[TheForge] Re: Copper plating as an outdoor finish

Fri Aug 22 05:17:00 2003

OK...

 Does this mean that one requires the hi-frequency start as in tig welding
aluminum?

With a stick welder, did he flux a chunk of the parent material, wrap it in
a flux soaked strip of cotton rag?  Or would copper welding not require an
O2 free/limited atmosphere? hmmm.

Kevin

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Mike Spencer
Sent: Friday, 22 August, 2003 1:24 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [TheForge] Re: Copper plating as an outdoor finish

> I welded some 1/4" copper plate to my leg vice for a ground clamp
> connector.  It sure needed *alot* of heat.  Seemed like my 200amp tig
> was a little small.

Chris Ray once talked about (stick?) welding a big copper water
sculpture.  He said that he eventually learned from an experienced
welder -- the proverbial Old Timer -- that the trick was a pedal
widgit that allowed him to start the weld with a very high current to
compensate for the high thermal conductivity of the copper, then
quickly back off to a lower amperage to run the weld.  I forget what
he said he used for rod/filler.

This would have been in 1980 and the piece was a ripply wall of raised
copper sheet that the water flowed over like a waterfall.

- Mike

--
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
                                 						   /V\
[email protected]            						  /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/						  ^^-^^

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