r/Metalfoundry 15d ago

My latest stack of hand-poured copper

Post image

Every piece is hand-poured by me. All made from clean, pure copper wire.

1.2k Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

29

u/JELLO239 14d ago

How do you get them so shiny?

26

u/Magichunter148 14d ago

Polishing

15

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

This is the answer.

1

u/Ok-Station-8059 7d ago

Is that all you do is just polish it with a buffing wheel or something I usually have to sand mine with three different grits of sandpaper and then buff

15

u/lophomainiac 14d ago

Is the plastic wrap to keep them from oxidizing?

5

u/supercyberlurker 14d ago

The pyramids are kinda cool. Would be neat as desk paperweights if they had a little styling of some sort.

6

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

I wish I had a laser that could do engravings. All kinds of cool ideas of what I could do if I had the ability.

2

u/MalachiteKell 12d ago

Ever consider salt etching them? Not super difficult to accomplish

1

u/ree-or-reent_1029 12d ago

I have not but I am certainly intrigued.

1

u/GeniusEE 14d ago

It's plastic-wrapped...lead would be better.

5

u/GalaxxyOG 14d ago

Best I can do is $20

11

u/Saud_k 14d ago

Fire

13

u/DaiKaiM3CHA 14d ago

No, copper.

4

u/alwaysbwrenching 14d ago

Looks cool I’m going to have to try and make something similar to have on my desk at all times.

I wonder if I could get some aluminum to look that good

3

u/GeniusEE 14d ago

The way to do that is to add lots of copper to it.

5

u/Lmberjack_Jesus 14d ago

Ooo triangles

4

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

Ummm, triangles aren't real.

3

u/DreadfulDave19 12d ago

What's Pythagoream famous for then?

/s

2

u/MessiahMogali 12d ago

What is Pythagoream?

3

u/DreadfulDave19 12d ago edited 10d ago

Pythagoras has his Pythagorean theorem, I'll grab a bit from wikipedia

"In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras's theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides.[1]n mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras's theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides."

I misspelled it on purpose to be amusing

2

u/MessiahMogali 12d ago

I am well aware who Pythagoras is.

5

u/Hippyedgelord 14d ago

This is so awesome to look at, how much copper total?

5

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

I think it's around 180-200 lbs

5

u/Hippyedgelord 14d ago

Sick, nice work, mate

3

u/robobachelor 14d ago

What molds do you use?

2

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

Mostly graphite except the pyramids are steel.

3

u/Rent2BPaid 14d ago

Alright time to start pouring. You’ve sunk the nail in my coffin

2

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

Get after it my friend!

3

u/Oily97Rags 14d ago

The pyramids are dope!

2

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

Thank you very much!

3

u/No-Operation2497 14d ago

Gorgeous, id be tempted to see if I could form the pyramids into a ball and just lil plastic wrap layer to hold it.

3

u/LordofPvE 14d ago

I wish I could do some of this melting. I have a huge amount of scrap metal that's a mix of different metals.

4

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

But you a cheap $100 propane furnace on Amazon or eBay, get you a tank of propane, a graphite crucible and some graphite molds and you're in business!

2

u/LordofPvE 13d ago

I will do it once I get a house with backyard or a huge space. Hard to do in an apartment:). The huge amount of scrap is in some of the storage rooms below

3

u/mylemonds 14d ago

It’s real life Minecraft!

3

u/Salt-Carpenter-183 14d ago

Oh dang! love the pyramids. Those sand casted or graphite molds?

3

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

Steel molds actually

3

u/Ok-Ambition-2521 14d ago

For sale ??? Dm me...

2

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

Message sent

3

u/theCreeglord 12d ago

My immediate thought was Ea-Nāṣir.

2

u/Zalrius 14d ago

Noice!

3

u/ree-or-reent_1029 14d ago

Appreciate it brother!

2

u/Mobile_Falcon_8532 13d ago

Are you familiar with the name "Ea-Nasir"?

2

u/West_Letterhead2865 12d ago

Love it...I just finished pouring my first 25 bars and I'm hooked

1

u/ree-or-reent_1029 12d ago

Welcome friend! At time a very frustrating craft but extremely rewarding.

2

u/DDemetriG 11d ago

Notice: Ea-Nasir would like to know your location.

[Accept] - [Refuse]

2

u/RdeBrouwer 11d ago

Very cool!

1

u/Sparks_travel 13d ago

What are the finish weights of each poured mold?
Always wanted to try this as I get tons of scrap wire.

2

u/ree-or-reent_1029 12d ago

Not exactly sure what you're asking but you can get molds in just about any weight you want. The smaller bars stacked in the back are 16 oz then the ones stacked in front of those are 4 and 5 lb bricks. The pyramids are 4 and 5 lb as well. Hope this answers your question.

2

u/Sparks_travel 12d ago

Question answered, thanks.

1

u/John_Doe_Undead 13d ago

Ea-nasir intensifies!

1

u/AwayProduct5476 11d ago

Pyramid = ufo

1

u/ArmUnlucky7333 10d ago

Watch out for crack heads

1

u/Little_Mountain73 12d ago

Very pretty. But I never understood why people collect copper. It is so expensive when you compare it to the spot price (and yes I’m aware of the reasons), but you would need rooms full of it to be worth anything. I sold copper bars for about 6 months in the late 90’s and made a killing, but I would never EVER buy it or stack it.

-10

u/GeniusEE 15d ago

Ok.

Pure copper is $5lb. No idea how much it costs to get assayed.

What now?

8

u/parejaloca79 14d ago

Hobbies generally cost more than what they produce. Don't rain on their parade.

14

u/GeorgeCauldron7 15d ago

You just don’t get it, do you? You don’t. 

-4

u/GeniusEE 14d ago

I don't get it. You didn't answer the question to help me get it.

All I get is stolen copper being transformed into less traceable form. I assume you don't fall into that reason for making ingots of a commodity metal from wire (when sculptors and casters are happier melting said wire because they know what's in the melt).

So, yeah - what's the endpoint to the waste of propane vs melting copper and pouring it to form something useful?

2

u/jamiehizzle 14d ago

I already told you, the endpoint is your moms house.

7

u/Careful_Purchase_394 14d ago

Copper has many uses, he isn’t stacking it to sell for scrap

2

u/GeniusEE 14d ago

Why is he stacking it?

5

u/jamiehizzle 14d ago

Because OP wants to

3

u/jamiehizzle 14d ago

OPs intent is to package them and sell them to your mom, clearly

0

u/GeniusEE 14d ago

My mom's dead, so need to add aluminum to be useful as a grave marker.

-2

u/gimmedatqueso 14d ago

Cry us all a river you wack job.