Hey guys,
I’ve been inlaying copper wire into projects in short lengths but I just failed at getting a 12" run. I think the answer may be to just bite the price tag and buy epoxy. I’d love to find a cheap fix though.
Here’s what’s been working. I cut a channel the width of the wire and the depth. Then fill the channel with super glue and press the wire in. Lastly I sand it flush. The real issue last time was mainly that I couldn’t press that much copper down.
Thoughts?
Do you mean you couldn’t hold it all down while the glue was drying?
My first thought would be to make the channel slightly smaller than the wire in width,
and slightly deeper than half the wire thickness.
I.e. If using a 1/8" wire, go 0.120 wide & 0.070 deep.
Then use a block of wood to pound the wire into the slot. This way the wire deforms a bit going in, and the wood pinches it to hold it in place.
If you are going to do a lot of this, consider buying some square copper wire. Relatively inexpensive.
That effect looks really nice.
Hmm, what’s the melting point of copper?
You could flow some solder in as a contrasting color in cases where you need that but it may be too soft unless you topcoat with epoxy.
One unrelated question. Is that the cordless
Dewalt sander? I just bought one on a deal from Woot, but the disk would not spin, only oscillate. I took the PDM off and loosened the screw that holds the belt down and it was a little better but not great. Does your pad spin when holding it in the air? Mine wouldn’t hardly spin even by hand.
My ancient corded Dewalt behaves differently so I am not sure this new one is right.
I have had good results with polymer clay.
Since the final outcome is sanding, could you super glue small pieces of copper on the line, sticking straight up, all the same size. Then lay a piece of plywood on those copper ‘pegs’ you made. Place a weight on the board. Use a pair of pliers to cut the pegs after it dries. Sand finish.
That’d be easy. That’s an interesting idea I could use for a different look, but I really like the solid line. It looks awesome finished.
Don’t know that material. The look is great because you can get the copper so shinny. Don’t imagine that’s possible with something called clay, right?
I thought about it. Kinda worried about burning the wood more than the final strength. These are all just to go on walls and be beautiful.
Yeah, cordless one. Works great, spins. Sounds like you got a dud.
I actually grabbed the cordless accidentally. I wanted a corded one. Kinda needs a 5 amp battery or it dies too quick.
It spins better if I loosen the screw that the belt wraps around. Just don’t know if that should be required.
I have a boatload of other Dewalts so a ton of those batteries. I even bought a couple of knock offs that were way cheaper and work well.
Yes, I can’t hold it all simultaneously.
That might be the answer. It’d take tinkering to get the channel right though. It needs to be snug fairly instantly otherwise the hammering process in one spot knocks it out in another. It’s a trick to get it perfectly formed but I’m getting better.
Square would give me safer margins and still look perfect. Small jobs have looked great with round wire though.
I’ve only got a few batteries personally but an army at work. It’s a great tool when you need it.
Polymer clay ‘fires’ at 250° for 30 minutes. Well below the temperature at which wood burns. It looks and feels like PVC when cured.
I make tic-tac-toe boards and highlight the grid lines with polymer clay of different colors.
That’s awesome, thanks! I’ll definitely steal this on something. Not gonna give up on real copper yet though.
Have you seen this thread from a few years ago?
Since you didn’t elaborate on your entire process - and why would you in your first post - I am going to walk through how I would do it. Not because I think you are or are not doing any or all of these steps, but because it is just faster than the back and forth - one at a time - questions.
Starting with the stripped copper wire of the length desired:
Chuck it in a drill and sand / abrade the outside of it with 80-120 grit sandpaper. I’d run it at 120 RPM or so and make 3-4 passes to get it good and rough.
Wipe the entire length down with a lint-free wipe that is wet, but not dripping with isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol, 2-propanol ) a couple of times, folding the wipe to use a new surface each time. I use these gauze pads,
because we use them at work (not the real reason) and as often as I have used them in the past 8 years or so, I have not had them leave any lint or debris from them on the item I was cleaning (the real reason). They seem expensive, but 1 pack lasts me a couple of months.
Place the wire in a clean place. Put on latex / nitrile gloves and give them a quick wipe down with the IPA to get any oils / residue off them. Get your “bending pliers” and clean them really well with IPA and a toothbrush if necessary. Clean is your friend - especially when dealing with CA glue.
Then give the wire one more wipe down with your lint free wipe and let it dry. Then try laying / gluing it in again. I think that may get you a lot closer to being able to keep the wire in the channel with the CA glue with the current process you are doing.
Or doing the above, but use a sizable piece of something solid (2x4, metal sq tubing, ect) and clamp the copper into the groove (if you have issues with it not staying while pounding it in with a hammer & block of wood). While the press fit should hold you could always lay down some CA glue in the groove first (in which case I’d tape the face of my solid clamping block 1st).
For one thing, I’d switch to a downcut bit so the top edges are clean. They look kind of shredded to me and might be why you’re having trouble getting the wire seated properly.
Here are my thoughts.
We did brass inlays in hard wood flooring it was all straight with very few curves. If you used copper strips you could match the thickness of the bar to the bit diameter. In scrap you can play with the groove width and fit the bar to the groove to the tension you like. The copper bars can be bent with stained glass tools or some good pliers. the bar could then be fitted in the groove and it will fit and fill better than the wire.
Things to think about are the depth of your groove and the width of your copper bar. Find something close to what you need and fit the depth to the width.
Use a down cut bit to reduce surface chip-outs.
properly selected bars will reduce the amount of sanding however the additional time to bend and fit the bar may be slightly longer but the result will be much better.
A flat bottom groove and a right angle bar surface fits better than a flat bottom groove and round stock.
Anthony
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
