Differeent Grades Of Copper For CNC Machining
Various copper prices for CNC machines
Copper is one of the main categories of commercial metals. In addition, there are different grades of copper materials available for CNC machining. However, these copper grades have different properties and compositions, making them suitable for special processing projects. As a result, choosing the right material for your project can be difficult because there are so many different factors to consider.
The first step in copper CNC machining is to identify a material that has the necessary properties for your copper tool. This section discusses the different grades of copper for CNC machinable copper:
Pure copper
It is usually a soft and malleable copper material. You can add small amounts of various alloying elements to create pure copper alloy grades. The alloy transforms one or more of the primary properties of pure copper into a preferred form. You can also add other alloying elements to pure copper grades to increase their strength.
You will find 0.7% total impurities in the composition of commercial pure copper grades. UNS numbers range from C10100 to C13000, depending on the added element and degree of impurity.
However, pure copper is suitable for making electrical components such as wires and motors. This copper grade can also be used in industrial processing to produce heat exchangers.
Electrolytic copper
Electrolytic copper material is actually cathode copper. Therefore, cathode copper is electrolytically processed copper with a purity of 99.95%. Typically, the electrolysis process involves melting the copper compound and using enough electricity to refine the copper material.
As a result, most electrolytic copper materials have lower impurities than other copper grades. The most common electrolytic copper material is C11000. It contains less than 50 parts per million of metal impurities such as sulfur.
It also has nearly 100% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard) and high electrical conductivity. However, electrolytic copper grades exhibit excellent ductility, making them ideal for electrical applications such as bus bars, coils, wires and cables.
Oxygen-free copper
This copper grade is the least pure, with little or no oxygen in it. Oxygen-free copper grades are suitable for electrical copper components due to their high conductivity. Therefore, the high electrical conductivity of this copper material makes it suitable for high vacuum electronics. However, C10100 and C10200 are typical examples of this copper grade.
C10100, or oxygen-free electron (OFE), is pure copper containing about 0.0005% oxygen. It is also more expensive than other grades of oxygen-free copper.
C10200 or oxygen free (OF) contains 0.001% oxygen. Electrolytic copper offers high electrical conductivity with nearly 100% IACS to the material.
Manufacturers use high-quality copper cathodes to create oxygen-free copper materials through induction melting. This manufacturing process involves melting the cathode under non-oxidizing conditions created by a graphite bath coating. Therefore, it reduces the amount of hydrogen in the working conditions.
An independent device is copper
Free-working copper material contains various alloying elements. Common alloying elements in this copper alloy include zinc, nickel, phosphorus, and tin. These elements further enhance the performance of this copper grade.
In addition, brass and bronze are alloys of copper and are an important component of free-working copper materials. Bronze is composed of zinc and copper and offers excellent performance and anti-corrosion properties.
Bronze, on the other hand, is an alloy containing tin, copper, and phosphorus with excellent strength and impact hardness. Free working copper is suitable for machining most copper parts. These include gears, coins, automotive hydraulics, torches, machined electrical parts, etc. belongs to