For school, I need to make a creative DNA replica. Being pretty handy, I want to make a ring out of a flattened section of a copper pipe (with sections cut out, compliments of a Dremel tool), and heated to achieve the twisted look, with the ends soudered together. I was planning on achieving said twist by [briefly] exposing the pipe to an open flame, and twisting it with gloved hands. Would this be a hazard, or would this be safe for me to breathe? Also, I was planning on using the flame or a soudering gun for the ‘welding‘ of the ends. Any ideas? Thanks!
Heating the Cu is no problem. Heating the solder is more likely to be problem. If you use new lead free solder, this should not be much of a problem. The fluxes used for soldering are not things you want to breath a lot of but, so long as you are working where there is reasonable ventilation, this should not be much of a problem either. You want to be sure you are using good gloves and that they are dry (steam will penetrate right thru many types of gloves). Be sure to wear safety glasses or a face shield You might want to twist the sides before you solder the steps between them Solder is great for fastening Cu pieces together but solder is typically not very ductile. If you solder and then twist, you might break all the solder joints. A soldering gun will not get to a high enough temperature to weld Cu. It depends on what type of flame you have if you are really going to try to weld Cu. Cu is a very good conductor of heat so it is easier to weld if you have a very intense source of heat (like an arc from a TIG welder). If you still want to use soldered Cu but would like to scale back the degree of difficulty, you might use some Cu wire. Just buy a length of 3 wire insulated Cu house wiring. Strip the plastic insulation off and you have Cu that is easy to bend and cut to length. Cu prices are up so Cu wire is less weight and less cost than Cu pipe. Cu wire is also easier to solder than pipe. Sounds like a fun project. Good luck
should be no problem, that is how plumbers connect copper pipes, by heating them with a torch. However, you can get a simple bending tool that will let you bend the tubing without applying heat. Copper is very malleable. .
go to the local electrical wholesaler (where electricians buy their materials) or Home Depot etc and you will find earth or ground strapping that is approx 1 inch wide copper strip with squares cut out of it so that it resembles a flat ladder -all you have to do then is twist it another option - go to a pet shop and buy a plastic (bird, mouse) ladder and heat that up with a hair dryer to twist it copper heated to a soft orange color will not release toxic fumes
