Materials - Copper

General

The base element used for many thousands of years, copper is now no longer in widespread use. It is heavy and soft and quickly weathers to the green colour so familiar in gardens and out of doors. Copper is an excellent heat conductor making it extremely useful for heat sinks. It is reasonably easy to obtain through model and metal suppliers (model train makers often still use it to built boilers) but is now expensive.

Properties

Forming

Cutting
Can be cut using simple jigsaw and drilled using hand or bench drills with HSS drill bits. Keep speeds down to reduce friction and prevent a build up of heat which leads to softening and deformation of the material.

Bending
Can easily be formed by gentle heating .

Casting
Casting is possible with copper.

Welding
Welding is not recommended for copper.

Grinding/Filing
Can be filed or ground using general abrasives, however it softens as it gets hot and as such becomes trickier to grind. Keeps speeds down and, if necessary, provide a heat sink.

Joining
Although welding is not a good idea, soldering is very easy. The tools are available from DIY shops where they are sold for domestic plumbing usage. A simple flux is applied to the joint and the whole area is then thoroughly heated using a gas flame. Joint may be re-heated to correct errors or seperate the joint.

Handling and Storage

Copper tends to 'green' when left in a moist atmosphere. This aging can be removed by polishing, but can be aggrevated by grease on the surface of the metal. Care should be taken to avoid finger prints or such like which will cause more severe 'greening'.

Links

rswww.com	Supplier, look under Mechanics/Engineering Materials

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