Stiffening a length of copper pipe

Chris Hogg · 2018-10-30T10:33:12+00:00

My late wife had made a wonderfully colourful patchwork bedspread, that came out once a year at Christmas. I would like to hang it on a wall, rather like a tapestry, so that it's on view all the time, because I love it. The bedspread is edged with a double thickness of black fabric. My plan is to unpick the stitching of this edging at each end of one side, so that I can slide a length of 15mm copper pipe* through it. Then I plan to support the copper pipe at each end with curtain pole brackets. (I had thought of using curtain pole instead of copper pipe, but the narrowest available seems to be 28mm, and I think that would be too fat to slide into the bedspread edging strip). But the bedspread is rather heavy (it's backed with panels of black corduroy and velvet), and I am concerned the pipe will sag in the middle. What can I do to stiffen it? I had thought of filling it with cement, but IIRC cement corrodes copper over time. Another thought was to fill it with loose sand and vibrate it to compact the sand really well, but I'm not sure that would make the pipe rigid enough; yet a third thought was to fill it with expanding foam, but again, would that be effective? Any other suggestions? The bedspread is 1.65m sq. Picture here (in reality, the colours are richer than in the picture). *it's a length I have spare, but I could get some 22mm pipe if it would be better.

Oct 30, 2018 41 Replies

Rate this thread:

Vir Campestris 7 years ago

Seems to me that what you want is something that is springy in torsion, but stiff to bending forces.

TNP, do you have any references on this?

Andy

Vote

Thomas Prufer 7 years ago

I have used the metal ones, and they are easy to install, if using a cordless driver thing: PZ bit, apply to wall, screw in, done. Maybe a pinch or three of plaster dust.

Thomas Prufer

Vote

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required