Re: who sells bronze sheet??

I work primarily in copper, but silicon bronze is the preferred material for sculptures, especially if you need to weld them. I understand that it welds very easily, good color match, etc. Use Silicon Bronze wire. You can TIG it, DC with argon, like TIG on steel, but more current. You can MIG it as well, not sure about the appropriate gas.

Not to quibble, but since the base material is bronze, if you "braze" it you are really welding it, since the filler rod and the base material are basically the same.

Remember that copper requires a lot more welding amps that steel, or even aluminum. I would estimate that you would need around 350 amps to weld 3/16 copper, and bronze is more than 90% copper. You might want to select 1/8 inch bronze, or even thinner, unless you have access to a very large TIG or MIG welder. I usually have my TIG welder set to 90 amps to weld 0.043 inch copper.

McMaster-Carr probably would sell small pieces of bronze. However, the suggestion of having Atlas cut pieces to size for you, to facilitate shipping, is probably a good suggestion. But look in the yellow pages under Metals or Copper, it must be available in the SF area. With the price of copper, it is likely to be well worth your while to plan your sink, and how to cut it out of a sheet, to minimize scrap.

Richard


Bob wrote:
Anybody have a source in the SF Bay area for sheet bronze stock? SWMBO
saw some bronze "vessel" sinks in a high end bath store that she likes,
but neither one of us want to pay over $2K for a friggin' bathroom
sink!

The ones she likes are shaped like upside-down, truncated pyramidal
solids, either square or rectangular. I am thinking it would not be
too hard to cut some 3/16 or 1/4 sheet stock and either tig or braze
the seams, grind it, then give it a nice patina. Or, I suppose, I
could make a wooden pattern and have it cast.

Any ideas appreciated.

Regards,

Bob



--
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Anyone do anything with copper?
    ... I use DC TIG with deoxidized copper rod. ... If you are already a skilled TIG welder you should not have a big problem. ... I set my TIG at 90 amps to weld 0.043 inch thick copper. ... Phos-copper rod is often used to braze copper for fountains, no flux needed, but you will need oxy-acetylene to braze it. ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)
  • Re: who sells bronze sheet??
    ... Alaska Copper ships all over. ... you are buying bronze or nickel alloys. ... If'n ya wanna TIG weld it ... It TIG welds very nicely with silicon bronze ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)
  • Re: Bronze Age in the Baltic
    ... bronze in the Baltic come from in that period? ... Bronze Age copper exports?? ... central settlements, the high-tech smiths working with complicated technics ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Copper Casting In America (Trevelyan)
    ... >>believe that casting wasn't done. ... The annealing of copper would ... >>bring it to melting temperature often enough for smaller thinner bits. ... > (Bronze is a different matter, of course, but there still has been ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: North Americas Bronze Age?
    ... Determining the Provenance of native copper artifacts ... PRECOLUMBIAN BRONZE TUMI FROM PERU ... Copper ores are common in the new ... Dirty Copper or Chosen Alloy? ...
    (sci.archaeology)