Copper is one of the first metals that was worked by humans. Copper has been in use by humans for at least 10,000 years. When I work with copper I feel connected to my ancestors and in touch with a deep, ancient human vibration.
Copper is easy to work with because it is soft; it doesn't require a great deal of equipment or chemical to create something interesting. Today I decided to explore aspects of some plumbing fittings I found at the hardware store. I usually buy copper wire from the hardware store to work with - I make rings and bracelets and pendants. I've been looking forward to playing with fittings in the hopes that I can find a way to use interesting pre-made constructions and alter them into more creative, imaginative forms. It's also easier and less expensive - though copper is relatively inexpensive in general - to work with copper sources provided by local sellers than using mail-order copper.

I started by setting up my materials. In this photo you can see the copper fitting on top of a marble slab that I am using for a heat sync to create a safe place to use the torch (marble absorbs a great deal of heat energy.) Off to the side I set up a container with water to quench the hot metal - I also had a set of pliers ready to handle the metal.
I then began to anneal my copper fitting. Wikipedia describes annealing as "a heat treatment wherein a material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness." During working, the molecules in metal bond and rearrange in a non-uniform pattern. This creates hardness within the metal and also makes the metal brittle if it continues to be worked. A good example of this is moving a wire too much - if it is worked back and forth repeatedly it will break. In annealing, the heat breaks the bonds between the molecules in the metal and arranges those molecules in a uniform pattern. This allows the metal to be worked because the metal is transformed from being stiff and hard to something that is workable. Annealing must be repeated many times during a working process due to the fact that, as the metal is worked the molecules rearrange and the metal begins to get brittle and hard. Metal can be annealed many, many times - perhaps indefinitely.

I began my annealing process with the small BenzOmatic torch in the picture above, but it soon became clear that the copper fitting was too thick to heat evenly with a thin flame. So I broke out the big torch.
Honestly, I'm usually nervous about using the bigger plumbers torch. Really, if directions are followed, there's nothing too dangerous about it. But it's still unnerving to think that I have a flaming can of propane in my hand. It does lead me to be overly careful, which I think is a good thing where fire and gas are concerned. I like the plumbers torch because it heats things up fast!
Because the copper fitting was manufactured it needed to be annealed before I could work on transforming it into something else. So I set the fitting on the marble, moved the smaller torch to a safe distance for use later, and lit the plumbers torch with a striker.
The key to annealing is to heat the metal until it is red-hot. At this point the heat is able to break the bonds between the molecules and the molecules are re-arranged. I used the plumbers torch in a back-and-forth motion and the fitting started to glow red. I prefer to use the torch in dim light so I can see the moment that the metal begins to glow - it's also to interesting to see the colors the flame makes as it burns off impurities in the copper.
After making sure that my fitting had become hot enough to glow, I turned off the torch and set it aside. I picked up the copper fitting with my pliers and quenched it in the vat of water nearby. I love the sound of the metal quenching in the water! What an old and ancient sound!!!
After the metal cooled (which does not take much time at all) I removed it from the water and began to use a rubber mallet to mold the fitting around a metal form that belonged to my grandfather. My grandfather worked with trucks; much of the metal working supplies I inherited from him have to do with working large pieces of metal for truck repair. I have some of the smaller pieces still, though they are old and I am unsure of the names, and I am glad to be able to use those in my artwork.
I followed the steps of annealing, then hammering the fitting over the mold several times. As I mentioned before, it is important to repeat the annealing process so that the metal stays workable.
You can see the results of my work in the photo at the right. The form I was using is at the top left, and the metal fitting I am working with is at the bottom. It is my goal to continue to work with the fitting until the metal is much thinner and the size and shape of the fitting has expanded and been formed into more of a bowl-shape.
As I am right-handed and have limitations since an injury, I found it necessary to take a break from the work after a short while. The next steps will be to anneal the fitting again and return to shaping it, next with a ball peen hammer (with a rounded end) and a small anvil.
I truly enjoy working with copper - as I mentioned before, I feel so tapped in to an ancient, ancestral vibration when I connect with the metal. I would encourage everyone to find a way to connect to the ancient humanity of us all - and I'd bet if you think about it you probably already do, whether hiking well-worn paths, meditating at the ocean, or knitting in front of the wood stove. There is so much we can do to come in contact with our basic human-ness - the human-ness that is connected to the earth, the environment, that works and creates and envisions. The humanity that creates and generates and envisions and imagines amazing things - that partners with the world. The human-ness that is caring and creating and honoring and in alignment with all the spirits we share our existence with.
Truly, today my work was banging on a piece of metal in the basement. But through that work I feel connected to every being in my ancestry that held a hammer, that connected to the amazing things in the world and shared an idea with spirit and somehow brought an idea into fruition. Maybe I'll be able to make a copper bowl out of this - maybe it will just look like a weird, overly-large monopoly hat. Either way, it's the spirit of the thing that matters to me.
I honor you - and myself - and our human-ness, and the connection we have to the world.
Namaste