[Shop-talk] Annealing Copper bars

[Pat Horne]

Pay a local shop with an oxy/acetylene rig to heat them? Muffler shop, body shop, A/C contractor? A/C contractor sometimes use air/acetylene. Will that get hot enough?

Peace,
Pat

Pat Horne 
We support Habitat for Humanity


On Aug 7, 2020, at 11:25 PM, Jack Brooks <JIBrooks at live.com> wrote:


I have fabricated a number of 1/8 and 3/16th inch thick busbars for an Van RV build electrical system which I am assembling in my shop.  The busbars are already bent to shape, but I’d like to anneal them, because the copper was purchased in the  “Half-Hard” state and making them “Dead-Soft” will insure that they lay completely flat to maximize the conductivity when I final assemble the system.
 
I usually anneal copper by getting it hot enough to glow with a propane torch and then allow it to cool.  With the mass of these busbars, I can’t get them up to a temperature to where they glow with propane.  An Oxy/Acetylene torch would work, but I don’t have one.  MAPP gas is hotter, but I don’t think it’s a lot hotter.
 
I am considering running them through the cleaning cycle in the self-cleaning over, as a self-cleaning oven will typically runs up to around 900°F.  Copper needs 700-1,200°F to anneal, so it should be fine.
 
I’d prefer almost any other solution.  Thoughts?  The last time I used our oven for a shop project, it was to cure the paint on the jugs (cylinders) of my ’74 Norton motorcycle.  Mrs. Jack was not happy.  Copper bars should be fine as they won’t stink up the house.
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Jack
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