Simple twisted copper bangle

[metalsmith]

Whilst waiting for a delivery of silver wire , well, to cut a long story short the wait got a bit drawn-out (pun intended).

So to fill the unwelcome inactivity I went into the loft and hoping it was nothing too vital, stripped out a bit of copper wire - on a health and safety front it is probably advisable to check that the wire's not carrying current before cutting into anything (I'll try to take my own advice next time ). I pared off the coatings, drew it through nylon pliers a few times and then embarked on a trial into twisting wire. The first example was quickly claimed by my daughter. This is the second.

[Dennis]

Very neat. A bunch of those would look good too. Does the metal give you grubby arms though?

[metalsmith]

Very neat. A bunch of those would look good too. Does the metal give you grubby arms though?

It would but the plan is to get some everbrite (/similar) to coat the copper. Apparently it does wear off but can be re-treated.

I always said I would never work in copper, but I have a couple of things in progress at the moment - and I have to say I'm rather enjoying it. It's easy to work with (and is a beautiful metal) and absolutely no fear of trashing it (save the pain of stripping some more) giving good freedom to experiment.

[Dennis]

Yes, I agree. I was going to mention that if you want a pain free way of buying copper wire you might consider earthing cable. A metre contains quite a number of useful strands, about 1.6mm in diameter and only one cover to slit and peel back. They can be drawn down, or straightened by annealing and stretching. Dennis.

[metalsmith]

Thanks we'll see how we go .. I have around a dust-bin-ful so it could take a while. Since it is old wiring it has a single thicker earth which I used to make a pendant-chain and three thinner wires (I've not gauged them) which I stripped for this bangle.

I've just twisted up the three thinner wires then twisted them together. Now I just need and end purpose