Fired gold is an overglaze. That means it is normally applied to a fired glazed item and then fired again. Overglazes may also be applied to porcelain bisque that has not been glazed. This is because of the vitriousness of the porcelain.
Fired gold works best on glazed surfaces. Can be applied to bisque porcelain but will give a matte appearance. If applied to ceramic bisque, it will appear purple.
When applying gold, you need to use a soft bristled brush and use it only for gold. DO NOT clean the brush before use. If it is dirty and you need to clean it, wait until it is thoroughly dry before using it. There are also tools available for various gold applications such as a gold pen, to create fine lines, an edger that helps to create a gold band on plates and useful with a banding wheel.
Before applying gold, clean your glazed surface with alcohol and a soft, lint free cloth. Let dry.
You only need one coat of gold and there is little forgiveness, so use a steady hand. It is difficult to say how much to apply, but it does not take much. It is better to apply too little than too much. Too little is fixable. Smooth out the application, it should appear a light brown and may appear somewhat splotchy.
If you make a mistake, use mineral spirits on a soft cloth and wipe the area down to remove all traces … let dry, then reapply. Take care to not get any on your fingers because it will leave finger prints wherever you touch even tho you cannot see it there.
If you have a complex piece, you may want to apply gold to a portion of the item, fire it and then apply the remainder and fire it again.
Fire to cone 018 for maturity. If you want to soft fire it to cone 020 first, it is easier to correct mistakes. When all is good, then re-fire to maturity. You do not need to stilt items being gold-fired
Have a gold eraser handy to remove errors. The harder (hotter) you fire your item, the more difficult it will be to correct errors.
If you have purple areas, most likely the gold has been applied to thin. If applied too thick, the gold will appear to have cracks in it. If too thin, reapply another thin coat and re-fire. If too thick, you can sometimes apply another thin coat and re-fire at one cone higher.
Being a beginner, you might want to fire cooler to better enable you to make corrections. If you fire to cone 020, you can remove the gold with most any abrasive cleaner. One neat look is to apply gold, fire to cone 020, rub off some of the surface and then fire to maturity. This creates an interesting, antique look.
Clean your brush with mineral spirits or gold cleaner. Do not clean with water.
DO NOT FIRE GOLD and MOTHER OF PEARL IN the same load.
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