Father Ted said:
Its Here!
Presenting the very latest JEC handle - 126gm Copper Bulldog.
Very happy I am too with it.
I had a fancy for a copper bulldog, I mentioned this to Daz and he said that teh cost of raw materials was quite silly, however I spotted some ex steam boiler copper rod on the Bay of e and managed to grab a couple of lengths - one just over 3" and one 12" long. A deal was struck and the bar sent to Daz for fettling.
I gather it presented a little bit of a problem when it came to the knurling with the material being soft compared with what he is used to working with and to this end it may well be the only copper bulldog he makes, but I have to say I am delighted with the end result.
It will get a patina from daily use, Im hoping that it will over time verdigris rather than just go brown.
Thank you Daz, it really is a thing of beauty.
No worries FT, I am glad you like it. I wasn't too sure about the proportions but I think it has came out nice in the end. The knurling was a bit of a nightmare as the copper is so soft and chewy to machine, but I think it will all be down to a bit more practise and a bit more flood coolant to wash the chips away.
As for ingesting the copper or it getting into the bloodstream, how long have copper pipes been used in houses for supplying our drinking water? I think you would have to ingest rather large quantities for it to become a problem. Verdegris poses a slightly higher risk though, it has been widely used for many years as a fungicide and contains some poisonus chemicals. But as long as the hands are washed after use I doubt it would cause a problem. BUt I don't think you will get too much verdegris on it anyway as it usually only starts to form after extended periods of time being wet.
Thanks again for the kind comments on the handle guys, I hope you enjoy it Marty.
daz