Bending 1/4" Thick Bus Bar

[Kornbread]

I tried bending 1/8" aluminum without heating it. Not a good result. I think I would rather TIG weld it than try to bend it.

Was considering mig welding the copper bus bar until pricing copper weld wire. I've tig welded thin diameter copper and that was no fun at all.

 

[HRTKD]

Was considering mig welding the copper bus bar until pricing copper weld wire. I've tig welded thin diameter copper and that was no fun at all.

I've seen a guy on YT use the ground wire out of scrap Romex for the TIG filler rod. I haven't ventured outside of aluminum for TIG. Why be bad at all metals when I'm bad enough with aluminum?

 

[Kornbread]

I've seen a guy on YT use the ground wire out of scrap Romex for the TIG filler rod. I haven't ventured outside of aluminum for TIG. Why be bad at all metals when I'm bad enough with aluminum?

That's what I use to weld thin walled copper. Very odd the way copper instantly pulls all the heat away when accustomed to welding steel. Heat ... more heat ... even more heat ... way more than it should take ... small window to weld ... then instantly poof when you get a little too much heat. Also very difficult to keep contamination out of the puddle. No way would I attempt to weld something as thick as 1/4" w/tig.

 

[J.H.]

I had to make a 90° bend in my copper bar. I heated it up then bent it. Worked fine. Was the heating necessary? I don't know, but it seemed to bend readily without having to pound on it.

I posted about this exact topic last month ….with a pic of the material…

But I will say it again…

I bent my 6 “ 1/4 inch buss bar about 30 degrees degrees holding it in a vice and hitting it ..No heat…No problem over 2 years ago ….
No stress cracks no issues …perfect fit..

But I out grew it’s size … I bought a larger one…recently…

When I went to a 12”x1.5” x 1/2 inch buss bar of 110 copper last month …..

I heated it with standard propane torch in the area the bend would be …it was pretty thick and too strong to easily cold bend by hand ….

I held on one end with vice grips only…. and positioned the rest of it across the sharp edge of the top of the vice ……right at the place for the bend……and started walking to torch back and forth..
K
( ya want avoid heat sinking the copper out into other surfaces..) limit touchin anything to a minimum

There is no reason to evenly heat the whole bar for a simple bend…YES…heat up the whole bar but focus on the general area of the bend with the most heat.. keep the torch moving …but focus more time near the bend area.

“Do it in dim light” …..As the bend area starts to turn a very dull red I tapped it with moderate force with a 3 lb hammer 2 -3 times and it went right over to the angle I needed…took about 3- 4 min to heat correctly ..and 5 seconds to whack the bend in place ..DONE …let it cool.

If you have done it alot it’s easy to read the correct temp by the metals color…

As it heats up , tapping it will tell you alot …it’s easy to eyeball the bend unless it’s a critical to have a very exact precise bend…then other techniques come into play…

I have been working with the manufacture, milling, melting of Gold- copper - silver and platinum custom jewelry since the 70s …thousand of pieces from scratch… …large and small pieces …. most every piece needed to be worked and shaped with heat… they all have very different working temps …

I can , but rarely work on steel or iron..never on aluminum…

On my jewelry and casting bench I use 3 different propane / oxygen torches “no acetylene”.

in this case 1/4 inch copper there is no need for oxigen..copper is easy to work and shape…. Just go slow and even on the heating …..and learn to read the colors as it heats. If your not sure if it’s ready , just smack it…it will tell you…

The sharper the bend and thicker the material the more the need for some heat…

If it has to an exact bend , then rig up a jig to bend it around once it hot…

…if the bar is hanging off the side of a good vice you probably have the perfect form for a very good 90 degree bend..

I will sand out any scratches , scars and oxidation soon and smooth out the finish with a special sandpaper and fluid to high polish and finish , drill it and install it on my trailer .

Just for drill , People should buy a piece of copper , heat it , ….hit and bend it and practice reading the color and feel. ..let it cool , heat it over and over ..it’s easy to work into the shape needed if practiced a little bit.

J.

 

[DPC]

Very odd the way copper instantly pulls all the heat away when accustomed to welding steel.

I don't know if its related but copper is an excellent conductor of heat was well as electrons.
So is aluminum....

For drilling/tapping use Kerosene as a lubricant ( Varsol works too )
I like threaded bus.

Phosphor bronze bolts and hardware have the same expansion and contraction rates as the copper bus ( well much closer than using steel )
If you can stomach the extra cost it makes for much more reliable connections.