Copper Bead Caps and Links
June 4th, 2009 WendyLee Posted in Etching Metal, Techniques | No Comments »
Have you looked at all the gorgeous copper bead caps around that have been etched with lovely designs and wish you could make these things yourself? I bet the one thing that stops you is lack of money to buy a nice disc cutter to cut those circles out. You wouldn’t want to hand saw them, my hands just cramp at the thought of it.
Well I was wandering the aisles of my local Bunnings (hardware shop) just because I find inspiration and some great tools down there and I came across this….
What are they I hear you say? Well its a multi pack of copper washers in various sizes.
I nearly jumped up and down right there in the aisle as I thought they would be perfect for bead caps, links and various other things that were currently running through my head.
These copper washers start at 14 mm ouside diameter and go up to 25 mm outside diameter. They are about 1.5 mm thick which makes them great for etching.
As these are pure copper they work like any other copper you have used. Patina them up for an antique look and turn them into necklace links. Dome them so they fit ont he ends of beads as bead caps, etch them for interesting patterns. Hammer them with a ball pien hammer for those gorgeous dimples.
The pack that I got had 110 pieces in the pack and they were really cheap. I had a search on ebay and there are so many different packs available to you if you do not have a hardware shop handy to you!
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