Making a copper coil the quick and not so dirty way

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Akitene
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Making a copper coil the quick and not so dirty way

Post by Akitene » Thu Oct 06, 2016 2:16 pm

Hello everybody,

I'm not sure this tip has previously been discussed here. Here's a video to illustrate how to neatly & quickly coil a copper tube:



I'm planning to build a Blackstaffe water tube boiler, I'll give this trick a try.

Regards,

Christophe
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DetroiTug
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Re: Making a copper coil the quick and not so dirty way

Post by DetroiTug » Thu Oct 06, 2016 2:57 pm

Pretty "cool" idea

Another way is to use fine sand and tamp the piece tightly full and then fold the ends over. This was just a test piece that bent on one end as I did not use a good means of holding the work.

This was wound a 3/4" mandrel.

Image

-Ron
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Re: Making a copper coil the quick and not so dirty way

Post by Mike Rometer » Thu Oct 06, 2016 6:08 pm

I've used both methods, but I have to say the ice one was best for what I did, but you had to be quick, it melts real quick. A little washing-up liquid in the water helps the ice to 'flow'.

I found difficulty getting sand to stay 'tight' inside the tube.

Good tips.
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Re: Making a copper coil the quick and not so dirty way

Post by barts » Thu Oct 06, 2016 8:04 pm

I've used sand to good effect winding coils from 1/2" OD copper tubing; placing duct tape over the ends of the tube retained the sand. I tapped the end of the tube on a wooden block a few times during filling to 'settle' the sand. You want a very fine sand for this.

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