After you have your copper shapes cut, then it’s onto drilling holes (if needed), sanding and buffing. Drill press is great, but all you need is a simple hole cutter. For manual sanding, standard sanding paper works fine – have several grits handy. (something like 220, 400 and 600). Â It is also good to have a set of metal files, a set from the hardware store will work just fine. I have used mine for years, never bought actual fancy jewelry files so far! Sanding machines are great, some regular table top belt sanders can work for jewelry, Dremel has some great sanding and polishing attachments, and then of course there are jewelry specific lathes and flex shafts when you want to invest in nice tools.
If you are a total beginner I would start with the snips and 24 or 26 gauge copper. The jewelry saw takes a bit of practice. The shape doesn’t have to be perfect, you can fix a lot of mistakes with metal files and sanding paper, all it takes is a bit of time! If you start your copper cutting career with tools that require more skill you will get frustrated and might even give up. Start simple and continue from there!
can .5mm copper sheet be cut with a big scissors? no snipps at hand. I need to cut simple .25″ wide strips for contacts. solderable? punchable?
Thank you for your question. I’m wondering if you actually mean 5 MIL (.005 inches thick) 36 gauge? 0.5mm copper sheet would be 0.019685 inches thick (around 24 gauge) and snips would be recommended for cutting. I commonly use 24 and 26 gauge for making jewelry and enameling. (24 gauge makes a nice medium weight cuff bracelet, for example). There is a nice general guide on the basiccopper.com site on different gauges. If you mean the 5 mil copper, it is approximately 7 – 8 times thicker than typical household aluminum foil. It weighs approximately 3.74 ounces per square foot. 5 MIL copper is 36 gauge thickness. It does not tear by hand, but can be easily cut with scissors. It is extremely pliable and will dent with a light touch. The 5 mil is often used for craft projects as well as for various home improvement projects and construction, electrical, manufacturing and other applications. 24 – 26 gauge copper is very solderable. I have no experience with 36 gauge, I assume it will melt quickly. I have experimented with 30 gauge and that will get holes easily when heated with a torch because it is so thin, you would need to be careful with applying the heat. It can be enameled with a torch as long as you work quickly. Hope this helps!