Copper blade

D

DrGrip

Joined
May 19, 2010
Messages
55
A very good friend of mine (best man in the wedding, etc...) came to me this afternoon with a bar of copper. He then asked if I could make a knife blade out of it for him.

He doesn't plan to use the knife for anything other than show in one of his cases and wants a hidden tang antler handle on it.

I do have a couple of questions... I have ONLY used copper for bolsters and a couple of guards in the past. Little pieces for sure...

How bad is the copper going to load up my belts? I know they play heck with loading a file.

Will the copper left on the belts affect any carbon steel I grind at a later date?

Do I need to pin the handle onto the tang or does epoxy work ok with copper? I've always soldered or pinned.

The blade he has sketched is a simple drop point and will be VERY easy to work with this soft material.

Yeah, I'm about as green as they come... For the most part all I have done is take blanks and dress them up... Only a few from scratch blades here.

Charlie
 
Copper is the gummiest metal I've ever woked with, get you a belt cleaner and use it cuase it's gonna load up REALLY fast.

Jason
 
forge it, work hardening is the only way (that I know of) to harden it. you can probably just cold work it.

some day I'm going to make an Egyptian copper knife, but I've never actually tried to make a blade out of copper. I have played around with a bronze knife, it was surprisingly sharp...probably not for very long though.
 
I made a couple of copper blades.
They cold work well, and will get surprisingly sharp. The belts/files will indeed load up. Chalk your files well and card them every ten strokes or so. Belts should be used for the copper, and then used for wood or non-knife projects ( no need to tempt fate).
 
Thanks for the replies all.

I figured the loading of the belts was a no brainer, but I'd rather learn from someone else's mistakes first! ;)

I don't plan to try and harden since this is a display only type knife, but I will see about getting it sharp.

Beryllium Copper? :eek:

Some of the proprietary connectors used by the D.O.D. are BeCu and before ANY work can be performed on them by our techs they have to go through a LOT of preparation. Exhaust hoods, respiratory protection, heavy metal training and monitoring, etc... I hate when those critters come in and need to be ground off of a board!

As Bill said, nasty stuff and EXTREMELY toxic. I'm a safety guy in my day job. ;)

Once I get started on the blade I'll post some pics.

Charlie
 
What are the dimensions of the copper bar? Do you forge? If not, maybe now's a good chance as it's best to work copper cold. All you need to do is anneal it every now and then to soften it back up after getting work hardened.

Sounds like a good chance to make a bonafide genuine functional letter opener. Here's one in brass (sans stag :() from Turner Brass Works of many decades ago.

picture.php
 
Farmer Phil said:
What are the dimensions of the copper bar? Do you forge? If not, maybe now's a good chance as it's best to work copper cold. All you need to do is anneal it every now and then to soften it back up after getting work hardened.

Sounds like a good chance to make a bonafide genuine functional letter opener. Here's one in brass (sans stag :() from Turner Brass Works of many decades ago.

picture.php
Click to expand...

Thanks Phil,

I no longer have access to the old forge we had on the farm in my youth, but I still have my anvil!

I thought cold work and will probably go that direction. Suggestions on annealing? My guess is that the annealing I've done for files and springs would turn this copper bar into a blob of ugly crud! :D

Charlie
 
Too anneal copper just get it red with a forge or torch and quench in water. Instantly soft again.
Chris
 
Hey Charlie,

Yup, what Chris said. We often use a torch, either a hand-held propane or map gas torch, or if it's a big piece, a flame thrower-like-torch roofers use or some farmers use to burn weeds. Just heat it until its a nice red heat. A few fire bricks under and around the piece to create a little heat catching area helps a lot. Don't quench it instantly. If it's too red hot the metal can crack or shatter. Now go and put that anvil to some good use! Keep us posted.

All the best, Phil
 
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