Copper tubes for handle pins?

[Jonas Liebel 30]

Heya guys,

I am thinking about using copper tubes (outer diameter: 5mm, inner diameter: 4mm) for handle pins. I just love the look of a Knife with hollow pins, where the ends are squashed outwards into the wood - this is propably not the technical term for this, but im afraid my english doesnt go further... Im adding a picture so you can see what i mean:

I know that with steel tubes this can create a very strong bond, but im not sure about the copper tubes... Does anyone have experience with that? Recommendations?

I would love to read your input

 

[Geoff Keyes 527]

I do this for thong tubes, but I have seen plenty of other makers who use them as pins, and it seems to work fine.  You want to chamfer the hole, and don't flare the tube some much that you split the handle material.  Some practice is probably called for.

 

Geoff

[Jerrod Miller 463]

Also, it is generally recommended to glue everything together too.  But that is the case for solid rivets as well.  

[Jonas Liebel 30]

Yes, of course i would glue everything together

I was just wondering whether a copper tube was too weak in any way

 

 

[Geoff Keyes 527]

Depending on what you are using for glue, the pins are mostly for looks.  Modern glues are much stronger than most handle materials.

 

Geoff

[Jonas Liebel 30]

That is good to know thank you for your input Geoff

 

[Al Massey 65]

If you're worried about strength, get some copper alloy fuel line. That stuff can probably be had in the dimensions you want, is strong as heck, and furthermore can often be had at a fraction of the cost of copper tubing.

[Chris C-S 148]

ive also seen this and thought of this idea. i think it looks nice. 

[jheinen 41]

Is there a name for those dies in the picture and where can one get them? I've been trying to figure out how to squash the ends of thong tubes for that flared look, and I guess those are the way you do it.

 

-Jeff

[Alan Longmire 2,829]

Oddly enough, those are called "tube flaring dies."    

They are used with flared nuts and are pretty common for oil and brake line fittings.  Check an auto parts place.

edit:  if you have a lathe you could use a pair of 60 degree centers as long as the handle is thick enough to keep the points from touching.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Alan Longmire

[Jonas Liebel 30]

I have found a very simple "tool" to flare them out, you can take the heads of two screws, glue them on something hard and use them as the mentioned "tube flaring dies".

I hope one can understand what i am trying to express

I even like the screws more, because its not a simple continuous degree, it creates a courved flare...

[Alan Longmire 2,829]

Even better!

[Brian Madigan 17]

Nice tool! The copper-alloy tubes can be had in coils from a good auto-parts store. They're cupro-nickel, which is very strong and corrosion resistant. They're made of copper, nickel, iron and manganese. They should polish up nice too.

[Jonas Liebel 30]

Thanks for the suggestions! I will look them up for sure