Making Soft Copper Washers

[editor@glue-it.com]

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


Cut them into pieces


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


Turn them to size


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


I then have a soft copper washer that will form a great seal on my steam boiler

[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.

[katy]

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.

[editor@glue-it.com]

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

[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!

[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.

[carloski]

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

[mklotz]

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.

[hemmjo]

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..

[mklotz]

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.