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Copper, zinc, stainless and specialty metals · Lesson 3 of 4

Copper, zinc, stainless and specialty metals: methods and worked application

A step-by-step method for specialty-metal work, shop set-up for stainless, copper and zinc, four worked examples, how copper counterflashing is installed in a reglet, and how to pack and store bare metals.

You will be able to: Take a specialty-metal order from specification to shipped bundle with a documented method, working the weight, forming temperature, bend radius and joint layout with units and recording every assumption and inspection point.

11 min · 12 slides · 8 questions

All lessons in this module
Slide 1 of 12

The method, start to finish

Read the spec: metal, standard, temper or grade, finish and thickness. Map it to AFS's material list, screen every contact and drainage path, set the shop up for the metal, fabricate within AFS limits, inspect, pack dry and record.

The compatibility screening is a check, not an approval: the designer decides.

A specialty-metal order from spec to shipped bundleSeven steps top to bottom: read the spec, map it to AFS limits, screen contact and runoff, set the shop up for the metal (stainless kept clean and apart, copper handled with gloves, zinc metal temperature checked with a warm-or-wait loop), fabricate within AFS limits, inspect, and pack dry and record.1234567Read the specMap to AFS limitsScreen contact and runoffSet up the shop for the metalFabricate within AFS limitsInspect against the cardPack dry, ventilated; recordStainlessclean, apartCoppergloves onZincmetal tempWarm?Warmor waitnoyes

Flow chart: read the spec, map to AFS limits, screen contact and runoff, then set up the shop by metal (stainless clean and segregated, copper gloves, zinc metal temperature check with a warm-or-wait loop), fabricate within AFS limits, inspect, pack dry and ventilated, and record.

1
Read the spec: metal, standard, temper or grade, finish, thickness
2
Map it to the AFS material and its bend rule
3
Screen every contact and drainage path; conflicts go to the designer
4
Set up the shop for the metal
5
Fabricate within AFS limits
6
Inspect against the metal's card
7
Pack dry and ventilated, never tarped on bare ground, and record
The method in Lesson 3. The compatibility screening is a check, not an approval; the designer decides.

Sources

Videos for this lesson

What this video shows: Slate Roofing Contractors Association members demonstrate shop fabrication of a soldered copper vent-pipe flashing, filmed at their 2018 conference. Their method, not how AFS fabricates.

Video: Shop Fabricating a Copper Pipe Flashing by Slate Roofing Contractors Association of North America, Inc., on YouTube. AFS checked its description against this lesson.

Glossary

Reglet
A slot or groove in a wall that receives the top edge of counterflashing; UFGS 07 60 00 sets reglets 9 to 10 in above the roof deck.
Counterflashing
Flashing set into the wall above a roof that laps down over the upturned leg of the base flashing; UFGS asks for a lap of at least 3 in.
Metal temperature
The temperature of the sheet itself, measured on its surface, which zinc makers use for their forming limits: VMZINC 45°F for its natural, QUARTZ-ZINC and ANTHRA-ZINC and 50°F for PIGMENTO; RHEINZINK warms the work area below 10°C (50°F).
Protective film
A peelable film on zinc, or a film or paper wrapping on stainless, that protects the finish in the shop; zinc makers set when the film must come off (VMZINC within 60 days after installation), and SSINA keeps the wrapping on stainless until processing is complete.