Re: Brass tubing

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Mddeming-at-aol-dot-com>

In a message dated 5/9/02 10:17:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
writes:



>
> Hey folks,
>
> Someone mentioned that brass tubing could be used for a primary. I have
> lots of hollow 3/8" brass tubing in 10' lengths.
>
> It doesn't seem too flexible though. Can I just bend it around something
> without kinking it or is copper that much more maleable?
>
> Thanks a lot for all the great info. With all your help I should be able to
> make a successful attempt at a TC.



Hi Dan,
         The soft copper tubing that comes in coils is usually used for
primaries. Hardened copper, which is used for household plumbing, etc., and I
suspect, your brass tubes, need to be annealed before they can be worked. When
we overworked copper in high school shop, this consisted of heating the copper
until the flame started to turn green and then quenching it in a pickling
solution of dilute H2SO4 and CUSO4, A tubing bender, available from tool supply
companies and some hardware stores, would probably be necessary to do a smooth
job of bending. IMO, it will still be too tedious a process. A coil of copper
refrigeration tubing, even of it costs $50, would be a lot less hassle, unless
your shop is set up to do the heat treating already.  
Matt D.
G5-#12
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