DIYbanter - Ref Headstone (Chas)

On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 17:31:45 GMT, Dave
wrote:

. Ref my prev post regarding headstone. As you seem to know about
this,could you please answer the following,or anyone else who may
know. The headstone was re guilded and was fine,however ive now
noticed more yellow appearing even though the writing is dry. To
save complaining again is it possible to guild these spots myself,as
all the stone mason used was yellow Humbrol model paint and then layed
the gold leaf on top. Also if it is possible where do you get the gold
leaf from.Also if succesfull would it be possible in say 10 years time
to remove the guilding and reguild it myself or is this best left to
the profesionals. Oh my prev post was in mid June. Thanks Dave

Prev post and answer if thats any help

Sorry for posting off topic but as ive always got the right answers
from this group i might as well ask. My wife recently died after a
long illness,so straight after the funeral I ordered the headstone for
the grave. Total cost was £1000 of which i paid a 50% deposit. On
Friday the headstone was erected at the grave. However the gold
writing on the grave was still wet and had patches of yellow on. I
phoned the supplier who said it should dry out. I went to check today
only to find the paint was still wet and was now looking a lot worse.
A neighbour has informed me that the gold leaf should be baked on to
the black marble and should be dry on delivery. So before i phone the
supplier again does anyone know how the paint should be applied ie
baked or painted or is it normal to be left to dry in the sun. Any
advice would be a great help thanks Dave

A former memorial mason writes:
The gilding process involves the use of a special paint called size,
usually
yellow, which dries slowly to form a tacky surface to which the gold
leaf is
then applied. Once gilded the face of the stone is scraped clean using
a
sharp 4" wide scraper. The residual smears of size then dry quickly
and are
removed using a very mild abrasive block - I used to use cuttle fish
for
this. The size sealed under the gold leaf in the letters will remain
soft
for some time, especially in cooler weather and it is not unusual for
it to
still be soft when the stone is fixed in place.

You should not see patches of yellow in the letters, if you can see
the
yellow size the letters have not been properly gilded.