Question: Source for Copper and Brass Wire

[Beathard]

Anyone know a source for soft copper and brass wire for inlay? My local source is out of stock.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Rio Grande sells some very nice copper wire for inlaying. One spool should last a lifetime. It now comes in various sizes. A quick search on their web site will show you the options.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[mdengraver]

See if you have any local scrap metal dealers in your area.

 

[Beathard]

Found both at rio grande. Should have looked there first. I am used to going there for silver and gold. Forgot they had base metals. Thanks.

 

[mrthe]

I use electric cable copper annealing it, easy to find in a lot of diameters, i make something wrong?
Sorry but sometime the language give me some doubt, is the soft copper a expecial type of copper or is only copper annealed?

 

[Beathard]

Annealing copper will work. The brass is a little harder to find.

 

[BrianPowley]

I don't inlay brass. It work hardens too quickly and for me, the cost and ease of inlaying gold wire outweighs the amount of time it takes to inlay brass.

Years ago, I found spools of copper wire in the local hardware store---all different gauges too.

 

[JJ Roberts]

For teaching wire inlaying the dead soft copper wire that Andrew suggested from Rio Grande works great, I have a spool 1.00 and it pulls smoothly through my draw plate. J.J.

 

[Scottyd]

Try wire-sculpture.com. They have bronze, copper, and brass all in dead soft in a lot of sizes. You can buy by the foot at reasonable prices and shipping is only $4.95.
Scott

 

[Sandy]

Hobby Lobby.

 

[Beathard]

Sandy, I went to Hobby Lobby. I couldn't tell what was plated and what was solid.