By Bonnie Contreras


It is a little-known fact that copper screws are the simplest type of motor called a linear actuator. While conventional electric motors produce circular motion, a linear actuator creates motion in a straight line. As the head of the screw is twisted around in a circle, the tip of the screw is driven forward along its axis.

The shaft of the screw has spiral, or helical, threads. When drilled into soft material, a helical internal groove is created. When used on a wall, say to hold a picture, a rawl plug, or plastic sleeve, is used to give it extra strength. Their main use is to hang stuff on or hold stuff together.

One use for a copper linear actuator is as a contact screw in a tattoo machine. This is another little-known fact. They are easily made in a home workshop because the metal is quite soft. The only tools you need are a die with the desired internal thread, a set of pliers, fine sandpaper (available from hobby shops) and a small amount of gun bluing solution. When used on iron or steel, the bluing agent confers a small element of protection against corrosion or rust. In this case, it just makes the tattoo screw look pretty.

Copper (chemical symbol, Cu) has the atomic number 29. It has a high electrical and thermal conductivity. That is why it is used in wires and on the bottom of kitchen pans. It is soft and very malleable, which means it is easy to work with. That is why Cu is easy to form into a contact screw for use in a tattoo machine.

When the Romans were in charge, the metal was mined in Cyprus. That is how it came to be named cyprium, and then cuprum. Hence, the chemical symbol, Cu. It has many uses in the human body, mainly as a constituent in the enzyme cytochrome. In sea animals such as crustaceans and molluscs, it forms part of the respiratory pigment called hemocyanin, which is blue. Humans do not use hemocynanin, but instead use the iron-based pigment, hemoglobin, to ferry oxygen and carbon dioxide into and out of the cells, respectively.

Cuprum is mainly found in human muscle, liver and bone. Cupric compounds are bacteriocidal, i. E., they kill germs. This is why it is used in wood preservatives and in fungicides. It is also sometimes used as a liner for laboratory incubators used for tissue and cell culture.

A copper screw is used in a tattoo machine. They are pretty little machines that are very good for screwing into wood, particularly if it is likely to be exposed to the elements, where iron or steel would turn to rust. Cuprum is also used to coat steel. Sometimes zinc, nickel, brass or cadmium is used instead.

So, copper screws are interesting little motorific devices. The native metal kills germs and looks pretty. They are rather soft, so you need to be careful where you use them. You would not want to use them to hold a commercial airliner together, for instance.




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