Hello! I will be buying some new copper cups for the cups and balls and was wondering if anyone happened to have any tips for achieving a patina finish for the cups in a faster method than, well, using them for ten years or so.
Any advice is appreciated. I have only ever used wooden cups and tin cups before.
Gratias tibi ago quam maximas.
-Nate

Posted by Mr. Donnie Buckley, owner of RNTII - Extracted/found from thread: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=115

"You can antique a set of copper cups by baking them in your kitchen oven.
Use solid copper cups (not plated), with any clear coat stripped off and no magnets (the heat will kill magnets).
Turn the oven up to as high as the temp goes (usually 500 degrees). Bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Watch them and remove them when the desired color is reached. You will be surprised at the shades of red colors they will transform thru.

Once cooled, you can highlight the cups with some metal polish. Using the cotton wadding like Nev-r-dull gives you fine control over how much of the patina you will remove. Just hit the beads and the high spots for a dramatic antique effect. After you have a finish that appeals to your eye, wax them, or if you can spray a clear coat (like a lacquer for metal) over the cups to seal in the finish.

If you screw it up, or don't like it, just polish the cups back to raw copper and try again.

Alternately, there are other chemical solutions you can use for other antiquing effects."

(***NOTE: don't do this on a combo set/chop cup - The heat = Ruins the M*****+)
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More threads related to patina-ing copper cups in the past -

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=115
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......&start=0

This should steer you in the right direction... If you want even more complex instruction on "how to age/patina copper" cups... Send me a PM - I have a broad range of experience with chemically treating copper to achieve different effects (usually over an electroformed copper piece)... You can get jet black, purple, sea blue, turquoise, etc... if you really want

Wow! Thank you very much! That answered all my questions on the subject! Bravo, TFK, bravo.

I boiled some cups in some sort of laundry detergent. MOST of the Lacquer came off as a film.
Someone here on the Café suggested it. Several years ago.

Does that mean boil water then add detergent and wash the cups in the mix or to actually set the cups in boiling detergent on the stove?

You could do both... Heating the water then adding detergent might allow you to "get more" of the detergent suspended in the water - While boiling in a mix solution will likely "work more", since the addition of heat + detergent at once should multiply the effect...

Search for "patina" in "Ever so Sleightly" - You'll get a massive amount of posts to read through...

Washing your cups in just water will give one type of patina (depends on the PH & solid minerals dissolved in the water used).

Adding a detergent will effect the patina process even more, depending on the ingredients in the detergent. (My post above has a link to a process using 'Palmolive Extra')

There is always the "home made method"... Of using urine!

Or you can even look up "copper patina chemical" and find a ton of different colors that can be achieved...

It's really like an experiment with each go. Good luck!

I actually boiled my cups in the water. They were Bosco Cups by Harris Magic.
I wish I could remember the exact name of the detergent. It was a laundry detergent.

It got off 80% of the lacquer.

Ok, I understand the patina-ing (I think). How do you strip off the clear coating? I've heard stuff about ketchup and lemon juice but I do not understand how I am supposed to get it off.

Ketchup, lemon juice, and other acidic substances clean copper, and are used to clean off a patina.
If your metal has a lacquer clear coat on it, then that is applied to protect the surface and prevent tarnish (patina) from forming.
Lacquer is the most common clear coat and can be removed with Lacquer Thinner, which is a lacquer solvent.
If your metal surfaces are clear coated with something else, you should probably leave it be.

Aha! Thank you very much for clarifying, Mr. Buckley.
I believe my cups are not coated with lacquer so I'll just wear them in for a few months before I begin any patina attempts.

It should be quite obvious if the cups are lacquered or not.

Lacquered cups are not going to patina at all when you handle them.
Non lacquered cups are going to start to patina as soon as you handle them, and continue to completely patina within days.

My advice above was assuming the cups were indeed coated with lacquer.

Hello again,
Well, I removed the lacquer and the cups started patina-ing soon after. What I found works wonders for speeding up the natural patina process is setting them in your bathroom while you take a shower- the humidity just about doubled the patina that was already forming on my cups.
Thanks for your help!
-Nate