07/23 Adding Gold: Keum-boo
Saturday, July 23, 2022
2:00 - 5:00 pm PDT
Instructor: Julia Lowther
Zoom link and instructions for joining the call will be emailed 1 day prior to class.
The class supply list is below and contains links to buy the supplies you need.
This class will be recorded, and the recording will be available for students to access through their Little Metal Foxes accounts for a full month after the live class.
Keum-boo (also Geumbu, Kum-Boo or Kum-bu meaning "attached gold") is an ancient Korean gilding technique used to apply thin sheets of gold foil to silver. Possible examples of this technique have been dated to the second half of the first millennium B.C. and from the early first millennium A.D.
Traditionally, this technique is accomplished by first depleting a surface of sterling silver to add a thin layer of fine silver. Next, a piece of 24-carat gold foil is permanently applied to the surface with heat and pressure.
Students will learn Kumboo through demonstrations and will produce a piece as an example of the technique. Students should be at an intermediate level, but all levels are welcome.
Skill Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Supply List for Students
The links below will take you to RioGrande.com or other suppliers. To see prices for precious metal items, you need a free Rio Grande account. Registered Little Metal Foxes students can access the Rio for Schools program for significant savings (discounts and flat-rate shipping). This site may contain Amazon and other affiliate links. If you purchase something through the link, at no cost to you, we may receive a small commission on qualifying purchases.
Recommended Supplies:
- Kum-boo foil (23.5K yellow gold) - 623013
- A finished piece of work in sterling or fine silver (ALL soldering completed, but stones not set!) TIP: Just learning? Start with a flat or nearly flat piece with little or no texture.
- Tracing paper (Amazon)
- Baking soda
Recommended Tools:
- Electric hot plate (Amazon)
- 22ga brass sheet - 130122 (6” square, to cover the electric coil on the hot plate)
- Universal shears - 111253
- Surface thermometer (wood stove) (Amazon)
- Joyce Chen Unlimited scissors (Amazon)
- EC Lyons : Burnisher/Scraper Combo Etching Tool (Amazon)
- Burnisher - agate - 111362
- Heat resistant gloves (Amazon)
- Long utility tweezers - 115100
- Fine point tweezers - 115018
- Wooden chopstick or skewer
- Torch & soldering area
- Pickle (sodium bisulfate) & pickle pot
- Brass brush -113172
- Loupe - 113780
- Patina - Liver of Sulfur gel - 331033
- Polishing cloth - 337039