Even though last year I failed in implementing my idea of building light from only a copper wire. I am determent to accomplish it and this year I will try my idea again and hopefully build a better-looking flashlight.
By using this form of construction, I achieve three things:
Beautiful and shiny copper exterior.
Electrical conductivity of the body.
Internal threading for connecting the parts of the flashlight and inserting the battery
The problems I encountered last year:
Wrapping it too tightly on top of the screw creates a lot of friction that does not allow me to unscrew it after gluing.
Wrapping too loosely creates an uneven body that does not look good.
Using quick glue is too weak and the body falls apart during the work.
The different approach I will try this year:
Try to wrap the screw in layers of Teflon and oil to make it easier to unscrew the screw.
Use super clear epoxy glue which looks better and is stronger.
Work in stages: wrap a small number of wraps → glue it → wait for the glue to harden → screw out half of the section → repeat the process for another small number of wraps until the body is completed.
If you have any other ideas on how to make it easier to screw it out, I’d love to hear it before I start working Mainly ideas about a material that can be wrapped around the screw and then “disappear” using “some process” (heat, water, etc…) that will create a gap between the screw and the copper wire.
Wire brushing or sanding the screw threads may help too, to get rid of the jagged parts. The teflon tape strategy sounds good, I don’t think the epoxy will stick to that. Consider an epoxy with a long working time like 60 minutes. Clean the copper wire with solvent so the epoxy sticks to it better. Roughing up the copper with abrasive or by etching it with vinegar or something might help in this regard.
I’ve considered this kind of wire construction method before. I’d try solder paste instead of epoxy. The solder paste may run onto the copper a bit during reflow though, making it silver. Tumbling or sanding would be needed to clean that up.
Since wax is so soft I would imagine you could get an appropriately sized nut and use it as a die. The trouble might be finding the correct diameter of candle though. Then again, it’s just wax so you could melt some and cast it in a mold of the correct size.
Lost wax/lost plastic casting is what id first think of, you could use plaster of Paris or alginate or something as a intermediate before you get the final part to be wrapped. Could do a silicone screw that is easy to wrap around but you can just forcefully pull out after
Today I did the first step, bought 10 m of copper wire.
I choose 2.5 mm since it fits best to the threads.
I probably don’t need 10 meters but it is better to have some spare for ‘try and error’ since I expect some problems…
The next step was to strip the isolation. It took me some time since I tried to avoid damaging the copper. Marks on the copper are not looking good and probably will make it harder to screw it out from the screw.
I wonder if you might find some kind of high temperature dry lube to coat your bolt with to make it easier to release the copper once you solder or fuse it…
Thanks, it is probably the last time I give it a shot, will not try it again if I fail this time to
At first, I have tried soldering it, but it is not possible since the huge metal screw absorbs all the heat, so I have to glue it.
No need for high temperature lube since not using heat, but any lube will make it even more difficult to glue the copper which is already not fun.
Coated a short secion of about 10 wrappes with clear epoxy. The trick is to use enough glue to prevent it from falling apart when unscrewing but not to much so it will not drip and will not glue the screw.
Oh no, such a shame it broke so easily. I can see you put in a lot of effort to get it this far. Aside from lubrication, could you try multiple coats of adhesive or else a thicker layer to make it stronger?
I have used waxed paper to prevent glues from sticking to things that I don’t want them to. Not sure how you would get a tight wrap on the bolt though. But the thought of using one of the spray on dry lubes keeps coming to mind. Also, I wonder if you could get just enough glue on the copper (maybe a thicker glue) to stay on the outside and not penetrate to the bolt. Then if you can get it off, add another layer of glue on the inside of the coil to make it stronger??
or a UV resin that you can quickly drip and cure instantly before it seeps onto the bolt
or what about heating and cooling it while coiled without glue to release internal stresses and then itll naturally tend to that shape - like following the process to DIY a spring
Mainly ideas about a material that can be wrapped around the screw and then “disappear” using “some process” (heat, water, etc…) that will create a gap between the screw and the copper wire.
