Drawing On Copper Sheet

Consider starting with a smaller piece first such as a 5 x6.

Drawing on copper sheet. The thicknesses that basic copper carries are 1 mil copper foil 1 4 mil copper foil 3 mil 5 mil 36 gauge 8 mil 32 gauge 10 mil 30 gauge. Use a pencil to draw a design on your copper. Cold drawn cross sections are more precise and have a better surface finish than hot extruded parts. Depth drawn is a metal forming technology.

Copper plate if properly prepared is a smooth archival oil painting surface that s been used by artists for hundreds of years with stunning results. Place a piece of copper on a flat surface. Drawing can also be used to cold form a shaped cross section. Although the drawings show the components in detail some items such as nails may not be shown for the sake of clarity.

The drawings are presented in two colors. Copper materials are shown in copper color all other building materials are shown in black. Press the design into the metal with the capped end of a pen as if you were drawing on paper. Most punching and blanking technology through drawn or press let the material deformation to get what we wanted dimensions.

Use a size appropriate to the size of wall hanging you want to make. Steels copper alloys and aluminium alloys are common materials that are drawn. In using the term mil however the larger the number the thicker the copper sheet will be and so 16 mil copper sheets are thicker than 8 mil copper sheets. To create your designs set the copper shiny side down atop a sheet of shipping foam or craft foam.

I usually use 050 inch 16 gauge thickness but a thinner plate is perfectly fine for painting on copper. I purchase my copper plates from a printmaker s supply company online.