Copper tools and Viktor Schauberger

[cletus]

I'd also add, if I understand VS' logic, that he attributed paramagnetic garden/farm implements (like iron) to having a heating/drying effect on the water molecules in the soil. Whereas his research showed that wooden or copper tools, both diamagnetic, have a sort of cooling or beneficial effect on the water in the soil. It would be fun to replicate these kind of experiments. He said the same is true for pruning using diamagnetic vs. paramagnetic materials. It would be easy to prune some homozygous seedlings with copper or iron and see if you could suss out any repeatable differences.

[oxbowfarm]

I have a hard time with the "rust residue" as a soil poison as an explanation. Iron is the fourth most common element in the earth's crust. Almost all of that iron is in the form of hematite or magnetite, which are basically two different oxidation states of iron oxide (which is rust). Iron is definitely known to be toxic at extremely low soil pH, as is aluminum (the third most common element in the earth's crust). It is also a known micro-nutirent/trace element essential for chlorophyll synthesis.

It is entirely possible that copper alloy tools may have some beneficial effect on soil ecology and plant growth. I would be much more inclined to believe what is going on is some net positive effect of the copper vs a negative effect from iron. Iron in the form of rust is ubiquitous in soil, while copper is extremely rare.

If it is a magnetic/diamagnetic effect it might be interesting to experiment with non-magnetic tools made from stainless steel.

Frankly, the only place I could find these tools for sale, they were impossibly expensive . My most commonly used hand tillage tool is a Claringdon Forge digging fork that I purchased for $45 on clearance. I would be terrified what my soil and my rocks would do to a tool that retails for € 151.00 before shipping.

The "Golden Plow" was copper plated. It would be nice if they'd sell some copper plated steel tools. They'd be much cheaper to experiment with. I also couldn't find what alloy of bronze they were using for those tools, most copper alloys contain enough lead that nowadays they have to have a California Prop 65 lead warning.

[templeton]

Oxbow,
I'm amused at the way that bronze tool site gives names to all their tools - reminds me of an Ikea Katalog. But I wouldn't mind a shovel, fork and rake in bronze, since I'm so slack about leaving my tools out in the weather.
I'm interested in your comments about lead in copper alloys, having just ordered some copper cookware.

And somewhat off the point, it's not all in a name - sometimes it's in the punctuation - check out 'metal umlaut' on Wikipedia
T

[12540dumont]

Oxbow, Leo broke my Clarington Forge Fork (the handle). Luckily for him the fellow at Red Pig, put it back good as new (well almost) they made a longer handle on it. He said Leo was too tall for "my" filled D oak handle. This is the most popular tool on the farm.

It too has a name, because every time some one leaves it somewhere, the other person shouts, "Where in the heck is that fork?"

Templeton are your pots tinned, on the inside like these?

If they aren't tinned, or otherwise lined, they should only be used for jam

The ones above? shh don't tell Oxbow he'll melt them for plowshares.

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[templeton]

thread hijack
Oooo Holly, saucepan envy!
I've only ordered one pan and an eggwhite bowl, and yep, the pan is tinned - relatively cheap small producer in Tasmania, Lara Copper. Will see what they are like before I order more.
Which reminds me, I wonder where the brass wok I bought in india in 1978 and carted around asia for 3 months in my backpack is?

[oxbowfarm]

I would hope that any cookware copper would be a lead free alloy.

Holly , I don't have a furnace to melt down your nice pots yet. If you send them to me I'll see if they are thick enough to cut up and make some copper hoe blades.

[12540dumont]

Notice the yet? Ox, you would have to melt them. They're an 1/8 of an inch thick.

Good copper tools are hard to come by. The largest of these weighs 15 pounds. When it's full, it's almost impossible to lift. These are very old and French. I've had them 20 some years, from back in the day when I was going to go to cooking school. I had them re-tinned at East Coast tinning 2 years ago. The freight about killed me. The tinning was exorbitant. They sell some pretty pots there.

Now I put them away. They're my version of Joseph's dimes.

[steev]

I wonder how serviceable a copper-plating job one could do on steel tools with low voltage and a copper sulfate solution, maybe dormant-spray copper; only downside I see is that the deposit might be too soft to last long.

[templeton]

When I was fooling around with copper plating as a youth I found prepping the base was critical, otherwise it just flaked off.
T