade being thinner and better; there are also the many different types of imitation leaf, mostly made of aluminum, and these are cheap crap for temporary or hobby work only.

The surface to be gilded must be clean and free of all contaminants, of course. If steel, it should be completely painted and thoroughly cured before attempting the gilding. If there is any doubt about the paint being totally dry and cured, test a small area to see if the leaf will stick to it. If it does, then you need to coat the entire surface and the surrounding area to prevent the leaf from sticking where you don't want it to. Traditionally, this is done by rubbing the surface with a raw, cut potato. The starches present in the potato juice will dry on the surface and act as a resist to the leaf, but won't interfere with the sizing.

Sizing does indeed come in more than one grade. The quick size is basically a varnish and the slow size is more like linseed oil. Quick size is ready in anywhere form one to two hours depending on weather, and oil size is ready anywhere from twelve to thirty-six hours. The oil size is preferred wherever possible due to the higher burnish you can attain with it and better life. For interior work, quick size may be fine, as long as it will allow you sufficient "open" time to get the job done. If it dries too hard you'll have to re-size and this can affect areas already gilded. I prefer oil size due to the much longer open time. With either size, if it is difficult to see where the size has or has not been applied, you can add a few drops of white or light yellow lettering enamel to the size. If yhou've uksed the potato starch resist method, you'll be able to see the sized areas very clearly against the cloudy matte surface of the dried starch.

To tell when the sizing is ready to gild, lightly drag the back of your knuckle across it. It should "squeak" but not feel sticky. If it feels sticky, it is still too wet and will creep through the leaf "drowning" it, as we say.

Getting the loose leaf from the book to the surface is a trick that takes a bit of practice. The preferred method is to use a "gilder's tip", which is a fine squirrel hair brush having just one very narrow row of bristles about 3" wide set in cardboard. You fold the interleaf paper back on the leaf, drag a fingernail across the leaf at the fold, cutting it, and then pick it up with the gilder's tip. The tip will pick up the leaf by static electricity, but if you are having trouble, old timers will drag the tip across their bald heads or a cheek if they're not yet bald, thus charging the tip with a microscopic bit of skin oil. Then, the movement from the book to the work is one smooth motion carrying the leaf and "floating" it onto the surface. Obviously, this work must be done where there is no breeze whatsoever - even your breathing can set the leaf flying.

After the leaf is at the surface, you lightly push it into place with a very soft watercolor brush or similar brush, just using the very tips of the bristles. Don't jam it in hard or you'll inevitably bet sizin on the brush tips and contaminate your leaf. I advise against using your gilding tip for this as you will invariably damage or contaminate it. Once the leaf is stuck down this way you can then press it down further with a ball of cotton wool, (as I believe the call it in Britain.)

Once all the leaf is adhered, and well pressed into place, the next step is burnishing. For this, various things are used. Cotton wool, velvet, etc. - anything that is non-abrasive and soft. Buff the leaf gently to work up a good sheen and then examine it closely for any holidays in the leaf. If tiny, like a pinprick, these can be ignored. If larger, they'll need to be re-leafed. Generally, holidays are the result of the sizing having been a bit thin and dried too much or simply not being there at all. So you'll need to re-size the holidays very carefully and re-leaf them. A magnifier headset and a good light really help in this work, as do very high-quality artist's brushes for detail work with sizing.

For the highest brilliance and best life, gold leaf should not be clear-coated. If the work is being placed where it cannot be touched this is fine, but for a bed headboard you'll have to apply a good clear coat to protect it from abrasion. I would probably use urethane-modified automotive acrylic enamel. You should gild a few test pieces to have on hand for the purpose of testing clear coats and the like. Ideally, these test pieces are done at the same times and by the exact same methods as the work piece, so that their reactions will accurately predict that of the actual work. They also end up being handy samples to have on hand for later sales purposes.

For more on gilding by a real authority in the field, find a copy of "Gold Leaf Techniques" by Raymond J. LeBlanc. That was the bible of gold leaf work for decades and may still be, for all I know.

I hope this is useful for you, and if you have any further questions feel free to ask. It has been a couple decades since I last did much gilding, but I think I still remember how.