Making Soft Copper Washers

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Mar 24, 2021, 11:31 AM
editor@glue-it.com

6 Attachment(s)

Making Soft Copper Washers

A simple article to take people through my way of making soft copper washers:

Drill some holes in copper sheet, best to then ream the holes
Attachment 38940

Cut them into pieces
Attachment 38941

Fit them onto a mandrel in the lathe and clamp them between two washers
Attachment 38942

Turn them to size
Attachment 38943

Then you just need to deburr them and finally anneal them. Annealing copper is easy, heat it up to dull red and dump them in water
Attachment 38944

I then have a soft copper washer that will form a great seal on my steam boiler
Attachment 38945
Mar 24, 2021, 08:31 PM
hemmjo

I have been "making" copper sheet, perhaps reclaiming is a better word, from old plumbing pipe.

1/2" copper plumbing pipe opens flat to be about 1 1/2" wide. 3/4"≈ 2 1/4", Obviously if you stumble onto some old 3" DWV pipe, you can get a sheet over 9" wide.
Mar 25, 2021, 08:26 AM
katy

Quote:

Originally Posted by editor@glue-it.com

A simple article to take people through my way of making soft copper washers:

Annealing copper is easy, heat it up to dull red and dump them in water

Dumping copper in water after heating to dull red is not necessary, if left to air cool it will suffice.
Mar 25, 2021, 08:34 AM
editor@glue-it.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by katy

Dumping copper in water after heating to dull red is not necessary, if left to air cool it will suffice.

Hi Katy, agree, air cooling is fine. I dump in water as I'm often in a hurry.....But air cooling afterwards still anneals the copper. Thanks, Nigel
Mar 25, 2021, 08:40 AM
delalio

This is a great set of instructions. I recently made some, using a similar method, but yours turned out beautifully! Think I'll be following your guide next time! :)
Mar 25, 2021, 06:18 PM
NortonDommi

"Dumping copper in water after heating to dull red is not necessary, if left to air cool it will suffice." True but dropping into cold water has two benefits. 1: It cools down fast ready for immediate use. 2: Most of the Oxides slough off leaving a clean surface.
If you wanted to make real nice you could soak in White vinegar for a while to brighten.
Mar 25, 2021, 06:33 PM
carloski

When copper sheets are hard to find, drilling a penny is fast and cheap! Gov't probably doesn't agree...
Mar 26, 2021, 09:16 AM
mklotz

Quote:

Originally Posted by carloski

When copper sheets are hard to find, drilling a penny is fast and cheap! Gov't probably doesn't agree...

Yes, but if you're in the USA, it must be a pre-1982 penny. Pennies after that date are zinc with a thin copper coating.
Mar 26, 2021, 10:17 AM
hemmjo

Quote:

Originally Posted by carloski

When copper sheets are hard to find, drilling a penny is fast and cheap! Gov't probably doesn't agree...

The government does not care if you burn your money, drill holes it in, you can do anything you want with it.

But, as mentioned, if you need copper, you won't find any usable amount in a penny..
Mar 26, 2021, 10:58 AM
mklotz

Quote:

Originally Posted by hemmjo

The government does not care if you burn your money, drill holes it in, you can do anything you want with it.

The only thing they object to is alterations for the purpose of passing the coin off as a coin of different value.

There are numerous numismatic fakes where the date on the coin is altered to make it appear to be the date of a more valued coin. I wonder if that too is a crime in the eyes of the Treasury.
Mar 26, 2021, 06:35 PM
jdurand

They especially don't care with paper money as all of that (including digits in your bank account) are RENTED from the Federal Reserve Corporation. So the longer a paper or digital $ is out of their hands, the more interest they make on it.

In case you thought they were a government division... not in the slightest.
Mar 29, 2021, 03:42 AM
old kodger

quote "I wonder if that too is a crime in the eyes of the Treasury"
If there's a dollar to be extorted, you can bet your life on it.
Mar 29, 2021, 05:09 AM
hemmjo

If you take any kind of money, and try to make it into some other denomination of greater value, then pass it off as the new higher value, you would be breaking the law.

But you can take any money you want, and make it into something else, even if you make a profit from that process, there is nothing illegal about that.

Melt down all the pennies you want and cast the zinc you get into priceless works of art. Just don't try to make a penny into a dime.

https://www.coinjewelryco.com
Apr 8, 2021, 03:53 AM
DIYer


Thanks editor@glue-it.com! We've added your Copper Washer to our Fastening category,
as well as to your builder page: editor@glue-it.com's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-copper-washer"> <img src="/uploads/248367/homemade-copper-washer.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-copper-washer">Copper Washer</a> <span> by <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/builder/editor%40glue-it.com">editor@glue-it.com</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='https://www.homemadetools.net/tag/copper'>copper</a>, <a href='https://www.homemadetools.net/tag/washer'>washer</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>