Have you ever needed to machine copper

I used big copper bars (1/4" thick) in my rectifier when I converted my welder to Cubloc microcontroller and normal three phase rectifier:

Now, a 1" thick bar is a little bit too much for that!

i

Practice, practice, practice; 5-10x as much as it took to get good at SS.

I came up with this technique for folding aluminum without a brake after learning a similar technique that jewelers use. The grooves in the 1/8" sheet are cut about 1/16" deep with a 90 degree single flute countersink. You can see some cracking on the outside of the bends in the second photo - annealing or a different alloy should take care of that in cases where it matters.

This probably doesn't help much if you need to install internal ribs, but it does make nice boxes.

The jewelry technique involves scoring a piece of sheet by hammering a piece of curved steel wire into the surface of the sheet. You can make interesting 3D shapes in soft metals very easily this way.

I used it in the factory condition.

The "sharp chewing gum" thing brought back an old memory of my Dad.

He taught me the secret to working with copper roof flashing --

"Son, there's a simple secret to working copper flashing. Don't bleed to death."

LLoyd

Sound advice. I'll think of that the next time I pull a stainless steel bird's nest out of my South Bend.

-- Ed Huntress

Neat. Where do you get that single flute counter sink at?

Wes

I would use a router bit.

Nick

The grooves could also be cut with a regular endmill with the mill head rotated, but the c'sink is much more convenient. You want a small flat at the bottom of the groove to allow some overbend when folding the part to compensate for springback. ___ ________ \ / \_/

Hey ED, still dealing dope? Err writing about the dope dealing big pharma? I ran a bunch of copper torch tips (copper of some kind) on one of my Brownies in 1978, got one in my hand right now. 3/8" hex

1.100 long with tapped threads & a tapered nose, .032 hole thru. About 3,000 of them. Was hard on drills & taps but not to bad. Every 800 or so I would have to change drills & the tap. All tool steel & Sulphur oil. It would wear the big drill down to a taper . They furnished the material & when it showed up the trucker showed me their bill & I think it was over $3,000.

Still run the 1942 Brownies

I've retired from full-time in the pharmaceutical business, although I'm still doing some freelance work for NYC pharma agencies. Watch for my upcoming articles on medical-device manufacturing in metalworking magazines. I'll let you know when.

Some copper alloys are surprisingly abrasive. I don't know if it's precipitates or what. I used to know, but then I forgot...

Copper does really cost, which you notice when you pay for a bunch of barstock or solids. Man, it adds up in a hurry.

They'll outlast you, Dave, especially since you run them on boiling oil and brimstone...er, oil and sulfur. You may run out of cows for drive belts, however, if global warming turns Texas into a frying pan. It'll be grilled hamburger from border to border.

I'm 7 miles from a bay, and I'm counting on building a dock in my back yard before I croak.

-- Ed Huntress

Naw, I have 75 feet of drive belts, I haven't had to change any in 20 yrs (guess made from good TX cows). But china will make more.

Well ED I don't believe any of that, in 1974 we were going to freeze to death, remember that while waiting in the gas line?

Hey the big money is in selling "carbon credits" the latest scam to separate stupid people from their money, it's going to be better than big Pharma can do . I did put up some solar outside lights , where do I get paid my money, or does that give me a free pass driving my

400HP+ hot rods?

Dave, do you remember Pascal's Wager? He didn't know if there is a God, but he thought it would be a good idea to act as if there is one, just in case.

It's the same thing with global warming. Do what I'm doing: I'm hedging by investing in water wings and beach umbrellas. Which reminds me -- is anybody in the market for some sub-zero sleeping bags? They're going cheap, and haven't been used since 1974.

One hot rod, 2,000 solar lights. It's a fair trade.

I saw a neat project on Hot Rod TV last week: a 1970 Chevelle with a 1200-hp small-block (but 650-some cubic inches; some small-block)engine that runs on propane. They call the car "Pro-Pane." Clever, huh?

-- Ed Huntress

Oh, you just reminded me of something I thought about for you some time ago, and I wanted to ask you about it. It's my idea for seamless leather belts for screw machines and so on. It might be tricky to mount them, but the idea is sound.

What you do is take a whole cow and deep-freeze it, then cut it into sections on a big bandsaw. You skin out the belts very carefully and make London Broil and hamburger out of the meat.

Now, I realize that the belly hide is a lot thicker, and you'd have to carefully plane that section down to a uniform thickness. But think about it, Dave. It's something you could do to make a few bucks when you retire, eh? You can get a couple of those skinny Texas cows to try it out.

I got this idea a while back when I was cutting steaks from a frozen tuna on my 14" Delta. Man, you have to be really careful when you clean the blade and the tires, and tuna sawdust tends to accumulate in the bottom of the blade guard, so you want to blow it out real well with an air hose. But it works like a charm.

-- Ed Huntress

Yep, but where do I get the 72 virgins .

Ok maybe I invest in an AC company in TX.

Naw, only drive

They can make them that big, new casting & a big stroke. I thought about buying a 454 small block when I put the new 383 in the 66 Elky for the reasons that it was setup with AC & all for a small block. A BB I would have to much stuff to change. Of course I took the new crate motor & re-worked it .

Pics here, see the good old Hardinge in the background?

Nice and clean. Red car, red motor, red Hardinge...what's your favorite color, Dave?

-- Ed Huntress

Red , if it's a 383 like the one I built has 365Hp & 460 Torque the torque is all in @ 3500 RPM. The stock HT383 motor from GMPP comes with 340HP & 435 torque. But I had to up it a little with cam & 1.6 roller rockers & other things. Torque rules on the street, screw HP.

What will that do to my "Carbon credit" @

All my belts have no clips, I glued them on a jig (is that PC) after grinding them. Them clips will drive you nuts click, click,click. Grinding them on a 7 deg taper is fun for the 6" you need to do. But hey old farts can do that!

Retire? What is that? I will die with Sulphur oil on me, like SS will allow me to retire, but if I worked for big Pharma maybe I could till they turned the retirement fund over to the government like auto companys are starting to do.

Frozen tuna from china, better watch that ED .

I need to replace the belt on my South Bend. It's around 40 years old and getting a little tired.

If you work for Big Pharma, you know which drugs to take to make it all better. The one I was working on until a few months ago, which had been under development for around ten years, was scheduled to be approved by the FDA last month. They decided not to approve it. Boo-hoo. There's another $2 Billion down the drain... A few billion here, a few billion there, and pretty soon it adds up to real money.

Hey, this was tuna from the Hudson Canyon. US-made tuna, yessirree.

-- Ed Huntress

I have leather belting & clips & the clip fixture in 2" 2/1/2" & 3" Plus the newer belting, let me know & I can usps some to you, just return the stuff when done. Email is the same for years. Let me know. Just need to know how long your belt is to see if I have one that long, & the size wide.

They didn't bribe enough like they did on the senior drug bill? I watched that live.

But china can import it cheaper , to hell if you get sick...

Dave, that's one heck of a generous offer. I'll measure things tomorrow and get back to you. What kind of glue do you use for the splice?

Heh, heh. Pretty slick, eh? All that nice government money for Medicare Part D, and no haggling over the price. Katy bar the doors, it's money from heaven, and the Lord does provide for Republican donors.

No discount tuna for this guy. Considering what went into catching it, I figure the price at around $50/pound. Don't tell my wife.

Speaking of fishing, I developed really bad rotator-cuff tendonitis last fall, and it's been hurting like hell. Fortunately I found the perfect exercise for it: fly casting. Yup, it works everything in just the right way, and I feel better by the day. I try to go fly fishing twice a day when I can, for therapy, of course, and I'll bet I can write it off on my taxes.

-- Ed Huntress