silver or gold leaf

[jane clifton]

I checked the archives, but I didn't see anything in there. Question: Is there any way to use silver or gold leaf as a backing?
Thanks for any help

Jane

[richsantaclaus]

A backing for what?

Of course you can encase gold leaf or silver leaf but both melts quite easily. In soft glass, we make a thing called a SIS stringer that uses dark ivory + silver making a big blob, then pulling it into a stringer.

[jane clifton]

Sorry, backing for a pendant. When I burnish and then encase(without hitting the silver with the flame) it still looks washed out. Do I just need to use more?
Oh, and I am using boro.

Thanks
Jane

[Evolving Creations]

In my few attempts silver and gold foil just burn up with the working temps of boro. Soft-glass lets you keep the crinkled silver look, but even then you have to be fairly gentle with the heat. Would be nice but I think it's a lost cause..

[UmaJulz]

I use silver foil inside of vortex marbles, backed with cobalt. It makes for a nice sparkly star field effect, though not a crinkled silver look that you might be going for.

Let us know how your experiments come out.

[jane clifton]

Thanks all, I am having some luck with getting more than the sparkly effect with a softer flame and many layers. The hardest part is to get the backing to stick after I burnish it all in, but I'll let you know.

Thanks

Jane

[maui greenstone]

Jane make your bead or pendant and leave the backing clear. then use the fire on gold enamel I believe Dunlop makes it or Engelhardt can't remember which one is the current manufacturer. Or apply gold leaf when cold and seal it with a clear coat enamel.