[SCOTSMAN]

Pop the Copper

Here's my first attempt at the hot patina process. All but one of the chemicals arrived from ArtChemicals, the Cupric Nitrate being on back order. I decided I couldn't wait and pressed on anyway. I printed labels so I could keep better track of the chemical blends and colors each was supposed to produce. I learned two things right away. The first is this is a complicated process. The second is you really can't mess it up. I used the method demonstrated by David Marks on his Woodworks show WWK-607.

I started by sanding both sides of the panel with a random orbit sander and 220 grit. I then cleaned the panel with dishsoap and hot water and dried it.

My plan was to lay down a background blend of Traditional Japanese Brown and the orange/brown mixture of Ferric Nitrate/Ferric Chloride, then apply some layers of a Light Green and Traditional Blue patinas. The basic method is to heat the metal to about 220 degrees or the point where water steams when sprayed on, spray on the chemicals, then flame that area. This being a first effort I overheated some areas while underheating others. I also over-flamed some and under-flamed others. Some of the chemicals produce a different color than expected.

You may notice the picture above has a lot of blue and reds and some yellow spots. This was done by design and I was happy with this result. However, the vendor advised me to apply a coat of fine wax (Renaissance) which, unfortunatley, changed the color of the yellow and muted the others. I viewed a video on their website where the demonstrator advised not to wax green or blue patinas, rather to let it cool and apply Permalac laquer. I could not tell from the David Marks DIY page whether I should spray the final coat with water to stop the reaction. He had mentioned spraying off the panel between applications of chemicals, but I am still not clear about this.

In any event, the chemicals continued to react and the panel is much more green than these photos, although it still looks good. I will post more pictures in a later blog, but here are some to give you an idea of the result.

Wow that's so nice. Funny I am contenplating making (as my next project after the Charles Rohlfs chair) an oak or similar arts and crafts lamp for my daughter in law.I intend to incorporate copper into the wooden framed shade it will look neat. Thanks for the tips Alistair

 

[jlsmith5963]

Pop the Copper

Here's my first attempt at the hot patina process. All but one of the chemicals arrived from ArtChemicals, the Cupric Nitrate being on back order. I decided I couldn't wait and pressed on anyway. I printed labels so I could keep better track of the chemical blends and colors each was supposed to produce. I learned two things right away. The first is this is a complicated process. The second is you really can't mess it up. I used the method demonstrated by David Marks on his Woodworks show WWK-607.

I started by sanding both sides of the panel with a random orbit sander and 220 grit. I then cleaned the panel with dishsoap and hot water and dried it.

My plan was to lay down a background blend of Traditional Japanese Brown and the orange/brown mixture of Ferric Nitrate/Ferric Chloride, then apply some layers of a Light Green and Traditional Blue patinas. The basic method is to heat the metal to about 220 degrees or the point where water steams when sprayed on, spray on the chemicals, then flame that area. This being a first effort I overheated some areas while underheating others. I also over-flamed some and under-flamed others. Some of the chemicals produce a different color than expected.

You may notice the picture above has a lot of blue and reds and some yellow spots. This was done by design and I was happy with this result. However, the vendor advised me to apply a coat of fine wax (Renaissance) which, unfortunatley, changed the color of the yellow and muted the others. I viewed a video on their website where the demonstrator advised not to wax green or blue patinas, rather to let it cool and apply Permalac laquer. I could not tell from the David Marks DIY page whether I should spray the final coat with water to stop the reaction. He had mentioned spraying off the panel between applications of chemicals, but I am still not clear about this.

In any event, the chemicals continued to react and the panel is much more green than these photos, although it still looks good. I will post more pictures in a later blog, but here are some to give you an idea of the result.

No test samples for you, eh? Looks good.

 

[bfd]

Pop the Copper

Here's my first attempt at the hot patina process. All but one of the chemicals arrived from ArtChemicals, the Cupric Nitrate being on back order. I decided I couldn't wait and pressed on anyway. I printed labels so I could keep better track of the chemical blends and colors each was supposed to produce. I learned two things right away. The first is this is a complicated process. The second is you really can't mess it up. I used the method demonstrated by David Marks on his Woodworks show WWK-607.

I started by sanding both sides of the panel with a random orbit sander and 220 grit. I then cleaned the panel with dishsoap and hot water and dried it.

My plan was to lay down a background blend of Traditional Japanese Brown and the orange/brown mixture of Ferric Nitrate/Ferric Chloride, then apply some layers of a Light Green and Traditional Blue patinas. The basic method is to heat the metal to about 220 degrees or the point where water steams when sprayed on, spray on the chemicals, then flame that area. This being a first effort I overheated some areas while underheating others. I also over-flamed some and under-flamed others. Some of the chemicals produce a different color than expected.

You may notice the picture above has a lot of blue and reds and some yellow spots. This was done by design and I was happy with this result. However, the vendor advised me to apply a coat of fine wax (Renaissance) which, unfortunatley, changed the color of the yellow and muted the others. I viewed a video on their website where the demonstrator advised not to wax green or blue patinas, rather to let it cool and apply Permalac laquer. I could not tell from the David Marks DIY page whether I should spray the final coat with water to stop the reaction. He had mentioned spraying off the panel between applications of chemicals, but I am still not clear about this.

In any event, the chemicals continued to react and the panel is much more green than these photos, although it still looks good. I will post more pictures in a later blog, but here are some to give you an idea of the result.

Tim,

Great blog and great project so far! The copper patina is wild. I like how you are just going for it and experimenting as you go. Cannot wait to see the finished product.

 

[a1Jim]

Pop the Copper

Here's my first attempt at the hot patina process. All but one of the chemicals arrived from ArtChemicals, the Cupric Nitrate being on back order. I decided I couldn't wait and pressed on anyway. I printed labels so I could keep better track of the chemical blends and colors each was supposed to produce. I learned two things right away. The first is this is a complicated process. The second is you really can't mess it up. I used the method demonstrated by David Marks on his Woodworks show WWK-607.

I started by sanding both sides of the panel with a random orbit sander and 220 grit. I then cleaned the panel with dishsoap and hot water and dried it.

My plan was to lay down a background blend of Traditional Japanese Brown and the orange/brown mixture of Ferric Nitrate/Ferric Chloride, then apply some layers of a Light Green and Traditional Blue patinas. The basic method is to heat the metal to about 220 degrees or the point where water steams when sprayed on, spray on the chemicals, then flame that area. This being a first effort I overheated some areas while underheating others. I also over-flamed some and under-flamed others. Some of the chemicals produce a different color than expected.

You may notice the picture above has a lot of blue and reds and some yellow spots. This was done by design and I was happy with this result. However, the vendor advised me to apply a coat of fine wax (Renaissance) which, unfortunatley, changed the color of the yellow and muted the others. I viewed a video on their website where the demonstrator advised not to wax green or blue patinas, rather to let it cool and apply Permalac laquer. I could not tell from the David Marks DIY page whether I should spray the final coat with water to stop the reaction. He had mentioned spraying off the panel between applications of chemicals, but I am still not clear about this.

In any event, the chemicals continued to react and the panel is much more green than these photos, although it still looks good. I will post more pictures in a later blog, but here are some to give you an idea of the result.

David will be proud of this great job.

 

[newTim]

Pop the Copper

Here's my first attempt at the hot patina process. All but one of the chemicals arrived from ArtChemicals, the Cupric Nitrate being on back order. I decided I couldn't wait and pressed on anyway. I printed labels so I could keep better track of the chemical blends and colors each was supposed to produce. I learned two things right away. The first is this is a complicated process. The second is you really can't mess it up. I used the method demonstrated by David Marks on his Woodworks show WWK-607.

I started by sanding both sides of the panel with a random orbit sander and 220 grit. I then cleaned the panel with dishsoap and hot water and dried it.

My plan was to lay down a background blend of Traditional Japanese Brown and the orange/brown mixture of Ferric Nitrate/Ferric Chloride, then apply some layers of a Light Green and Traditional Blue patinas. The basic method is to heat the metal to about 220 degrees or the point where water steams when sprayed on, spray on the chemicals, then flame that area. This being a first effort I overheated some areas while underheating others. I also over-flamed some and under-flamed others. Some of the chemicals produce a different color than expected.

You may notice the picture above has a lot of blue and reds and some yellow spots. This was done by design and I was happy with this result. However, the vendor advised me to apply a coat of fine wax (Renaissance) which, unfortunatley, changed the color of the yellow and muted the others. I viewed a video on their website where the demonstrator advised not to wax green or blue patinas, rather to let it cool and apply Permalac laquer. I could not tell from the David Marks DIY page whether I should spray the final coat with water to stop the reaction. He had mentioned spraying off the panel between applications of chemicals, but I am still not clear about this.

In any event, the chemicals continued to react and the panel is much more green than these photos, although it still looks good. I will post more pictures in a later blog, but here are some to give you an idea of the result.

Nothing like hearing back from my peers, or in this case my betters. Re test samples. Yeah, that probably is the way to go. Just not my way. I don't think I'm patient enough. And the more I thought about it the more I thought about it. Then I just decided to go for it. Like I said, you can't really mess up.

Thanks again. Stay tuned.

 

[newTim]

Pop the Copper

Here's my first attempt at the hot patina process. All but one of the chemicals arrived from ArtChemicals, the Cupric Nitrate being on back order. I decided I couldn't wait and pressed on anyway. I printed labels so I could keep better track of the chemical blends and colors each was supposed to produce. I learned two things right away. The first is this is a complicated process. The second is you really can't mess it up. I used the method demonstrated by David Marks on his Woodworks show WWK-607.

I started by sanding both sides of the panel with a random orbit sander and 220 grit. I then cleaned the panel with dishsoap and hot water and dried it.

My plan was to lay down a background blend of Traditional Japanese Brown and the orange/brown mixture of Ferric Nitrate/Ferric Chloride, then apply some layers of a Light Green and Traditional Blue patinas. The basic method is to heat the metal to about 220 degrees or the point where water steams when sprayed on, spray on the chemicals, then flame that area. This being a first effort I overheated some areas while underheating others. I also over-flamed some and under-flamed others. Some of the chemicals produce a different color than expected.

You may notice the picture above has a lot of blue and reds and some yellow spots. This was done by design and I was happy with this result. However, the vendor advised me to apply a coat of fine wax (Renaissance) which, unfortunatley, changed the color of the yellow and muted the others. I viewed a video on their website where the demonstrator advised not to wax green or blue patinas, rather to let it cool and apply Permalac laquer. I could not tell from the David Marks DIY page whether I should spray the final coat with water to stop the reaction. He had mentioned spraying off the panel between applications of chemicals, but I am still not clear about this.

In any event, the chemicals continued to react and the panel is much more green than these photos, although it still looks good. I will post more pictures in a later blog, but here are some to give you an idea of the result.

Oh yeah, Scotsman, I meant to also say that there are four ways you can do the lamp. Three cold and one hot. The three cold patina options would be to use a solid metal, metal leaf, or metalic paint to cover the lamp then apply patinas that are made for cold application. David Marks demonstrated these on various projects on his DIY pages. Generally the cold application takes some time to 'cook'. For example, on one of his benches he wrapped the legs in sawdust and let them sit for three weeks. In his classes he uses gold, brass, or copper leaf. I think he just lets the project sit in the sun for awhile, but I don't know. There's a video of his class available on the ArtChemicals webpage.

The fourth or hot technique would be to use a thicker metal sheet or plate, apply a hot patina, then laminate the sheet to a base material like plywood. Lots of info available on the ArtChemicals and Sculpt Nouvau website. It does get confusing, but I guess if you watch and read enough it begins to make sense. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out and please share what you learn.

 

[newTim]

Bent Laminated Stays

There are a number of ways to hold the panel in place. You could cut a rabbet on the inside edge, or you could cut a groove on the inside of the stiles and rails like a cabinet door panel. I chose to stick with the method David Marks used, panel stays. Yet once again, there is an arch to deal with. This time I thought I would just use the top rail as a bending template for a bent lamination to ensure a good fit. The plan was to resaw thin strips 2" wide and just long enough to fit the opening when bent. They would then be cut to fit between the vertical stays. (you can see from the photos how much the panel had 'greened' up since the last photos)

After resawing some strips I sent them through the drum sander for a consistent thickness and to remove saw marks.

I then applied Titebond III to one side and bent them in to place using the gate frame as a bending form then applied clamps.

After some time to cook I ended up with a perfectly fitting laminate. I then sliced it in two pieces on the bandsaw, jointed the edges, and ran them, along with the other stays, through the planer.

Then I marked for the precise angle to fit them between the vertical stays. The cutoff sled is proving to be a valuable tool.

I glued and nailed the bottom stays in place, cut the arch in the panel, and put it all together for fitting. More about all that in the next Blog.

 

[newTim]

Pre-Finish

Nothing real exciting at this point. Just wanted to have a complete blog on this project. I used the Turnlock System and Circle Jig by Milescraft to cut the arch in the panel. I noticed a nice review was posted by Teenagewoodworker on this jig and plan to my experience and thoughts when I get a chance.

The bent laminations fit nicely and the whole thing easily went together, which is a pleasant change from my normal routine.

I installed one side of the stays and left the others so I could finish the frame separate from the panel. Here's is the final fitting before applying finish. BTW, the photo is a faithful representation of the panel's colors.

 

[newTim]

Ready to hang

First… after seeing Trifern's secrets on dyeing I wonder how a door would look? Guess I'll have to give it a try. Anyway, here's the gate with several coats of outdoor oil over some redwood stain. The colors in the photo are pretty accurate. The top picture gives a good comparison of the treated and untreated copper panel.

Once the gate is hung I will post a final blog on this series with photos and some specifications and tips I learned on this project. And I will post some photos on the projects tab. Hope you enjoyed this series as much as I've enjoyed documenting it. I also hope some other LJs build some of these so I can compare finishes and such.

Here's a shot of the back.

 

[stefang]

Ready to hang

First… after seeing Trifern's secrets on dyeing I wonder how a door would look? Guess I'll have to give it a try. Anyway, here's the gate with several coats of outdoor oil over some redwood stain. The colors in the photo are pretty accurate. The top picture gives a good comparison of the treated and untreated copper panel.

Once the gate is hung I will post a final blog on this series with photos and some specifications and tips I learned on this project. And I will post some photos on the projects tab. Hope you enjoyed this series as much as I've enjoyed documenting it. I also hope some other LJs build some of these so I can compare finishes and such.

Here's a shot of the back.

Nice work. Great result.