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Copper Carve

February 21st, 2009

Angie

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meltng copper wire?

how might i melt copper wire into a groove that i carved from sandstone? or is there a better or easier metal to use??
thanks everyone for the great advise and ill find something better to do. and my dad is an armature welder so i figured with some info we could figure it out but i have decided against it. Thanks!!!

a normal plumbers torch may get hot enough, but I know for sure that an oxy-acetylene welding torch will melt copper wire. Which means a MAPP gas torch should do so as well.
Copper has actually a rather high melting point. Even bronze/brass has a lower one (Brazing rod may be good to use and I think you can do brazing with a small plumbers propane torch which is about $20). Aluminum has a fairly low one and tin is even lower. Lead also has a low melting point, but is particularly toxic and you should avoid it (no fumes from melting metal are good for you by the way).

Generally you should be aware that your sandstone has to be completely dry. If it is not completely dry water in the stone can expand from the heat you apply and crack the stone – or send rock splinters into your eye, so you must wear at least safety glasses, better a face shield.
It’s also unlikely that you will be able to cleanly fill your groove in the sandstone, splashed metal will freeze outside the groove. The surface of already deposited metal will be oxidized and quickly cool off and not bond with further drips, so melting it down in bits and pieces is probably not going to be satisfactory. You may have to melt down sufficient metal to fill all at once. What tools do you have available? And what metal working experience?

If you just want the effect you would be a lot better off in either using metal paint or resin with metal powder. Do a search for cold casting and you will find plenty of info on it.

Check Ebay for Copper Carve products.