Copper foil help

[Gayle Harthcock]

I just bought some copper foil and now I'm not sure how to use it. Any pictures and instruction would be helpful. If there's already a thread on this issue, just let me know. Thanks so much!

[MegannsMom]

I for one have never had much luck with copper foil. All I get is yuck, no matter what I do! I have heard that if you make coppered opal yellow stringer (like you would SIS) that it does pretty things; I tried it and got "ashy opal yellow" stringer. (Not attractive, BTW)

I have also heard that if you use the copper foil with white enamel, it is pretty. I haven't tried that, since I have yet to buy any enamels.

Gee, I'm a lot of help, huh?!
Have you tried doing a search here in the tech forum? If I remember correctly, there may be something about it in glass 101, too.........

~Cindy

[goof ball]

It's been awhile since I've played with my copper foil, but I've had good luck with it. Just a few things to keep in mind....
The hotter and longer you cook it, the better the outcome.
The more foil (or leaf) you use, the longer you have to cook it.
If you see any dark spots on the bead while it's in the flame, concentrate the heat on those til they disappear. If you don't take care of them in the flame, the bead will have spots of gray or black ash so cook those suckers!
The more copper you add, the deeper your end color results will be.

I'm on an HH, nothing fancy here, so far the best beads I've made using copper have been on clear. I make a plain clear bead, roll in the foil, burnish it well, then put it back in the flame. It will look Terrible! when it first hits the flame. Don't worry about this, just keep cooking it. You want to burn the copper right into the glass. There will be bits of it that look like burned paper and will float away due to the pressure of the torch, but just keep going. Cook, burn, turn, just keep doing it til you think you're sure you're wasting your time. It really doesn't take that long, but it's definately longer than a "regular" bead. Pull it out of the flame now and again to check your progress, checking for black spots or the color of the bead. If you see any black spots, concentrate your heat on them til you melt them away. It will happen, you just have to cook the snot out of the copper to get it to turn the neat blues and greens.

I've also used white, but just wound up with a very pretty sky blue, so close to the Moretti sky blue, it was a neat experiment, just not worth my time.

I've also pulled stringer, similar to SIS, but in the case of copper, I melt a big glob of clear, roll it in the copper, back to the flame, and then I "work" the copper into the melted glass. Grab it with a punty, or in my case cuz I'm punty challenged, a needle nose pliers, and just start twisting, pulling, folding it over, kneading it til it's all mixed up good. I marver this "mess" til it's back to a rod shape, then pull stringer. The stringer looks great! over ivory, neat reactions going on where the 2 different glasses meet. I've also used the stringer over silvered black which is really cool too. Make a black bead, roll in silver foil or leaf, burnish well, then back into the flame. I usually turn my flame down a bit, apply the stringer before all the silver is burned off, capturing it under the copper/blue/green stringer. Very cool!

I'll see if I can find any pics and post them. Have fun with this copper!
Mary

[Pyroglasstic]

Thanks for the info Mary,I just got some copper foil and I cant wait to try it.Now with a few well explained techniques,Im ready to go.
Jeff

[goof ball]

Found the pics, they probably suck but maybe they'll give you an idea of what I was talking about.

[Moth]

Wow Mary...that was some great info.

I guess I wasn't cooking mine long enough because I never achieved pretty colors with my copper leaf until I started putting it over enamels. Once I started the enamels, it was a breeze.


I have found that everything Mary said is right on! Cook the bejeebers out of it, the little flakes of foil will fly up into the ventilation, it will look like ash until it is all burnt into the glass, etc. All the same things I have experienced.

My only difference is that I will form a base bead of any color at all, roll it in white enamel, melt the enamel into the bead, roll lightly in copper foil, burnish the foil onto the bead, then cook the holy heat into it.

Here are some of my results. I like it best on black, but to each his own.

This one is black base, white enamel, copper leaf, encased in clear



This one is a floral where I used the black base/white enamel/copper foil as the base of the bead:


~~Mary

[McDuck]

Both Mary's, beautiful work and explainations. It is true you have to cook the snot out of it to make it pop. Just look at their beads! Thank you for sharing!
yet another Mary

[Dawnt0721]

Oh my now I HAVE to go buy some copper foil! Does Hobby Lobby sell real copper? I know they don't have the real silver thing just a copper alloy...would that work like copper?

Thanks for the great explanations and S&Ts!

[goof ball]

That white enamel is Way Cool....!!!!! Oh crap, now I have to get some of that too. My DH is gonna kill me if I spend one more cent on this glass adventure.

Help me! Help me!

The copper foil I use, I bought at a craft shop, I think it was the Mona Lisa brand or something. Cost about $6.00 but it is real 100% copper leaf. The other leaf they have there does not work.


Have fun burnin'!!
Mary

[Gayle Harthcock]

Wow Mary and Mary thanks so much, this is exactly the type of information I was looking for!!! And thanks too for the pictures, they are the type of results I had seen but couldn't for the life of me figure out what to do. I have made a clear bead rolled with copper burned off and then encased in clear -- what I got was a nice patina coloured green sandwiched in the bead, but it really wasn't the result I was looking for! Thanks again and if anyone else out there has any other pictures, I would LOVE to see them! Wet Canvas is the best!

[kerensa]

something else I do with mine that I didn't see mentioned yet. I roll the bead in the copper burnish it. put it back in the flame right on the edge just long enough to turn it to ash then encase it in any clear color. Back into the flame and boil the sucker. every where the copper was there will be a layer of bubbles- reminds me of stars in the night sky. If you cut shapes out of the copper leaf with a punch. ( suns moons stars birds ect) and do it with those the same effect will happen as bubbles.

Kerensa

[craftscout]

I have tried a few punched shapes out of some thicker copper foil, but they just turned a pretty brown red (since they were leaves, they looked perfect for fall). So if I cook the snot out of these, will they turn all blue and green?? Or would it take too much time and much higher heat than my little hothead can handle? Ooooh, I hope not . . . .those beads posted are yummy!

[kerensa]

you would be better off, taking copper leaf between 2 sheets of paper and punching the shapes out if you want color. the thicker foil takes forever on a hot head.

K.

[LynneC]

Using enamel with your copper leaf really helps it melt into the glass (it acts as a flux, so you need less heat). Adding silver to the equation gives you even more colors. And as a side note, copper on white or clear gives you turquoise, but on ivory it is sort of olive (I would call it puke green, cause I don't care for the color, but to each his own).

[DesertDreamer]

I really like the copper effects, though I haven't played with it much, yet. This first bead is white moretti base, white Thompson enamel, and copper leaf, all melted in, then squiggled with rubino. The second one is a base of clear with white enamel and copper only. And the third is something new I'm messing with....just clear with copper mesh I bought at an art supply store.