Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

-----

Gold wrinkle paint on glass for spool cabinet restoration

August 17, 2008

Does anyone know how to recreate the gold wrinkle finish on the back side of the glass inserts in many old spool cabinets?
While I can get the top surface to wrinkle, I cannot figure out how to get the paint to pull away from the glass and wrinkle.



Any help would be appreciated.

Tom Lahey
hobbyist - Orange Park, Florida

---

August 18, 2008

Hi, Tom. There is a good thread here on do-it-yourself wrinkle paint [affil links] which may help you: letter 409.

But do you really have reason to believe the paint was always wrinkled -- that it's not just something that happened from drying out for over a hundred years? In one of my favorite books, "Time and Again" by Jack Finney,
the protagonist is visiting a museum and looking at the women's dresses from the time of your spool cabinets, and wondering how the women of those days could have been satisfied with dresses of such dull & drab colors. I sometimes wondered the same thing.

His instructor has to disabuse him, and me, of the conclusion we jumped to when looking at hundred year old fabrics :-)

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

---

August 20, 2008

Hi, You raise a valid point....
So the issue really boils down to the fact that many (all that I have seen) have the same gold paint, wrinkled.
So in the few cases where there is glass missing or broken, various owners wish to replace them, and keep the uniform texture....that is the challenge.
I guess I could paint one and wait for about 100 yr and see what happens......( or leave a note for the next owner.)

Tom Lahey
- Orange Park, Florida

---

This is in response to the crinkle behind the glass lettered fronts on the spool cabinets. The other day I was eating some Chocolate Hershey Kisses and noticed the VERY thin foil they came wrapped in. The Kisses come in gold wrappers. If you CAREFULLY unwrap the foils, VERY fragile stuff, they unfold into 2 1/2 inch squares. You could make a thin cardboard template the same size as the recesses on the front drawers. Then carefully glue the foils to the template. Let everything dry, put into the drawer front recess and put the glass in place. You would probably get a nice replica of the original. I read on a restorers site the original crinkle look was achieved with lead foil. I don't know if its still available due to lead toxicity. So, you might want to give my tip a try! Good luck!

Laurie Bergeron
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana
October 24, 2011

---

Hi, Laurie.

Hugs and, uh, Kisses® for the great idea!

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 24, 2011