Copper working books.

[skillgannon]

Does anyone know of any good copper working info/books? On Kindle would be best. I'm messing around with some copper that I melted in my forge . I also would like to try some cool looking bronze.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

It is just a non-ferrous metal. any metalworking book will do. Try Jewelry making for Schools and Craftsmen, or Silversmithing for Schools and Craftsmen ... both by Murray Bovin.
Also, any of the many silversmithing books will have the info. Copper works similar to silver.

Bronze works more like brass.

The main thing with either is they work harden quickly. It takes regular annealing to shape them. Heat to dull red, remove and wait a second until it just turns dark, quench in room temp water. That will greatly soften it. It has to be re-done whenever the metal starts to stiffen ( you can easily feel it harden). Working past that point will make it crack. On some copper projects, I anneal after each minute or so of hammer work. You can't over anneal, but you sure can over work the metal and ruin the project.

 

[12345678910]

Tim McCreight

has lots of books-good basics, should be in every library for free too.

Although I see on Amazon, there are hundreds of new books with "steampunk" in the title

The new books probably have lots of new colour photos

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Yes, Tim's Complete Metalsmith book is good to have around. It does not give much detail on some things, and a lot of it is 100 years old info, but is a great read and reference. The 2000 edition is much better for a modern smith.