Copper Glue

[jamesdean1986]

Building a few bits of furniture out of copper pipe and need to glue the joints together. They will need to take a little bit of support weight but not and internal pressure like normal joints would.

Only copper glue I have seen was £30 for 10g

Not exactly for plumbing but thought you may have the most knowledge.

 

[big-all]

you dont say what the joints are??
what the contact area is or what the load is ??
may be more practical to use something like wire/rod and no nails/foaming glue ect internally

 

[jamesdean1986]

The joints are just going to be copper to copper using usual elbows and tees. For all I know superglue might be strong enough but wanted to get some opinions as I have never needed to glue copper in the past

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Epoxy. You can buy formulas specially for metal, e.g:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000FW7V...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1ZZAZCJS4E1YGMWFS3EZ

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repair/adhesives/evo-stik-hard-fast-metal-epoxy-putty

 

[endecotp]

Solder.

 

[jamesdean1986]

Solder.

I normally do but not possible for the job I need. I will be soldering some things but a couple of bits I need/want to be completely clean - no discolouration in the metal, no flux or solder residue etc. literally need it to look like everything has simply been pushed together.

 

[bernardgreen]

Two part epoxy resins will hold copper together for a short while ( a couple of years maybe which is short for furniture ) but eventually the bond will fail.
Neat soldering would be the best , long term, method.

 

[Agile]

Epoxy resin is your solution as long as you never want to take it apart or recover the parts.

I don't see why it should not last at least 10 years.

Tony

 

[bernardgreen]

I don't see why it should not last at least 10 years.

That was based on experience of de-lamination in printed circuit boards where copper is bonded to fibre glass sheets by low cost resin.

There are two part resins that do bond well and permanently (?) to metal but they are expensive and the "copper glue" the OP refered to might be one of them. I vaguely recall that if the two part mixing is not exact then un-reacted resin or catalyst reacts with the metal to form a weak layer between metal and hardened resin.

 

[jamesdean1986]

Thanks everyone. I have some normal Araldite so might do a test joint with that and see how it goes.

 

[Jackrae]

To "araldite" your joints preparation is all important.
Clean all joint surfaces with coarse wire wool or emery paper to provide a mechanical key, then swab them with acetone to remove all dust and grease. You must get the 50:50 araldite ratio correct and you must ensure the two compounds are thoroughly mixed. Mix on a non-greasy surface using something like a lollipop stick (from art supply shops). When all acetone has completely evaporated you can apply the araldite. Once assembled, gently warm the completed joints with a hair drier which will make the araldite less viscous such that it fills any air pockets - note that such pockets may tend to "bubble out" as they expand in the heat

 

[Dan Robinson]

Solder neatly and brush off.

 

[muggles]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jaco-Copper-Solderless-Bonding-Solution/dp/B002OB4CF2

 

[Jackrae]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jaco-Copper-Solderless-Bonding-Solution/dp/B002OB4CF2

Tried that - maybe it was just me but the results were best flushed down the toilet

 

[kittedup]

CT1 superglue