I am looking for a copper backsplash

A good bet would be a local sheetmetal shop. They usually have copper for flashing and could make what you need. They'll also have a few sraps around, and you can use those to experiment with the patina.

I've never used copper for a backsplash, but stainless works well-available from the same place.

Gary Brady

"Gary Brady" wrote: (clip) I prefer copper that is somewhat aged. Also, some type of design would be nice. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I recently got some very nice scrap pieces that were cutoffs from a roofing job. He had it in bright and artificial patina. So a roofer might be a source. For the design, you might contact a high school shop teacher--you may find a talented student who would work by the hour.

Over here in the UK - where we have no money but fortunately, no Harbour Fake - I get my copper by scrounging used domestic hot water tanks from demolition sites or friendly plumbers. The usual tank over here has a volume of around 150 litres (oops - 35 gallons) and will provide a 4' 6" by 2'6" sheet of 24g copper sheet once the top and bottom are cut off. I have covered benches and found many other uses for this recycled material. Serendipity - the tank also contains a copper heating coil of 1 1/2" diameter, around 8' long - I wonder how you make moonshine? By definition this is aged copper and is easy to make into whatever your heart desires. All the best, Charles

They use copper domestic hot water heater tanks over there? Ship me one! Natural gas, please. ;-) (Yeah, probably [bloody fortune]^2 and the USA'n code authorities will have a cow.)

All of our USA'n ones are porcelain or plastic lined steel, with a zinc anode to "protect" them. (So what if they rust through every 10 or 15 years, that just means they get to sell you another one...)

Now I have seen them use sheet copper on the firebox area of tankless water heaters, and all-copper finned heat exchangers up at the flue area... But they don't have much market penetration yet, people want to open multiple taps at once and not have the temperature surge as the burner throttles, or have the flow restricted.

Moonshine is easy, mechanically speaking - you mix up the grain and water mash with a little yeast in a non-reactive copper tank and let it ferment to produce alcohol, then heat the whole tank carefully to somewhere around 190 F (roughly 95C) till the alcohol boils off and the water doesn't. Then you condense the alcohol vapors to liquid.

Of course, you either have to hide this whole 'shine operation in the woods, or get it properly licensed. (Thank you, History Channel.)

The only advantage of having that heating coil inside the tank is if you have a steam boiler handy, and wanted to use process steam and a control valve to heat the mash instead of an open fire under the tank. I've never tried the raw stuff but it's supposed to be an "acquired taste", kind of like drinking turpentine. Age and mellow it, filter through charcoal and let it sit on oak for a while, and you have bourbon or whisky.

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I've only seen one copper HW tank, it was on an old estate in Cold Spring Harbor- old Gold Coast LI country. Cement lined tanks work pretty well, however, I've had several big ones demo'd and they were all in excellent shape after 30 years. Stay away from the newer synthetic linings- they may work great if perfectly applied but in the real world often fail miserably within a few years. You can get stainless indirect HW heaters- Phase 3 work well but are not ASME rated so you can't use them everywhere.

Funnily enough, the plumbing and heating industry seems to be being forced into changing from copper to lined steel or stainless products over here. Copper was used from the late Victorian days (I believe) and is still an approved material. I researched for a picture of a copper cylinder and this is all I could find:

copper hot water cylinder has been in service for at least 40 years and is in good shape. These days, to satisfy energy saving regulations, most cylinders are supplied with bonded foam insulation. Makes them a pain in the a** to reclaim. The old ones (and there must be 20 or 30 million still in use in the UK) are easy to find. Thanks for the moonshine tips. With whisky taxed at about 80% of the price it would be worth taking a chance, especially as our police are concentrating on the motorist and the replica gun owner as the most wanted these days. All the best, Charles