4 ms·

I can only begin to imagine how much a piece of copper tubing that thick costs. That's a lot of copper.

by malandrew 13y ago

aaronsnoswell 13y ago
The effect works just fine with thinner tubes and smaller magnets - I've done it using 15mm 'plumbing' copper pipes.
- e12e 13y ago
  Should work with a paper tube and copper wire as well? [edit: not saying that would be cheaper and/or easier, just that it should be possible...] [edit2: A stripped wire, that is - not one with insulation -- which would be more suitable for making a spool]
  - marcosdumay 13y ago
    If you close the wire (join the 2 points) you should get something, but certainly not as strong. You can try that with aluminium if cooper is too hard to get. You'll probably get better results.
adsr 13y ago
A kg is about $7 at the moment it seems, so suppose that's 5 kg then $35.
- malandrew 13y ago
  That's it? I was under the impression that copper was far more expensive and is the reason why expresso machines are as expensive as they are.
  - noir_lord 13y ago
    Copper compared to many metals isn't particular expensive per KG, it is just relatively expensive in the class of metals that we use a crapload of (for example aluminimum is around $1.8 per KG) it is still much cheaper than tin at ~$22. The main reason that copper is so valuable is it has so many uses and is very easily recycled(I saw an estimate that said 80% of all the copper ever mined is still in use) so holds it's value (You often get 90-95% of its commodity value for recycling).
    - jonnathanson 13y ago
      This. Copper is always in demand, has a bajillion uses, and can be scrapped and reworked very easily. This is why you hear about meth heads stripping copper wiring out of old homes. It's not that the copper is incredibly precious. It's that the copper is so easily liquefied into cash at any number of one-stop, no-questions-asked destinations. Copper is expensive as a building or product material, not in and of itself, but in relation to many of the alternatives in any given application. Small differences in component costs, scaled over large supply chains, add up to huge differences in margin at the macro level.
    - 72deluxe 13y ago
      Here in the UK there is constant copper theft going on. The church up the road here had their roof pinched 3 times in 6 months. But it is good that if you have new heating (with a combi boiler) and your condenser boiler taken out, that massive water tank you had in the loft to hold water now suddenly turns into money!
    - dfox 13y ago
      Copper and aluminum are two commonly used metals that are manufactured by relatively costly process that at the same time allows essentially complete recycling. On the other hand there are not that many uses for pure copper (most of them are electricity related) as there are many other metals or copper alloys that are significantly cheaper.
- noonespecial 13y ago
  A quick browse over at onlinemetals leads me to believe that you're probably off by a factor of 10x-20x. http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=1288&step=2&top_cat=87 http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=1288&step=2&top_...
  - adsr 13y ago
    That may be, but most of that markup is probably in the part it self, if you compare to a steel tube of the same dimension you'll see an indication of that. I was going by the current price the metal trades for, that is, a ballpark figure as something to "begin to imagine" what it could cost based on the material alone.
dm2 13y ago
This piece is close: http://www.amazonsupply.com/dp/B003JU1FBG/ref=sp_dp_g2c_asin http://www.amazonsupply.com/dp/B003JU1FBG/ref=sp_dp_g2c_asin 6.5 inch outer, 5.5 inner, 12 inches tall (twice what the video shows) for only $700. So I'd say $300 would be a good estimate of what you can get that piece of copper for. That magnet is also probably pretty expensive, that's a big one.

I can only begin to imagine how much a piece of copper tubing that thick costs. That's a lot of copper.

aaronsnoswell 13y ago

The effect works just fine with thinner tubes and smaller magnets - I've done it using 15mm 'plumbing' copper pipes.

e12e 13y ago
Should work with a paper tube and copper wire as well? [edit: not saying that would be cheaper and/or easier, just that it should be possible...] [edit2: A stripped wire, that is - not one with insulation -- which would be more suitable for making a spool]
- marcosdumay 13y ago
  If you close the wire (join the 2 points) you should get something, but certainly not as strong. You can try that with aluminium if cooper is too hard to get. You'll probably get better results.

adsr 13y ago

A kg is about $7 at the moment it seems, so suppose that's 5 kg then $35.

malandrew 13y ago
That's it? I was under the impression that copper was far more expensive and is the reason why expresso machines are as expensive as they are.
- noir_lord 13y ago
  Copper compared to many metals isn't particular expensive per KG, it is just relatively expensive in the class of metals that we use a crapload of (for example aluminimum is around $1.8 per KG) it is still much cheaper than tin at ~$22. The main reason that copper is so valuable is it has so many uses and is very easily recycled(I saw an estimate that said 80% of all the copper ever mined is still in use) so holds it's value (You often get 90-95% of its commodity value for recycling).
  - jonnathanson 13y ago
    This. Copper is always in demand, has a bajillion uses, and can be scrapped and reworked very easily. This is why you hear about meth heads stripping copper wiring out of old homes. It's not that the copper is incredibly precious. It's that the copper is so easily liquefied into cash at any number of one-stop, no-questions-asked destinations. Copper is expensive as a building or product material, not in and of itself, but in relation to many of the alternatives in any given application. Small differences in component costs, scaled over large supply chains, add up to huge differences in margin at the macro level.
  - 72deluxe 13y ago
    Here in the UK there is constant copper theft going on. The church up the road here had their roof pinched 3 times in 6 months. But it is good that if you have new heating (with a combi boiler) and your condenser boiler taken out, that massive water tank you had in the loft to hold water now suddenly turns into money!
  - dfox 13y ago
    Copper and aluminum are two commonly used metals that are manufactured by relatively costly process that at the same time allows essentially complete recycling. On the other hand there are not that many uses for pure copper (most of them are electricity related) as there are many other metals or copper alloys that are significantly cheaper.
noonespecial 13y ago
A quick browse over at onlinemetals leads me to believe that you're probably off by a factor of 10x-20x. http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=1288&step=2&top_cat=87 http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=1288&step=2&top_...
- adsr 13y ago
  That may be, but most of that markup is probably in the part it self, if you compare to a steel tube of the same dimension you'll see an indication of that. I was going by the current price the metal trades for, that is, a ballpark figure as something to "begin to imagine" what it could cost based on the material alone.

dm2 13y ago

This piece is close: http://www.amazonsupply.com/dp/B003JU1FBG/ref=sp_dp_g2c_asin http://www.amazonsupply.com/dp/B003JU1FBG/ref=sp_dp_g2c_asin 6.5 inch outer, 5.5 inner, 12 inches tall (twice what the video shows) for only $700. So I'd say $300 would be a good estimate of what you can get that piece of copper for. That magnet is also probably pretty expensive, that's a big one.