Outdoor cabinet top covered in copper

[Roger Feeley]

I would like to make my daughter an outdoor buffet server cabinet. Five feet wide with three cabinet doors and no drawers. The cabinet will live on a covered porch about 8’ deep so it won’t get wet much. It will get a lot of direct sunlight.

for the top, I would like to do copper sheet. I will bend the copper and solder the corners. I’m assuming that I can find some roofer willing to sell me a piece of copper sheet.

1. Should I go ahead and bend the copper again to cover the underside? Just enough to extend into the carcass. So the user would not see any wood.

2. What wood? The inflexibility of a copper top sort of demands a very stable wood. I’m thinking marine plywood.

3. What glue? This thing is going to face south and get direct sunlight. If it was inside, I would think that contact cement would be fine. Should I go with an epoxy? Or maybe some sort of construction adhesive?

[Jim Becker]

I can't help you with a lot of your questions, but said roofer might also do the bending for you on their brake which will provide nice, crisp edges...

[Roger Feeley]

I can't help you with a lot of your questions, but said roofer might also do the bending for you on their brake which will provide nice, crisp edges...

when I taught industrial arts, I was never certified in woodworking. My specialties were drafting, plastics, metalworking and printing. When I left teaching, I started doing woodwork because that’s the stuff we could use around the house. I have a very small metal lathe and mill that I use for brass fitting and such but those machines just aren’t as much fun. I haven welded in almost forty years. Working sheet metal again puts me in my happy place.

I’m hoping that the owner of the design/build firm that built our house can help me find a friendly roofer. The alternative is a metals supermarket place in Maryland but they are going to be spendy.

I know a brake would produce nice corners but this is for an 1860 farm house. I’m going to go for a more handmade look. I’ll solder the corners and fasten the whole thing either glue. Then I might put some copper nails in the sides just to make it look more hand fabricated.

[roger wiegand]

If you bend it under the edges and tack it in place there is no need for glue-- I'd think glue would be problematic because of the very different thermal expansion rates of wood and copper. Copper roofing is never directly glued or nailed in place, it always uses an attachment system that permits movement.

If you haven't bought copper lately be ready for a shock. When I built my pizza oven I decided to put a traditionally trimmed slate roof on it; the copper nails alone cost as much as the slate and the roof cap and drip edges cost 3x what the slate did. No idea why, the price of raw copper per pound is high, but nothing like what sheet costs per pound.

[Roger Feeley]

Thanks Roger,
got it. No glue. In a way, that makes it easier.

yeah, I’m kinda worried about the price of copper roofing. For a 24” cabinet I need 30” wide by about 5’-6” long.

But my competition is something off the internet at $700.

[Lee DeRaud]

I'd think glue would be problematic because of the very different thermal expansion rates of wood and copper.There's a David Marks project that laminated copper sheet onto plywood with slow-set epoxy:

https://www.djmarks.com/store/woodworks-digital-downloads-seasons-1-thru-7-individual-episodes-digital-downloads-4-99-each/season-3-episodes/season-3-episode-3/

https://www.djmarks.com/davids-blog/archive-articles/metal-patinations-by-david-j-marks/

[Tom M King]

You should be able to find a sheet of copper close to the size you need. You want "1/4 hard copper". I would use 20 oz., rather than 16 oz.

Here's a copper roof I put on one of my spec houses in 1991. Sorry, it's upside down. This is the back, or road side of the house. The other side faces the lake.

[Joe Wood]

A local sheet metal should should have that copper, and do the bending too!

[Bruce King]

Plenty of moonshiners in your area, they have the sheets and probably the cause of the price increase.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

The copper doesn't have to be very thick and probably doesn't need to be soldered at the corners. Right out of college one of my favorite places to eat was a little place called the lagoon. All the tables and counters had copper tops. Coolest thing since sliced bread as far as I am concerned. I recently picked up an older rather simple buffet and am wanting to use it similarly on our covered deck. painted white with a copper top. There are even treated copper sheets that look like marble with copper accents. There are several copper suppliers on line that will sell rolls or sheets. One even has instructions and a guide to determine what thickness you really need. Not the cheapest, but start here. https://basiccopper.com/copper-bartop-countertop-tabletop.html they have a pretty good guide. We thought about copper countertops in our kitchen when we built the new house. Mrs. wanted granite and won the toss.

[Brian Elfert]

Unfortunately, copper prices in general right now are the highest they have been in a number of years. I just scrapped some leftover wire from recent electrical work and got $3.10 per pound. (Wire was stripped so bare copper.)

[Bill Dufour]

I would recommend bend it down and not a full wrap underneath. I would leave it floating and not attach it by anything more then gravity. If you attach it in more then one place it may oilcan and warp so it is uneven on the top. Maybe a kind of picture frame applied on the edges to cover the raw edges. But wiggle room allowed so it can move relative to the wood. Kind of like a frame and panel door. Look at the metal trim used around tile.
Bill D.

[Jim Becker]

Don't just contact roofers...the folks that make custom duct work can also do the work and likely can provide the material, too.

[Curt Harms]

Don't just contact roofers...the folks that make custom duct work can also do the work and likely can provide the material, too.

I was thinking about a sheet metal shop, have them fabricate it. Do they normally have copper? I guess they'd be able to get it, matter of $.

[Tom M King]

I doubt many keep it in stock, but can get it quickly. There are so many different sizes, thicknesses, and hardness variations, that if they don't have a lot of call for a particular item, it would be foolish to keep it in stock.

[Mel Fulks]

Agree with Bill, I'd let the vertical edges hang about a half inch lower than the bottom of the top surface. And if the top
hangs over all around the copper will protect all of the cabinet.

[Bill Dufour]

If you plan it well and allow a loose enough fit you can bend three sides on the bench and slip it into place. leaving only one edge to fold by hand and hammer. You have two choices as to which edge. The short one is the logical choice ,or the one you never see since it is on the far side away from critical eyes. Those two choices may or may not be the same.
I remember when copper prices started up in highschool it was said a copper roof was the same cost as covering it in pennies.
Bill D.

[Tom M King]

Unless someone has a big Pan Brake, you won't be able to fold all four sides down. I would do the two longest, opposite sides, if the only brake available is a regular one. The other two ends can be carefully rolled down in place with a rolling pin.

I use a Wuko tool for some things on standing seam roof panels that are too long to fit on a break, but that's not a commonly available tool, even for sheet metal shops. I also use a rolling pin for some sheet metal things. Wooden one will work fine, but it will get chewed up on a steel edge. I bought a cheap one off Amazon that is plastic with a silicone cover. The silicone cover didn't last long, but it slipped right off the plastic core, and the plastic has held up better than a wooden one did.

There are a number of variations of these tools, but they cost close to $600 a piece. I have one that folds up the first 90 degrees, like the one is this video. If I need to fold one over to 180, since I don't do enough sheetmetal work to justify another one that goes farther than 90 degrees, I finish it with the rolling pin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edmuEHbcQ_4

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

If you keep the cabinet 22 inches deep on the top and 5 ft long, a 24 x 6 ft roll of 16 mil would be $175.00. Still not cheap but not bad. When I was a kid, my uncle made a make shift sheet metal bending tool using angle iron and clamps. It worked for the things he was doing.

[Ron Selzer]

I would bend a 1/4" 45 deg angle facing out on the bottom edge to keep water from creeping back under the copper, might consider using 100% silicone in one 2-3" strip down the middle 1/3 to hold the copper top in place
post picture when done
Good luck
Ron

[Stan Coryell]

I would try to return or hem the bottom edge so it isn't sharp. A 3/8 return would be better, but make sure you will be able to "snap it" around the top.

I think you'd be fine with a good sheet of BC plywood, as long as there aren't any voids in the face.

Glue.... ughh. The copper will eventually oilcan and pop. I would probably use PL construction adhesive.

1/4 hard 20 oz.

It helps to have a copper backing when you solder the corners.

Wear gloves, fingerprints are a bear to get off.

Maybe give Local 100 JATC a call. Ask them for a recommendation to buy the sheet from. I would have them bend it. It'll roll pretty bad doing by hand. You should be looking for a shop that does architectural copper work.

[Stan Coryell]

Local 100
https://g.co/kgs/DAA4rS

[lowell holmes]

Check this link.

https://www.google.com/search?q=copper+colored+metal+sheets&oq=copper+colored+sheeting&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0i333l4.19920j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8