Er, not sure about the word ‘Most’ in your post.
Please check my original post.
Regards
John
PS the word vinyl, often carelessly used, does not mean it’s polyvinylchloride, ie a molecule that contains chlorine.
Vinyl is an organic structure −CH=CH 2 that doesn’t contain it .
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I know, I didn’t think it was worth repeating here 
I work extensively with large format graphics, Oracal and 3M are the two most common suppliers of single color adhesive films for graphics - we call it “sign vinyl” and more often just vinyl. I’m well acquainted with the Oracal catalog.
I read your original post, which is the only reason I replied - to attempt to offer a helpful answer. You noted you have tried 352 and 651. I suggested you look at 351.
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I guess you are consuming enough to buy in quantity directly from Orafol website.
Even there, there only seems to be one finish for the gold color, and they don’t describe it.
They do describe the chrome as either chrome or matte chrome, so I assume the gold to be mirror.
They also state that it is coated both sides, not what I’m looking for.
I use Amazon as my supplier, and it’s surprising how many of the 351 ads describe it as 'mirror’finish.
I hope this gives you some idea of how I have proceeded in my search.
Regards
John
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I only occasionally buy direct from Orafol, it’s rare that I need an entire roll - tho their local distributor is quite pleasant.
Mostly we buy via our sign shops or a sign supply company. McLogan for example will, sell you as little as one yard of any roll they have in stock and they generally stock nearly everything or could be sweet talked into ordering it for you. Sign supply employees tend to be either funky artists, crochety old farts or both and in my experience are always very helpful with questions and helping you track down the right material for your job.
Most any sign shop (they’re all over, sometimes in the form of a mall cart that cuts stickers on the spot) will be happy to sell or give you small amounts of vinyl if they have the color you’re interested in. We’ve found buying from Amazon very iffy in the past - often the material is mislabeled or old stock with bad adhesive.
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You’ve got me to a ‘T’
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If you’re doing a one-off or a small run, you might also consider Rub’n’Buff - it’s a coloured “wax” that becomes pretty darn permanent after you rub it in. I haven’t actually tried it on acrylic, but it’s worked perfectly on wood, and leather - and is matte.
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i was just coming here to post about rub’n’buff. definitely worth a test to see what you think.
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Have you thought about looking at book binding materials? We quite often use gold, silver, copper for inlays when finishing off book covers. Must be a few suppliers over your side of the water. Use real BB material and don’t use Amazon or eBay! Also look at leathercraft suppliers. I use one all the time called Tandy Leather. They can be trusted and sell good products google Tandy Leather, a great time. Good luck
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I brought some foil with me from UK, but I left my blocking press behind - wrong power supply.
Worked for Cox and Wyman in the old days, as a litho chaser. Mixed background, you might say !
John
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I’m a veteran with combat injuries and I did my BB training with Shepherds of London, the holders of the Sangorski books. Our bindery in on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, it’s a very large thatched cottage, beautiful. I combine my book making with leathercraft and pen turning. I had an exhibition in the Mall Galleries in London just before Covid. I worked in the US for a longtime in Dallas/Fort Worth area. Do you find that there are some supplies you can’t get from U.K.?
All the best.
Gareth
GARETH W ROBERTS
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Hi Gareth,
Thanks for the background. I can most simply reciprocate by sending you to www.fanmaker.co.uk.
Somewhat out of date, but will give you a taster !
So far, I’ve been pursuing alternative routes, by trying to utilize my weird collection of background knowledge in novel ways, trying to design and make a fan based on the Staffordshire Hoard gold/garnet work.
Slowly getting there, and learning new techniques on the way.
'Twas ever thus !
John
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Hey John,
That’s interesting, one of my degrees is in forensic archaeology and when there wasn’t any forensic archaeology to do I was looking at domestic archaeology. I love history. Even in Afghanistan i got a bit of downtime, so I would dig some hole and see what would come out.
I want to do a Swarovski effect style pen. But, firstly I want to start off by doing a “Royal” pen for the king’s coronation and I want to use my GF+ to engrave the pen barrel with some key dates.
Stay safe John. Here if you want a chat about good old Blighty.
ATB
Gareth
GARETH W ROBERTS
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Just a recent interest - Prehistory.
We’ve become very interested since we came across “Standing with Stones” a film on YouTube.
We’d like to get to view more US sites, but age is getting in the way of mobility !
Just visited my website, and I’d forgotten that I had deleted most of my background details.
My military was electronics in R.Sigs, with 5 years in Malaysia with Gurkha Sigs.
Interesting times !
John
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You would have to seal it but mica would work. It is possible to use it with gum Arabic and get a paint- like substance but it would still need sealing.
I’ll have to look for that video. My degree was in Classics (ie Greek and Roman mostly) but pre history and paleontology are fascinating.
I totally get the moving around part- besides not being able to fly due to circulatory problems (5 ports and way too many other lines) I’ve broken both hips and had 3 back surgeries. Travel is mainly a dream.
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I’ve just had my high hopes dashed by another failure. I found a product made by(?) LabelOutfitters.com, in 8.5 x 11 sheets. When it arrived this morning, the appearance was exactly right - slightly matte gold.
Problem is, Goldfinger can’t cut through it !
Thinking about it, I begin to suspect that the ‘gold’ products that do laser cut, are vacuum deposited films, only a few hundredths of a micron thick, deposited on a plastic support, whereas this product has an aluminum layer measured in tens of microns, or thousands of times thicker.
Ho hum, back to research.
My next attempt is the ‘matte’ the surface of material that is too shiny for my taste, using 'Bar Keeper’s Friend.
No, that didn’t work !
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You might find this interesting:
Cutting from the back works pretty well with that cardstock, and the pieces “punch out” very cleanly.
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Like it !
I’ll give that a try tomorrow.
John
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I’ve just realized that as part of my design, the ‘gold’ has to be engraved from the front, as well as pierced, so this isn’t going to work for me.
John
It’s a lot of labor but you could gild with gold leaf or deco foil- apply paper tape masking, cut the pattern, weed out the parts that should be gold, apply gilding adhesive, remove masking, apply gilding, brush away excess.
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Yup !
The fundamental reason that I moved past gilding is the effect that all liquids have on such thin pieces of wood, namely they warp in unpredictable ways.
When I first considered the whole project, I assumed my ability to gild with either water gilding or oil gilding would work.
Many months later, having gone down many rabbit holes, but learning a lot along the way, I can finally see a way forward.
When I’ve got there, I’ll post the whole process on a new thread.
John
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