[Woodworkers] Copper metal working

Sat Apr 17 13:34:55 PDT 2021

The Easy Wood scraper is a negative edge scraper. I'm not an expert, but
I've had better luck with a positive edge scraper and copper.

On Sat, Apr 17, 2021, 12:06 AM Richard Allen via Woodworkers <
woodworkers at lists.sawdusters.org> wrote:

> Hi Chuck,
>
> Because drilling is done without being hand held (drill bit fixed in the
> tailstock) you can work at much slower speeds.  300 rpm would be my choice
> for drilling.  For turning with a hand held cutting tool I would turn as
> fast as the lathe felt stable.  An out of balance hunk of copper might not
> work at 3000 rpm.  But as the copper became more balance I would increase
> the speed.  Please keep in mind that with an increase in speed there is
> also and increase in danger.  If the “Danger Zone” is 4” wide at 300 rpm I
> would establish a danger zone of 12” wide at 3000 rpm.  This is to say that
> none of my body would enter that danger zone and my head would double that
> distance.  Tool forward with arms outstretched and my head either past the
> headstock or past the tailstock.  If I needed a better view it would be
> done with the lathe off.  BTW I use this “Danger Zone” approach to all my
> turning except for spindle work.
>
> On Apr 16, 2021, at 8:17 PM, chuck.steger at gmail.com wrote:
>
> 
>
> Richard,
>
>    Thank you! What do you think of the drill speed? 3000? Also, if I turn
> faster 2000? 3000?
>
>    Thank you for your help!!! Learning new things is exciting!
>
>
>
> Chuck
>
>
>
> *From:* Richard Allen <rla_buy at yahoo.com>
> *Sent:* Friday, April 16, 2021 6:42 PM
> *To:* chuck.steger at gmail.com
> *Cc:* woodworkers at sawdusters.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Woodworkers] Copper metal working
>
>
>
> Hi Chuck,
>
>
>
> I would turn much faster.  Though I would be concerned about high speed
> and the brittleness of a carbide cutting edge.  Metal work tends to be done
> at a slow speed.  Slow speed is also counter indicated with a hand held
> tool as a hand held tool tends to move in response to cutting.  Expect a
> lot of noise but the higher speed should help make the cuts very light and
> soon the thing will be running true.  Once the thing is running true you
> should be getting ribbons.  You want those ribbons to be small.  The goal
> is light cuts.  Sharp tools help a lot and dull fast.  I use HSS so I am
> not sure how a carbide tool would work or how long the cutting edge would
> remain sharp.
>
>
>
> Safety!!!  Always stand to the side while turning.  If the “bullet” should
> “dismount” you want to see it fly by not fly into you.
>
>
>
> On Apr 16, 2021, at 7:03 PM, chuck.steger at gmail.com wrote:
>
> 
>
> Richard and all,
>
>    Follow-up on the copper sphere:
>
>    I drilled the sphere and did fine. But my first question is what is the
> proper drilling rpm for copper? Everything I’ve seen on the internet (9/64”
> drill bit) says 3000 rpm. That just seems fast to me. I ended up drilling
> at 1200 rpm and did fine (using 3-in-1 lubricant). But should I have used
> 3000? I will be doing more.
>
>    I threaded the sphere and a steel rod and screwed the rod into the
> sphere. I mounted the sphere on the lathe and used the tail stock to start
> but will eventually have to back off the tail stock. I used an Easy Tool
> scraper and started to turn the sphere. It was a little wobbly as I’m sure
> I didn’t hit the exact center of the sphere. When I gently entered the
> cutter to the sphere I got small chips and a lot of noise (I’m sure because
> metal on metal and a little wobble). I stopped turning because a 3 oz ball
> of metal coming off the lathe makes me nervous and decided caution was the
> better part of valor so I could seek more advice. The lathe was turning
> around 1200 rpm. Faster, slower? What type of chips should be coming off?
> The DP created longer wisps of copper and I was hoping for the same at the
> lathe but probably not realistic. What did cut was very rough. Sound normal
> so far?
>
>    I had safety glasses and a face shield on and I know wood coming off a
> lathe can do damage but when I think of this sphere all I can see is a big
> bullet ☹.
>
>    What do you think? Soldier on?
>
>
>
> Chuck
>
>
>
> *From:* Richard Allen <rla_buy at yahoo.com>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 30, 2021 4:19 PM
> *To:* woodworkers at sawdusters.org
> *Cc:* chuck.steger at gmail.com
> *Subject:* Re: [Woodworkers] Copper metal working
>
>
>
> I have turned copper on a wood lathe before.  I would take a 7/8” rod
> about 2” long an turn a sphere at one end.  The end being held by the lathe
> could be turned down to a suitable diameter so the sphere would be attached
> to the rod as a single piece of copper.  Another option would be to drill
> and tap the 1” sphere and thread some of your 3/8” rod to screw into the
> taped sphere.  Copper drills fine.  Plan on discarding the drill bit as
> sometimes the copper will “weld” to the drill bit.  I would do the drilling
> with the 1” sphere in a chuck on the lathe.  I would turn down the 1”
> sphere by mounting the 3/8” rod in a chuck on the lathe.  Copper turns with
> a scraper.  It is a fairly slow process but 10 minutes of scraper work and
> 15 minutes of sanding and polishing should give you a sphere shape to your
> likening
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mar 30, 2021, at 5:02 PM, chuck.steger--- via Woodworkers <
> woodworkers at lists.sawdusters.org> wrote:
>
> 
>
> Hope everyone is safe and healthy!
>
>    I need some advice on working solid copper. I’ll give you some context
> on what I’m doing.
>
>    I designing and building a Heritage Box for someone. Everything that
> goes into the design and construction will have some elements from their
> cultural background. Their mother and grandparents lived and worked in a
> copper mining town in Chile and copper was a big part of their lives. To
> bring copper into the design, I will attach the legs to the box using
> copper rods. Since the legs taper, I will use 1/8”, 3/16”, and ¼” rods and
> leave a ¼” gap between the legs and box. But this is subtle and I wanted to
> add something else. So I want to add a copper sphere at the top of the box.
> I drew up the design full scale and the sphere looks good at ¾”. So, I
> started researching copper spheres and what I found are jewelry spheres ½”
> and less or solid spheres 1” and greater. I ordered the 1” spheres which
> are actually used for plating copper.
>
>    So here are some of my issues/questions/concerns:
>
>    - Is there any way possible to reduce the diameter? I thought about
>    some kind of holding contraption on a lathe and then using files but that
>    just sounds like a bad idea.
>    - The sphere weights in at 3 oz. Now that may seem light but it’s a
>    little heftier that I wanted because I don’t want it to tip the box over
>    when hinged open. The box footprint will be 8”x12” so it may be OK. I will
>    build a prototype as I always do so I’ll find out. Also with a prototype it
>    will be easy to see if 1” is too big. A ¾” hollow sphere would be perfect
>    but I can’t find that.
>    - Will solid copper drill OK? I would like to drill a hole for a rod
>    to anchor the sphere to the box. I will epoxy the sphere to a cradle but a
>    rod would be so much more secure IMO. And, given the weight, I would feel
>    better.
>    - Here’s another take …. Is there a way to cut the sphere in ½” I only
>    have WW bandsaws so even with a metal blade, WW bandsaws run too fast,
>    don’t they? The thought process here is maybe I take the two half spheres
>    and attach them to the side of the box as an adornment. The design will be
>    mostly Asian so spheres might look good.
>
>    So you can see the design is in total flux. I’ve started building the
> prototype out of pine.
>
>
>
> Chuck
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> I want to be one of my friends for a day so I can see how cool it is to
> hang out with me.
> Woodworkers at lists.sawdusters.org
>
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> _______________________________________________
> I want to be one of my friends for a day so I can see how cool it is to
> hang out with me.
> Woodworkers at lists.sawdusters.org
>
> To unsubscribe from this list -
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