Chemo the Clown wrote in
:

On Jun 3, 2:55*pm, "charlie"
wrote:
"Chemo the Clown" wrote in
messagenews:9a52d896-8546-435d
...
On Jun 3, 12:03 pm, Kris Krieger wrote:

Hi,

I want to make sme fixtures for outdoors. I'm doing copper foil.
Can the

patina and whatnot be weatherproofed in any way? I thought about
paste- waxing the lead lines, or lacquering the whoel assembly, but
any info would
be great.

Thanks!

- Kris

You could wax it every now and then with something like Clarity Glass
Wax but...it's my experience that overall, copperfoiled work doesn't
fair all that well when left to the exposed weather. The solder seams
tend to get rather ugly (oxidized) over time.

--
since there's no seal between the glass and the foil, it's not
possible to

weatherproof foiled work. that's why god invented lead came with
putty.

Not quite true...I've made water crystal catchers that hold water and
don't leak. Basically a diamond shaped box. Before putting the last
diamond on, fill with water then solder the last foiled diamond in
place and hang from one end.

ALso, this just occurred to me: there is a contractor-grade silicone
made for sealingpool lights and so on - if one is worried about water-
tightness, that should work - aquaria sealed with silicone last for may
years without leaking.

I'm wondering whetehr I could put a thin coat of silicone over the
lead...or maybe it could be painted with Rustoleum? If lead oxidizes, I
don't understand why lead came would look better than the solder covering
the copper foil?

OTOH maybe it's just "caveat emptor" and I coudl include a card with
"Care INstructions"...?

THanks,

- Kris