COPPER & COPPER ALLOYS Archeological evidence from excavations
at Catal Huyuk in Southern Anatolia (now part of Turkey),
suggests that copper was being refined by man as early as 7000
BC [ref]. The lengthy availability of workable copper materials
means that many surviving artifacts of historical and technical
interest (not to mention artistic merit), have been formed in
this metal and it's subsiduary alloys. Today, casting in one or
another of the copper alloys accounts for the greater part of
any art foundry’s output; indeed some founders will only cast
client work in a single preferred copper alloy. From the
founder’s point of view copper alloys are generally forgiving to
cast and straightforward to work with; the molten charge flows
well into all types of refractory mould, with casts formed in
the more common alloys are relatively easy to weld, chase and
machine - soft enough to work, strong enough to form sound long-
lasting structures. The vast majority of copper alloys also
allow for a fine finish to be