Copper Leaf Bowl

[June Talvitie-Siple]

I wanted to try my hand at using copper leaf as a design element, so I carved a small bowl (ginkgo leaves again) and followed some instructions from a YouTube video. All seemed to go well until I applied a poly-acrylic lacquer to protect the copper from tarnishing. That did not do what I wanted. In fact, it tarnished the copper, so I had to lay a new layer of copper over the first layer. Question: what suggestions would you make to seal the copper?

 

[Michael Anderson]

Hi June! Nice bowl, btw. I don’t think the tarnish looks bad, to be honest. Gives it more of an aged copper look. That said, obviously it’s not what you were striving for. I don’t have any experience with copper leaf, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I would suspect that spray shellac might be the most friendly option? Or, even laying down a polymerized oil first, and then going for the spray shellac to seal it in.

 

[June Talvitie-Siple]

Hi June! Nice bowl, btw. I don’t think the tarnish looks bad, to be honest. Gives it more of an aged copper look. That said, obviously it’s not what you were striving for. I don’t have any experience with copper leaf, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I would suspect that spray shellac might be the most friendly option? Or, even laying down a polymerized oil first, and then going for the spray shellac to seal it in.

Thanks for the advice. The photos here are before the tarnished problem and I agree that the original effect was nice. After I sprayed the bowl with the poly acrylic, the bowl had lots of black spots that was very distracting. Today I laid another layer of copper leaf and tried protects clear, which I use on my jewelry creations, but that left the leaf dull. No tarnishing, but dull. So I laid another layer of leaf (this is getting irritating). Do you think the shellac would change the color or brightness of the copper?

 

[Brian Gustin]

Do you think the shellac would change the color or brightness of the copper?

I Suspect it would depend on the tint of the shellac, I do not believe it comes water-clear (Perhaps a food grade shellac such as they use on pill coatings?) I know you can get various tints of shellac flakes to mix your own cut , but the stuff you get at the local hardware store or building center (Bullseye Shellac will have wax, while their "Sanding Sealer" is de-waxed shellac) is the only stuff I have direct experience with, Used on clear maple it does add a very slight darkening tint to the wood, but I don't know about copper.

However if you were looking for a water clear glaze finish I might suggest a rattle can of what they call "Triple Thick" (I almost want to say it is from the company that makes Krylon spray paints? - but search triple thick spray finish on amazon will likely bring it up) it does dry fast and very clear and gives a high gloss finish, I do not think it would tarnish copper, but then again I never tried it on metals - it was just the finish coast on Jean's painted items (Wood signs, rock art, etc) which were done in Acrylic paints. It dries as fast as the spray lacquer but unlike the lacquer it didn't cause paint bleed.

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

You can get shellac flakes in blonde , and super blonde . Either I think would work with the super blonde being least color. You want dewaxed. Not going to be a cheap solution but there are many uses for shellac. I keep my flakes in freezer and only make up what I need but mine has lasted after dissolving for up to 12 months.

 

[June Talvitie-Siple]

I Suspect it would depend on the tint of the shellac, I do not believe it comes water-clear (Perhaps a food grade shellac such as they use on pill coatings?) I know you can get various tints of shellac flakes to mix your own cut , but the stuff you get at the local hardware store or building center (Bullseye Shellac will have wax, while their "Sanding Sealer" is de-waxed shellac) is the only stuff I have direct experience with, Used on clear maple it does add a very slight darkening tint to the wood, but I don't know about copper.

However if you were looking for a water clear glaze finish I might suggest a rattle can of what they call "Triple Thick" (I almost want to say it is from the company that makes Krylon spray paints? - but search triple thick spray finish on amazon will likely bring it up) it does dry fast and very clear and gives a high gloss finish, I do not think it would tarnish copper, but then again I never tried it on metals - it was just the finish coast on Jean's painted items (Wood signs, rock art, etc) which were done in Acrylic paints. It dries as fast as the spray lacquer but unlike the lacquer it didn't cause paint bleed.

I definitely need to test these options on a couple of pieces before trying them on a turning. I should have done that from the beginning.

 

[RichColvin]

Admin note: This is very nice work, but it is not Ornamental Turning. I moved this thread to the Woodturning Discussion Forum.

 

[Donna Banfield]

I definitely need to test these options on a couple of pieces before trying them on a turning. I should have done that from the beginning.

I use rattle can lacquer to seal the precious metal leaf. Gloss allows the shine to remain in the metal leaf.
Image is 23k gold leaf with lacquer finish.

 

[June Talvitie-Siple]

I use rattle can lacquer to seal the precious metal leaf. Gloss allows the shine to remain in the metal leaf.
Image is 23k gold leaf with lacquer finish.

Thanks! Do you have a brand you specifically find successful?

 

[JeffSmith]

John Keaton posted a tutorial on SMC in the last couple of days - at the end, he recommends spray lacquer, shellac or preferably, wipe on poly over copper leaf To protect from tarnishing. He also advises spraying as the best application.

 

[Donna Banfield]

Thanks! Do you have a brand you specifically find successful?

My preference is Deft lacquer. But I have used others when Deft was not available.

Make sure that when spraying, you are doing it in a very well-ventilated room. I don't have a non-combustible fan that will pull the fumes out, so I open the double French doors of my barn, have the piece sitting on a stool at the opening, and spray out. You also need to make sure that the outside temps are no lower than 65 degrees F, and low humidity, meaning no rain, and no spraying in July and August, unless very early in the morning.