Page 1 of 1
working copper
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2001 9:35 pm
by Vladimir
is there anything different about dishing copper? I would probably try to work with fairly thin guage stuff. I would have to dish it pretty deeply.
Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2001 11:51 pm
by Kyle
What have you worked before? Copper works easily, so you don't want to go with anything -too- thin, especially if you're doing any tight curves. You'd run the risk of getting spots thin enough to crack easily, even before you've worked the piece after annealing. When you anneal, you have to quench it right after heating it, or it reverts to its hardened state - this is the case for all non-ferrous metals (not 100% certain of this). Copper also etches easily, if you are doing decoration and like to play with acid (and who doesn't
) It has a relatively high thermal expansion coefficient, so make sure to wax your saw blades when you're cutting it.
- Kyle
Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2001 1:27 am
by Frederich Von Teufel
Hey Vladimir, I've worked copper for many a year now, and can say that it works very similarly to mild steel. In other words, if you can work one, you can work the other.
Copper will move much more easily than steel (at first), I'd say that 12 guage copper is as easy to move as 18 guage mild steel. There is a different _feel_ to copper (or copper alloys) when you hit it, as compared to steel. It doesn't have the same "thumb bite".
You _do_ need to periodically anneal copper when working it or you will have it fracture on you. I generally go on the feel of it, when it doesn't move when I hit it with a particular blow (where it moved easily when freshly annealed) I know it's time to anneal it. For comparison, I never anneal steel when I'm working with it; the point at which it turns brittle is much further along, and presents no danger to me.
You will also find that copper (or copper alloys) can be a bear to work with when they are thin (and you have little experience.) They move so quickly, that you can badly wrinkle or damage a peice with just one blow. And when they do become brittle, it's very easy to blow through the sheet. Take your time and don't rush. 18 or 16 guage is a better thickness to start with.
Frederich