: I am building a cedar strip Guillemot, and am considering putting a
: hand-hammmered copper external stem (mainly because I think it
: would look nice). Has anyone tried something like this? Thoughts
: on whether the copper stem should be attached before
: fiberglassing (i.e. glass over the metal stem) or attach after
: 'glassing? Is this a really bad idea for reasons I haven't
: thought of yet?
Basically ,if water in any form and amount get under the glass with most woods it turns dark all the way to black. If you take good care the copper will be fine after glassing over. West Epoxy book has the scoop on bonding metals. I would build a bow on the forms with some harder wood and then hammer the copper on it to fit and bond it with epoxy and tape, Then paddle and let the copper do the patina on its' own. Even in salt water it takes time to change. I live at the beach in Southern Cal and copper details I use on houses within 1000ft off the water still take 4 to 6 months to change, and I have not found a cheaper way to get things right other than time and salt air.
Don