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Hi,
I found this site and all I can say is, "Wow!". Sure wish I had the creativity and knowledge to do some of the projects I've seen here. :clapping:
I am getting into jewelry making and am looking for ways to ease the cutting and finishing of metal on my arthritic hands. I'm sure I will find a few. In particular, I'm curious about cutting blanks out of copper sheets quickly. Have looked at some videos on laser cutting and hoping to learn more about that process.
Hi greenwillow - welcome to HomemadeTools.net :welcome:
I'm going to move this discussion into our Tools in Progress subforum where you can get more ideas for cutting blanks from copper sheets.
Hello greenwillow. What kind of thickness are you talking with the copper sheet?
Thickness is your main criteria , I've cut with sheet metal shears(both the smaller ones like big scissors, industrial ones and powered ones again both bench and hand ones, second is the shape you require, if complex then small jig saw or bench small blade band saw.
Given the condition of you hands and for ease,, I'd suggest the bench shear with the long handle Whitney do one, however you can buy just the blades and build your own.
you can do lots of product out of the shear, it's not the quickest however,but the more you do the quicker you'll become
Not sure about a laser cutter, unless there are thousands to do and it's CNC.but the cost of the machine
Plasma is an option,Never used a laser and never used a plasma on copper.
If going the traditional route wear gloves,
Copper is a lovely material, I remember doing fruit bowls on a leather bag,at the tech (that was not yesterday)
I am not sure on the thickness you are working on, but I have worked on a some thick aluminium frame years ago and I hired a nibbler that suited up to 2.5mm thick, which when was clamped up inverted, gave very good control after some practice. This could be too slow if you are making production runs, but collection control of the chips would be able to be recycled or sold to scrap metal guys, otherwise looking at the idea of stamp cutting with a strong press could be another option, especially from soft copper sheet material.
greenwillow welcome! i too have arthritus, and can feel your pain, as the other members replied, it depends entirely on the thickness. very thin panels can easily be cut with standard metal shears. quality one's only! like my favorite, wiss avation shears. copper is so soft, that it will leave a small ridge at the cut site, when a metal brake is used, or even power shears as well! i 'm not familar with laser cutting, but again with copper thickness is your number one consideration. charsand
Hi greenwillow. If you are getting into jewelry then you will probably have or get a jewelers saw, similar to a fret saw. If your arthritis is bad then you might want to consider a scroll saw. Hope this helps.