Bright shiny copper quickly corrodes and gains a deep green and sometimes blue patina. I had never realized that copper can also produce an extraordinary range of other colors when treated with other chemicals. I’ve no idea what these are but when I saw samples of such copper veneer I was amazed, and my thoughts turned to what could you do with it? It’s much thinner than wood veneer and quite fragile in its raw state. It might possibly be usable as an inlay but using it to create central panels which can then be “framed” enables large areas to be used as table tops.
There are however a few challenges. First is the adhesive. I read suggestions that contact cement would work. It didn’t for me. I thought maybe construction adhesive would bind the metal to a plywood substrate. It didn’t. In the end I found a supplier of a specialized adhesive for copper veneer which worked great. Unfortunately it is no longer available from that supplier and I haven’t figured out what I’ll do when my supply runs out.
Once it’s stuck to a panel the next challenge is the framing. That’s just woodworking – but you can’t use sandpaper to adjust anything. So accuracy in setting biscuits to align the frame with the panel is essential.
Then comes finishing. Regular nitrocellulose lacquer works for some patinas, as does pre-cat lacquer. But in some cases it changes the color and in other cases it doesn’t adhere. I eventually found a supply of lacquer used to coat metal sculpture which is very tough and suitable for a tabletop.
The fun I found is in matching the different copper colors and patterns with different wood species. And using dye colors I would never have considered otherwise. A bright orange dye on bird’s eye maple was a whole new experience for me.
I hope you enjoy the results. Most of the pieces are coffee table size, but I have produced a 7ft dining table which was pretty spectacular.
