How to Patch an Old Copper Pot

Always up for showing my experiments on here - it's kinda like doing it together! This is a how-to (since it ended up working!) put a patch on the base of a wrinkled, super thin and brittle old copper pot.
I'm also always up for tips and tricks and to learn how others have done something similar! It's fun to share!!
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[@larsbitsch-larsen6988]

In electrical soldering we have solders with different melting points. So when you solder complex structure you start with a solder with a high melting point, and as you progress you use solder with a lower melting point so you can solder without the first soldering smeltes. I pot soldering I would consider using silver solder, a solder that has a melting point nearly twice as high as tin solder. Nice pice of work by the way and thank you for making these videos.

[@hendonburgism]

Brazing has the same technique. Pre arc welding, there were many different alloys of brass that melted at different temperatures. If you will be brazing multiple times in the same piece you start with the one that melts at the highest temperature then go down from there etc. Plumbers also do this via brazing first then solder with high-low melt alloys depending on the amount of joints needed in the same vicinity.

[@housecopper]

I love this - thank you for sharing! I only use a single food-safe solder for my work, though, for obvious (food!) reasons, so I don't have the luxury always of using multiple melting pointed solders, but when I next can, I will try it. Thank you!

[@housecopper]

Thank you for sharing! Can't wait to try this someday!

[@Silversmith925]

Try using smaller brazing tips for more heat control. You may also want to try a Smith brand jewelers torch for real fine heat control and smaller projects. A lot of the "wrinkles"in the bottom of the pot can be rolled out with a seam roller like what is used in leather work, backed on the inside with a rubber mallet. This will make your pot surface smoother without stretching or cracking the copper bottom and easier to apply the patch.

[@housecopper]

Thank you so much for sharing your advice on here (for me and everyone else)...sounds like I need to look for more tools. No complaints here! :)

[@seandonald4733]

Great video! Is it possible to patch brass using the same process?

[@housecopper]

Yes. :)

[@jacobnadin8513]

Very useful demonstrative video - just wondering if the patch will trap water/food behind as the holes on the inside will allow the passage of material through it...?

[@housecopper]

That's a great question, Jacob. And no, the interior's tin lining will sort of run together and create a watertight seal as I do the patch on the interior. The goal is to create an insurance against future breaks/cracks in the copper. The customer says it works just fine, no food issues.

[@365hillclimb]

I hadn't really considered cookware as metalworking until today, you're solving some really fascinating challenges with it. I've been very happy using silicon/nickel on a TIG torch with iron, and I'm wondering if that would be a suitable repair for copper as well because it tends to hold up very well at high temperatures. I'm curious to know if you have any experience with that. Keep these videos coming, they're awesome! Also, I'd love to see a tour of your shop.

[@housecopper]

I do not use any TIG with copper because of the extreme conductivity of the copper - the rest of the pot pulls the heat off so dang fast, TIG is only good for tiny spot work, not full re-tinning. Just my two cents, though - it's always worth experimenting!

[@rrpuppe]

@@housecopper I guess, but what if you used a file or a wet grinder. It would stay cold and not work harden . the copper

[@rampanttricky17]

@House Copper & Cookware you provide such friendly replies to people's speculative methods on how to do this/your work. Best Wishes! P.S. How many times have people made and linked a video of themselves trying/using their alternative method before suggesting them? 😉

[@housecopper]

lol, I try to be friendly on here! Thank you! It's so hard because it's like...a written form, so inflection is lost completely. (good thing I am a novelist and nonfiction writer, then?!?!) So that's great to hear the tone is coming across as happy as I mean it! yay! And yeah...lol...no idea if anyone else is posting videos with this particular line of work...hmmm lololol ;) I wonder!

[@b12u34n45]

Nice Job!!!

[@housecopper]

Thanks!

[@abdullahali3423]

First of all i can’t believe that I found a whole channel that talks about tin pans.. so thank you😂🙏🏻 I received a gift which is a pan made of copper and tin and when I tried to use it the tin kinda melted 😬 and I didn’t know it was tin I thought it was lead so I freaked out and embarrassed to ask the person that gave it to me if he was trying to poison me or what. I never worked with tin so I didn’t know it melts so fast🤦🏻 Any way it’s probably ruined now but im really happy that i found an expert with good information about it. If it’s possible can you talk about my mistake? I watched an old video in the channel where your husband destroys a pan just like i did, could that damage be repaired? I would appreciate it if you can talk about that. Once again thank you so much🙏🏻

[@housecopper]

Lol, yeah, I talk a lot about copper and tin and cookware. Thank you for stopping by! It's super normal for people to melt out their tin, especially if the shape of the pan feels more like a cast iron piece (like for some reason, this happens to skillets the most!). And yes, of course - if the tin is ruined / overheated / blistered, it can always be repaired!!

[@joniangelsrreal6262]

I always say a little prayer prior to cooking in my treasured cookware…🙏🏼

[@rrpuppe]

Great video. Was wondering if it would be better/easier to feather the copper patch edges prior to attaching it to the bottom of the pot. That would reduce the amount of finish grinding at the end. But otherwise, very good video and keep it up.

[@housecopper]

Thank you for watching! You know, it probably would be - though I think I'd have to heat it up a good deal to do it right. Feathering without annealing usually results in cracking from over-work-hardening the copper. But I love the idea and will have to do it next time to see how it works!

[@vikram4989]

Good work.... Cute smile😍

[@housecopper]

Thank you - you're very kind. :) :)

[@davidsouthwick3995]

I am working on a project similar to this. I need to plug a 1/4" wide by 3/4" hole in an 1895 hot water tank for a Magestic range. It is tinned on the inside and nickled on the outside. I planned to braze it but not sure. Thank you for any help.

[@housecopper]

That is a BIG hole to patch! Whew! I'm not sure about nickel in general for tinning, but I think going with the brazing torch (check to see what kind of solder will be best - maybe using bronze and acetylene will be best for you?) or TIG if it's not very thick. Good luck!

[@ratnip]

I'd love to see a video maybe with some advice you might have for being who are looking for copper from thrift stores. Like identifying if a piece is copper and what repairs it might need.

[@housecopper]

Great suggestion! I do have one video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2bFdK1smLp8sNU But I can definitely do a more involved one! Thank you so much for the idea!

[@AndrewTang-od6eo]

Good job

[@housecopper]

Thank you! :)

[@hendonburgism]

Is that a prest-o-lite acetylene/air torch? Cool I would have heated the bottom just enough for the cramped seam to be softened and separated. Cut the new bottom from thicker material, hammer the sides to match the thickness of the seams of the pot, cut seams in the bottom, clean both seams and attach making sure there is tight 'very clean' metal/metal contact, braze together using a phosphorous copper or silicon bronze rod (copper colored and ductile), then after it's cooled it can be cold worked to make it uniform and remove any distortions. Buff / Re-tin. The next owner wouldn't easily identify its age via the color of the brass filler from the 19th century, but it would be flat and you could use it for any type of cooking. This is close to how it'd be repaired 150-200 years ago if it was sent off by m'lords cooks and had his insignia. Only they'd use a charcoal forge to do all the heating/brazing/tinning.

[@housecopper]

You could have done - except this was going back to the original owner, and they would have seen the difference in material. I love your idea - I will have to try it next time something like this falls into my lap! It would also have cost the customer a LOT more for that type of work, which not everyone is OK paying. :) That said, than you for sharing this - you're right, this is the best (and old) way of doing a totally new bottom vs a patch, and gosh, I wish I had a charcoal forge! just saw one in full use last week and it was super awesome in action. One of these days...

[@ManoharSrikanth]

I have this same issue with a pot. It has teeth like patch at the bottom I am looking to seal. In your video, I think that the patch may fall off when the pot is on the flame (no oil or food in the pot), right around the melting point. Also, the food from inside can lodge into the cavities or voids so that's another risk. Is there another way to simply close the gap with copper welding? Tin can melt off easily in some extreme cooking....

[@housecopper]

If the patch is made with gold-colored solder, it is brazed, and will not fall off with cooking. The cavities on the inside can be filled with additional tin during the retinning process.

[@TheCajunHomestead]

Nice job, I never soldered a pot, but I have soldered copper pipe and brazed a lot in my lifetime. Could a wooden plug or form been used to bring the damaged area of the pot to more of a uniform shape, then solder the patch. Very curious about this craft/trade/skill lost art. Definitely did a nice repair.

[@housecopper]

Thank you so much for your support! It's always an experiment! Yes, usually you want to re-form the pot bottom, but in this case the crystalline structure of the pot had been so stretched, any hammering or moving of the metal would have created more damage - and the bowling out is both design and lots of use/heat/stretching of the copper over time and use. You totally have the right idea for how it would be done 99.99% of the time!

[@TheCajunHomestead]

@@housecopper Thank you for your reply. You are very knowledgeable in this subject, definitely learning from you.

[@olofjansson9356]

Indeed it's a last ditch attempt if the metal is so thin and brittle! I would have tried raising the patch a bit to more closely match the curvature of the bottom of the pot.That way the inside of the patch would hold more tin (like a shallow bowl) and you might be able to get it to adhere in one shot. I'd also tin the area where the patch will go, and while it's still molten, quick drop the patch on top (tinned concave side towards pot), following immediately with the torch. That's the theory anyway!

[@housecopper]

Hey, it's a great theory! Next time, I'll try it!!

[@joezaloga]

Wouldn’t it be easier to cut out the cracked metal and TIG on a new patch then re-tin ?

[@housecopper]

The copper is so frail and thin and cracks so much that the TIG would melt the old copper you're trying to weld to - it's the same with acetylene when we try to patch holes that way. The copper you're trying to fix, if it's old, just burns a bigger hole. I wouldn't want to risk it, anyway.

[@rampanttricky17]

oops. i have apparently been holding my offset snips upside (actually: am thinking that when cutting "in the air" they are held one way, and when cutting down on a surface they are held the other way over)

[@housecopper]

Meh, I actually am the one holding them upside down in this case, but that's how I learned and I feel like it works so much better!!!

[@rampanttricky17]

@@housecopper I realized that it was you holding them upside down relative to their design when i looked at my snips. your way of holding them has it's advantages - e.g. position of sheet relative to hands and snip handles and a "better" orientation for holding the material being cut for a camera aimed at oneself rather than down at a table.❤️👍

[@housecopper]

@@rampanttricky17 ha! I didn't even think of the camera angle. The method was taught to me by the master I apprenticed under, and I tend to not change anything I learn from Bob because he's brilliant. lololol. I also feel like there is less scratching on the underside when holding them this way?? idk, to each their own, right? :)

[@joniangelsrreal6262]

👏👏 🍾🥂

[@johnrobertson9396]

Why not replace the complete bottom. The pot would both look and perform better.

[@housecopper]

Depending on the build, sometimes it's not feasible - if the original pot is super brittle, removing the bottom will likely wreck the sides. If it's a cramp seam, it's even worse to try to cut it out. And any replaced bottom cannot only ruin the value of the pot more, but then you'll have a seam that, over time, will become a leaky terror. AND a full replacement, if I even wanted to do it, is way more expensive to do and the customer would have to be OK with the cost (the patching is more economical - so it's what they can afford, as well).

[@bidhan_kapri]

Not healthy pot for cook