a copper top coffee table

update 8/16/2012 ... we delivered the copper topped coffee table today ... these things are tough to photograph ... after the patina, there are just so many subtle colors, and the metal is sort of shiny underneath, so you pick up reflections from just about everywhere ... but, it's in its new home now, and it looks great there ... everyone's happy ...
the copper turns into kind of an abstract expresionist painting ... the chemical is somewhat unpredictable in consistency ... we're thinking it is that so much copper is recycled today that there are just all kind of things running through it ...

original post from 8/14 below here.

we're doing another copper topped table. we made the first one back in may for one of our clients who had a big empty covered porch ...

same process ... because of the way the corners are done, folded straight down, we put little copper corners routed into the subbase flush in place before we start. it's important to think about where your later nails are going at this point so you don't have one in the wrong place when you go to apply the top sheets later. click the photos to enlarge them.

starting in one corner, the sheets go around the table with each sheet having a 1" 'tab' that goes past the joint and under the next sheet. the table and the copper are first sprayed with 3m 'spray 90' contact cement and then CAREFULLY pressed into place ... that stuff is sticky and a sheet stuck down wrong can be tough to relocate.

the sheets are laid out for the nail holes and drilled for the nail shank to pass through the copper and then piloted with a bit slightly smaller than the 1.5" copper slate nails that we use. jim bevels the edges of the heads of the nails by chucking them in a cordless drill and carefully spinning them on the running edge sander . we're looking for a beveled head, that's not too small or sanded too thin.

this is the pattern we use. down the center of the joints and 1" to either side. the edges are nailed on center of the 2.25" thick edge, which was bent on a brake in a local tin shop. we also use small cut copper nails treated on the sander toward the bottoms of the corners and joints to keep them down if someone's clothes catch on them as they are passing by ...

on to the 'liver of sulphur' and steel wool process, which i described pretty fully in the post for the previous table. a little oil and varnish mix over the patina and some varnish on the legs tomorrow and we'll be all set. i've got a cad drawing somewhere that i will post with the picture of the table when it's finished ... the dimensions are 40 x 60 x 17 high ... the copper around the outside is 13" wide plus the bend, an inch of that is covered by the center sheet, leaving a 12" exposed band around the outside of the table ...