[Gandalf_The_Gray]

My Granddad passed away last year at age 98. He was at turns a foundry worker, machinist, master patternmaker and coremaker. He claimed that the "old timers" (folks who were 50 or so in the 1920s) told him that there had once been a process to harden copper so as to use it for tools, etc.

Rome concurred the world with bronze swords. Iron still beat the heck out of bronze when it became generally available. If you need to harden copper, it may be alloyed w/ beryllium, which also makes the material "non-sparking". A very useful characteristic in some circumstances.

Regards,
GtG

[blam]

"Rome concurred the world with bronze swords. Iron still beat the heck out of bronze when it became generally available. If you need to harden copper, it may be alloyed w/ beryllium, which also makes the material "non-sparking". A very useful characteristic in some circumstances."

FYI: The oldest bronze smeltering site in the world is in Thailand.

[Revelation 911]

it may be alloyed w/ beryllium

agreed - but isnt beryllium nasty stuff ?