SCHOOL OF LETTERING 1900′s

gold must appear bright before
you can burnish it. Any dull
])laces (called damp or wet
places) must not be touched
until they disappear. In cold,
damp weather gold dries slow-
er and may be hurried along by
fanning it, or carefully blotting
with soft, clean blotters. Great
care must be exercised in lay-
ing on blotters that they do not
slip and mark the gold. When
gold is thoroughly dry you
will then proceed to burnish
and “patch up.” “Patching up”
is also a term used by sign
painters, and is very essential,
unless job is on windows abo\e
the second floor, where a small
broken place (or crack) in the
“first gild” will not show from
the street, and patching is un-
necessary.

Patching Gold Jobs on Glass

Great care should be exer-
cised in “patching” your gold
jobs, for the fellow who is care-
less is not in demand, and
nothing looks worse than a
poor gild, and by following this
course to the letter you can’t
SH) wrong.

Burnishing the Job

When you are sure the gold
is dry. the next ste]) is to bur-
nish ofif the superfluous gold
(or ragged parts) wMth a nice
clean piece of medicated cotton
(that you can secure at the
drug store for five cents a pack-
age).

You will wipe away all loose
particles into a deep cigar box
that has previously been cov-
ered with a piece of common
wire screen, and is called a
“skewing box,” or a box to save
your scraps of gold leaf in.