'Copper and Copper Alloys - Compositions, Applications and Properties' has been revised and updated to reflect progress in standards development since the 1998 version.
Copper Development Association publication 'Copper and Copper Alloys - Compositions, Applications and Properties' has been revised and updated to reflect progress in standards development since the 1998 version. The 2005 edition presents summarised information on EN standards and material designations for copper and copper alloys giving nearest old BS equivalents. For each material designation, typical compositions and ranges of properties are given along with a note on characteristics and uses.

The range of alloys covered is, of necessity, larger than the now obsolete BS system in order to incorporate, as far as possible, all unique, pan-European, industrial preferences.

This publication is an essential reference guide for designers and specifiers but for full details, the relevant standards, obtainable from BSI, should be consulted.

To order your copy of Publication 120 (GBP 10) or for information on technical, supplier and specification enquiries on copper and copper alloys, please contact the Copper Development Association, UK.

Copper Key' software enables users to find equivalent copper and copper alloy standards and compositions for EN and old BS materials from other national material designations.
Copper Development Association is launching 'Copper Key', new software, which enables users to find equivalent copper and copper alloy standards and compositions for EN and old BS materials from other national material designations including US (ASTM), German (DIN), Japanese (JIS) and Chinese (GB) material designations.

This software provides an essential introductory cross-reference tool for designers and specifiers but, for full details, the relevant standards, obtainable from BSI or other national standards bodies, should be consulted.

The software was developed by CDA's sister organisation in Germany, Deutsches Kupferinstitut (German Copper Institute), and is available at a cost of GBP 10 from Copper Development Association.

Technology to continuously cast copper alloy semi-finished bars, sections and hollows includes a low frequency, induction-melting furnace, in which metals are alloyed and the composition checked.
Continuous casting technology specialists, Rautomead, of Dundee, Scotland, have supplied one of their new RX1400 horizontal casting models to Tomghsia Industrial Co of Changhua Hsien, Taiwan. A successful, privately owned metals manufacturing company, founded in 1992, Tomghsia had grown to become a leading Taiwanese manufacturer of copper alloy ingot, with a significant presence in numerous international markets. In a drive to widen market opportunities - and add significant additional value to the copper alloys processed - Tomghsia approached Rautomead to provide continuous casting technology for the manufacture of semi-finished bars, sections and hollows in copper alloys.

The new RX1400 plant supplied to Tomghsia comprises a low frequency, induction-melting furnace, in which metals are alloyed and the composition checked.

When ready, the molten material is poured to the continuous casting machine in batches, while the casting process remains continuous.

The plant includes an automatic bar handling and cut-to-length station to cut the bars to 4m lengths.

Output is up to 400kg/h.

Product diameters are from 20mm to 125mm and one, two or four strands are produced simultaneously, depending on bar size.

Typical copper alloys produced on the new plant include bronzes, leaded bronzes, manganese bronze and aluminium bronze.

* Further extends Rautomead technology - the new RX1400 machine has been designed to complement Rautomead’s existing highly successful RX1100, RT850 and RT650 range of continuous casting models.

The RX1400 machine supplied to Tomghsia was first assembled by Rautomead Limited in Dundee, for pre-shipment testing and to allow the training of Tomghsia representatives.

Following shipment, Rautomead’s Installation and Commissioning engineers then travelled to Taiwan to ensure the RX1400 was quickly in operation with the minimum of delay.

* Full technical support - Rautomead will continue to provide Tomghsia with technical support in the operation of the new RX1400 continuous casting machine.

Tomghsia will also benefit by taking advantage of Rautomead’s vast database of technical information and twenty-five years’ experience in continuous casting technology.

Representing a significant leap forward in copper rod production, copper rod casting machines combine graphite furnace technology in a single melting, holding and casting furnace.
Leading continuous casting technology specialists, Rautomead, of Dundee, Scotland, have introduced a new range of copper rod casting machines that represent a significant leap forward in copper rod production. Combining the advantages of graphite furnace technology all in a single melting, holding and casting furnace, the new machines, designated ‘RDG Series’ models have rated outputs from 10,000 to 30,000 tonnes/year combined with impressively low operating costs. The design of the machines is the result of close technical collaboration between Rautomead - with its specialist knowledge of continuous casting systems - and Induga of Germany, well-known specialists in induction heating.

Both companies have over twenty years’ experience in their respective fields.

* Up to 20,000 tonnes/year, without hot metal transfer - available in 10,000 - 12,000 tonnes/year and 18,000 - 20,000 tonnes/year capacities - all without the need for hot metal transfer - RDG Series machines feature automatic cathode feed, a single channel-type induction furnace with separate melting and holding baths, multiple-strand casting stations, super-cooling design and withdrawal technology, plus 5 tonne capacity rod coilers.

The RDG-360 machine for 30,000 tonnes/year features a primary melting furnace transferring liquid copper through an enclosed channel into a holding and casting furnace, complete with Rautomead continuous casting withdrawal, tooling, controls and rod coiling units.

Alumina linings are used in the induction furnace, and graphite technology is used in the holding and casting chamber for conditioning the molten copper prior to casting.

A state-of-the-art Siemens plc control and monitoring suite provide the operator with a full picture of process status and sequences at all times, with automatic data-logging and complete traceability.

* Complete continuous casting flexibility - with the new RDG machines providing users with the ability to cast up to 30,000 tonnes/year of the highest quality oxygen-free copper redraw rod (8.0mm - 12.7mm diameter) using a cathode feedstock and Rautomead’s well-established RS electric resistance graphite technology, Rautomead is now able to offer a range of elegant casting solutions for all manufacturing quantities from 3,000 - 30,000 tonnes/year.

* Reliable production - throughout many years of use, Rautomead RS Series machines have proved reliable in production and are associated with the highest quality oxygen-free copper rod for magnet wire and superfine wire production.

As an additional benefit, these machines offer the advantage of a modular design, enabling an initial installation to be easily expanded as the scale of an operation increases or production requirements change.

Commented Rautomead chairman, Sir Michael Nairn, ‘With the introduction of the new RDG Series machines, Rautomead customers now enjoy even greater flexibility of choice.

Large-scale CuOF rod producers have gained the opportunity to purchase a single Rautomead model capable of meeting their entire annual manufacturing requirement.

Alternatively, for smaller manufacturing quantities, or for the production of a range of different copper alloys, customers may decide to invest in a single or multiple 6000 tonne/year resistance-heated RS Series machine.’

There has been a great deal discussion about lab-created diamonds. Along with that talk, there is much misinformation and perplexity. The jewelry lover, who is interested in realizing the huge savings and aesthetic beauty that simulated diamonds offer, is often bewildered by the manufactured diamond industry jargon and available options. This article will categorically break it down in easy-to-understand terms so that anyone can make an intelligent decision when choosing a simulated diamond.

GEM MATERIALS: 99% of all lab-created diamonds sold worldwide are polycrystalline on a molecular level. The differences are fundamentally in the technical aspects of manufacturing, cutting, and polishing. Think of it this way—all coffeemakers are made of plastic, steel, and glass, the differences are how these materials are designed and implemented. Higher quality coffeemakers make a better tasting cup of coffee. Higher quality manufactured diamonds are in line with mined diamonds.

QUALITY VARIANCES: It seems like grade variations are made out to be a more complex lab-created diamond issue then it really is. Once boiled down, there are three primary grades of simulated diamonds—high, medium, and low. For the jewelry shopper it should be noted that the quality of setting goes hand-in-hand with the quality of the gemstone. Those that sell manufactured diamond jewelry off point-of-purchase displays in the costume jewelry sections of discount stores use low quality or scrap stones that are not gem quality, and have disco ball or murky look. Those that sell manufactured diamond jewelry on the TV shopping channels—which is generally with a sterling silver or a micro-thin layer of gold plated over silver (Vermeil [pronounced ver-may]) settings—use medium quality stones not of gem quality. Those that sell solid 14K gold or solid platinum settings, as a rule, use the highest gem-quality man made gemstones that replicate mined diamonds.

PRICING: Low grade stones are sold in bulk to costume jewelry makers and are often glued on electroplated settings. This jewelry is fine for children, where loss risk is high, and usually retails for less than $15 per item. You will find medium grade stones primarily in sterling silver jewelry that sells for under $100 per item, settings and stones. Medium grade simulated diamonds can be distinguished by the naked eye as not being mined diamonds. High grade gemstone quality lab-created diamonds, undistinguishable by the naked eye from mined diamonds, are found mounted on settings of solid 14K gold and platinum. This is considered to be fine jewelry, with the best quality gemstones selling for under $100 per carat for the gemstones alone. Manufactured diamonds that sell for over $100 a carat are not higher quality than those that sell for between $80 and $100 per carat.

RECOMMENDATIONS: If you are buying for someone that is likely to lose the jewelry, there is no reason to spend any more than you have to, and Wal-Mart will do just fine. On the clearance rack you can even pick up some jewelry for less than $5 per item. If you buy simulated diamonds set in sterling silver, expect decent stones, but they will fool few into thinking they are mined diamonds. Also, your fingers are likely to turn green or black in response to a chemical reaction, not with the silver per se, but with the nickel/copper alloys in sterling silver. With any plated settings, gemstones are low to medium grade, and the plating will eventually chip off, particularly around the edges. When that happens, the nickel/copper alloys will be exposed, the setting will look like it came out of a gum ball machine, and your finger will generally turn green or black. It is just a matter of common sense, if you want simulated diamonds with mined-diamond qualities, they must be set in 14K solid gold. Jewelers who offer lab-created diamonds are not going spend on money on gold and not mount the highest quality stones, which would defeat the purpose of creating fine diamond-like jewelry and alienate customers.

Valentine's Day just happened only a couple days ago and as we speak many proud new owners of Motorola's hot new Pink RAZR V3 are grinning ear-to-ear while using their new phones. This year many Valentines gift seekers turned away in the opposite direction from the cliché chocolates & flowers, turned away from the balloons, and believe it or not, turned away from mail order stuffed bears. Instead, many Valentines shoppers bought their significant other the gift of a new Pink RAZR cell phone, many of which were "his and her" type gift ideas with many men opting for the new Blue RAZR phone, and to the delight of their partner, a new Pink RAZR. It is no accident that many Pink RAZR phones were sold on Valentines Day in pairs.

In the months leading up to Valentines the buzz over the pink phones continued to grow and grow and is expected by many in the wireless mobile device industry to be the number one selling phone of the year. The entire RAZR series of phones has had tremendous popularity over the past year, reportedly taking in maybe more than 30% of the 30+ million cell phones sold in the third quarter of 2005 ALONE!

Motorola has released three different versions of the Pink RAZR cell phones, all three different shades of pink. The Cingular version of the phone fits in between the lighter version for Verizon Wireless and the magenta version for T-Mobile USA.

The new Pink RAZR by Motorola is extremely fashionable and because of this trait it is also very practical for the fashion conscious to own one. Paris Hilton was seen on TV brandishing the Pink RAZR before anyone else had the opportunity to buy it. Coincidence? Any pop-culture informed individual knows better because Paris Hilton has been setting trends for the past five years and has become the most sought after marketing venture in our society. The big wireless companies new Valentines Day would be the best time of the year to release a pink phone, and they hit the nail on the head. The Internet was full of Valentines advertisements and even on popular forums people were scrambling to buy a Pink RAZR for their partners to give to them on the special day.

The Pink RAZR, like all the RAZR versions before it, sports an ultra thin design made from aluminum, magnesium, nickel-plated copper alloy and chemically hardened glass, which was of course then finished with a soft pink touch. Don't let the elegant look of the phones cosmetics fool you, this bad boy comes packed and fully loaded. Inside the RAZR is the latest in mobile technology and this includes video playback with a record function, Bluetooth wireless technology, and a VGA digital camera with zoom & quad-band, which is for global communications capability. Different versions of the RAZR have different features, as always, make sure you research each version of the phone so you know exactly what you are buying. The RAZR V3i for instance comes packed with iTunes software and is sure to be a hit as competition for the Rokr phones.

The Motorola Pink RAZR went on sale a couple weeks ago, on February 6th, just in time to make it the number one Valentines Day gift of this years holiday.

GATE - Agate consists of silicon dioxide which was sedimented in ancient times to form beautiful flowing bands of different texture and colours. There are always many layers and bands of differing materials in all sorts of designs and colours - in quartz, chalcedony, jasper, or iron oxides - making agate one of the most intriguing gemstones for lapidary. Agates of all kinds have been popular in talismans over the centuries. Beautiful specimens of concentric rings are found at Winona, Minnesota. Heating agate artificially produces even more spectacular agates. There are many different kinds of Agates: Moss Agates or Seaweed Agates, Agatized Coral, Crazy-lace Agate, Plume Agate or Scenic Agate, Tree Agates, Onyx Agate, Eye Agate and Rainbow or Iris Agate with its many colours.

AMBER - The name is Arabic but it has come to us from the French and in Greek it means 'electricity'. Pliny asserted amber as the sap of certain trees. It is now confirmed to be the fossil resin of an extinct species of pine tree of the Tertiary period. . It frequently preserves within itself plant structures and insects. In prehistoric it was used as a talismanic charm against disease and also burnt as incense. It has a peculiar electrical property discovered by Thales, one of the 7 sages of Greece, when it is subjected to friction on a natural woollen material to demonstrate an electro/magnetic power. Amber is found in colours from green to gold and orange, brown and even red. It is found either clear or opaque in nature with any cloudy appearance caused by imprisoned bubbles. Amber was also employed as an essence or scent and still is used as an ingredient in modern perfumes. Amber has wide distribution in Europe, Sicily and the Adriatic, Australasia, America and Russia, Siberia, Greenland, U.S, Mexico, Burma and Romania . It is occasionally washed up on beaches.

AMETHYST - Occidental or True Amethyst is a form of quartz. or coloured Rock crystal consisting of silica. Oriental amethyst is alumina. Others are violone, a silicate of aluminium and lithium. It contains iron in the quartz. The deeper the colour, the more valuable - due to presence of manganese oxide. Oriental Amethyst or Violet Sapphire is a form of corundum and similar to sapphire and ruby. A beautiful sample is a violet gem weighing 48 carats in the Allison Gem Collection, Australia The best examples come from Siberia, Ceylon, Brazil and Persia but a large one found in a cave of amethyst in Brazil is a huge crystal which measures 33' by 6' x 3'- the largest ever found.

AQUAMARINE - This gemstone is a transparent, pale water blue beryl with iron giving it the green/blue tint, varying from pale green to deep sea green. It is relatively inexpensive and mined in India, Siberia and Brazil, the most abundant source of aquamarine. This blue green stone is heated to produce the blue colour so popular in modern jewellery. A magnificent example of 46 carats is in the Allison Australian gem Collection.

BERYL - Beryl is used as a copper alloy and also in constructing the atomic bomb. Beryl and Aquamarine differ only in colour - Beryl is bright blue to white and Aquamarine is sea green to deep green. Best known is the deep green form of beryl, the precious emerald. The yellow beryl is the heliodor and pink beryl is morganite and there is also an extremely rare Red Beryl. Beryl is known for its huge crystals. Madagascar yielded a single crystal weighing nearly 40 tons far surpassing the 18-27 foot monster ones previously obtained from New England.

BLOODSTONE - Bloodstone is opaque and always cut as a cabochon, or un-faceted stone. It is a variety of green Jasper with many blood red specks in its composition. These are formed by iron oxide with which it is impregnated. Ancient Egyptians highly valued bloodstone amulets. It was once very popular in cutting seals and cameos. Found in India, Siberia and Russia. The Chinese believe it produces best results when set in gold.

CARNELIAN (Cornelian) - This is a translucent, orangey-red chalcedony sometimes found in yellowish tones and white, frequently with two combined. On exposure to the Sun the hues become brighter but not in artificial light. It is capable of high polish which was why it was considered as the best stone to use as a seal, according to Pliny. The transparent red type of carnelian is known as Sard and comes from Arabia, India, New Zealand, Europe, Mesopotamia, Surinam and Siberia. Many ancient Etruscan and Egyptian scarabaei have been found carved from this stone. Buddhism includes this in sacred 7 stones -Tibetans call it A-yu and as talisman has occult properties.

CORAL - Coral is formed by calcium carbonate in the skeletons of colonies of soft bodied molluscs in tropical waters. It ranges in colour from the rare black, to pink and reddish-orange, the classical "coral" of fashion. It is also found in a blue colour. The ancient Romans and Greeks used it in ornamentation. Red, pink, white and blue corals are made of calcium carbonate but black and golden corals are formed of the horny substance conchiolin. In all corals the skeletal structure is visible as delicately striped of spotted graining. Red and pink corals from the Mediterranean. were popular for centuries and often used in rosaries. There was an extensive trade through Europe into Arabia and to India where coral was also used medicinally. The black and golden corals fished off Hawaii, Australia and West Indies are more recent discoveries.

CRYSTAL - Rock Crystal or Frozen Water has always been considered a pure stone and once used as a divining stone and in modern fortune telling when the gypsies keep the tradition alive in using a crystal ball, a custom which is said to have begun in Persia. The stone is traditionally associated with mystical properties and linked to the moon. It is one of the 7 sacred substances of Buddhism. Its crystal has 6 sides and rarely is it found in large pieces - but the largest quartz crystal ever found was in Brazil - it was over 5m long and weighed more than 48 tonnes! Synthetic rock crystal is manufactured in Japan for industry and also jewellery.

DIAMOND - Diamond - the beautiful and most popular precious stone consists of pure carbon, the blackest of substances, which crystallizes in the cubic system at enormous pressures and high temperatures, sometimes from depth of 150 km in the earth. Apart from its unique flashes of light and colour from its faceted stone, the diamond has special properties and is the hardest of all stones. The best gem quality stones are colourless and transparent with a slightly blue tint but the pink and tinted diamonds are becoming popular also. Diamonds are said to have first been found in India more than 2000 years ago. Previously in that country diamonds were known but were never cut because it was believed that it had magical properties were destroyed by cutting. Cutting in Europe began after 1300 AD. Lasers are now used to cut diamonds but the only mineral capable of cutting a diamond is a diamond. Top world producers now are northern Australia which supplies 1/4 of the world's needs - particularly for industrial purposes and also the coloured "champagne diamonds" and in the South African Kimberley region.

EMERALD - Emeralds are green forms of Beryl and the best are found in Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia. Also India and Pakistan but the finest are said to come from Colombia near Chivor where they occur in veins within dark shales and limestone. The Ural Mountains which are rich in emeralds retain the world market. Egypt's emerald mines are over 4,000 years old. Pliny speaks of a colossal emerald statue of Serapis 13 1/2 feet high, in the ancient Egyptian labyrinth. It was called the "king" of green stones with extremely high value because of its rarity and the fact that seldom was there gemstone cut that was without flaw. The largest known emerald discovered was 11,000 carats found in an uncut state in South Africa. The largest cut stone of quality was 1,347 carats but it had obvious flaws. The largest perfect stone known was the Tsar of Russia's - 30 carats. The Crown of the Andes made in 1593-99 in South America had 453 emeralds the largest being of 45 carats. However synthetic emeralds in modern times have plausible inclusions so testing must be done carefully in determining the quality of stone.