Clavichord Day 17 - Gold Leaf

This was an exciting day, since we got to finish up on the decoration of the instrument!

First, a couple of coats of shellac were put onto the tortoiseshell to seal it in and give it a shine.


Then, at long last, the tape was removed! Here is the lid and toolbox cover, with the pattern all completed.


Of course, that is not the final product. We want these panels of tortoiseshell to be framed by bands of gold leaf. We decided on bands 1/8" wide, but we wanted to test a small area to see how that would look. First, we masked at that width.


Then, to prime the raw wood, we used a red sealant made by Rolco. The added bonus we found from this product is that it develops a tacky feel after a few minutes. So, rather than seal the wood and then apply a glue sizing later, we did it all in one step.


Painting on the sealer/sizing:


Once the sealer was tacky, on came the gold metal leaf.



A look at the test piece, perfect!


The rest of the case, lid, fallboard, and toolbox were also leafed.


And FINALLY, we have finished the decorating! Before and after:




Before we are technically done with the case, a few finishing touches remain (plus the oiling and waxing), but the hard part is done!