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Thread: Outdoor cabinet top covered in copper

  1. #1
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    Outdoor cabinet top covered in copper

    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?

  2. #2
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    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...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    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.

  4. #4
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    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.

  5. #5
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    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.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by roger wiegand View Post
    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/woodwo...n-3-episode-3/

    https://www.djmarks.com/davids-blog/...david-j-marks/
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  7. #7
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    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.
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    Last edited by Tom M King; 01-16-2021 at 11:30 AM.

  8. #8
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    A local sheet metal should should have that copper, and do the bending too!
    WoodsShop

  9. #9
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    Plenty of moonshiners in your area, they have the sheets and probably the cause of the price increase.

  10. #10
    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-barto...-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.

  11. #11
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    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.)

  12. #12
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    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.

  13. #13
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    Don't just contact roofers...the folks that make custom duct work can also do the work and likely can provide the material, too.
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  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    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 $.

  15. #15
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    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.

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