Thread: welding copper

See here for the previous discussion:

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=24496

In short, braze it rather than weld it. Or even silver solder it...or even solder it if it doesnt need to be all that strong.

Otherwise, its pretty much like welding aluminium except you have to preheat the copper for best results. For thick material, this makes it rather hot work.

You'll find more than you'll ever want to know here:
http://www.brazing.com/techguide/pro...er_welding.asp

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

See here for the previous discussion.

I must be famous To the OP, what do you want to weld copper with(mig, tig?)? I was keen on doing it with tig, but it's harder than it looks. There is apparently a lot more to it than adding a few extra amps..

sorry, should have done a search first, thanks for the replies people, have had no experience welding anything, starting from scratch, i get from roaming around the internet that their is plenty of if and buts about copper welding so i'm just sorting at the moment, thanks again, seeya

Copper TIG, easier than lots think, sometimes a colour variation depending on the chance of different alloys of ur material or filler, and is as easy as a few more amps, well quite a few more amps, i guess depends on the thickness of ur job. Here's an interesting thing to try, if ur into TIG, try welding brass with silver solder as ur filler rod, looks like a tig weld, but with silver, strong, and works really well, maybe u could use that to weld ur copper, but i have used plain old copper wire as filler before. Best way to learn TIG, is heaps of practice.

do you use ac or dc tig for brass copper?sean

DC is what you need.

Something else i have come across since the previous post, and it does depend on the particular alloy of brass you are useing, is that the high heating levels created in TIG will cause the Zinc in the Brass to burn and will cause the milky residue left behind, and of cause will change the alloy somewhat... I have seen some Brass done with very little milky residue and some with quite a lot, but depending on the application it may not be a problem at all.

Originally Posted by northerncat

do you use ac or dc tig for brass copper?sean

For tigging copper
DC -, Ar or Ar/He gas, thoriated electrodes (Zirconated would be OK also) , nice sharp point.

Hit it with a good belt of heat then go like blazes.
Blends nicely , your can at a pinch use silicon bronze mig wire as a filler but your better off with deoxidized copper rod, if its is an alloy use off cuts of your material as filler.
Scotch brite pads to prep. No flux .
Gets hot quickly so you will have to be prepared to stop.

Brass I would try to blend only depending on application,

Copper definitely lends itself to being Tig welded.

The problem with Copper is that its a tremendous conductor of heat and requires a lot more heat input to form a weld puddle than with other metals.

So essentially U got to have access to a Rig that allows you to crank up the Amps!

When tiging Copper its welded with a DC electrode negative power source just like most other metals. Use a thoriated tungsten electrode!

For best results the filler wire required is a special deoxidized copper filler rod specially designed for tig welding (You would probably have to special order this!)

REgards Lou

Jesse James in one of his episodes from his series Monster Garage, made a custom bike fuel tank from copper sheet. He used his English wheel to form and shape the 2 bowls. He then used strips of copper waste that was left over from using the air nibbler as the filler rod. He TIG'd it together and the welds were perfect and the tank did not look like it was welded at all.