Yo Derek,
Gold leaf eh...Ok
First go read on line how to do gold gilding. Then read it again to get the idea and finally a few days later read it one more time ... just to get the gist of the drift. It is not a very forgiving process. There are also a few videos on you tube worth watching.
You will find that in order to have a glass look to the gold, the under surface or ground that you are laying it down on must be perfectly smooth cuz even the tiniest imperfection will appear in the gold...the proper ground is called bowl which is basically fine ground clay and hide glue and comes in black and iron oxide red. To pull this off in a routed channel in my opinion would be extremely difficult. The leaf is held down with gold leaf sizing which is a varnish that will first dry tacky to the tap of your knuckle. It comes in various drying speeds ~ fast, medium and slow or from one hour up to half a day. Faster is better cuz even the minutest dust particles will show through the leaf. Do not use the acrylic or water based sizing...it sucks. Use the vanish meant for gold leaf. Use an Ox hair brush for laying down the varnish. Assuming that you are successful in brushing the varnish in the channel with out getting any on the sides and then inlaying down the leaf on a dead smooth ground, the leaf should be burnished with a agate stone or smooth glass. Next the problem becomes sealing it with a layer of something clear. I have had great success using a water born polyurethane and then finishing the instrument with the same stuff which will then prevent the edges from separating from the purfling because of shrinkage. Furthermore, real gold is not cheap. Since you wish to have the deep imbedded look I suggest "duch metal" or fake gold leaf which is brass . It is a little thicketr and easier to handle but not by much. It must be sealed with the poly or with lacquer to prevent tarnishing of the metal. It is not advised to burnish dutch metal. It is also cheap. Do not use the crap from art stores.. Purchase your leaf from a reputable gilders supply houses...on line...run google or try these people
http://www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_copy_of_Imitation_Gold.html...
You will also need a guilders tip or brush which is very fine pure squirrel hair to lift the leaf and move the leaf from the book to the cutting pad and then from there to the area where it is to be laid down. There is a special knife for cutting the leaf and a pad of gilders leather to cut it on. You will have to learn how to put a static charge on the brush to pick up the leaf. NO MOVING AIR! Even your breath will blow the leaf off of the guilders tip or brush, it is that delicate.
Ok that is a quick "how to" but is not the way I would go.
I would get a piece of 1/16th inch or slightly thinner black or oxide red acrylic sheet, sand with 600 grit or finer water paper to simulate the bowl, varnish and then lay down the leaf. I would then pour or spray lacquer to a suitable thickness. After curing for 2 or three weeks, I would then cut out the rosette with a spiral down bit just like you would any traditional wooden rosette and inlay it into the top and finish the instrument with lacquer.
By the way, I have seen acrylic sheet material that comes with a leaf finish that would be pretty hard to tell from real leaf once inlaid into the instrument.
I have often laid down leaf into channels for rosettes, Ya it comes out looking rough, however I then start pouring in clear poly and drop filling in various clear colours of poly , browns, reds oranges, yellows and stirring / swirling them into the clear with a needle or pin to get that turtle shell effect. The light enters the clear colours and reflects off the leaf and is quite effective. Some time I have used coloured mica particles instead ... also quite a nice effect.
Here is an old pic of 4 quick and dirty experimental tops and was the first time I ever used this process,only here I used gold mica powders before I attempted it with leaf.
CITIES has its effect on how we now do inlay work so I came up with gold mica powder in acrylic brushed into the rabbits. Then successive fillings of coloured acrylics are build up, allowed to cure hard and finally water sanded down smooth. Once the finish is on, it looks like turtle shell.
I have since started to inlay a double ring of violin purfling around first to help bring out the turtle shell effect. Here you are looking through the bass sound hole, through the oval hole of the guitar, through the uke sound hole to see the mando sound hole on the bottom of the pile
Hope this helps and maybe gives you some ideas.
blessings
Padma
