welding copper

[RobM]

Any body know any thing about welding copper? should I TIG or gas weld? nothing seriously structural but I don’t want the welds to crack under high vibration

what should i use for filler rod? Can i use a thin strip of the metal I’m working with and weld it with a oxy torch? I plan on planishing the welds flat

[Mathius]

Any body know any thing about welding copper? should I TIG or gas weld? nothing seriously structural but I don’t want the welds to crack under high vibration

what should i use for filler rod? Can i use a thin strip of the metal I’m working with and weld it with a oxy torch? I plan on planishing the welds flat

I don't know much about welding copper. It burns at a very low temperature and is a very soft metal. I do know that you can solder it, which means you can probably braze it as well, provided the material is thick enough.

Perhaps it would be helpful if you let us know more about what thickness of material you are welding and what you're looking to do more specifically?

Mathius

[David Pozzi]

found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_tungsten_arc_welding
Guess it's possible but difficult.
Normally it's brazed or soldered. Ive' silver soldered copper elbows to a radiator I made, silver solder is super strong, but you will see the silver.
David

[Tiger]

I do silver solder copper as well.
I've never seen anyone weld it.

[RobM]

this is for a motor cycle gas tank im making, its looking like if its not easily weldable ill have to hide the solder joints some how, or talk the guy out of it

[RobM]

i may actualy just build it out of steel and get it plated

[GetMore]

I know it can be done. I'm pretty sure you have to TIG it.
A friend of mine works in a shop that makes some mid- to high- end kitchen stuff, and he has made a vent hood out of copper.



He said it took a long time at high power to get it to the point where it could be welded, and then it suddenly puddles.

[Mathius]

You could try old school rivets.. I think Jesse James did a tank like that, or there's a nice ceramic powder coat that's a copper color. Saw it on one of those biker buildoff shows.

Comes out real nice on exhausts, because instead of the discoloration you get like with chrome, when the copper discolors, it turns like a flame hue, like red, orange, yellow.

Mathius

[derekf]

The Covell TIG video goes into welding copper a little.

[edakota]

TIG weld using pure copper filler wire

[cm-67]

Copper can be TIG welded. It is welded with DCEN (straight polarity). You should use argon as a shielding gas, but if the material is over 1/16" thick you should use an argon helium mix. Also keep in mind that copper has a high heat loss rate so when welding thicker materials it should be preheated.

Oh and one last thing. There are two types of copper, oxygen bearing and deoxidized copper.

You should ONLY WELD DEOXIDIZED COPPER
If you try to weld oxygen bearing copper it will have crappy welds

Filler material can be made by shearing off strips of the base material you are welding.

I made a cage out of copper one time. it was about 6 feet tall and about 5 feet wide and about 2 feet deep. It was made out of 1/8 copper flat bar 2" wide. It also used a mesh type copper screen around the entire thing. It was used to house some type of sensitive computer equipment, protect it from radio waves, microwaves, or something like that.

Chris

[KWIKND]

I believe Henrob says you can weld copper with their unt.
Good Luck
Dan

[RobM]

looks like I have some experamenting to do. I like that copper coated exhaust idea.

Thing is any theme on a bike thats overdone usualy looks cheezy, its all about ballance. I don"t want this thing to look like the statue of liberty

seems like the fumes from copper arnt so friendly

[Mathius]

looks like I have some experamenting to do. I like that copper coated exhaust idea.

Thing is any theme on a bike thats overdone usualy looks cheezy, its all about ballance. I don"t want this thing to look like the statue of liberty

seems like the fumes from copper arnt so friendly

Seems like cm-67 has your answers.

But not the change the subject, but you mentioned the exhaust. I saw the coating I was thinking of on a bike called the 'Bobster'. It is a trike, built by Michael Long of Zeel design in Canada.

Instead of the exhaust turning a "bruised" color on a chrome pipe:


The ceramic copper coating makes the exhaust turn more of an orange "flame" hue. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I could find within a quick 5 min. search, but you can look around for more. Maybe someone on discovery's web site has pics.




Mathius

[edakota]

welded using pure copper filler

[Jim Nilsen]

You might want to check into a Henrob gas welder. You can use what ever material you are working with to join the pieces together.

Soldering is normally done and I have heard of people hammer welding copper but never seen it done.

We had coldwelders at the wire plant I worked at that just pressed it together and it became one. Pressure is an amazing thing.

You really need to check out the Henrob and talk to some of the dealers who are also very good welders.

[indyjps]

Mathius, thats an ok pic

[ntsqd]

Coming from a first time poster I don't know how much this'll mean to you, but I've welded copper while making a musical instrument of sorts. Used a TIG, don't recall the settings. Parts were copper pipe bits and I used single strand house wire for the filler. Process goes very similar to using silicon-bronze, it's more of a brazing type process using a TIG torch than a 'normal' TIG weld.