Much more practical than this frame is the laying-on apparatus. It can be more easily and securely handled, and the laying on strings can be more easily set.
By means of this simple instrument the sheets of gold-leaf which are laying ready on the cushion and which must be so wide that they not only cover the edge entirely but also protrude about 1/8 inch beyond the gilding boards are transferred on to the sized edge. The sizing must be done with a soft camels hair brush, not too thin and it is essential that the gilding boards also become moistened.
The strings of this laying on apparatus or of the frame must be so far distant from each other that they reach from gilding board to gilding board.
The sheets of gold leaf that have been cut before must then be carefully transferred, one by one, on the sized edge.
To make the gold-leaf adhere to the strings of the frame, the strings are rubbed slightly upon the hair of the head by which means they absorb sufficient fatty substance to hold the light sheets of gold.
If after the gold is laid on it should contain any imperfections or breaks, other portions must be applied to these abrasions. The press is then placed aside until the edge is entirely dry. In treating the upper and lower edges i. e. after the book has been rounded, care must always be taken that in sizing, not too much moisture impregnates the back part of the edges as there is no pressure to prevent the size from running in.
If the gilt-edge is to have lustre and glow by burnishing, great care must be taken to dry the edge well.
An edge, which is not sufficiently dried, will exhibit breaks in the gold on burnishing, and an edge which is too dry will never have the desired lustre.
It is impossible to name the time within which gilt-edges become dry. This depends upon the temperature of the room, the quality of the paper in the book and on the quantity of albumen solution which has been put on the edge.