Andy -- The crush washers should be pure copper. One
trick to re-soften them. Heat them up with a propane
torch just to barely glowing, then toss into a bucket
of water. Once annealed, take some fine emery paper
and remove any burrs on the edges. Ready to reuse.
:)
If you need to MAKE a new set... sandwich some copper
between two thick particle boards. 1/2" on top. 3/4"
on bottom. Hole saw the inside diameter of the crush
washer, just cutting through the top board and copper.
Now use a second hole saw to cut the outside diameter
(note the bottom board have the pilot hole still in
it). Slow, with oil, and you can get a pretty nice
crush washer.
I need to fess up about my "hole saw" was made on my
lathe, so the size was exact. Still look around harbor
frieght for a cheap set in small increments.
Sigh... lathe is packed up, but with a "stack" of
washers it was pretty easy to machine the outside
diameter to final size. My only trick was to machine
wood/copper/wood/copper/wood/copper/wood. Couldn't
hold just the copper! :D
Tom Walter
Cedar Park, TX
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