Copper wire? (how to attach it)

[nevarg]

I've got a bunch of copper electrical wire of various lengths sitting in a box that I want to make a sculpture out of. I'm rather new to this sort of thing, and I have no idea what I should do to stick the wire together. Does anyone have any ideas?

[Sysiphus]

i've done some stained glass pieces and one of the processes uses copper foil and lead to hold the pieces together. all you need for this technique is a soldering iron, lead and flux (a chemical solution that helps the melted iron and copper stick together) and of course your copper wire, all of which are available at any hardware store. paint flux on wire, then use soldering iron to melt lead onto wire and flux. voila! i would think this would only be useful for small scale projects as the weight of the wire itself in larger projects might require greater support.

[oddist]

How to attach it to what???

If to itself it can just be twisted together..

Look up some wire sculpture by Sandy Calder (http://www.sfmoma.org/espace/calder/calder_wire.html).

[Bigrhamr]

Twist it together, tie it in different knots, solder it.
Something more elaborate that would also be a design element would be to hammer flat spots into it, drill a hole in the flat and thread another piece through it or hammer flat spots in 2 pieces, lay one on top of the other and rivet or pin them together.

Can you TIG copper?

[Mordachai]

I guess depending on what copper and what you are welding with you CAN weld copper. I've welded Copper to Bronze multiple times. (silicon bronze to be exact)



attached is a Si Bronze Heron that Has solid Copper legs, weld are stong, and done with a MIG.


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