Fun Projects | Quick Ship Metals News-Blog

Scrapbooks Say 'I Love You' - copper adds the color

Oct 272011

Cool nights and falling leaves mean the holiday season is fast approaching and with these fun-filled events comes the anxiety of what to give the special people in your life. If you have a tough time coming up with good ideas for gifts that produce more than a yawn when they’re opened, consider the gift that says “I love you” in a special way and most importantly will not become a “re-gifting” item stuck in a closet.

Copper can be applied with a variety of glues and you can even find glue with copper flake that dries to create an embossed finish.

One of the best ways to add color, texture and variety to a scrapbook is by using copper foil, copper sheeting, copper wire, specialty copper ornaments and embellishments created for this popular hobby. If copper isn’t the color you’re looking for, QuickShipMetals.com carries brass foil and aluminum foil and just added stainless steel foil for a more modern techno kind of look.

Memories are the greatest gift you can give, especially to parents or grandparents, but friends and even children love them as well. The best way to preserve and share memories is with a beautiful scrapbook filled with photos and memorabilia that record the important moments in a life well lived. Scrapbooks are a very popular hobby now because it’s fun and it creates a treasure that will become a family heirloom as time goes by.

These colorful and artfully decorated collections may seem daunting at first, but there are many web pages and whole sites dedicated to helping you find that creative artist that is yearning to escape. Here are some suggestions I’ve found inspirational.

The key to pulling off a successful scrapbook project begins with sorting photos you want to use and putting them in an appropriate order for the story you want to tell. It may be chronological for a grandparent or perhaps just a fun book celebrating a child’s birthday. Once you’ve got the images you want to use in the order, the next step is to decide on a theme or color scheme that enhances the story or concept you want to tell.

Copper, brass or aluminum foil can be used to add a metallic frame around a photo, and razzle-dazzle to any page.

One way to tackle this important step is to look for things that trigger an emotional response or personal connection. Stores like Hobby Lobby and others carry huge sections set aside for scrapbooking and it won’t take long for you to find items that work perfectly for your personal design.

You’ll be looking for background colors as well as embellishments for the pages that augment the story or simply add a decorative color or texture. Something as simple as taking a piece of copper wire and bending it into the letters you want to words you want to spell out can really enhance a page.

Framing a photo with copper foil can really make an image stand out, but it also creates an emphasis on the page that is quite dramatic. Little things like copper brads, beads, and sheeting are ideal for creating eye-popping pages your loved ones will treasure for a lifetime.

Copper foil and copper sheeting is easy to work with, adds beautiful color and texture.

Using a piece of thin copper sheeting, you can create a wreath effect for framing an image that is quite dramatic. All it requires is a blunt metal stylus or even a pencil will work if it is sufficiently rounded on the point. Working from the back side with the copper on a soft surface such as a stack of newspaper pages, draw on the metal slowly and carefully to create the wreath pattern. Once the wreath pattern is complete, and the photo attached, you can add colorful flowers to complete the garland effect.

The key to pulling off a stunning scrapbook is to let your imagination run wild and most importantly to have fun. One thing I’ve found to be true with any project I’ve tackled is starting early is critical to enjoying it from beginning to end. If you wait until a week before it is due you’ll create a lot of anxiety and feel so much pressure that you’ll not enjoy yourself and take shortcuts that are disappointing in the end. Plan on doing only one page at a time and you’ll find they stack up quickly.

One tip for layout is to position a photo on a page so the people in the shot are looking onto the page and not off. If the person in the photo is looking directly at the camera it is not as critical, but if they are looking to one side or the other, your page will look more balanced if you position the photo on the page so they are looking onto it and not out of the book’s page.

For all of your scrapbooking projects that call for copper foil, brass foil, aluminum foil, stainless steel foil or copper sheeting, you’ll find the best selection and the best prices and fastest shipping at QuickShipMetals.com. If you’ve never worked with copper or other types of foils in the manner, you might want to get a feel for the various thicknesses that are available. QSM offers a sample pack of copper foil, and a number of different decorative patterns are available in a decorative copper sample pack as well. Since you’re starting your scrapbook project early, you’ve got plenty of time to experiment!

For other ornamental copper items such as beads, letters and brads, go to your local hobby shop or simple do a Google search for scrapbooking with copper!

Stainless Steel Mirror Becomes Mandala in Minnesota Park

Fun Projects, Metal Art

Sep 142011

By Frank Ross

Richard Bonk's Magic Mirror Mandala sculpture is on display beside Silver Lake in Silverwood Park, just northwest of Minneapolis, MN.

Richard Bonk's Magic Mirror Mandala sculpture is on display beside Silver Lake in Silverwood Park, in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, MN.

The challenging aspect of a mirror is the image reflected by them. Mirrors cause us to contemplate the reflection we are confronted with each time we approach one of these remarkable surfaces. Depending upon your personal reaction, this refracted representation may be pleasing or displeasing, but it will always cause one to stop and evaluate the vision beheld before us.

Just as a mirror reflects the aging process of those who stand before it, close examination of a mirror also reveals clues to its own stage in the aging life cycle. For glass mirrors you’ll begin to see the effects of the rear coating as it begins to slowly deteriorate and separate, and woe unto those who drop and break one if you believe there is merit to the storied seven years of bad luck that will follow. Acrylic mirrors eliminate the fragility of glass mirrors but their lifespan is severely shortened by the ravages of exposure to direct sun, or the hand of vandals.

Such was the case for a work of art being displayed in Silverwood Park, located in a northwest suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. This park is located along the shores of Silver Lake, with the primary focus on arts and the environment. In this tranquil setting, only minutes from bustling freeway traffic, visitors are provided the opportunity to relax in tranquil beauty. With such a setting, artists come to be inspired and display their work as well.

Throughout the park a limited number of works are on display, and one piece, Magic Mirror Mandala, is intended to cause visitors to stop and consider the elements of nature around them and the harmony that exists between man and the world we pass through. The artist Richard Bonk, of Minneapolis says he has spent his life considering “nature, the creatures, processes, forms, patterns and textures.”

In his comments about the work he states, “I spent countless hours looking for critters, setting up habitats for them, growing plants, and attempting to capture their essence in art explorations. I have experimented with drawing, painting, printing, sculpture and photography. Most recently I have utilized the computer to capture elements from nature through sound, photography, and other digital data sources, then transform that information from its ‘parent’ into an abstracted aesthetic portrait –often a mandala.”

The mandala is an ancient Sanskrit word that means both center and circle. While the concept of life’s circle and cycles has been used cross culturally over the decades, those who grew up in the 60s you may recall the song by Peter, Paul and Mary titled The Great Mandala. The lyrics to this period protest song challenged people to “take their place on The Great Mandala as it moves through your brief moment of time.”

In this work, Magic Mirror Mandalas, Bonk’s intent was to engage our human perception, in collaboration between outer and inner nature by creating four micro elemental worlds with mirrors. Once installed in the park two issues became readily apparent; the first by a whiff of smoke.

Many artists take advantage of the beauty and tranquility of Silverwood Park to create their own art.

Within the park there are nine designated art circles that have been designated for larger sculptures in addition to other areas where sculptures and other works of art are on display for shorter periods of time, but this particular piece was donated and is on permanent display in a prominent location.

“What’s interesting about this piece of artwork is you see different levels of circular imagery in the mirrors and each quadrant of the circle is planted with plants and the mirrors are oriented north, south, east and west which gives different amounts of light to the different gardens, demonstrating how the various levels of light can cause plants to grow faster or slower depending on their exposure. It’s a little bit of a philosophical mandala mirror kind of thing but it’s also a straight up lesson in gardening that illustrates how plants grow. Although I did learn one lesson that the mirrors get so hot in the late afternoon that it actually set the grass on fire, so now it has some rocks around it so we don’t have a fire danger in the park.”

The next challenge proved to be more devastating to the artwork itself. Moffatt explained that Bork had wanted to use a more durable material such as stainless steel with a mirrored finish but the grant that he acquired to create the work wasn’t significant enough to do it properly, so he settled for using mirrored acrylic and the constant exposure to sun had deteriorated the mirrors to the point that vandals evidently felt they were a good surface to be violated.

Because Silverwood Park is a governmental entity working on a limited budget that depends heavily on donations, Moffatt was required to obtain multiple bids before replacing the damaged mirrors. Evaluation of the bids proved QuickShipMetals.com had the best price, but according to Moffatt, the total experience of doing business with QSM was beneficial beyond just getting a great price.

“I sent a CAD drawing so they could have the proper dimensions, and they custom cut the stainless steel and shipped it right out. I talked with a number of companies in the bid process and besides having the best bid on price, the people at Quick Ship Metals that I ended up working with made it a very easy and pleasant process for me. And, it took less than a week to receive the order,” he said.

The park encompasses 120 acres, which includes 40 acres of lake bottom. An estimated 200,000 visitors each year pass through the park, so if you’re in the Minneapolis area and want to experience a beautiful park appointed with various works of art that complement the environment, check out Silverwood Park.

Considering your own artwork with an eye toward mirror finish stainless steel? Please allow QuickShipMetals.com to work up a price for you. At QSM, the price is always right, custom cuts are never a problem and the service is as dependable as stainless steel!

Copper Adornment Turns Everyday Objects into Art

Fun Projects, Metal Art

Aug 142011

By Frank Ross

If you’ve ever seen a copper clad wastebasket or mailbox embellished with striking illustrations on copper foil, there’s a pretty good chance that it was created by Greg Hentzi, a copper artist who works from his studio in central Massachusetts where his family history is well established. His grandfather was a watchmaker who came to the U. S. from Switzerland, plying his craft at the Waltham watch company for over 30 years, and his father has a room in the Waltham museum that houses his personal collection.

With this background, you might wonder why Greg isn’t in the watch business. The answer is that he, as well as his father, took the wise council of his grandfather to heart. He said, “no Hentzi should work in a factory. He sat there, went blind making watches. So, my father became a salesman,” he explained.

Years later, Greg was a history major with a master’s degree in education, working on a master’s degree in history when he went ice fishing one winter day. He was joined on the ice by an old man he described as looking like Franklin Roosevelt. Sometime during the wait for a bite, his newly acquired companion commented that, “I believe the young people will save the country when Nixon gets through with it.”

Greg Hentzi decorated this mailbox with a drawing of dragonflies alighting on stalks of wheat.

Greg replied, “I’ve got two master’s degrees and I’m going bankrupt.” The old man asked him what he was doing, and he explained that he was trying to make lamps out of old wood planes. The old man’s response was simple in concept but difficult to follow. He advised him to become an artist because an artist can always make money.
The old man’s name was Henry W. Longfellow IV, a descendant of the famous poet who was obviously more skilled with his hands than the written word for he had been in the copper business for over 30 years starting in 1938, until he had retired. One day when these new fishing companions were through ice fishing Greg went over to Longfellow’s home where he was dazzled by a wide array of copper wastebaskets.

That first glimpse of these copper-clad creations was all it took to set the hook into a fisherman who was angling for a new career.

“Those wastebaskets were beautiful, but I didn’t think I wanted to go into that business. I went down to the local hobby shop and they had some copper, so I bought some copper foil and drew some pictures on it and went back up to see him. He asked me again if I wanted to go into the business and I said, yes, very much so. And that’s how I got the introduction.

After his first attempts at drawing on copper, Greg decided he should know something about art, so he took 14 art courses to improve upon his techniques. “Even if you have no talent you can develop a lot of skills in an art course. They can teach you how to draw. So, I started drawing wastebaskets with chickadees on them. If you do anything 10 times you begin to learn how to correct your mistakes. If you want to learn how to tie trout flies, they suggest you tie the same Royal Coachman 25 times and you’ll get better at it. My drawing skills got better and I was able to draw sailboats, then clipper ships and then the birds came in and I was able to draw the deer. So that’s how I got into it,” he explained.

From the basics of drawing images on copper, he progressed to learn about varying the colors through patinas, stains and plating. “With copper, you can antique it and make it different shades and different colors. I was very impressed with how I was able to silver plate it. You just came out with a very pretty object with it (copper) when you were done. So I’ve just gone on to draw 175,000 pictures in copper. It’s always a challenge, every time I draw one. You’ve got to be careful and watch what you’re doing,” he said.

For this box, Hentzi drew a flight of chickadees on pine boughs.

Regarding errors, which are inevitable, he advises, “ Sometimes you can put the copper foil on a piece of glass and use a piece of plastic to rub that line out, but you never really get rid of it totally. When you’re finished with the drawing you can antique it with a black patina and leave that area very dark and it doesn’t show up. When I look back on some of my first drawings they look pretty primitive. I think I’ve come a long way since the first couple of years. But even the first drawings were salable. I took them to stores and people bought them.”

After years of struggling he introduced his work to the Orvis catalog and the volume picked up. Soon his work appeared in all the major catalogs including Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops. He also got an order from Duck’s Unlimited for 3,800 black Labs on copper, but lamented that he was drawing those in his sleep. While those were the big orders, he did not start out that big. In 1973, when he was just starting out he was the creator, salesman and shipping clerk. Once he had enough baskets created, he would load his old convertible down with 100 baskets and hit the road. “I would make the rounds up the coast of New England coast, on the coast of Maine and Cape Cod, calling on small gift shops, and they would buy five or 10,” he said.

“Copper foil is kind of interesting because your forte is what you draw on the foil. I think a lot of people get put off because they can’t draw well and sometimes the foil has problems because the tool doesn’t slide as well. Or, you buy foil and sometimes it has this stain inhibitor on it, that makes the foil nice and shiny but then when you go to put your stain on, it won’t stick to it. Or, if the copper hangs around a long time before you use it, it gets tarnish on it and the tool won’t draw across it. It’s like trying to draw a Bic pen across sandpaper. When the copper foil is new, the surface is slick and it’s like drawing a pen across a piece of ice; it slips very nicely,” he said.
Through experimentation, Greg has discovered that soap is the best solution to combat the challenges of drawing on tarnished copper, but then he cautioned, “You have to wash the soap off.”

To keep up with the demand for his work Greg’s life revolves around copper. “I sit here and draw them every night. I can draw a copper picture in about eight minutes, onto the basket when I really get going. I can do about 15 or 20 drawings in a night from six until 11 and draw until my arm falls off. When I get 15 or 20 done, I go out into the shop in the morning and I polish those and lacquer them,” he said.

Although he has employed others at times, Greg now draws all of his creations by hand and then antiques them before wrapping them around the baskets or mail boxes. Once wrapped on mailboxes, he secures them in place with small rivets. On wastebaskets he uses a Pittsburgh fold to secure the copper but another technique he uses is applying clay to the back of the copper foil. The clay has two benefits. First, it maintains the raised elements of the repoussé drawings and the clay also helps the copper foil stick to the surface of the basket.

Although the downturn in the economy has altered some of his marketing outlets, Greg is now selling his wares on the Internet, but an artist who makes his living making waste baskets the reality is there is little time to waste. “When you have full-time work it’s hard to change very much if you know what I mean. Just in the last couple of years I’ve gone into big pictures measuring 2’x3’. I think if I had gone into those earlier I might have some of them selling them for a couple of thousand dollars apiece now. You can only get so much for a wastebasket or a mailbox,” he said.

Greg’s work can be found online at various sites, but he doesn’t have a website at this time. However, his work is so widespread that a search for copper mailboxes or copper wastebaskets will turn up many options to consider.

Meanwhile, if you’re considering your own artistic inclinations, copper foil is a wonderful medium and you’ll find the best quality at the best price at QuickShipMetals.com.

Multi-Metal Sculptures Challenge the Creative Process

Fun Projects, Metal Art

Jun 152011

Rob Koehl's multi-metal sculpture of a cutthroat trout combines copper and stainless steel on a forged common steel body.

By Frank Ross

Sculpting in a single metal medium such as copper or stainless steel can produce some striking works of art, but combining the two into a single piece to achieve variations in color and texture presents the challenge of joining two dissimilar metals with different bonding and heat dissipating characteristics.

Rob Koehl, a metal sculptor in Cottonwood, Arizona wanted to emphasize the shiny silver back of a trout with the warm red tones of a copper under belly. If you have ever considered working in a multiple-metal medium but avoided it because of the difficulty factor, perhaps you can benefit from Rob’s techniques and tips.

This piece is built on a base of 14 gauge common steel that is forged to achieve the curved body, and then covered with 24 gauge stainless steel on the top and 20 gauge copper sheeting for the fishes belly. Rob uses a plasma cutter, MIG welder and oxy-acetylene torch, and begins the process by drawing out an outline of a fish on the steel with a piece of soapstone. Although the tail gets cut off due to size limitations of his forge, and recreated later, Rob finds that it helps to establish the correct proportions in the beginning. When laying out the trout, he leaves a little extra material to compensate for the curve of the body.

Once the basic shape is cut out, the slag from the plasma cutter is removed and the steel goes into a forge to heat it up for shaping the body using a wooden stump and hammer. Although Rob has done it both ways, his preferred method is to braze the copper onto the steel body first and then clean up the seam by grinding away any excess brass from the brazing process before joining the stainless steel. He begins by annealing the copper, so it is soft and ready to hammer into shape around the curved steel body. The annealing process is achieved by heating the copper in a forge until it is black hot and then dropping it into water. Once the copper has cooled a bit you need to clean up the surface with a finishing pad or brush and treat the surface with silver flux.

“When brazing the copper, you have to bring the area up to heat equally and copper is such a heat sponge so you have to move the torch around quite a bit. It helps to elevate the piece so you can apply the heat from the bottom as well. With brazing you’re not stacking metal like welding. You want to use the capillary action the flux creates to suck the bronze into the gap between the copper and steel. I use Wolverine silver flux with a small brass brazing rod and a number two tip on my torch to join the copper to the common steel. Then I run a bead down that and join the stainless steel next. I’ve found that by attaching the copper first it allows me to braze the copper on better. Ideally you want to get a good half inch of soldered area along that line to make room for the next process,” he explained.

“Once I’ve joined the copper, I hammer it down around the body and go back and clean up the line with a grinder to remove all of the brass so I’m not trying to weld into the brass when I lay down the stainless steel. When forging and joining the other metals together, it’s important to lay the project down on a flat surface to make sure you’ve got a clean line. It will save you a lot of work in the end if you keep the fish flat,” he said.

To complete the look, Rob adds a ferric nitrate patina to bring out the black speckles in the steel in addition to turning the copper a deeper red. “Another technique I’ve found to add color is to heat the metal up and then brush it with a fine brass brush. The brass comes off and attaches itself to the hot surface and adds both color and dimension,” he added.

When the final buffing is done, the result is a trout so beautiful its colors are only challenged by the original cutthroat inspiration.
If you learn better by watching, check out Rob’s YouTube channel for this and other metal working techniques, or learn more about his artwork at robkoehl.com .
For all of your copper, stainless steel or other metal working supplies, shop Rob’s favorite supplier; QuickShipMetals.com.

Stainless Steel Kitchens = Beauty, Simplicity, Durability!

Fun Projects, Simple Solutions

Apr 112011

Adrienne and Jay's kitchen is now as functional as it is beautiful with all new stainless steel surfaces.

Jay’s wife, Adrienne, is a devotee of the Cooking Channel and Jay is a devotee to his wife’s delicious meals. These two factors considered at length, updating their 10-year-old kitchen was a project whose time had come.

While a glass-top cook surface seemed like a great option at the time, over the years it has become particularly problematic, requiring an excessive amount of time to clean and remove streaking after use. Back then, new white appliances were the thing but today smart homeowners are discovering the beauty and simple care required by stainless steel appliances and backsplashes.

Jay also added some classy touches like a small stainless steel shelve under the cooking surface where utensils are stored for easy access.

Once they agreed their stove had to go, Jay got on the Internet and started shopping. Soon after he had installed the new stainless steel stove they realized the microwave, dishwasher, and trash compactor did not match. These appliances were too new to just replace so Jay gave them a face lift with stainless steel replacement panels, however their Kitchen Aide refrigerator proved to be more challenging.

Although this appliance was in great condition, Kitchen Aide no longer made stainless steel replacement panels for this particular model. He widened his search efforts and found an online metal’s company that offered to cut the stainless steel to size but their price quote was $600 and more of a concern they would not guarantee the metal would arrive without scratches or damages in shipping. Also, they would not guarantee him that the edges where they made the cuts would not be unmarred. Combined with the high price of the metal, and the potential that it would arrive unusable with a “sorry about that” attitude from the supplier forced Jay back to the search engines, and that’s when he found a perfect solution for all three concerns.

When Jay discovered Storm Copper and QuickShipMetals.com’s world class customer service department his problems and Internet search soon ended. After calling the toll-free number and explaining his dilemma Jay was provided with a quoted price less than half of the one he received and most important to him, he was assured that the metal was guaranteed to arrive without scratches or dings.

“I talked with a lady at Storm and she said shipping across the country was something they did every day. Even when I explained that we lived in LA, she assured me that my satisfaction was guaranteed. In a few days the order arrived between two sheets of plywood that were strapped together. I cut the strapping and unpacked it to find that it was in perfect condition. I installed it in the doors and the cuts were perfect. The pieces fit like a glove,” he said.

With plenty of room to work, and all stainless steel appliances, the only question now is what's for dinner?

“Now the project is finished and my wife is happy, so I’m happy. The staff at Storm Copper made it possible for us to complete out kitchen project for a very reasonable price and I couldn’t ask for a better ending,” he said.

Based on the photos he sent, their kitchen will be beautiful for many years to come, and one that would compare well with any on the Cooking Channel. Jay also added some classy touches like a small stainless steel shelve under the cooking surface where utensils are stored for easy access.

QuickShipMetals offers standard size brushed-horizontal stainless steel dishwasher door panels (19 1/8″ H x 23 1/2″ W) and standard lower panels (3 11/16″ H x 23 9/16″ W) that fit many models. If the standard size doesn’t work; no problem! Custom cuts are routine.

If you are considering a kitchen face lift that includes stainless steel or any style of copper sheeting or copper foil perhaps you should benefit from Jay’s lengthy Internet search, contact the fine folks that staff QSM’s customer service department. The prices are very competitive and customer satisfaction is second to none!

Toll-Free 1-888-334-2177

Copper Punching, an old technique for modern décor

Fun Projects

Mar 042011

Historically, metal punching was used as a decorative as well as functional addition to cupboard doors, pie safes, wall-mounted candle holders and lanterns. The punched patterns were appealing to the eye, but they also served to provide ventilation and keep out insects, at least the larger varieties.

Use a roller or mallet to smooth the edges before you begin this project.

Typically tin was used because it was inexpensive and readily available. While tin is still commonly used for reproductions, these simple adornments are now applied to copper for a more striking appearance and used in a variety of home décor items.

The techniques are simple and even young children are capable of creating their own works of art. The main qualification is a desire to work with your hands and a few simple tools. Patterns are available at most craft stores, or if you’re inclined and able, you could create your own patterns.

If necessary, adjust the size of the pattern to fit the piece of copper you're using and cut the pattern out so it can be attached to prevent movement.

My second daughter, Olivia, loves to make things and is very enthusiastic about doing anything with a hammer, so when she asked if she could do a metal punching project it occurred to me that this was a great learning opportunity. We home school, and everything we do throughout the day is used as an educational enhancement. Making a cake turns into a math lesson in fractions. Besides being fun, this project opens up several avenues of study from history to science and the practical uses of metal in our daily lives.

To begin, you only need a few simple tools and the techniques are readily learned for even young children. Olivia is 8, but she’s been doing crafts like this for several years. If you’re interested in doing a metal punching project yourself, or involving a youngster, one thing to keep in mind is that it doesn’t have to be perfect the first time. I gathered up the items needed for this project and then let Olivia do her own thing. It took her several hours, mainly because she worked slowly and carefully, taking a few breaks when her hand and hammer arm got tired.

Here’s the list of items you’ll need.

Hammer or mallet
Metal punches or nails of various sizes
Punching pad (a piece of plywood and newspaper)
Tin snips or heavy-duty scissors
Duct tape
Fine steel wool
Roller or some round object such as a bottle
Cotton work gloves
Pattern
Copper sheeting, medium weight

Work carefully and take your time. Holes punched in copper are permanent and immovable.

As I mentioned before, patterns are available at most hobby or craft stores. You’ll also find them on the Internet, but keep in mind that patterns are all around you, both in your home as well as the world around you. Even if you only have the most rudimentary skills in drawing, punching patterns are basically an outline of dots, and how difficult is that to do? If you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, try your own hand at creating a pattern.

Once you’ve got a pattern you’re happy with, you’ll want a piece of copper that is a little larger than the pattern, so you can tape the pattern onto the metal and secure both to the surface of your punching board to ensure that neither moves until you’re done. To adapt the pattern Olivia chose, to the 4”x6” piece of copper we had to work with, I reduced it to 75% of the original size using our home copier.

To reduce noise, and protect the work surface, put several sheets of newspaper under the punching board. We used a scrap piece of ¾” plywood but thinner sheets will work. This particular sea shell pattern required two different size holes and we ended up using two sizes of finishing nails instead of the larger metal punches I had, simply because they made holes that were too large for the size of this pattern.

I’d recommend that you use a scrap piece of metal, the same thickness as you are going to use for your work, so you can experiment with punches of different sizes and also get a feel for how much force it takes to make a hole of the desired size.

Olivia shows off her finished project, framed and ready to display.

Typically the edges of sheet metal are distorted a bit from the process of shearing it to size, so you can use a rubber mallet and tap the edges down or use a roller, which works really well. If you don’t have a roller, you can use a bottle or other firm, round object. You should wear protective gloves when working with metal that has sharp edges that are exposed. Once you’ve got them taped down, it’s not necessary.

Take your time punching the holes, this isn’t a race and once you’ve put a hole in the metal that’s where it will stay.

When you’re finished punching, you need to put those gloves back on because the back side of the metal will have many sharp edges. If the back of the metal is going to be exposed, you’ll need to use a block of wood and metal sandpaper to sand them down smooth. A Dremel tool with a grinding wheel is also handy for removing the burrs. Use a fine grade of steel wool to buff the surface and remove any oils or tape residue that may have accumulated from handling and working the metal. A spray coating of Storm Copper Coat will keep the copper from developing a patina.

Olivia decided to frame her work to display in her room, and she enjoyed copper punching so much, now she wants to do another. Actually, she has several patterns she wants to do, so I better order several sheets or maybe even a small roll . . . .

QuickShipMetals.com has a great selection of copper for any craft project. Give them a call on the toll-free line at 1-888-334-2177 or log onto the “Live Chat” function of the website.

Big Things Brewing at Trident Welding

Copper Curiosities, Fun Projects

Jan 052011

Jesse Lupo (r) and his father, Hubert Hall stand beside a still designed to distill honey vodka for a company in New York.

It is always interesting to see the finished products that are created from the many and varied metals sold here at QuickShipMetals.com. When an ordinary sheet of copper, stainless steel or aluminum makes its way through the order/shipping process and heads out the door, sometimes we get to see it again in photos of its new form.

The uses for our metals are as many and varied as the customers who contact us for our products, for each individual has a vision yearning to be realized. All that is required for shape, form and functionality to be created from raw materials is the melding of a creative mind with the metal that meets their needs.

While photos of beautiful creations created from our copper are received routinely, we recently received this photo from Jesse Lupo at Trident Welding, which is more than a bit unusual. Pictured in the photo are Jesse and his father, Hubert Hall, standing next to a 100-gallon vodka still that was custom made for this specific distilling process. This newly completed still is ready for shipment from his shop in central Maine.

Jesse began his professional life as a carpenter but soon developed an interest in welding. He improved upon his skills and became a boilermaker, doing commercial and industrial types of welding. Since he became very good at precision welding of pipes, his next professional pursuit was Bio-Pharmaceutical welding which requires very critical beads. As his worked progressed it occurred to him that the pipes and projects he was welding had a lot in common with a distillery, and a new business was born.

His current business ambition is twofold. First his commitment is to build high quality stills that exceed his customer’s expectations. And then some day he wants to become a licensed distiller himself, with a focus on flavored rums and specialty blends. Certainly his stills are capable of excellent results.

This 100-gallon column still has a decorative sheeting of quilted copper that adds beauty as well as concealing a layer of insulation.

The first man who purchased one of Jesse’s stills has received a Gold Medal Award for his vodka, so the old axiom, “the proof of the product is in the tasting” holds true. “Our stills are very versatile and you can brew any type of alcohol with slight variations in the design. That’s an advantage we have over our competition. Most companies that build stills only do one or two models and those are your only options take it or leave it. I’m a fabricator, and I’m not married to any one design. If a customer wants something special I’ll build it,” he said.

The stills Jesse builds are made of high-quality stainless steel. The copper is used to remove sulfur during distillation and as a decorative metal, or in some instances to conceal insulation beneath its decorative surface.

Micro breweries and specialty distilleries have become so popular around the country, so there is quite a demand for stills today. With the proper governmental paperwork and a simple pot still, anyone can become a distiller of spirits. If you have such ambitions and an idle welder, we’ve got the metal you’ll need. If you lack the welding skills necessary for such a complex creation, give Jesse a call at Trident Welding, and he’ll call us for the quality metal. He’s got the talent; we’ve got the copper and stainless steel.

For more information on brewing or distilling spirits visit the American Distilling Institute website, the creation of renowned alcohol expert Bill Owens. There’s a ton of information and a forum for friendly advice from others that share the passion for brewing spirits.

Give us a call on our toll-free line at 1-888-334-2177, or check out our extensive line of copper and stainless steel online. We’ve got what you need for even the most ambitious project!

Simple, Safe Patinas From Your Kitchen Cabinet

Fun Projects, Simple Solutions

Dec 292010

By Frank Ross

A piece of hammered copper with a muratic acid patina is contrasted with a sheet of decorative copper that has not been treated.

Patinas are a beautiful part of the copper experience, and while time is the most natural way to achieve a nice patina most people do not want to wait several years for a particular effect to slowly form. Also, a natural patina depends on the ambient chemicals present in the air the copper is exposed to, and that determines the patina coloration. The alternative to waiting and accepting luck-of-the-draw coloration is a chemical application which produces the desired result very quickly. The downside is the exposure to toxic materials that can pose serious health threats, and then the cleanup and disposal of the residue. As discussed in my previous article, Creating Patinas on Copper and Bronze, a wide variety of commercially prepared formulas are available based on the color you desire to achieve. Most, if not all of them, are quite caustic so if you’re looking for a safer option, try using some of the solutions you already have in your home.

Normally I would put the legal disclaimers at the end of an article, but the title of this piece warrants an upfront notice that simple and safe are two relative terms. While simple can be argued from an age or ability standpoint, “safe” is the term that is more of a concern to me. When statements are made that involve the term “safe” people can have a false sense of security. Even mild acids can be painful and harmful in the eyes, and when dealing with sprays there is always the potential for misted liquids to become airborne and land where they were not intended. When using a spray bottle to apply liquids on copper consider the wind direction and always hold the material downwind. Also, before you begin any application you should know what the neutralizer is for any acid you intend to use and have it handy just in case it is needed quickly. Even mild acids can be quite painful. You will want to see the results of your efforts, so always wear safety goggles to protect your eyes and rubber gloves to protect your hands. It is also a good idea to wear old clothes that you won’t mind spoiling.

Now that you’ve got your copper prepared it’s time to say that creating copper patinas is more of an art than a science. Results will vary, sometimes dramatically, so proceed with an open mind.
The first step to any patina project is preparing the metal, and cleaning off the residue of milling, handling and environmental collectives can be handled with a simple washing of dish soap and hot water may be adequate. For more fouled surfaces cleaners that contain trisodium phosphate are more effective, but also more offensive to skin. Avoid cleaners which leave a coat of oxide on the copper surface. You’ll know if the cleaning process has been done properly if you wash the copper off after cleaning and the water sheets uniformly and does not form beads. Beading indicates the presence of oils or contaminates and additional cleaning will be required.

Salt, or sodium chloride, when combined with acetic acid from the vinegar produces sodium acetate and hydrogen chloride. Hydrogen chloride is a strong acid and the combination of it and sodium acetate will quickly clean a copper surface. This cleaning process will give your metal a very pure surface, which will corrode quickly when exposed to water and the combination of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air.

Small pieces of copper can be sprayed with vinegar, sprinkled with salt and put in a sealed plastic or glass container with a dish of cloudy ammonia overnight. The following day, rinse the mixture off and let it dry. The results should be a blue patina on a dark background. You can also embed pieces of copper in sawdust that has been dampened with vinegar. This gives an interesting effect but less colorful.
Another option for a green patina is to mix 1 Tbsp ammonium chloride (Sal ammoniac) with 1 Tbsp salt and 1 ounce of ammonia in a spray bottle with 1 quart of bottled or distilled water. Warm or hot water will help dissolve the dry ingredients more quickly. Spray it on a clean copper surface and let stand for three hours for a nice green color. Repeat several times for increased coloration. Sal ammoniac is not something that you’d normally have in your everyday kitchen, but in the spirit of “safe” chemicals I’m throwing this one in the mix. Although the kitchen aspect of this chemical is rapidly dying due to the general disuse of it as an ingredient, in the past, sal ammoniac has been used by bakers to give cookies a crisp texture. If you don’t use it in your favorite cookie recipe, it is available online from a number of sources.

Another blue-green patina can be achieved by placing a piece of copper in a glass or plastic container and covering it with sawdust saturated with ammonia liberally mixed with salt. In an hour or so you’ll begin to see a nice speckled blue-green surface. Varying the mixture and the density of the sawdust will alter the results, perhaps more to your liking.

Muriatic acid will also produce a pretty blue-green color if diluted, then sprayed on and left over night. You can pick up muriatic acid at your local hardware store. Just remember that muriatic is actually a 20% solution of hydrochloric acid so be very careful that you have adequate ventilation and the safety precautions I covered earlier.

Other colors can be obtained with preparations such as gun bluing chemicals which can produce either a blue or brown effect. Another option for brown coloration would be uric acid, which has used to apply patinas on copper and its alloys brass and brass. The most common source is cow urine. The break-down or the ammonia cycle seals and purifies the rich, brown coloration.

I’m sure there are other chemicals and combinations of chemicals that you will want to try, once you become bitten by the patina bug. These are but a few that are simple, relatively safe, and most readily available for experimentation. The most important part of the process is to do it. Get some copper, create something, and add a patina to the finish. It’s fun, it’s creative, and it’s copper!

For all your copper requirements, logon to QuickShipMetals.com, where you’ll find extensive selections of decorative copper, brass and stainless steel, crafting foils in addition to copper sheet and plating.

For assistance in ordering, click on the link to our live chat or call toll-free at 1-888-324-2177.

A Dazzling Carefree Stainless Steel Kitchen

Fun Projects

Dec 292010

Stainless steel adds beauty and durability to any kitchen.

The Sommers are very excited about their new kitchen and the carefree beauty and durability of stainless steel and granite. “We turned our 1987 out-dated kitchen into our dream kitchen. Having a culinary back ground I felt the necessity to build the kitchen around the hood fan, so I picked out a microwave combo with a 600 CFM vent fan. Then I installed the stainless steel backsplash below it using Liquid Nails. I ordered a 30 x 30 inch backsplash so it would extend several inches lower then my stove. This enabled me to screw the lower part of the back splash to the studs.”

“Then we had the granite installed and butted it right up to the back splash as you can see,” Tom explained.

“The stove is a GE Cafe Radiant Electric range. Their top of the line,” he added.

Tom was so happy with their new kitchen that he posted a video on YouTube so his mother-in-law in Texas could get the full effect.

“We Love our new kitchen,” Tom said.

Want to start on that kitchen of your dreams? Contact our friendly customer service staff and we’ll help you achieve your dreams just like the Sommers.

Call QuickShipMetal.com customer service staff toll-free at 1-888-334-2177, and start your dream kitchen project today!

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Creating Patinas on Copper and Bronze

Fun Projects, Metal Art, Simple Solutions

Nov 102010

By Frank Ross

A torch can create dramatic changes in a copper patina very quickly.

In addition to its many and varied uses in the electrical industry, copper is also the most popular metal for artisans because no other metal has the ability to produce so many rich, beautiful colors by virtue of its own compounds.

For the creatively inclined, the urge to see different and varied color patterns in our environment is as basic an instinct as hunger and thirst. One of the most exciting aspects of working with copper or any of it bronze alloys is the beauty that forms as a film on the metal’s surface through natural weathering or artificially introduced chemical treatments. This chemical film is called a patina and the process patination.

The natural patination process takes time, and depending on the environment impacting a particular piece of metal it may take years. For many, the additional down side to the lengthy natural process is dissatisfaction with the resulting coloration after the long wait. So, it’s not difficult to understand the popularity of hurrying the process along. Expediting this process can be achieved with either heat or chemicals, and the difficulty factor varies from simple to complicated and potentially hazardous.

Although we live in an age of instant gratification, this love affair with man-made patinas is not a recent phenomena. Historically, the use of patinas can be traced all the way back to ancient China, and the earliest periods of bronze casting. Ancient pieces have been unearthed with distinct evidence of chemically induced patinas. While experts speculate over whether the coloration was done for establishing class distinction or simply for decorative beauty, the simple fact that patinas have been around for a very long time is undisputed.

The copper pattern on the left is called Georgia, and on the right is the New York pattern. Both have a patina created by heat. They are set on top of unaltered copper for comparison.

As the sophistication of chemical treatments for creating patinas improved, rivaling those formed naturally, techniques using wax and oil treatments were developed to protect and preserve the coloration. Over the centuries, individual foundries developed secret formulas for distinctive patterns of coloration that came to distinguish their castings. Naturally these formulas became highly guarded secrets that were not divulged. Even today, artisans who develop distinctive formulas guard them carefully; however, there are many formulas that are commonly known and shared freely.

We’ll start with the easiest method, heat, and then move on to commonly available household chemicals that produce good coloration. Once you’re comfortable with the basics, we’ll take on the more complicated methods and formulas.

Heat is one of the simplest methods of achieving varied and interesting color patterns with copper, but it’s difficult to duplicate the colors with regularity or over large areas. Chemical patinas are more predictable and with practice, patience and attention to detail they’re more consistently duplicated. Over the centuries, metal artisans have discovered the key to consistent results requires minimizing the variables by strict adherence to quality materials, exacting measurements and methodical application techniques. This is not a process that can be approached with apple pie techniques which call for pinch of this and a dab of that.

Some of the variables that impacting patina results include the composition of the metal being used, the particular formula selected for application, purity of the chemicals and water used in the formulation, method of application and perhaps most important – surface preparation.

While every step and element of this process is important, you can’t achieve a consistent, quality patina when you start with a dirty surface. All traces of oxidation, oils and contamination must be removed before you apply patina chemicals. The most common offenders that require removal are oils that have accumulated from handling and the manufacturing process. To avoid recontamination and protect your skin as well, use a pair of heavy-duty industrial gloves during the cleaning and rinsing process as well as subsequent handling prior to chemical application.

A fast cleaning process can be achieved with acids or combinations of acids by dipping the copper in an undiluted bath of 50% sulfuric acid and 50% nitric acid for a few seconds, but this is not a method that is practical for home use. A more practical approach requiring minimal physical effort is to soak the metal’s surface in a 10% solution of sulfuric acid for six hours. For metal that is badly oxidized you may have to rub aggressively with a fine grade of steel wool or a Scotchbrite pad. Once the excessive oxidation is removed wash the surface with a good quality detergent and rinse it thoroughly in water, wipe the surface dry with a solvent such as methyl alcohol. Use a clean towel, compressed air or a hair dryer to dry the surface completely and apply your prepared chemicals within a half hour to avoid re-contamination.
As mentioned above, the easiest chemical-free (other than surface preparation) method for producing a wide variety of colors on copper is using heat. Once your metal has been properly cleaned you simply pass a blue gas flame slowly back and forth across the metal’s surface and observe the change in coloration as the temperature rises. The best method of producing the heat is to use a small, hand-held propane torch that is commonly available in any hardware store.

Once you begin to apply heat, you’ll notice that the colors develop slowly and change gradually, beginning with a reddish orange hue. Additional heat will change the reddish orange to a bluish purple. Next you’ll observe a brassy color followed by a darkening red that transitions into a deep purple. The final effect is an iridescent chestnut. Once you see this color develop, remove the heat immediately. If you continue to apply heat after the chestnut color begins to appear the color will flake off and you’ll have to clean the surface again and start the patina process from scratch. There can also be disappointment on the early ends of this color spectrum as the first two colors can partially disappear when the surface is coated. All other colors are permanent, so it is best to stay in the middle of the color spectrum.

Once you’ve achieved a patina that is pleasing to your eye, the next step is to protect the colors you’ve achieved. You can apply a wax such as Johnson’s Paste Wax while the metal is still warm or wait until it has cooled to apply a coating of lacquer. If you apply wax, once the metal has cooled you’ll need to buff the waxed surface to get a polished appearance.

In our next installment we’ll experiment with common household chemicals and you’ll be amazed at the results you can achieve.

QuickShipMetals.com offers a number of decorative copper styles for your patination.

Hammered – NY