# Realistic Copper Plating Using Home Made Paint



## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

In the course of mixing and experimenting with conductive paints for use in my copper plating and electroforming projects (copper plated wood), I mixed copper in with the graphite and ModPodge I was using, in an effort to up the conductivity of the paint. Once I'd coated the item, I sanded it, lightly, with 600 grit sand paper and noticed the dark, black, flat paint was transforming to a shiny, copper finish, like one you'd get after adding patina to bare copper.

On a whim, I painted a wood piece without using either primer or sealer and took it over to the buffer. In seconds, I had what looked exactly like a patinaed copper piece.

The posted pictures and steps for doing this at:


https://www.instructables.com/id/Realistic-Metalic-Copper-Plating-Paint/


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

That is a very cool technique, Kelly and I'm glad you posted it. I will have to give it a try. Thanks!


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

P.S. You can copper plate or paint dragons too.



Gaffboat said:


> That is a very cool technique, Kelly and I'm glad you posted it. I will have to give it a try. Thanks!


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Dejure said:


> P.S. You can copper plate or paint dragons too.


How do you get them to hold still?


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## scottgrove (Sep 4, 2016)

Nice, Where did you get the copper from? what grind? and how much did you pay?


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## ggom (Apr 5, 2017)

Nice and Ilike it

So where do you get this copper power ?

Regards
Gérard


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

NYQUIL. Lots of it (drink enough, and you'll even see more dragons).





JOAT said:


> How do you get them to hold still?


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

To see how it's done, and the prices I paid for the copper powder and graphite, to the instructables post I posted: 

https://www.instructables.com/id/Realistic-Metalic-Copper-Plating-Paint/




scottgrove said:


> Nice, Where did you get the copper from? what grind? and how much did you pay?


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## ggom (Apr 5, 2017)

Tanks a lot Kelly!

Nice , but expensive finish.

Regards
Gérard


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

I agree. However, I already had the materials for copper plating. To make conductive paint. Discovering it would buff into this was a happy accident. And it's still far cheaper than buying commercial products that attempt to imitate copper plating. They start at about $150.00 a gallon. Of course, you can buy smaller quantities, but the price goes up.



ggom said:


> Tanks a lot Kelly!
> 
> Nice , but expensive finish.
> 
> ...


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

Here is one I tried today using just the copper powder and ModPodge.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

The copper paint used to prevent algae and barnacle growth on boats might work well for this and be easier to buy rather than make. Just a suggestion.

Charley


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Charley, those Marine paints have Copper compounds in them; they don't really look very Copper like...too many other ingredients. The standout might be 'CopperCoat' which _does_ look like Copper.
Those anti-fouling paints are reaaaallly expensive. The Copper content has been greatly reduced due to environmental issues.
Coppercoat: A Worthy Alternative to Bottom Paint - boats.com


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

One of the reasons that it's more difficult to find the fine ground metals (at retail) is that they're ideal for making Thermite. Don't ask me how I know this...
Thermite: 4 Steps


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> One of the reasons that it's more difficult to find the fine ground metals (at retail) is that they're ideal for making Thermite. Don't ask me how I know this...
> Thermite: 4 Steps


Ah, thermite. Amazing stuff. We always had a thermite grenade next to our howitzers in case we got overrun and had to abandon our guns. Pull the pin, drop one down the barrel and no one was ever going to use that gun again. I'm happy to say we never needed one. There was also a big flat thermite device that sat on top of our crypto file cabinets. One pull of the pin and the entire cabinet would be melted ash in a matter of seconds.


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

And thermite is the reason you don't sand and grind a lot of aluminum and metal on the same belt.


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## Dejure (Jul 27, 2009)

As to copper paints, as mentioned, they run into the area of $150.00 a gallon and the price per ounce goes way up as your containers get smaller. Pretty expensive experiments. Copper powder isn't horribly expensive. I bought a pound for about $16.45 and a large bottle of ModPodge was about seven. That makes a LOT of product.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

*Cutting Edge*



Dejure said:


> And thermite is the reason you don't sand and grind a lot of aluminum and metal on the same belt.


I've mentioned this before; if you're using your angle grinder with cutting discs for cutting Aluminum, get the ones that are specifically _for_ Aluminum!
If you can't find them on the rack, and the clerk thinks you're nutz, educate him/her!
https://www.walter.com/en_US/products/abrasives/cutting/zip-alu


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