[Jewelry making - Article 00065] - Re: [Orchid] Soldering copper

[Ken Wronkiewicz]

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    Some notes (given that copper really is a beautiful metal) 

    I've got some copper colored hard solder from Monsterslayer, but I
    haven't tried it yet. 

    I got some copper colored hard solder that looks about the same from
    the local jeweler supply (I forgot the name) in Mountain View CA, but
    the color is off.  Sometimes it'll look OK after pickling. 

    Copper-bearing Brazing rods from the Bernz-o-matic company
    (Available at Office Depot) also have off-colored joins. 

    Regular silver hard solder works fine but clearly shows a line. 

    Apparently, unless you are prepared to weld the entire thing,
    getting the joins to look nice is pretty hard.  You can sometimes get
    good results by playing the torch against the joint until it's almost
    melted and then pickle it.  Electroplating works.  Jax copper plating
    solution seems to work better on normal silver solder than it looks
    on copper solder.  Or you can accidentally drop steel into your
    pickle pot and get a copper plating solution for free. 

    Copper is tricky to weld.  I haven't tried, but I know the woman who
    built Egeria ( http://burningideas.com/firefall/egeria/index.html )
    out of copper. It is a little tricky because it is either liquid or
    solid, with no gooey point like steel.  I've had it melt on me
    suddenly when I was trying to braze together thin wire.  All of the
    sudden, oops, you've got a puddle. ;) 

    Otherwise, it's a beautiful material.  Relatively inexpensive, a
    range of available beautiful colors, can be hammered and then
    annealed without problems, etc. ;) 

Ken "Wirehead" Wronkiewicz             \ \ \/
http://www.wirewd.com/wh/               \ \



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