Acoustic Guitar Construction

I'm planning on building a pipe bender like the one Ken posted with the small heating blanket. I have on hand a large roll of copper sheeting about ten inches wide by about .024 thick. Any reason I couldn't use it for the flashing around the pipe and blanket? For that matter could it be used for bending slats as well?
I know it would be a good heat conductor, but are there any concerns with reactions?
Thanks
John

As a precaution to prevent chemical staining I always use and recommend distilled water. As for the copper, my first bending pipe was made of copper -- it did deform after a lot of use, but it worked fine.