Working with Copper

I think copper is a lovely material to work with. It is malleable and easily worked, can be oxidized, and is relatively cheap! When it comes to ease of working and hardening, sterling silver is my first choice, but when it comes to price and workability combined, copper can’t be beat.

Here is a somewhat amateurish photo of a pair of earrings I made from copper wire, copper sheet, and a glass bead. I cut copper into squares, embossed them with a stamp, domed them on a doming block, and pierced them with a drill.

The dangles were made from 18 ga copper wire. I balled the ends with a torch, and hammered them flat. The ear wires were handmade from 20 gauge copper wire.

The picture to the right is what I really wanted to show you. This is a closeup of one of the hammered and embossed squares of copper sheeting. Look at that patina!

I achieved this using a liver of sulphur bath, sanding down the edges of the sheet to round then and expose the shiny red of the copper underneath, and then I tumbled them in a cheapie rock tumbler made for kids, with stainless steel shot and and a little water and dish soap for 2 hours or so.

How cool is that!