Has anyone worked with bronze?

I really enjoy Ron Covell's videos. I've also attended two of his seminars, and I can't speak highly enough of the man. If you've even been curious about sheetmetal fabrication, check out his website at www.covell.biz .

He has a new video out that discusses various methods of using hammerforms. (Although if you wanted only one video, get the one that's available on DVD. It covers almost everything.) In one section of the new video, he uses 1/8" bronze to form a part that looks a little like a symetrical frame horn.

Has anyone here ever made anything out of bronze? I understand that you can chrome it, color it with acid or heat, or polish it. That sounds like fun.

If I'm familiar with 0.50 or 0.63 3003 aluminum, what thickness and type of bronze should I use for similar formability and strength? (I really like the idea that it glows when heated, compared to aluminum. Plus it can easily be gas welded.)

And where do you get your bronze?

I'll probably post this on the Yahoo metalshaping forum tomorrow, but I always like hearing HAMB ideas.

Thanks,

Matt

 

You can certainly chrome it, you can make it red by drawing out the zinc and you can make it bright with polishing, and all points in between.

 

Wray was forming some Bronze as part a demo on the ArtMetal site.Sorry,I don't remember which page.
Art Metal

 

if nobody replies with a source on bronze sheet, especially me, pm me. we work in casting bronze stautes-big fuckers, up to like 3000 lbs, etc, but we have used about 1/16" thick bronze sheet before. not sure of the guage you need though, a little thicker than you'd use for steel, i'd say. about 1/16 or even slightly more might be better suited, just from sitting here and thinking about how bronze acts. you can make bronze any color in the rainbow, more or less, depending on how you patina it. polishes up real nice too. don't let me forget though, i'll find out for you where we've gotten ours.

 

What are the differences between bronze, brass and copper?
I cut down the window moldings on a Merc once, that I finished the chop on.
My guess is that was brass.
All I had to work with was Brazing rod and a Tig, so thats what I used, after I took the Flux off the rod.

 

Copper is its own element.
Brass is usually 67 percent copper and 33 percent zinc.
Bronze is copper and tin in various proportions, sometimes with traces of other metals.

 

I've seen bronze heads on flathead Fords before.

who made them and would there be any advantage to using bronze over aluminum heads?

Paul

 

Aluminum conducts heat very well,so some people worried that
Aluminum heads would conduct too much heat away from the combustion chamber costing HP.
I don't know if this was ever proven.
Over the years,Aluminum heads have gotten thicker,so it isn't an issue anymore.
There is probably a reason for choosing Bronze,perhaps repairability.

 

Chromedrat,
I thought Phuket was an island in Thailand, or are there two of them sweet little places on this globe

 

yeah, its in thailand or indonesia or something. its south pacific enough for me because back when i made that sign for my door in college, i figured people would understand it better as south pacific. i love it though, i know it isn;t pronounced fuckit, but that's how i say it, and it makes me happy, because i could use some time in a place with a state of mind like that.

we got our bronze sheet from atlas metal sales, they're pretty big and have supply warehouses all over the US. thing is, we got eberder bronze (i think i spelled it right), which has silica and some other trace substances in it. eberder or everder or whathaveyou bronze in sheet form might be too hard, or brittle. i asked my dad about it and he wasn;t sure if it would be good to do hammerforming with because of it. they sell all kinds of shit though, so chances are good they'll have other bronze.

 

copper is copper, brass is copper and zinc, bronze is copper, zinc and tin, admiralty bronze has lead added and monel is a cupro-nickel.
I think that covers it

 

we got eberder bronze (i think i spelled it right), which has silica and some other trace substances in it.

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I think i'ts Everdure Bronze, 95% copper and4.96%silicon plus .04% trace elements. I'ts all so called Silicon Bronze and Art Bronze. It has excellent Welding and casting propertys and is malleable. If it has been tempered you can bring back it's malleability by heating it to a dull red and then quenching it. The opposite of feric metels. Stay away from bronze with any zink or aluminum in it Tin Bronze is tough enough to weld. Pogo