Redoing a Patina Job

by D Monton
(CT)

Is it possible to redo your patina? I am new to stained glass and just did a black patina to part of a piece that I am working on (the tree in the picture above) the rest is copper patina. The procedure that I used isn't like yours and I would like to redo the piece. Is this possible? Also, can you add more to your piece once you have polished and added patina to it? I would like to add some decorative wire - but didn't think of it until after I did all the last steps.

Thank you for your help. I think that your website is very informative.

Answer

It's fairly easy to remove patina by going over the solder lines with very fine steel wool or bronze wool. The problem with your piece is the "twigs" coming off the branches. If they are glued down, then there's no problem, but if they are attached to the branches with solder and are free hanging from there, you will pull them off as you go over them with the wool.

Any place where you want to add more wire, remove the patina with either of the wools mentioned above. Just make sure you remove enough patina to give you plenty of room to work. The solder will need to be re-worked in that area and soldering over patina leaves quite a mess (been there, done that!).