Patina on a new set of RNT Paul Fox Cups

[JC225]

I hope everybody is doing well and I was hoping for some advice. I just purchased a new set of "RNT Paul Fox VS. Combo Cups" from Donnie and they are just awesome. I finally had the funds, took the plunge and I couldn't be happier. I was wondering if anybody had any advice for getting that nice "Patina" look on them? I know that using them over time is going to do it naturally but I was just curious if anybody has ever tried anything to speed up the process and how it worked.

Thanks

[Robert77]

If they are copper, just using them, or letting them sit (unstacked) will eventually cause a patina, which is another word for oxidation, aka. "rust". It will take months or years though. I would not apply any chemicals in an effort to speed it up. If you do let them sit though, keep them dusted. You don't want dust to absorb moisture in the air. Also, don't leave balls on tops of the cups. I made the mistake of doing that on a set of copper cups [rubber ball, final load ball] and it blackened the top of the cup so badly I'll need to get them re-polished.

I find polished copper to be a beautiful metal. To keep it you could polish up the cups and then put on a coat of wax, though that would make handling them a bit more slippery.

Patina'd copper can be nice as well though. I have a set of Paul Fox original cups made by Danny Dew and they look great.

[JC225]

Hey Robert,

Thank you very much for the insight, I really appreciate it. They are satin finished copper and I certainly won't do any type of chemical treatment. They arrived this morning and I worked with them most of the day and this evening I have been rolling and working them in my hands while sitting on the couch. I've heard some people take them into the shower because the humidity speeds up the process, I've heard people sleep with them under their shirts next to their body and I even read today some other people urinate on them or leave them outside in the weather.

Think I will stick with using them as much as I can.

[Karnak]

I have heard that baking them in the oven can result in a nice quick patina.

Haven’t tried it with my own RnT2 Paul Fox copper cups (standard, not VS), but may try it with some English pennies. Mine are still so shiny orange that, in some lighting conditions, they can be a bit hard to distinguish from shiny silver half dollars. I therefore prefer the older coins with a chocolatey brown mocha patina.

If you try it, clean your cups thoroughly to remove oils from your fingers, or the result may be mottled and uneven (so I’ve heard).

[JC225]

Hey Karnak,

I spoke with Donnie down at Rings and Things before I had him send me a set of the "Paul Fox VS" combo cups. I asked about the baking idea and he told me under no circumstances was I to bake the cups. He told me that once the cups reach a temperature of 177 degrees, it destroys the gimmick in the chop cup. So I have been putting them on the counter while showering and it has really worked out nicely. They have that nice mocha patina that you mentioned and it only took a couple of weeks of exposing them to the humidity.

[Karnak]

Excellent point — good thing you checked with Donnie. I overlooked the fact that you were talking specifically about a combo set. Yes, heat would indeed kill it. Sorry for the bad advice!

[JC225]

Hey Karnak,

Not a problem at all. When I called, I asked him right off the bat what was the quickest way to get a good patina going on the cups and he told me to just use them and it would take care of itself. He said that because the patina on the copper is the result of an "oxidation" process, technically it could start as soon as I took the cups out of the packaging and started handling them.

[JC225]

Hey ASW,

Thanks for the insight, I will give that a shot and see where it goes.

[Bob Farmer]

I worked out the Vernon routine but using the Chop Cups and Balls combination. The use of the Chop Cup makes it very deceptive in some phases. If I have time, I'll scan it in and make it available.

[DanZ]

Looking forward to that Mr. Farmer

Daniel Zuckerbrot