Revere products must obviously be made to certain standards, and equally obviously the customer must describe the product which he wishes to buy. We have previously briefly described several of the standards-writing agencies in connection with the discussion on tempers. More explanation seems in order, however.
The Copper Development Association serves as a technical and standards agency for producers of brass mill products
(Revere’s copper and brass business for one) and is supported financially by them. Among its various functions, it helps establish industry wide standards for alloy identification numbers, compositions of same, tolerances, physical properties, etc. These are published by CDA and form a valuable source of information in addition to their value as standards.
Among the specification writing agencies are the following:
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
Aeronautical Material Specifications of the Society of Automotive Engineers
(AMS)
American Welding Society (AWS)
Federal specifications (Prefixes QQ-B-; QQ-C-; QQ-P-; QQ-R-; QQ-W- followed by a number
and also prefixes WW-T- followed by a number)
Military specifications (MIL followed by a letter and a number)
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A cross index to these is published by
CDA. In addition, there are a number of privately written specifications to cover special requirements of users such as General Electric Co., Western Electric Co., Westinghouse Electric Corporation, to name a few.
In the absence of any directions to the contrary, when a customer orders from us, we will use ASTM values for the product involved. This brings up the question of proper ordering descriptions, and the recommended procedure is to include the following: |
| 1. |
Quantity - pounds, feet, pieces, etc. |
| 2. |
Copper Alloy Number - (name where applicable). |
| 3. |
Product - such as sheet, strip, condenser plate, condenser tube, water tube, drainage tube, refrigeration tube,
roofing sheet, etc. |
| 4. |
Dimensions - width, thickness, etc. - OD and wall for tube - length. It is preferred to use decimals rather than gauge numbers. |
| 5. |
How furnished - as straight lengths, dimension sheet, coils, spooled. |
| 6. |
Temper - Generally speaking we prefer to use Tensile Strength or Rockwell Hardness for cold worked material and grain size for annealed, though there are exceptions due to how particular products are used. The commercial ranges appear in the governing ASTM specification. |
| 7. |
Specification by issuing body, number and product. |
| 8. |
Shipping date. |
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It may be necessary to add other bits of information
such as: |
Finish - especially if for highly polished products as vanity cases, etc.
Tolerances - if closer than commercial (which are always subject to mill acceptance) in regard to dimensions, including length, straightness, ovality of tubing and the like.
Especially important is product name in the case of such items as condenser tubes, water tube and several others, since the end use dictates certain dimensions, or tolerance or weight control which are different than another product of the same shape and alloy.
If it is not known how to order material because it has not been made before by Revere then samples of a previously, successfully used material should be submitted to the Metallurgical or Technical Service people for checking of properties. If a new product, a print of the part is preferred. For some situations a personal visit is in order, by one of the technically qualified people available at the Divisions, or the Research and Development Center. |
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