…Don’t know my way around here yet, and so I didn’t get the
list yet, and so missed any responses to my earlier post. So I’m going
to ask my question again , sorry for the bother. I’m looking for a
fast , easy way (if there is such a critter) to color copper red.
Paint is out, so we’re talking chemical enhancement , hopefully
without some protracted , tedious procedure. The future of Mankind may
depend on it. . . . Then again, it may not. Dar (the sheltech guy)
Hi – I’ve used Rokusho (sp?) patina a couple of times and found that
it turns copper a deep maroon/brown red color. There are some
formulas for it in Oppi Untracht’s Jewelry book.
Laura.
Actually… you know when you heat copper sometimes it turns thoes
very interesting colors… Why not heat it to the point when the
surface color is a dull red… we’re not talking red from the heat as
in temperature… but surface color… don’t pickle the peice…
seal it with wax or clear nail polish. Good Luck!
Amanda
Hey Dar, You can try a book from Richard Hughes/Michael Rowe, called
“The Colouring, Bronzing and Patination of Metals”. It has just about
every metal coloring patina, with pictured results. The book is
expensive @ $79.95 in the Rio Grande catalog you can also try
Amazon.com or Gesswein. They all have 30 day return policy so if the
color process you desire is not there you can return it, minus
shipping costs. Hope that helps, Linda S.
Hi, Dar-
You can get a patina on copper which ranges from cherry red to
burgundy by doing the following:
Flux the copper with a paste flux on both sides. Heat the copper with
your torch until it is dull red, then let it air cool for a full
minute. Your piece will at this point look black. That’s OK. Drop the
copper piece in water, and the black will come off, revealing the red
heat-patina. This is a pretty durable patina. You can polish the
piece with Zam without harming it.
Lee Einer
Dar,
You can achieve a wonderful pinkish to deep maroon red on copper by
heating it to a cherry color and plunging it immediately into salt
water (about a teaspoon to a pint, or even weaker). Some wonderful
effects can be achieved, although the technique is not foolproof. It
seems the dirtier the water the better the effect, but it takes some
experimenting to get consistent results. Also, much seems to depend
on the quality of your local water (I haven’t tried it with distilled
water). The patina seems to hold up for many years without further
tarnishing, although I’m sure it could be scratched off. A pair of
earrings I made about 10 years ago still are as red as the day I made
them - I sealed the surface with Renaissance wax too.
Hope that is helpful,
Sadie
(who lives in Walnut Creek, CA, but is a British Alien! I just love to tell
people I’m an alien when voter registration time rolls around)
Flux the copper with a paste flux on both sides. Heat the copper with your torch until it is dull red, then let it air cool for a full minute.
Heat the copper with your torch until it is bright red, then quench
in boiling water, at a rolling boil.
Brian
B r i a n ? A d a m
E y e g l a s s e s
Auckland NEW ZEALAND
There is a recipe for a patina that turns copper to red. You can
find it in Tim McCreight’s book, “The Complete Metalsmith”. It also
has recipes for green, blue, brown, and grey.
Carol
I'm looking for a fast , easy way (if there is such a critter) to color copper red.
Dar,
The only fast, easy way to color copper red that I know of is with
heat. I’ve never tried it myself so I can’t give you details, but I
saw a brilliant red piece done by a jeweler named Wolf Dosch and heat
was his method. As with most patinas, a sealer was necessary to
preserve it.
Beth
I’m a student so perhaps others know more about this than I do. But
at class, we will heat metal to the temperature for annealing and
then put it immediately in hot boiling water. I do not know why this
works but it changes the metal to a nice red color.
Dianne