Bisbee daily review., 1909-02-26
PROCESS OF MAKING WIRE
 OUT IF ORE
British Inventor Discovers a Method of Converting Crude Copper into the Finished Product


 (ln the Following Miss J. F. Harri
 son reviews an article taken from the March number of the Technical ! World, describing a new invention ol
 interest to the copper world.-Ed.) A new process of making copper sneet and wire direct from the raH Gle has been invented by Mr. Sher. ard Cowper-Coles, a British electro
 metaliurgist. which makes it cheaper.
 quicker and cleaner than the method
 now Tn use. The process permits of
 making sheets and wire of copper in
 v-.rying diameters, thicknesses and ln widths in continuous lengths from
 the crude metal. giving 1t far greater strength than that produced by roll lnS. swaging or drawing.
 It is claimed that the process is entirely new. copper being deposited by electrical agency upon the surface
 oi drum or cylinder driven at a giyen speed while immersed fn a huge
 sat or cell. The copper as deposited dpon this cylindrical surface is rub.
 bed by tho friction of the solvent solution or electrolyte in the cell. so that a perfectly pure metal Is ob-
 tained.
 By electrolyte is meant copper gain d from impure metal by electrical decomposition and redeposition where Uy the copper Is taken from an i'm pure bar and redeposited in a pure form at the opposite pole of the bat tery, while other metals are precip- itated to the bottom of the tank in which this work is done. The wire or sheeting thus obtained is denser. tougher and better texture than un- der the present process.
 The centrifugal force caused by the rapid revolution of the cylinder in the vat, together with the friction of the solution itself upon the particles of copper, eliminates all impurities rom the copper leaving the wire and heets absolutely pure copper. This alone recommends the process, as tt is much shorter than the old method of refining the copper first.
 To determine the speed-for that is the secret of the whole process-at which the cylindrical cone should be re- yolved. the inventor tried many ex- perimcnts. The slow reyoiutions left the copper deposited on the cylinder rough and uneven of surface while that of greater speed left the de- posits both smooth and highly po.- ished.
 In forming wire. the cylinder upon which the metal is Co be deposited ls Inscribed from end to end with a con tinuous spiral scratch, the channel being "" shaped, making unwinding easier and ahording z demarkcatlon for breaking the copper, making the I Ciiing strip one Of uniform thick El ss. The process of immersing this c. finder with it's spiral scratch in a round VI containing the acid soiu, tiOn or electrOlyte, and revolved at inc required speed can produce a "trip of wire from three 10 five miles in length. And by the same process, shG copper sheet or copper cylinders so much used in the textile indus tries.
 The copper produced by this metB- cd IS to all purposes absolutely pure, the finished article containing .03 per cent impurities and the copper is as hard as If obtained by cold rolling. Tubes made by this process have cen known tO withstand the strain of what is equal tO seventeen tons, "nr administration. The day Of the and after drawing to withstand 9 pres sure of 5000 pounds to the square inch, the thickness of the metal being Ouly .O63 inch. This method is said 10 be ten times faster than any exist ine system Of electro-deposition.
 4 firm in Germany has secured the iJvention. and is now completing 9 factory where the process will be tried out on m extensive scale. IT it re salts in making electrical supplies Of a pure quality of copper. and at the same time costing less. the invention may become one of importance to American factories of electrical sup plies. as well as copper people in gen eUsl.