Solid Copper soldering iron point?

It should work if you can attach it to the iron.  Alot of soldering irons have copper tips.  I have one that's probably 30 years old that has a copper tip.

The copper won't melt, if it does somethings bad wrong with that iron.

modern soldering  tips are more than just copper, ….although they have a copper core, they are encased in iron, then plated with nickel and finally chrome, …..I don’t think a solid copper tip would actually melt, but it definitely would get soft, and solder would definitely stick and wick up the pure copper tip making a RPITA to keep clean…..and a clean tip is essential for proper soldering …….I don’t think it’s a good idea, I’d look on line and see if tips are available…..usually tips are fairly inexpensive consumables…..

Pat

I have few high wattage irons with copper tips. You have to keep them tinned with solder and control the temperature so they don’t overheat. The soldering process will leach the copper away causing pits so you may have file it smooth often and re tin.

It will work but just won’t  last as long as an iron plated tip. Nothing to loose, sounds like you have a source for many more.

Pete

Thanks Guys, my Harbor Freight soldering iron is a bottom of the barrel tool.  So, it sounds like shoving a rod of copper into it as a substitute point wouldn't work.

Mannyrock

Actually, I don't see why the proper sized copper rod wouldn't work.  My Weller soldering gun has had many #12 copper wire tips over it's lifetime.  If I don't have a real Weller tip, I just scrounge some #12 solid wire, works great.

Here's a couple of pictures of my antique iron.  The tip screws on and it's made out of copper. I just finished cleaning it up.

If my memory is right Dad probably bought me this iron. He passed in 73 so this thing is old.

I don't know the name of the material, but there are soldering iron tips that DO NOT require tinning. I used one in a former job for 15 plus years. They were far superior to the old copper tips. I actually cut about a 1.5 inch piece of the original copper tip off and inserted it into the barrel of the iron ahead of the new blade. Just be sure the screw that holds the tip catches the upper part of the tip, and NOT the base piece. That kept the thicker barrel of the iron away from the parts you were soldering.

ECI

As Pat said, there are several plating layers on the copper for a modern soldering iron tip, but that doesn't mean that you can solder with a plain copper tip, I've done it tons of times.

After a quick perusal I found the following:

Melting points...

Copper 1984 F

Lead 621 F

Lead/Tin solder 361F - 421F depending on the mixture

Silver solder 1145 F

So as Gunrunnerjohn pointed out a piece of copper wire that will fit in your iron should work just fine, if your iron gets hot enough to melt or soften the copper tip there's probably an electrical issue and you probably should replace the whole iron. I have my grandfathers old electric soldering iron from the 40s that uses a piece of copper grounding rod sharpened to a point that still works great and still has the same tip from at least 60 years ago. I keep it more as a conversation piece than for actual use but I have used it in a pinch when I needed a heavy duty soldering job done (think stained glass).

Jerry

If my soldering iron gets to 2,000F, I'm running for the hills!