what gauge copper sheet would i use to make jewelry medallions
Unsure of which gauge and temper you need for your next jewelry project? Let u.s. assistance! Check out our jewelry sheet metal guide for gauges and tempers.
There are a lot of choices when information technology comes to metal sheet decisions, temper and gauges are a few of them. Making the choice can rapidly become disruptive, but hopefully, this jewelry metal sheet guide to gauges and tempers can remove some of the confusion and set you on the path to making beautiful jewelry. Our helpful guide was created for students and contains suggested gauges for specific projects. But, every bit you advance in jewelry-making, your personal choices may change drastically from those listed below and that's completely okay.
Jewelry Tempers & Metals
Information technology's crucial to cull the right type of jewelry metal sheet before choosing the guess because the metal yous pick can be a huge gene in your design and whether or not it volition piece of work. So, earlier we get to the gauges, permit'south hash out the types of metal and their natural tempers.
Metallic Canvass Blend Options
When purchasing a metal sail or wire, you volition see a temper listed in the descriptions. Temper refers to how hard the sheet metallic has become during the manufacturing procedure. Role of the process is to run the metal canvas through a rolling factory to attain the desired gauge, whereas wire is pulled through a drawplate. These manufacturing processes work harden the material, and unless they are annealed back to expressionless soft they remain at this temper.
Gold
Pure aureate is 24kt and very malleable and soft. Considering it is and so soft, it tin can easily be damaged and scratched with very niggling effort, that's why pure 24kt gold is rarely used in jewelry designs. When y'all add alloys to golden, yous drop the purity simply a stronger metal is created.
Silver
Fine silver has the same issues as 24kt gold, it's very soft and malleable and tin be easily damaged when used in jewelry. Thus, sterling argent was created, it too is assimilated to create a stronger metal to work with. Sterling silver is an alloy that contains 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. Sterling silverish is slow to work harden therefore you can piece of work with information technology for a while earlier annealing is needed. Store STERLING Silverish SHEET >>
Note: Fine silver is ideal for bezel settings.
Copper
Pure copper is a great metal, but it has its drawbacks likewise. Information technology's very inexpensive, takes a patina beautifully, is malleable to piece of work with, and easy to find in local hardware stores and from jewelry suppliers. Copper has its downside, likewise. Quick to work harden, it will need to be annealed often. Shop COPPER Canvas >>
Copper Alloys
Statuary, brasses, and nickel silver are all copper alloys.
- Yellow brass is lxx% copper and thirty% zinc. Because of its high zinc content, this is a hard metal to work with.
- Crimson brass is 85% copper and xv% zinc. This is a fantastic metal to piece of work with, in all aspects of jewelry-making projects. Shop Brass Sheet >>
- Bronze consists of 88% copper and 12% tin. This is another great metal to work with, especially for fold forming and in sculptures.
- Nickel silver contains 65% copper, 18% nickel, and 17% zinc. Take notation that there is no silver in this alloy, then don't be fooled by the proper noun.
Choosing the correct metal for the job too as the temper is critical. Certain metals are very difficult to piece of work with and tin ruin a piece if you're non aware of their limitations. If you're unsure which metals to start with; copper, red brass, and sterling silver are ideal. When deciding, recollect of your skillsets. Do you want to work with easy material or challenge yourself? Practice you take the tools and fuel y'all volition need? If y'all utilize butane canisters, would copper be the best option since the metal needs to be annealed often? You'll use quite a flake of butane during the annealing process on a few of these metals.
Tip: To larn more about alloys, bank check out our article: Metal Alloys Used in Jewelry
Which Metal Canvas Atmosphere is Best?
When purchasing a metal sheet, should yous choose dead soft, one-half-difficult, full-hard, or hard? It's always difficult to reply this question, simply here is a standard list of popular jewelry pieces:
Dead soft: A sheet that is expressionless soft will work well with fold-forming projects. These types of projects require heavy hammering and lots of annealing. Purchasing whatever sort of difficult textile volition have you annealing sooner rather than later when hammering out your design. As your finishing your slice, stop annealing so that you leave the sheet in a hard or full-hard state.
Half-hard: There are a lot of items that tin can offset with a one-half-difficult jewelry sheet. Cuffs, finger rings, and fabricated pendants will all piece of work, and is a great temper to start with. If you lot need it to attain a hard state, especially with finger rings, light texturing or hammering with a mallet volition assist immensely.
Difficult: Choose a hard sheet when creating pierced metal earrings. Earrings that are too soft and pliable volition never be able to hold their shape, so working with a harder material is critical. Unless you plan on piece of work-hardening the cloth, hard metal for earrings is a must.
Full-hard: Clasps and hinges need to stand up to a lot of wear and tear! Ever start out with a full-difficult fabric for these types of items. The softer the fabric the more than pliable it is and and then any temper lower than this would non do well for these well-worn items.
Tip: When you lot purchase a dead soft canvas, y'all can work harden information technology to the desired temper by hammering, rolling, or shaping it. Annealing it will put it back to a expressionless soft state.
Note: For more data on the process, bank check out our article: Basic Metalsmithing: Piece of work Hardening and Annealing.
Jewelry Gauges
The judge that you lot choose is another of import factor. The gauge indicates the width of the material you volition exist working with and recollect: the thicker the estimate, the heavier the metal. Therefore, gauges are important in all aspects of metal-making. Here are common gauges used in jewelry designs:
Techniques to Consider
Another thing to consider is the steps you will put the metal sheet through. If you want a 22 gauge pendant simply you're running the material through the rolling factory, you may need to start with a thicker judge since the rolling mill will thin it out. What about fold forming? That technique volition stretch and change the shape drastically in certain designs, but you need a thinner approximate to really work the metal. There are a lot of aspects to consider when choosing gauges. Just recall it through and consider what gauge will work with the techniques you've chosen.
Watch the Video!
Check out this video on annealing work-hardened metal.
Continue Reading:
What Jewelry Wire Approximate & Hardness Do Yous Need?
Basic Metalsmithing: Work Hardening and Annealing
Soldering Copper & Brass Metals in the Jewelry Studio
Types of Silver - Learn the Grades of Silvery Alloys & Purity in Jewelry
Source: https://www.halsteadbead.com/articles/jewelry-metal-sheet-guide-gauges-tempers
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