Copper scrap

Working on more sections of copper to go around the roof today, rather intermittent efforts as I was helping out a little with my daughters reorganizing plan for her room. I had the oxypropane torch on hand to put some kind of patina on the copper and anneal it by heating it and dunking it in water with some copper sulphate in. At the end of the day I was suddenly inspired to see what kind of volume of metal I would get melting all the little scraps I had left from cutting out shapes the other day. I pounded a little depression in the earth outside the shop and melted the scraps into that. It made the blob on the stove top here, which I quickly squidged a bit under the press to see how bubbly it was. Rather more of a weighty mass than I had thought. I will look into some ways of utilizing these scraps for work. I think I could make up something with a scooped out fire brick for melting down and pouring copper into a small foam casting set up, or even see if the little graphite crucibles I have are up to the shock of that sudden heating.

The little leafy outcrop on the stove was added last autumn and is mainly decorative, but it also serves as a nice little grasping point when the stove is not too hot and the opening is useful for snapping up bits of thin wood that are just too long to fit in.
The hatch lid is highly useful for adding wood once the stove is running because opening the front door gets a bit hot and smoky.