OT: Turning stainless into copper

[Dan White]

Anybody have any experience with taking brushed stainless and making it look like copper? I picked up some copper paint and will try that, but I have doubts...

dwhite

[rllipham]

Is that alchemy or witch craft?

[Glen]

Do a google search on Electroplating and you will find some kits. I don't remember the URL I found, but kits with everything you needed for a small project ran about $30 including an electrical device to charge the object you are plating and the chemical solution that contains the copper to plate. I am planning on applying new plating to some of my planes. Good luck.

[Glen]

Try the following URL

Let me know how it goes if you try it. Glen

[Dave Balderstone]

Isn't copper cheaper than stainless? Sounds like making cherry look like pine...

[Dan White]

Thanks Glen. I actually have a rather large amount to do, but I'll give it a further looking into. If I use this kit I will get back to you.

dwhite

[Dan White]

Maybe, but aren't there situations where pine is a better fit than cherry? I'm renovating a store and the stainless look doesn't fit anymore. I certainly could live with it, but copper will bring out other copper accents I have in the flooring and walls.

dwhite

[Sbtypesetter]

Take it to an electroplater. The copper is the substrate for chrome. A lot of the money involved in plating is in the prep work and buffing. Do this yourself, have the plater do the copper and it should be reasonable. BTW...copper will look very beautiful for a very short time. You'll need to spray it with an occlusive clear finish to keep the bright look.

-Rick

[Dan White]

OK thanks. I'm gathering that not too many have tried paint on type copper. I'm not sure that I really need a perfect real copper finish, just something that has a copper look to it that doesn't look cheap or tacky. I'll have to check into the electroplating idea, too.

dwhite

[Bruce]

A few weeks ago someone here was looking for a good "gold" plating. I remembered something from my modeling days that applied as a rub on paste (basically a thick paint in a tube). After it dried, you could buff it out with a soft cloth for an excellent silver, gold, and yes, copper. A poster replied that it was called "rub -n- buff" or something similar. Check your local arts and crafts store. It was in smallish acrylic paint tubes. Stainless usually has a rough surface so it should adhere quite well. You could then spray it with a clear lacquer type finish to protect it. The cost for lots of square footage would probably be high, but way less then true plating.

This may be the stuff here:

[J. Clarke]

Hardly. Price copper cookware vs stainless.

[Dan White]

need to make look like copper.

thanks, dwhite

[Dave W]

Hello Dan, In the sailboat world, stainless is now the metal easiest to get for fabricated fittings. Many of us prefer the look of aged bronze. The solution, found by accident, is to have the shiny stainless lightly sandblasted and then exposed to sea water. In a month or so, it looks bronzelike. Hope this helps. Dave

[jaimesummer]

seen lots of powder coated crafts items lately that were made to look like copper with some patina added. It was torch cut steel to start but looked very nice after coating. jaime

[Silvan]

I thought I answered that already? Maybe not. I've used the paint stuff. It makes what you paint look like what you painted covered with copperish paint. It doesn't much resemble copper, though it's definitely copperish.

It degrades to dingy grayish brown bleah very quickly with exposure to air. Like on the order of days or less. To protect it, you'd need to top coat it, but the copper is so fragile it won't stand up to it. I've tried spray lacquer (Deft), spray poly, and some spray "acryclic" craft stuff my wife had. I've also tried brushing poly and shellac. They all have the same effect. The copper comes right off. With the sprays the copper runs right off, leaving you with clear coated substrate with a little copperishness toward the bottom. With the brush, you just get a smeary mess.

All in all, I'd say it ain't what you're looking for in this application. It's really expensive paint too; especially considering how useless it is.

[Dan White]

Thanks. I painted a test piece today and it does resemble copper pretty well. I'm waiting to see how it looks in a couple of days though...and of course I'll see if the copper comes right off when trying to protect it with a clear coat.

dwhite

[Xane T.]

One thing I've used in the past is DecoArt Patio Paint (you can find it in the craft section of Wal-Mart these days). I used the copper one on a giant piece of PVC pipe to make it look like a giant piece of copper pipe (sponge painted to look patina) to make a tabletop fountain with. From a distance it looks like a real copper pipe. The bottle says for concrete/wood/terra cotta (i.e. porous surfaces), so if you use it on metal, you might want to prime it. I didn't prime the PVC though and it still looks fine about three years later, even after being under water.

[Dan White]

Well the stainless in my application is above head level, and more of it is in parts of the ceiling, so it doesn't have to look perfect up close. I'll give that one a look, too.

Thanks, dwhite