About this Blog

This blog soon will have complete material and tool info, and detailed how-to instructions that will get anyone on their way to copper work for fun and profit.

Equipment and Materials

This work is done with an acetylene torch. You will need an oxygen tank and an acetylene tank, a set of regulators, and hoses and handle. Any garden variety Oxy-Acetylene set up will do, and a lot can be done with the smallest available tank sets. Use a #1 tip.

The brazing rod we use is called "Zero-Percent Phos-Copper". It is called "zero-percent" because it has no silver: it is an alloy of ninety-some percent copper: the rest is phosphorous that is in the rod as a fluxing agent. When the rod is over-worked the phosphorous boils out and the rod become grainy, and hard to work; but more about that later. Phos-copper comes in many shapes and sizes, and while any shape or size will do; for our purposes the standard 36" X 1/8" round phos-copper brazing rod is best. Here after we will refer to the brazing rod as "phos".

Sheet copper is sold not by gauge or by hundredths of an inch, but by ounces per square foot. When I first began making things out of copper (in the 1960's) I used 16 oz exclusively. While 16 oz is adequate for any of the projects we will start with, I would recommend that a beginner use 24 oz copper. 24 oz is a bit more resistant to heat warpage, a bit more resistant to overheating, and almost as easy to cut and bend.

We will need some tin snips. Any snips will do, but standard aviation snips are best. Yellow handle means straight cut, so get some yellow handled aviation snips.

You will also need some gloves, a ball peen hammer, various pliers, and some dark glasses or welding googles or what is called a cutting hood. A cutting hood is a flip up face cover usually used when cutting steel with a cutting torch. I usually use a cutting hood. The shades come in various darknesses and I like a midrange. At the beginning of each project there will be a layout of the necessary hand tools.

You will need a fire-proof, heat resistant, work surface. An 18" X 24" piece of 1/4" steel plate works great. All of the beginning projects will require no more workspace than a card table.

Tools and materials are easily found by internet or yellow pages.

Lighting the Torch and General Torch Rules

There may be hard fast rules for the things I'm about to describe but all I know is the way I've been doing it for the last forty some-odd years, so that's what I'll describe.

With the gages mounted on the tanks turn the regulator handles all the way out. Turn the tanks on then set the oxygen regulator to 10 psi, and the acetylene regulator to 5 psi.

To light the torch turn the acetylene knob on about a quarter of a turn and light the acetylene. Turn the knob up and down and notice how it makes black soot when turned low, and burns clean when turned up. Set the acetylene to the place where it just begins to burn clean, then turn the oxygen knob on a bit. Play with the oxygen knob and notice the three distinct flame areas. Right at the tip there is a small bright blue cone. Beyond the bright blue flame is a less bright but still blue area. The third and outer most flame area is yellowish and more ragged. Watch the two blue fire cones and set the oxygen to the place where they just meet. If the flame still shows a haze of the lighter blue cone it is called a carbonizing flame, and that's OK. If the oxygen is adjusted past the point of conjunction it is called an oxidizing flame, and that will give you trouble. So basic rule. It is better to have a slightly fuzzy carbonizing flame than a sharp outline oxidizing flame.

When brazing we use the torch like a small paint brush and not like a spray can. The beginning mistake always made is having the torch too far away from the work. Generally the blue cone should be about a quarter of an inch or so away from the metal to be brazed. Get in, and get out. Do not brush the torch over the metal unnecessarily or you will soak the metal with heat and the phos will run everywhere. The phos will follow the heat. We control the phos by controlling the heat. If you see the work getting away from you get the torch away from the metal and let it settle down a bit, then go in and try again. Keep a spray bottle at hand to cool the work when necessary.

The Dotting Technique

The dotting technique is the signature element of putting copper pieces together regardless of the object. If you can manage to make a decent dot of phos on a piece of copper the rest will come together simply enough. It entirely depends upon recognizing when the copper sheet, tube, or wire is at the right temperature to accept the phos. Metal too hot and the phos runs everywhere. Metal too cold and the phos beads up and does not adhere. If the temperature is just right you will have a raised BB sized dot of phos ready to help you put things together. It takes practice, and it doesn't make sense to try to make anything until you can make a halfway decent dot. Some people get it in 15 or 20 minutes and some longer, but its not rocket science and if you practice you will get it right because the metal will be your teacher.

Once again. The metal knows nothing. It responds to the heat and that is all. We control the metal by controlling the heat. If your dot spreads out over the sheet metal the sheet metal is too hot. If it rolls off like a BB the metal is too cold. If it stands up with a little melt around the base of it like a scoop of ice cream on a warm sidewalk then you've got it.

Here we go. With the lit torch in one hand and a stick of phos in the other bring the torch to the surface of the sheet copper.

I am right handed, and I hold the torch in my right hand with no glove. I hold the brazing rod in my left hand with a glove, because the heat reflects up toward my left hand. You will soon work out what works for you.

With the flame tip not quite touching the metal, briefly pre-heat the surface. then bring the brazing rod to the flame and melt off a little dot.

There: that's all there is to it. The metal gets a "grayish" look when it is about the right temperature. When the copper starts to glow it is way too hot, and it is way to hot long before it starts to glow. Experiment: get it way too hot.  .  . see what happens. Melt a dot off on cold sheet metal.  .  . see what happens. Once you can make a serviceable dot you are on your way. The most common mistake is soaking the metal with heat. You have no control when the metal is soaked with heat. Get in. Get out. If the metal is too hot let it cool, or cool it with the spray bottle.

Now let's make something.

Too Hot                                                     Too Cold                                                Just Right