Creating with Copper Sheet Metal

In this tutorial I go through the different processes of cutting, smoothing & designing items with bare copper sheet metal!
Supply List:
Work surface
Bare Copper Sheets of various gauges
Sewing shears, smooth blade tin nips, jewelers saw & bench pin
Diamond coated mini files
Wet/Dry sandpaper
Rotary drill with abrasive heads
Jewelers file
Silvergleem lead free soft solder
Soldering iron
Texturing hammer, metal stamps, ball peen hammer
Black Sharpie
Drawing templates
Metal Templates
Metal bench block
Liver of Sulfur
Baking soda
ImpressArt hole punch
Various jewelry findings for final design including jump rings, head pins, wire of various gauges, earring wires, etc
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Music: Relaxing Ballad
Musician: Alexander Nakarada
Site: freepd.com/
License: creativecommon...

[@marsharice4799]

Haha! The artist table! Looks more put together than mine 🙃 thanks for the amazing videos😊

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

😂🤪🤣 Ah thank you! I appreciate your interest & support! 🙏😊💖

[@LindaB651]

My mother, may she rest in peace, collected cookie cutters, LOTS of cookie cutters, both large and small. They make great templates, especially the tiny canape cutters. I do mostly copper wire work, but also some copper and aluminum sheet- your process of solder and rubber stamp is brilliant!

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

Thank you very much! That’s awesome that you have such a wide range of tins at your disposal! I have watched several videos about creating with tins & it looks really fun! Thanks for your interest!

[@juliel6254]

Your earrings came out lovely! I too am a intermediate / novice(?!) metal smith. I've been making jewelry off and on for around 9 years now, but haven't done much lately as I now work from home and my crafting area was converted to my work space. But I am itching to get back to it. Your video is very inspirational! I've never used a solder iron before, but I do use a butane torch and I never get tired of watching metal melt and solder flow! Keep up the great work. It's amazing what we can create just having fun! Thank you for sharing! : )

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

Thank you so very much for your kind words! I started with the soldering iron in March 2022 & then started working with a torch in July! I was having so much fun learning about true silversmith techniques until I got reinjured in October which forced me to put all crafting aside for a couple months! I started returning to crafting very slowly first with wire wrapping from my recliner so I could support my neck! I’ve only just returned using the soldering iron about a month now! I’m anxious to get back at the torch but don’t feel I’m physically ready yet! I live alone so I can spread out my craft areas 🤣 I feel the same way about melting metal 😂 it’s so rewarding! I appreciate your interest & feedback! 🙏😊💜

[@rayetteadair6734]

Love all those earrings ❣❣❣

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

Thank you so much! I greatly appreciate your feedback! 🙏😊💜

[@sandrapeterson9114]

I use Joyce Chen kitchen scissors. They cut metal like butter, they are easy to maneuver, around shapes, because they have shorter tip, than your sewing scissors. Most metal Smith's I know use them. They are smooth, not serrated.

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

Thanks for the tip! I appreciate the advice!

[@LouLiddick]

They do make metal shears without serrations but they are a little harder to find. There is also straight, lefthand and righthand which indicates which direction your curve will be when cutting.

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

Thank you for your interest & comment! Yes, I learned that later 😂 & I think metalsmith artists can also recommend a super nice legit metal shear that’s just perfect for the job! I’m a newbie & still have loads to learn Plus I didn’t have unlimited funds when acquiring the tools but learning quickly that inexpensive isn’t always best!

[@LouLiddick]

I'm still learning too. Thank you for your videos

[@Colombian1959]

Hello Everyone, I am just starting to get into copper. I made a few earrings but I am having a hard time trying to figure out what I can use to smooth the edges? Can any of you help me? Thank you so very much!

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

I use a hand file for smoothing edges such as I demonstrate in the video! Thx for your interest & support! I’ve also use wet/dry sandpaper too! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmOcc2OarJJ4gMUsi=1xKeBXq_nOKZwAZD

[@Colombian1959]

Thank you!🙏🏻🌹

[@yvettekonigsfeld3702]

What gage sheet

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

I tell you the gauges used in the video

[@melodyengland4439]

Hello, thanks for this video, but how come you're not using thinner coppery metal, this would be a good bit easier to cut & to shape into things. That hack saw seems that it takes way too long, this isn't something that I'd ever try, but i do commend you on your efforts here, hammering the little images onto the metal, is fun, I've done that before. I was watching a fun to watch video, that also makes metal/copper jewelry, check it out, I think what he bought cuts a good bit better, this might be easier on you will take a lot less time. kzbin.info/www/bejne/naWkgmB-rbyMeJo

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

24 gauge is pretty thin which what was used for the earrings! Anything thinner would be prone to bending super easy! Same with the 22 gauge that I used for the pendant…most people would use a 20 gauge for more weight! This tutorial is demonstrating several different ways of achieving the same goal & actually the jewelers saw is the preferred method but since I’m a newbie it took longer 🤣 Thanks for checking out this tutorial! I hope you found other videos more to your liking! 😊

[@melodyengland4439]

@@karensintuitivejewelry Hi there, well actually I liked watching your whole video here, I just thought that using the saw was kinda dangerous & time staking, but I really do appreciate your efforts, you have a lot of determination. Thanks for mentioning to me about the different gauges of thickness. Did you check out that link I included?

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

@@melodyengland4439 Hi again! Thx for your support! I apologize that I did not see the link you shared! I love Matt & have probably watched every video (including this one lol) he’s made…at least the older ones! He was 1 of 2 artists that really helped me early on in my journey! I feel safe to say that the gauge of copper sheet metal Matt used in this tutorial is thicker than either one I used in my tutorial & I love those shears but didn’t have those available! You can see that they’re not ideal for cutting curves & that’s why I was demonstrating the jewelers saw! Professional metalsmith & silversmith artists only use jewelers saw because of the accuracy of the cut but it certainly takes practice 🤣 as does anything in life we’d like to do well! Thx again! 😁

[@sharonclark256]

Do you use flux?

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

No flux needed on the copper sheet to melt & stamp

[@sharonclark256]

@@karensintuitivejewelry I’ve never tried without flux. It flows east with it. You have come a long way very quickly. I believe I talked to you last spring. Sometimes I cut the excess solder that flows over the edge.

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

@@sharonclark256 I actually tried it initially with flux & although the solder flowed it seemed to prevent the solder from sticking to the sheet metal so I tried it without flux & it worked great!? Go figure, right? I just melt the excess off instead of cutting it! And thank you for your support!

[@sharonclark256]

@@karensintuitivejewelry I’m going to try it without flux. Great job.

[@karensintuitivejewelry]

@@sharonclark256 thx very much & let me know how it works for you!