After completing making all the tabs, bends and seams for my custom copper bathtub in the last installment, now came time to solder all the seams together making it water-tight. If all of my calculations are correct, when finished I should be able to drop the copper down snugly into the bathtub base.
I had prepared each seam and tab with a wire brush and carefully applied my flux to all surfaces.
Lighting the torch, I began to roll over in my head every calculation I had made, checking and double-checking every figure, every millimeter. There was no delaying it further.
I had hammered all of the double lap seams flat and all the calculated tapers and tabs appeared to come together effortlessly. I took a deep breath and began.
As I heated the seams and waiting for the solder to begin to flow in my head I continued to recalculate every measurement. Had I properly taken into account the thickness of each seam? Did I properly account for not just the taper along the sides but the front and back and properly figured the slope of the floor?
The solder began to flow like mercury down into the seam flooding it with metal. I frequently checked the inside of the tub to be sure that solder was not becoming visible from the interior. So far so good.
As I moved from one seam to the next I wondered how I would be able to lift and maneuver the copper insert into place without twisting it. Twisting the bathtub would crack the soldered seams and the bathtub would leak.
As I moved along each seam a friend that had stopped by asked about how I would deal with the copper’s discoloration resulting from the heat. A simple remedy would be to pour a little grape juice on the copper. The acid in the grape juice would result in a bright copper. I really didn’t care much about this discoloration as I was going to let the copper mellow to a soft patina anyway.
As each seam slowly succumbed to my torch the rigidity of the copper box became more apparent. So far so good. I knew in the back of my head that the real test was yet to come.
Would it fit properly and snugly into the bathtub frame that I had constructed and secured into place? Was I sweating from the heat of the torch or was it because I knew the next step would be a success or complete failure? Would I have to start all over again? Would the Cubs finally win it next year?
I would soon learn as next I had to insert my custom copper bathtub into its proper and final place. If only I had thrown on some daytime television organ music – the suspense was killing me.
Join us next time for the setting of the copper bathtub.
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We purchased a clawfoot bathtub made in the 1800′s it is in rough condition. The copper inside the bathtub on each end needs to be replaced. We are going to call a tins smith to see if we can have new pieces made or a whole piece molded to fit like an insert. The copper sits inside a metal base in the shape of a cast iron clawfoot. It has an oak trim that sits on the top. So if you don’t mind some questions for you. Where did you get your copper pieces, & how thick is it? Did you ever consider making it all one piece?
Thank you,
Ann
Hello Ann — Thanks for visiting the site! Ah sounds like a wonderful tub. I purchased my copper sheet from a company called Passaic Metals in Passaic New Jersey. The sheets i purchased are 3′ x 12′ and I believe, If I remember right, they are 20 g sheets. Pretty thick stuff yet still workable. Yes I had considered making the tub n one piece however I wanted the tub to be 3′ wide by over 6′ long. As a result I had to come up with a different strategy. I had an old dry sink that i used as the model and chose to assemble the tub in a similar manner: using one sheet for the entire length including the ends and flashing that was needed at the top of each end the sides were then cut to shape with tabs so that I had enough overlap to shape double-lap seams. As a result there are only two seams – one running from end to end on each side. The seams are tight and nearly invisible as a result giving the appearance on a single sheet of copper. Had I wanted to use a single sheet for the entire tub the sheet would have to have been 12′ x 8′ of a much thicker material to compensate for thickness lost to stretching the copper to its depth of 18″.
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