# Copper Wind Vane I Made



## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

I hammered the fish out of flat sheet and cut the directionals from 1/8" copper plate. Fish is made in halves then soldered together and polished. The only things not hand made are the two glass lightning rod balls. I was planning to put it on my barn, but the wife & I found a place in the house for it. I always wanted to try making one and finally found the time to do it.


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## Ranger Ray (Mar 2, 2003)

Very nice. Always extra special when you make it yourself.


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

That's sweet!

Great job. But come on, you couldn't find time to fire up the blast furnace and get some blowing rods and make the balls yourself? :evil:

Nice work!

John


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## Big Reds (Oct 14, 2007)

Looks like crap... I'll take it off your hands so as not to embarrass yourself!

Seriously, way cool!
Make a great Christmas present (pm me for my address). lol


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## malainse (Sep 2, 2002)

That is very nice work...


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

jpollman said:


> That's sweet!
> 
> Great job. But come on, you couldn't find time to fire up the blast furnace and get some blowing rods and make the balls yourself? :evil:
> 
> ...


lol, I may end up in the emergency room experimenting with that. :lol:


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

Very hard to photograph this. The copper reflects everything.


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## plugger (Aug 8, 2001)

Awesome!


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

So are you going to keep it all bright and shiny, or are you going to let the patina take over? I can never decide which way I like best. Bright shiny copper is beautiful. But it's also very nice once it takes on that nice green patina. Either way, it's very nice.


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## eyesforever (Mar 8, 2004)

Great piece of work!


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

jpollman said:


> So are you going to keep it all bright and shiny, or are you going to let the patina take over? I can never decide which way I like best. Bright shiny copper is beautiful. But it's also very nice once it takes on that nice green patina. Either way, it's very nice.


This one I'm going to keep shinny. Natural patina takes years and I don't care for the artificial solutions you can use to turn it quicker. Would help if we lived near the ocean, that turns it quicker.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

Thats beautiful.


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## PerchOnly (Oct 24, 2007)

Second picture makes the piece look better than the first and the first was unbelievable. The hooks were a nice touch. Obviously not your first piece, if it was you just found yourself a new career!


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## Huffy (Jan 19, 2009)

That's _very_ impressive. I wish the stuff I try to make would turn out looking half that good.


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

PerchOnly said:


> Second picture makes the piece look better than the first and the first was unbelievable. The hooks were a nice touch. Obviously not your first piece, if it was you just found yourself a new career!


Well, it's the first one I ever made.  I've wanted to give this a try for a long time and just didn't make time to do it. It helps to have 35+ years in as a tinner, though. Glad you like it!


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## Catalpa (Dec 15, 2011)

Absolutely beautiful work! You should make a bunch of them and hit the craft shows next summer.


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

Catalpa said:


> Absolutely beautiful work! You should make a bunch of them and hit the craft shows next summer.


Thanks! I don't think I could compete with the Budwieser can airplanes.


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## ih772 (Jan 28, 2003)

Looks great, where did you get the copper to make something like that?


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

ih772 said:


> Looks great, where did you get the copper to make something like that?


The 16 oz. copper sheet metal for the fish came from my uncle who owns a roofing company. You can buy it online, but it's pricey. Best to find a local roofing/sheet metal contractor. The 1/8" copper plate I salvaged from a scrap yard.


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

That is one sweet looking piece of art. How many hours of work did you put into it?


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

I didn't really keep track of the time because I was doing it for fun. The fish took the longest to make. Hammering the copper so that both halves fit perfectly together so I could solder it took a lot of time. I was making some of the tools I used as I went, so that added in time, too. Now that I have a bit of a system, I might be able to reproduce one in 2-3 weeks. I would like to find a used band saw that would handle the 1/8" copper. That would cut down the time considerably. Using a sawsall on it is pretty crude for this kind of work. 

Glad you like it!


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## Wendy (Oct 6, 2008)

craft shows..... :lol: ! No I'd say Ann Arbor art fair where the real artists hang out, at least you could command a good price..Very nice job!


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## jampg (Jan 27, 2007)

Wow! Super nice for sure. Very nice piece of artwork. Thanks for sharing.


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## tinmarine (Nov 19, 2007)

stevebrandle said:


> I didn't really keep track of the time because I was doing it for fun. The fish took the longest to make. Hammering the copper so that both halves fit perfectly together so I could solder it took a lot of time. I was making some of the tools I used as I went, so that added in time, too. Now that I have a bit of a system, I might be able to reproduce one in 2-3 weeks. I would like to find a used band saw that would handle the 1/8" copper. That would cut down the time considerably. Using a sawsall on it is pretty crude for this kind of work.
> 
> Glad you like it!


Plasma works pretty good. Just don't have any liquor before you do it though. Might follow the wrong lines.


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## KalamazooKid (Jun 20, 2005)

Beautiful Steve - I'll trade ya a bottle of Wild Turk for it.:evilsmile

Seriously though, that's a work of art.


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

Wendy said:


> craft shows..... :lol: ! No I'd say Ann Arbor art fair where the real artists hang out, at least you could command a good price..Very nice job!


Thanks, Wendy. I missed your comment 'till now. I really like your drawings on the facebook page. The detail brings it to life.


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## stevebrandle (Jan 23, 2000)

KalamazooKid said:


> Beautiful Steve - I'll trade ya a bottle of Wild Turk for it.:evilsmile
> 
> Seriously though, that's a work of art.


LOL, and after that the quality would evaporate.....


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## Wendy (Oct 6, 2008)

stevebrandle said:


> Thanks, Wendy. I missed your comment 'till now. I really like your drawings on the facebook page. The detail brings it to life.


Well thanks Steve! 

Thanks for likeing my page too, I added a bunch of stuff to it yesterday.


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