A general heart-felt thank you to everyone who commented - thank you!!!
For anyone interested in this Japanese craft, I have a huge data-base, most of it gifted to me by Madburg (Martin, who is well-known on that other site), which I would be happy to pass on. That would have to be by email, as the files are really big.
Splint - wax on, wait 10 minutes, wax off. It does take some elbow.
Earl - the gold-leaf is in the soap. Eventually, you will see gold-leaf on some projects.
No Bees. No Honey. Bees Lives Matter