Can You Turn Zinc Black Using Copper Patina?

by Carol B
(Florida)

I am a hobbyist who has done stained glass for a couple years now for my own enjoyment. I have never been happy with the color of my zinc borders using black patina. I like the black border but I do not like the option of painting the border, or tinning with solder and then using black solder patina. I am looking for a way to patina to get a nice solid black look.

I read someplace that someone uses copper patina on zinc (borders) to make the zinc black.

When I tried a sample piece, it did turn it black, but then I cleaned the piece and washed the copper patina off. I re-patina'd the zinc with the copper patina and it turned black again. Do you think waxing it will keep the patina on when washing?

Do you have a suggested process to use copper patina on zinc that would tell me when and how to clean it, when to wax it, etc.

Thank you for your insight.

Answer

Hi Carol,

Yes, I have noticed that copper patina turns zinc black. However, I don't use zinc, so I haven't really experimented with turning it black. The only times I used zinc was when I was doing production work for a local studio and they insisted on zinc frames for all panels.

Anyway, I did some experimenting in my studio this morning to see what I could come up with.

First I cleaned the zinc with bronze wool, then applied copper patina with my white scrub pad. It turned the zinc black. I let the patina dry, then went over it with wax. The black came off and left the zinc close to it's original color.

Next I followed the above steps but waxed the zinc before I applied the copper patina. The results were pretty much the same, except the zinc had a nice light antique bronze look to it.

Lastly, I cleaned the zinc with the bronze wool, and applied black patina for zinc. It turned the zinc a deep black. I let the patina dry, then used Mother's Wax on it. You will see the results in the above picture. I know it would look better yet if I had taken my time with it, but time is not something I have a lot of!

You will notice that I did not wash anything after applying the patina. Once I apply patina to anything, it never goes near water again.

If you haven't read my patina tutorial, it's here Patina Tutorial