Gilding on Brass

[brian the brush uk]

Hi gang,
I have been contacted by a church that want their clock faces ( 4 ) restoring to their former glory. The faces are made from brass and are 48" dia, my problem is that the brass will over time oxidise and this could bring the gilding off ? I intend to remove the brass faces from the clocks and get them dipped or sand blasted to bring them back to a good finish but am not sure if I should gild the numerals directly onto the bare brass or prime the areas to be gilded with a metal primer ?
Anybody gilded onto brass before ?? any ideas would be great,

many thanks,
Brian.
www.brianthebrushuk.com

[sentinal43]

i aint got a clue on that one brian never gilded on brass before but i would use a type of metal primer on the numerals first
try zinnser primer for metal that stuff is the dogs ******** ive been told

[Wayne]

Straight onto the brass?..no black ground?....or are they "ring only" faces?

If they are ring only faces- why not have the whole lot blasted and powder coated- then gild the numerals and dots as normal

[pete witney]

I believe if your painting onto copper there's no need to use a primer, but that would be regarding adhesion, don't know about oxidation?

[sentinal43]

i stil would se a primer thogh
just in case the oidation of the brass creeps through the gild
its one of them things im not sure about just playing safe