Will,
You guys overthere do not have places like Rio Grand or other jewelry supply houses. Grobet (sp) usually is vendor to them. They sell the liver of sulphur in a small can that is chunky pieces. Can here costs about $12.00. I have never used up a can. Usually it will get moisture to it first than it dries out sorta and not good any more.
I usually use a spray bottle to apply my liver of sulphur.
Fill the spray bottle with hot water, than put in a couple of pieces about pea size. The water will look like urine. (Once the water cools the solution is not any good anymore and you have to make a new batch.) Spray onto the copper and just let it set. If the copper is warmed it will react faster but you do not want it too hot. I work with a large propane torch in one hand and the spray bottle in the other. You will have to blend in some and try not to get runs. After wards if you rinse it will sometime help to smooth out the color. After dried I take the inside of a blue jean and rub. When making a real dark brown from a stronger mixture you will get what I describe as a leaded look....like a film. The blue jean material will polish this off. If you are applying a lacquer or a wax it will make the patina even darker so do some test pieces to get the darkness you want. Have fun.
Just curious how are you cleaning the tree before patina?
warren
http://www.metalrecipes.com

Hey Warren
Open to advice, as always...
From what I've gleaned so far, and a couple of little experiments, I was planning to give it a good scrub with detergent and rinse to degrease, then use dilute battery acid to pickle, then rinse again with maybe some washing soda to neutralise the acid, then l.o.s.
Makes me tired just thinking of it!
There's some stuff called "jade oil" (another Liberon product)recommended as a fixer/pre-lacquer primer for the tourmaline I was going to use for colouring..?
Never done anything this big in copper before for external site so it's all guess work and any pointers appreciated!
Will

Will,
Yeah there is a few ways to approach the project. What I did and I am not saying that it is totally correct but here goes.
After all welding and such was completed I than pickled. I mix 1 part sulphuric acid (battery acid) to 9 parts water in a spray bottle. Wearing rubber gloves, rubber apron, and face shield start at the bottom and work to the top spraying the pickle. Reason to start at the bottom is to prevent streaking. Keep spraying and spraying and keep the surface wet. The oxidation will just run off. If stubborn areas use a scotch brite pad. Once the oxidation is removed rinse with water. Flood the thing and go over and over with the water. No need to neutralize just dilute. Note when I did this outside on my concrete slab and the runoff was into the yard. Surprising it did not kill the grass.
Now since the piece is pickled let it dry. It probably be a little blotchy and the raw salmon color.
Next day I washed with a metal cleaner. It is a PPG product DX 579 who makes paint for cars and such. 10 to 1 ratio and using a nylon scrub brush, again starting from the bottom scrub the whole thing down. This gave a real uniform and clean surface. I let it dry and then did the liver of sulphur.
A trick on the liver of sulphur to get the highlites is to scotch brite off where ever, you will have the raw copper color, which I did not want, now apply a real diluted mixture of liver of sulphur to give a light brown.
I then applied two coats of lacquer from Nikolas http://www.finish1.com/
the outside lacquer. #11565 OD Lacquer RFU.
Then after that I used a mixture of Butcher Bowling Alley wax and paint thinner hot. What you do is take a gallon of paint thinner dump out about a quart or so. On low, heat up the paint thinner and then add the wax and melt the wax. While the wax mixture is still warm spray using a siphon type spray gun. You can get these from auto parts stores and they call them solvent sprayers. Flood the piece with the wax mixture, it will run and collect in crevices and such but okay. Before it dries blow out any globby areas.
I did this twice. Now once it is dried you can either leave it, which will leave a matted look or do like I did. Using a horse hair shoe polish brush go over the whole thing. Just buff enough to give a little luster. Now I was finally done and wore out.

warren
http://www.metalrecipes.com

Thanks for taking the time to give me all that info Warren,

I'm beginning to think making the tree is the easy part!

Seems like every big job I do goes through the same stages:

1- the "o.k., so I got the job, now how the hell am I gonna make this thing" stage.

2- the "oh sh*t, I've bitten off more than I can chew"
stage

3- The " hey this is beginning to look like something, but am I ever gonna finish it" stage (where I'm at now)

4- Finally, the " phew, they like it / it fits / boy am I glad that's over" stage.

(way better than the "Uh oh they don't like it, I'm not gonna get paid" stage, which hasn't quite happened to me yet, touch wood!

Reckon I'd finish it next week, if I didn't have to take time out to do a couple of little jobs for other clients, so maybe week after that...

All the best,

Will

Will Jones, www.ironwill.org.uk

Well Will, at least I'm not the only one that goes through these steps(life lessons). Usually about midway through a big challenging project I'll look around my shop and feel like it was my first day at welding school. What matters is that we learn and push through it. As frustrating as it may be, you'll appreciate everything you learn and will be that much more prepared for your next big project.

Can't wait to see your tree with the patina.

Jake

Hi Will,
An associate and I did a HUGE silicon bronze tree years ago. And when we got to the patina stage........we just sandblasted the whole tree,which saved an enormous amount of time, and spray misted a "Darkening" chemical (from Sur-Fin. patinausa.com*) Kept misting until we got the whole tree very dark...then went back with scotch bright pads and hand rubbed it to bring out the texture of the "bark". Then we put multiple coats of incralac on it and a wax top coat.

*BUT there are many companies like them that sell this by the gallon. BirchwoodCasey.com comes to mind.

looking forward to seeing your tree completed....
take care,
will i am :)

about the spraying of the darkening chemical. I found that the color came out more even by starting at the bottom of the sandblasted piece and working my way up to the top. That way the chemical doesn't leave the streaks as the chemical "runs" down. AND I usually position the object to be patina'd in the UPRIGHT position, while doing the patina, so that any runs..........don't appear to run Horizontal once installed.

not even 2 cents worth....
;)

Will:
I have found a really great clear finish for my copper jewelry and sculpture. It is called Copper Shield and is Internet available from Storm Copper with free shipping. It comes in 12 oz spray cans and is not cheap. I paid $65 for two cans. You get what you pay for tho', in that it has all kinds of corrosion resistance, UV protection and is totally clear. Also, it has little or no effect on flame painted patinas.

Nic East, Jim Thorpe, PA USA
Creativity begins with a novel thought.