I've always thought the best way to get a good patina was to use your cups but out of nothing more than plain old curiousity I decided to try and have a go at creating one with liver of sulphur. I thought I would take you all along for the ride...

I have to warn you, it's not great but here it is anyway!

Part 1
http://tinyurl.com/337njje

Part 2
http://tinyurl.com/39s787q

Bri

I tried the same liver of sulfur "Patina-Gel" as marketed here in the USA by Cool Tools ( www.cooltools.us ). I am so glad I experimented using copper British pennies instead of my good cups. Not because it was injurious, but I'd have to remove the natural patina off of my cups that the cups and I earned earned.

I found the product quite lacking, as far as achieving a natural looking patina. On British pennies, it made them look a ghastly dark greyish color. I removed a bit of the false patina with a jewelry polishing cloth and was careful to have it just remove the patina from the raised areas on the coins. That looked better, but coins aren't cups.

My 3 week old set of RNT II Paul Fox mini cups have a patina that is to die for. To think that this patina came with only 3 weeks of handling is amazing and goes a long way in saying how pure the copper that RNT II uses is. They went from normal looking polished copper to a very distinct red color in a week. The next 2 weeks have brought about very dark colors in every part of the outside of the cups except the little area between the flared rings and bottom, turned lips.

I now have a bottle of Patina-Gel in the back of the cabinet I use to hold cleaning products. It won't be used again. You just can't beat a natural patina, especially if you start with copper of the highest quality.

My verdict is as yours, Patina-Gel is only for fooling unknowing buyers of products that they think are aged and well used (in the case of our Magic cups). The reality of actual aging is far more glorious. Would that we aged as well naturally too!  ;o)


dsalley13

Congratulations for at least trying.

I've been rather successful but not using Liver of Sulphur. I used a commercial patina solution that's based on Copper Sulphate. You can read about it by searching the Cafe as I've mentioned it several times over the years.

In short, the solution isn't a "paint" it's an accelerant that needs to be exposed to air (oxygen) to "oxidize" properly. It's not perfect, and rather than dipping I've had better luck with wiping the solution... repeatedly over several days until the yellow haze that builds (the stuff you wiped off) swirls together and blends together to even out the coloration. You can see the results in the graphic at the top of the pages here. Our header graphic is compiled from a photo of my own cup collection.

Thanks peeps!  Yah, I did consider using something else first but then opted to dive in at the deep end with the cups. I may still clean them off and try again yet, if I do I will keep you posted...

Dave, if you mean the Charlie Miller cups they look great, very natural

Brii

The Millers were treated years ago and they developed much more since then on their own. I think the alloy of the copper itself plays a big part in the final color of the oxidation.

The "Loves" (second from left and on the right end) are the typical color I end up with after treatment. I now have a set of Mendoza's that survived my chemical bath that look very much like the Loves but a little darker.

The only ones now that I keep polished are Gary Animal's "Golf" cups in Guild metal. You can see the tops of those on the bottom row on the right. The Babes were also highly polished, but they've moved on to a new home.

Work blocks out youtube, so I can’t wait to see your video Bri. I tried the stuff that Dave recommended last year… I was not excited with the results and ended up polishing the Cups and going to the tried and true method… of handling the Cups.

So far in my collection the best patina on my cups are the Charlie Miller Cups that came to me by the Way of Australia and before that the Jay Marshal auction and a set of Riser Mini cups once owned by a working magician.

Dave is so right… depending on the copper the Cups were spun from the patina color can be all over the map.

Bruce

It has been a while since anyone has posted regarding Patina... I have written a 2 part article at Bri’s great site on how to create a patina to Copper Cups....

http://cupsandballsmagic.com/Instant-Patina-Part-1.html
http://cupsandballsmagic.com/Instant-Patina-Part-1.html

I have had great results using this method... your mileage may vary.

Bruce

Thank you for sharing, Bruce

Francis