Fire - gilding

Working steps of a fire gilding ( mercury-gilding)
Auf Deutsch ansehen : • Die Feuervergoldung
Voir en Francais : • Dorure au mercure

[@silvermoon880]

s town anyone? anyone? anyone??

[@AndrewWolboldt]

Trafa1garS just finished chapter 7....and in the process googled johns house, clockmaking, and now this...it's a great story!

[@tonyahaggard401]

S-town brought me here. An extraordinary story!

[@lillywild9162]

ABSOLUTELY.

[@KennJMusic]

Yep, you guessed it, lol!

[@DLOINS]

yep ha

[@zackyoung3988]

Who else looked this up after listening to S-Town?

[@SpringSweet1213]

ME

[@dhCA]

I looked it up after hearing it on S-Town. I was previously aware of the process by the term Ormalu. It's a very distinctive and elegant finish. I've been collecting mercury for years thinking I would build a mercury vapor capture device and try it one day.

[@pistaccio1st]

moi aussi

[@TheDustin3211]

Me

[@ldorsey38]

YUP!

[@amievosiam]

I got Mad-Hatters disease just watching this. RIP John B.

[@MrMasterofGold]

The purpose of this video is to demonstrate the main steps of fire-gilding and to show that this technique can still be used today. There might be devices and other working steps which are not shown in this video.Dealing with mercury is dangerous. Therfore I use a specially developed filter system to treat the toxic vapors. This method of gilding metallic objects was formerly widespread, but fell into disuse as the dangers of mercury toxicity became known.

[@Al-ny8dk]

I went to Kathmandu looking for this once. It can only be done by one caste. I bought a copper vase and asked them to do gilded triangles on the surface so I could film it and try it myself. They used a tiny bit of gold and a tiny bit of mercury and smeared it on with a small palette knife - like butter - before firing. I had no idea it was so harmful but subsequent research discovered this and I saw no way to do it myself without a serious extraction tank system. Fascinating to see the technique reaching huge audiences now after S-Town. Most people use electro-plating methods to do it today but the effect is a very thin film rather than the textured depth of fire-gilding.

[@MrMasterofGold]

@fniniel The first is applying mercury water afterwards the gold-amalgam is applied on the item's surface. Then it's 'fumed off'/vaporized thanks to the use of fire or heat. The mercury vaporizes and the pure gold remains on the surface where it has formed an alloying with the bronze surface.

[@miken1819]

RIP JB....Tyler don't say anything...

[@matthewseabolt7342]

Lmao

[@CS-gm9lc]

so tyler found the gold?

[@MrMasterofGold]

Thanks. I am using filter tech. in order to absorb the mercury vapor.

[@MrMasterofGold]

@fniniel No goldleafs are used. It's a gold-amalgam which is applied on the item's surface through heat.

[@Lowellbert]

Here from S Town..... holy eff

[@kevingirling8129]

Excellent video, I always wondered how it was done on the gilt ormolu mounts of French furniture. Thank you.

[@649348206]

Many thanks for this nice video,could you tell me please how to make the mercury water?also the gold amalgam composicion,regards from Spain

[@pixelpatter01]

If you have to ask you shouldn't be doing this.

[@yettobseen]

Hello, what is the “mercury water” that you brush on before the amalgam?

[@razzmatazz841]

A Motherfucking gold plated dime!!!!

[@Halfy06]

Lmao

[@declanthiele]

Everyone here talking about s-town and I'm just wondering wtf is s-town and why isn't everyone here for the guilding techniques

[@razzlejazzles]

It is a podcast about a Clock Fixer named John B. He would fire gild and is thought to have suffered from mad hatters disease. Mad hatters disease arises from exposure to mercury.

[@callsignsarin221]

I'm just discovering podcast and S-Town was recommended for me to listen to. It is such a deep dive and full of so many twist. It was such a good listen. I fell in love with this pod cast and couldn't stop till I binged the whole series. I'm here to see what John B. did to better understand what happened to him. RIP JBM

[@ATED2011]

Thank you for posting this. I think that the confusion still remains within the difference between leaf and the amalgam. Pure gold is dissolved into mercury to create the amalgam in simple terms. It is a highly toxic procedure and in addition the mercury gives off vapor at room temperature, not just when heated. In the 18th century when this process was used extensively for watch parts and related items, blindness was a common result of direct mercury vapor exposure from fire gilding.

[@vs-Indian]

Excellent, well said. Especially used for french Watches

[@MrSanthu1985]

Sir I'm a goldsmith of India... kindly teach me how to prepare an amalgam paste... gold and mercury usage proportion ?? It's my humble request.

[@joeryckebosch8609]

John B. did this too much.

[@ElkundEklund]

Whatever you do, do not try to imitate this. This video scares me to death. Dirk Meyer - you must describe your filter technique better in detail and how to buy it. I read on your site that you have patented it. You still have to share it to the world now that this video is inspiring people to poison themselves and the environment.

[@kristenboothe]

4/25/17 and you're at 54k views - how many before s town?

[@MrSanthu1985]

May I have the recipe for amalgam preparation? Kindly tell me how to make amalgam

[@СтепанВолощук-о3ы]

Візьміть трохи золотого пилу...або трохи сусального золота і змішайте з металевою ртуттю... Ртуть почне розчиняти золото...

[@sonuverma2796]

Can you tell me how to make amalgam paste and mercury water

[@fniniel]

goldleaf cant burn with fire. Is it Fireproof?

[@TheoKaraouzas-jm8xu]

nothing to do with goldleafs and at any moment goldleafs are applied on the item. "Fire-gilding or Wash-gilding is a process by which an amalgam of gold is applied to metallic surfaces, the mercury being subsequently volatilized, leaving a film of gold

[@jackkraken3888]

I distinctly remember from s-Town saying one the lines of fire gilding is so rare. I wonder how rare it really is.

[@jamie-ox8sg]

Extremely dangerous mercury vapor is stupidly poisonous who ever this is I hope you have taken the nessasery steps to cool the mercury vapor back to a liquid and have not put your self or others risk i hope this was also done in a fume hood with an extractor fan

[@lenny108]

Where is the gold?

[@peserey]

Hi, thanks for video. i have a question. What is mercury water? Mercury Nitrat? thank u.

[@georgekeller5619]

Can you please post more videos / more information on how to recreate this amazing and ancient process?

[@mjremy2605]

What a beautiful demonstration of the mercury fire gilding technique! I never understood how this gilded effect was done on museum pieces. Now I understand the process better and appreciate the work involved. 1. Did you use an acid bath to clean the candlestick or was that plain water? 2. What type of acid is typically used? Any dilution rate with water? 3. Isn't mercury very dangerous to be exposed to and handle? How did you protect yourself? Those gloves looked flimsy and I could not see a face mask. I would be very concerned with any exposure to mercury and cancer illness. 4. That was an ordinary propane torch, right? Not Butane or MAPP gas (methylacetylene-propadiene propane)? Thank you for an excellent demo, Dirk!

[@vs-Indian]

I am very curious, what material is it? Is it gold candle or bronze?

[@RollaArtis]

Very interesting to watch - but I think there is some more work in the finishing process to bring out the lustre. According to Rees Cyclopedia (C.1810) they used 'gilding wax' whatever that was. Maybe you have a video of this? BTW you forgot to mention that Mercury vapour is highly toxic, hopefully you had some kind of protective measures in place.

[@Tmanaz480]

This falls just short of a snuff film.

[@fniniel]

do i put goldleaf first in the item or a mercury water gives a brilliant look when it reacts it into fire?/!!!!!!

[@rayminazzi2065]

if I make a specifically designed still can I put small objects in and recapture the mercury

[@badtasteinmusic23]

Hello anyone know where I can get the mercury water and amalgam

[@victorunbea8451]

Dunno if you're still interested but amalgam can be easily made by dissolving gold in mercury. This is done by simply dropping some gold into mercury metal and then waiting for a bit. Gold leaf is a good alternative as it will dissolve faster. Try it on some small samples until you hit the right ratio of gold to mercury. Mercury water is mercury salt dissolved in distilled water. There are few salts that dissolve in water tho so your best bet would be either mercury(II) nitrate or mercury acetate. WARNING! MERCURY COMPOUNDS AND VAPOR ARE EXCEEDINGLY TOXIC AND DANGEROUS. Some can quickly pass through latex gloves and skin so be extra careful.

[@СтепанВолощук-о3ы]

Навіщо вам це?

[@MrMasterofGold]

@fniniel You can't buy the necessary materials. They have to be produced by your-self. Thank you for the compliment concerning my work.

[@mjremy2605]

Wow, this is very dangerous. To make the gilding paint, you need to handle mercury. Then paint it on, then the fumes when you burn it. One tiny bit in your lungs, and you have major health issues. Deadly toxic. But I so badly want to do this for a clock I have. I need to gild it. Please can you share the recipe or make some gold paint for me? I'll be happy to buy it from you. I'm restoring an old gilded French clock from my mother which broke and had to be repaired. Please help me find the paint, and also can you share the filter mask and ventilation you use? You are the only one who can help.

[@СтепанВолощук-о3ы]

​@@mjremy2605 Шановний...краще віддайте спеціалістам з гальванічного золочення...

[@superbadmofo1]

MR. Mastero.....Do appreciate the vid, lots of great info but can you please make an updated 4k one...its pass due...

[@ralphcn]

Great demostration! But can you recover mercury vapor?

[@СтепанВолощук-о3ы]

Пропустіть пари ртуті через холодну воду...ртуть конденсується у воді..

[@danielda4471]

What/who in earth is S town?

[@MsAuraGirly]

It's a podcast, and the main person it revolves around uses this technique when restoring clocks etc. It's worth listening to, it's a brutal but beautiful discussion and look at life.

[@danielda4471]

Oh so I guess i'm the only one in here that knew what was fire gilding without being part of the cool S town group haha thank you! : )

[@jamesjefferson1059]

How much of the mercury is recycled?

[@yettobseen]

Is it possible to send you something to be gilded?

[@tinilunaful]

It actually has nothing to do with goldleafs and at any moment goldleafs are applied on the item. "Fire-gilding or Wash-gilding is a process by which an amalgam of gold is applied to metallic surfaces, the mercury being subsequently volatilized, leaving a film of gold ... ." (wikipedia)

[@benjaminjanssens3862]

This is extremely toxic, do you use professional ventilation and mouth protection?

[@topflightenglish5272]

This looks extremely dangerous. I'm not even sure the gloves will protect against the mercury, let alone the use of a blowtorch which must produce mercury gas. Is this man still alive?

[@ancientsurvival]

Liquid mercury isn't dangerous on the skin unless you have an open wound. Of course, I'm not recommending this, but you can safely put an ungloved hand in it. I'm unsure about the vapours. Perhaps he wore a mask?

[@melissafarrugia9531]

@@ancientsurvival gloves were upgraded because a lady died because it seemed through a glove in a laboratory she worked at.

[@kef103]

I would love to see this in high resolution. Only is 360p

[@synthmaniacmoog2607]

Hi Do you take commissions?

[@kaushiksoni8989]

What apply base coting

[@WheelsRCool]

Hello there, was wondering, where can I learn to do this? And where/how does one acquire the filtration system for the mercury? Thanks

[@felixarbable]

Nobody will teach you this but its not hard to work out

[@Stormin_Norman_1066]

This video is amazing, thank you, Master of Gold! Is this process the same on steel? How do you prepare the mercury water?

[@Stormin_Norman_1066]

Please forgive me if these are trade secrets you cannot share, I completely understand.

[@victorunbea8451]

WARNING! MERCURY COMPOUNDS AND VAPOR ARE EXCEEDINGLY TOXIC AND DANGEROUS. USE THICK GLOVES (PREFERABLY MULTIPLE PAIRS MADE OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS SUCH AS LATEX WITH NITRILE) AND A RESPIRATOR ESPECIALLY WHEN HANDLING ORGANIC ONES.* It's most likely a mercury salt dissolved in deionized or distilled water. The best option would be mercury(II) nitrate, which is one of the few soluble salts. Another option is mercury acetate. When touching the base metal a redox substitution occurs where the mercury ions in the salt solution switch places with the atoms on the surface of the base metal. *The case of Karen Wetterhahn where she accidentally spilled a few drops of organic dimethylmercury on her gloves. Note that she was wearing multiple pairs and washed it off immediately but still died in horrible circumstances. Mercury is not a joke and should not be treated as one.

[@СтепанВолощук-о3ы]

Золочення на амальгаму має сенс лише у випадку досягнення особливої стійкості позолоти до пошкоджень.. У всіх інших випадках можна застосовувати гальванічне золочення..або гаряче ефірне чи йодисте золочення...

[@big3ye378]

Superb, very interesting

[@coltoncarley5862]

This doesn't look as complicated as S Town said!

[@graftongodofmemes]

Colton Carley i thought the same thing, then i did some research and found out the guilding itself is easy but preparing the amalgam is very complicated and needs an experienced eye to complete it correctly correctly.

[@i077]

The complicated part of restoring an antique clock is figuring out which parts are after factories and how to disassemble and reassemble without any diagrams. Fire gilding is just an incredibly dangerous and possibly illegal gold plating technique.

[@fniniel]

i dont get it...seems like a goldleafted result. wHere i can buy that materials..a greatful helpful it to me.. a million thnks.. Bravo.. Splendid work

[@MaghoxFr]

Amazing.

[@mickball2710]

great video but extremely distracting music , bin it!

[@СтепанВолощук-о3ы]

118 тис. Переглядів... Уявляєте скільком людям це відео може нашкодити? Коли пропонуєте до перегляду настільки шкідливу технологію..будь ласка показуйте і усі небезпеки та засоби їх усунення щоб не нашкодити довкіллю чи тому хто практикує такі методи золочення...!!!

[@quintonburkham9026]

very beautiful thank you Pikachu

[@jessesearls1389]

That's a very interesting and informative clip. But, sorry... I wouldn't ever get involved with that technique... in the last step you are vaporizing the mercury out of the amalgum you applied to leave the gold. All the mercury is going into the air - even if you have good extraction, the mercury is going into the air outside. I've worked with mercury a fair bit, but I'd never heat it. Otherwise very interesting work. And, there are alternatives - including water based gold solutions which will plate out on many materials and not expose you to any mercury.

[@dcarbs2979]

That's why most of the early practitioners died under 40 and France banned the technique in the early 19th century!

[@paulrosa6173]

Ormolu mounts on 18th century French furniture used this technique but the result is always a bright gold finish. The candle stick arm you just did looks like it was only painted. Actually it looked better before you gilded it. What happened to the bright shine? Could you possibly show another video that explains how the amalgam is made? I understand you have to use a ventilating hood but that wasn't very obvious. It's very possible English is a second language for you but the sentence " "applying " and "exploding" the amalgam becomes in a concluded work-tagle works on." Is not an intelligible English sentence. I don't mean to sound too critical (and I only speak English) but it just doesn't make any sense.

[@darkzerk7]

Ormolu mounts were not just fire-gilded, they were also buffed and polished manually with an agate stone which could take hours upon hours until the ormolu finally shines brightly. That's why these antiques cost an incredible amount of money. They were only made for churches and high royalty.

[@paulrosa6173]

@@darkzerk7 I know the process but have never actually seen anyone do it until this video. As I understand the methods the bronze mount itself is given a thorough going over with chisels and files to sharpen and refine the metal details even before it is gilded. The sand casting will leave a matt finish with some roughness in places, especially where the molds parted. . People who aren't familiar with 18th century furniture may see it as pretty - even overly fussy - but may not realize how much time and effort went into this stuff. And without ventilation the fire gilders could get "dain bramage" and tended to die young or mentally impaired. I understand that Napoleon outlawed the practice. It's more than a fashion or "look". It deserves large respect. The medre world with so much more ease of and volume of production has a harder time showing respect for what it produces. Modern production may not actually be so easy except that so much is not the result of direct human contact. I didn't know about the agate stone for metal. I know it's used on gilding over wood or plaster. They can come in a variety of shapes too, apparently. I've never had the income to get into real hands on work with the materials and methods.. It wasn't just made for Churches and royalty. Anyone with great wealth could have gilded furniture and objets d"art. I suppose the process of gilding bronze is very old? The colosseum had very large gilded bronze ornaments like perfume burners, statuary, vases etc, The perfume burners were used to try to mask the disgusting odor of human and animal excrement and blood and I suppose they were gilded using something like the process used for ormolu?

[@darkzerk7]

@@paulrosa6173 You're right. Anyone with great wealth had ormolu pilasters, ornaments, embellished furniture. It's as old as ancient Egypt, so 2.000 BC. An incredibly old process. Strange that it only resurfaced in late medieval France, in the interim period most gilded objects were gold leaf.

[@BeMineHryStyles]

[@mukhumor]

Without quantities and safety advice this video is next to useless, unless you just want to watch random stuff.

[@look4keith]

I still don't understand the reason behind this. It was gold when you started, right? Now, it's gold again after you mixed mercury on it. Okay....?

[@osomedude1]

look4keith it's a way to get the gold onto the item. you can't melt the gold then put it on because it will be to hot and fuse with whatever metal you are plating. mercury has a very low boiling point so if you make a gold amalgam you can put it on the item and boil the Mercury away to leave the gold without the gold become too hot and melding with the metal on the item. that would just create a gold alloy.

[@gonabmo6802]

Very toxic

[@spencerhaabs]

I am here because of “s town”

[@Tjelsnes1]

Useless... Without comments..

[@СтепанВолощук-о3ы]

Амальгаму і всі роботи з ртуттю необхідно робити у витяжній шафі... Індивідуальні засоби захисту це фікція...фейк.. Пари ртуті осядуть на стінах...в штукатурці..та меблях.. Всі роботи проводьте у шафі з витягом повітря у бак з водою де ртуть конденсується з парів до стану рідкого металу.. Завжди турбуйтесь про своє здоров'я та оточуючих...