I have a copper vase with a fractured area. I need to weld the copper but would like some advise. Does anyone know who would be a good (tinsmith, coppersmith, silversmith) to accomplish this task??

Picture please?

Copper is not welded. It is soldered. Jay is correct in that it is hard to recommend which to use without seeing the actual flaw.

Richard

Richard,

I have a TIG welder and I use it to weld aluminum and steel, but it'll weld just about anything (including gold if one ever were to have a need). So a couple of weeks ago, I got curious about copper and tried it, and the small piece I tried worked just fine. I haven't tried a longer run, but is there a reason it wouldn't work?

I may work. I have always heard that most copper is soldered. I am never one to say never. If it works for you, so be it. I am not a good welding expert by any means.

Richard

Jay a question for you or any one else here, I have an old MW vanishing birdcage. on the sides it has that thin piece of wire soldered? to a bar hold 3 bars for side of cage. a couple of side bars detached from this wire and I solder it back with some solder and an soldering iron. Just wondering if what is on there is soldering already or some other material? Thanks, Mike

I should have read that before I posted. I sound like a goof. Hope you get the idea.

No you don't sound like a Goof, IDOTRIX, but the side bars on a Milson Worth cage are connected to a loop of wire, the ends of the loop are wrapped around a thing wire cage bar. The only solder is to the wrapped wire.

If you are speaking of the bars ending in the 4 aluminum square bars, I can't remember if they were soldered or peened. To solder them would almost be impossible as the hole would fill with solder, when it should only be setting on the tip of end of the brass wire. It must be possible as I have seen cheap models made this way. I would say a special jig is need for the solder to stay on very end of the wire.

I have Milson Worth cage and will have to look at it to see the soldering joint. The main problem is not too get the wire too hot so it becomes brittle but you have to get it hot enough to get a good solder flow for the joint. I have a special soldering iron that allows me soldering very fine wire. It can be done with a regular iron but you will have to be careful.

Richard

Here is an interesting video about TIG welding copper. With the amount of heat generated I would certainly practice on some scrape first.
Thickness and placement of the fracture is important.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjKu_Mm0Hp8
JMN

I had to do some repair to a MW silver meteor cage I had many years ago. If I recall, there is a wire that runs the length of the top and bottom outside bars, the ones that run from front to back (those that go left to right are the square rods).

This wire is soldered at various points, but the wire is bent into a series of "S" curves, like a winding road. There are a few equally-spaced points along this that are soldered to those upper and lower bars. In between these solder points, the wire curves away from the rod and forms a sort of loop. The vertical bars on the sides have loops at each end. These loops are connected to the loops that are formed on the wires that run along the rods.

It has been at least 25 years since I had that model, so I may be off on the details. These may actually be a series of shorter wires, each soldered independently. But, the configuration would otherwise be the same.

The front, back, top and bottom cage bars (rods) are connected directly to the square rods through a series of holes. I was never sure if the ends of these wire rods were peened or had a drop of solder added to the very ends. Either way, these little knobs prevent those roads from pulling out of the square rods, while still allowing them to move as they need to.

The Lindhorst style cage is different on those side connectors. The side bars are not attached through a series of loops in loops, as with the MW. They are also attached to square rods (which are in place of the rods with the soldered wires). The difference is that those square rods connect at the corners with linkage loops that allow them to bend at those joints as they should.

In my opinion, the MW cage was one of the most dangerous. As it collapses, there is a dangerous inside corner formed that can easily catch a sleeve, or worse yet, the webbing between your fingers. I had that happen once and thought I'd ripped my arm open from the hand to the elbow. It really hurt.

Thanks for the responses. I just wanted to make sure it was solder. I put it back together and its going back on the shelf. This was my first cage. I was twelve years old coming home from Magic Inc. on the EL. I stared at that cage all the way home and said there is no way that thing can go up Your S****e that fast. The night before I seen Blackstone Jr. from the front row at The Playboy Club and had to have it . 38 years later and several dozen cages later here I am. Only ruined one cage and no jackets. I have a beautiful National Magic cage that was ruined that I need fixed.