

| Subject: | Re: working copper tube |
| From: | Andrew Grebneff |
| Date: | Fri, 8 Apr 2005 00:21:54 +1200 |
>I am finally finishing a too long project to add a second propane >tank to my '90 >Westy, and have a question for the metallurgists (or anyone who >knows) on the list. >Yesterday I bought some 3/8" O.D. copper tubing to connect the two >tanks, and while >the clerk was coiling it up very carefully, he said you don't want >to work it too much >because it causes it to harden. He called it "work hardening". True or false?? >Thanks, >Jerry Yes. It's correctly called "metal fatigue" Copper is decidedly prone to this. You can minimize it by heating the bits to be bent til they glow red, then dipping them in cold water; this anneals them, and they will be soft and malleable. -- Andrew Grebneff Dunedin New Zealand Fossil preparator <andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz> Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut HUMANITY: THE ULTIMATE VON NEUMANN MACHINE DEMOCRACY: RULE BY THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR
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