gold foil?

Knifemaker87

Knifemaker87

Joined
Jan 2, 2006
Messages
1,073
hey..
a freind of mine gave me some gold foil a while ago.. i dont have any use for it.. and was thinking of selling it.. but is it good for anything in knife making?
thanks
~Chris
 
Wrapping habaki, some Japanese smiths make their habaki from copper then apply gold foil using a torch. I'll try to find more information on the subject.
 
how do you apply it though? you mention a torch.. so you heat it up and then lay it on? this stuff is SO thin that it floats in the air.
please advise
thanks so much
~chris
 
From what I saw the habaki is wrapped in foil, you then apply heat with a torch to melt it onto the copper. I'll try to find some more information.
 
you don't want it to melt exactly nor will you need to get it very close to the melting point. from what I have read, 500-700 will generally do it although that first link gives a slightly broader range to experiement with. Ideally you would heat the steel (or copper) directly and then carefully apply the gold, being sure that every bit of the foil adheres.
 
The habaki is wrapped in paper to measure the length, then the paper is used as a template to cut the foil. The habaki is then wrapped in the foil and creases are made to make the corners permanent. The foil is then removed and bound with iron thread to hold it shut, then the foil is heated and then a strand of solid gold solder is touched to the inside of the seam and fills the gap. The foil is removed and the foil wrapping is slid onto the habaki, it should only slide about half way up. It is then filed so the gold can stretch to fit over the rest of the habaki. The fileing and stretching is done in half inch intervals. The excess foil on the top and bottom are then folded down to cover the rest of the exposed copper but no glue or other adhesives are used to hold it in place. This is the method Miyajima Hiroshi uses. The foil ranges from 0.0055 to 0.008 inch but up to 0.01 can be used if the foil will be engraved.

Roughedges I was actually referring to a Japanese method "fitting decorative foil" kisegane-awase, not the Korean method you mentioned. Although melting the foil was incorrect here also, just melting the solder is needed.
 
i have seen it in Lacquer or Varnish on Japanese wood, like sheaths and handles. i have been thinking about it mixed in heavily in epoxy and used in inlays like i have done with glow powder, maybe a combo of both even. is it the real gold stuff or the craft gold leaf?
-Lou
 
It sounds like you have Gold Leaf. It is normally applied with a brush and some sort of adhesive. i do not know if you can use it like the Habaki Makers, They seem to use a bit heavier material.

Chuck
 
If it's the really thin stuff (floats easily on water and air, sticks to your fingers, etc.) then you have leaf. As has been suggested, it's far, far too thin to be doing some of the traditional techniques mentioned already.

Leaf is usually used for gilding. Sometimes you see it used in calligraphy too.

There's so little gold there, it has very little actual metal value. It's value is as an art supply.
 
If you would ever use some of the celluloid tortoise shell you could back it with the gold leaf. This will allow light to reflect through it to really show it off. Mike
 
Obviously gold leaf. You might apply it to a sheath for something very fancy !!
 
If you get this stuff figured out. (It's all above my head) some gold-plated liners would look great on a lot of knives!! Sticking it in some MYcarta could turn out some cool stuff too. (I'm thinking Thickblack-Gold-thinblack-Gold-Thickblack)
 
If it is leaf, mighty thin.
If it is in fact foil, under an antique tortoise shell handle slab is a great backing.. brings out the lighter shades of the shell. thin tortoise shell is important for bringing out the light reflection through it, but it can be beautiful.
Of course antique shell is important as "new" shell is not legal...tortoise is protected or endangered, or both.
 
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