[Noisebridge-discuss] soldering copper sheet metal

[jim]

    ("Why didn't you say you  were sending the wolf? sheee...,
that's all you had to say...!")

     That's the same advice as the two experts I talked
with (you're in good company). One suggested I try

https://www.mscdirect.com/

which has got a huge catalog of various industrial tools
and materials.

     I've got two different copper sheets, both from R. J.
Leahy in SF (specializes in copper, brass, bronze...);
one piece is 30 gauge, the other is 24 gauge, both rolled
and available in 12 inch by <you-name-it) lengths. My
attempts with each are the same. I can get 'em up to bright
red, but the solder rolls off like water....



On 10/29/2015 08:44 PM, Winston Wolff wrote:
> How about finding different copper sheet? I can only think of not enough heat or some contaminant in the copper.
>
> —Winston
>
> Winston Wolff
> Stratolab - Games for Learning
> tel: (917) 543 8852
> web: www.stratolab.com
>
> Play  Electropocalypse -- our new game about electricity -- http://stratolab.com/electropocalypse/
>
>> On Oct 29, 2015, at 1:43 PM, jim <jim at well.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Thanks, Musti,
>>      What the hey! I'll try it.
>>
>>
>>
>> On 10/29/2015 08:26 PM, Musti wrote:
>>> Hi Jim,
>>>
>>> depends on what you are trying to do, but maybe just use spot welding?
>>>
>>> You might as well try Aluminum soldering flux, which enables to solder
>>> it like a charm, if you ahve the right thin it will . This flux smells
>>> really really bad.
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>> Musti
>>>
>>> On 29.10.2015 21:18, jim wrote:
>>>
>>>>      Nothing's working. I talked to two different
>>>> experts, one a plumber the other a bike mechanic.
>>>> both are surprised and both guess that the copper
>>>> sheets (12" wide copper rolls I bought from R. H.
>>>> Leahy in SF) must have a tiny amount of oil that's
>>>> embedded a couple or atom's distance into the
>>>> surface of the copper.
>>>>      I've tried various fluxes, washed 'em with
>>>> borax, lye, sodium carbonate (all high base), and
>>>> with alcohol, paint thinner, acetone, and muriatic
>>>> acid. I've scoured 'em with fine and with coarse
>>>> sand paper, by hand and with an electric hand
>>>> sander.
>>>>      My heat sources have been a propane torch and
>>>> also a 950 degree soldering iron. I've used tin-
>>>> lead and also silver solder.
>>>>
>>>>      The result is that the solder burns and
>>>> browns with what seems like little disks from
>>>> popped bubbles and all solders bead up and roll
>>>> off.
>>>>
>>>>      Somebodies know how to work with sheet copper
>>>> to make rain gutters, art, etc.
>>>>      I've looked into copper glues, and reviewers
>>>> warn that some products are of poor quality, other
>>>> products work but cannot withstand mechanical
>>>> stress....
>>>>      I'm gonna try adhesive copper tape, maybe
>>>> double it up if I need the strength.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 10/25/2015 11:58 PM, Cere Mona Davis wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> There is a special kind of flux for solding to copper. . Seen it at
>>>>> ace hardware.  Alternately, you can possibly try borax with a little
>>>>> water.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Oct 25, 2015 4:37 PM, "jim" <
>>>>> <mailto:jim at well.com>jim at well.com
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>          I've soldered electronics and plumbing and
>>>>>      am stuck trying to solder copper sheet metal.
>>>>>      I've used a soldering iron and a propane torch.
>>>>>      I've used alcohol, acetone, and paint thinner
>>>>>      to clean the copper as well as fine and coarse
>>>>>      sandpaper to clean the surfaces. I'm using
>>>>>      electronic flux (haven't yet tried plumbing
>>>>>      flux).
>>>>>          The soldering is not working: solder does
>>>>>      not flow or adhere to the copper, and there's
>>>>>      a brown residue that appears after heating.
>>>>>      Using a torch for forty or fifty seconds
>>>>>      results in flame that does not immediately
>>>>>      expire.
>>>>>
>>>>>          Anybody got tips?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
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