I am making some lower-priced items for the school bazaar at the end
of October. I am looking for copper ends for 2 mm Greek leather
cord. I have scoured the internet and I have found nothing except
Sterling endcaps. They are beautiful, and I have spent much time almost buying them, but I’m keeping my eye on the project at hand.
So far I am making my own by soldering a copper wire loop with 2
tails (sorta keyhole-shaped) to a little rectangle of thin copper
sheet, about 8 mm x 6 mm. I wrap this rectangle around the leather
cord, with a drop of E-6000 inside. The wire loop sticks out the top
with its ends hidden inside. It looks and works great, but it’s
time-consuming and fussy to crimp.
My whole point was to make some really low-priced things, and I
can’t produce the quantity I want at this rate.
though i hate to even mention them- fire mountain also has copper
stuff amidst the rest of their junk,er,lower priced inventory
(that actually just took a major jump upwards in price after they
reorganized their “assortability” policy and now items are 3 x what
they were a year or so ago for mostly glass and base metal stuff,with
a smattering of actually useful beading type items that arrive fast
but are nonetheless- overpriced junk from overseas suppliers.that
haven’t really grasped the concept of quality control).annother
recommendation: don’t buy their stones or stone set clasps as they
are always set with c and d or worse quality materials that still
qualify as ‘gem material’- very flawed and included, but the actual
mineral -yet cost more that fabricating your own…
try thunderbird supply…they have lots of copper findings, sheet, and
even - sterling filled!- sheet costs can be kept low…another
possibility is to buy ferrules ( like on kids paintbrushes, )and put
them into some deep blue used pickle…that will copper plate them in
minutes with or without heat…( if you don’t have deep blue used
pickle- take a piece of pure copper and drop it into a cup of
ammonia and one of water.into a glass jar, or pyrex pan, etc.,no lid
and outdoors (not in an enclosed area due to the fumes that may
develop).in 2 hours (minimum) you’ll have copper plating solution…)
I am looking for copper ends for 2 mm Greek leather cord. Connie,
here are some ideas.
(1) On the little 8 X 6mm sheets you are using now, add a little “v”
at the bottom edge, when you’re cutting them out. Press that part
straight into the leather when you wrap the copper around it. It
should hold the end-piece in place, even without using glue [I hate
using glue].
(2) Or, take a piece of copper tubing that fits nicely on the
leather, solder a piece of sheet metal on one end, drill a hole in
the sheet metal, coil a piece of copper wire on one end, run the
other end up through the drilled hole, make a loop. Slip the tubing
onto the leather, along with some glue.
(3) Or, probably the easiest is to make a coil of copper wire that
will fit snugly onto the leather cord. Slide it onto the cord. Crimp
the bottom ring into/onto the leather, to hold the end in place. Lift
up the top one (or two) ring(s) to use as the loop to which to attach
jump rings, etc. This resembles the most common type of commercial
end cap, in brass, which most jewelry catalogs (and craft stores)
carry.
I’m sure there are other options. I look forward to reading them.
Not about copper—the truest test of a designer is taking a less
than perfect gemstone and creating a beautiful design. I buy from
FMG (not exclusively) and people love my designs.
though i hate to even mention them- fire mountain also has copper
stuff amidst the rest of their junk,,er,,,lower priced inventory
(that actually just took a major jump upwards in price...
I used to get silver chains from Fire Mountain at a good price. Then poof they doubled in price. Dunno what’s going on with their
pricing but they lost me as a customer…
Rick Copeland
Silversmith and Lapidary Artisan
Rocky Mountain Wonders
Colorado Springs, Colorado http://rockymountainwonders.com
I would do this with copper tubing. If you take a piece of your cord
with you to the hardware store, you might get lucky and find that the
smaller refrigerator tubing is the right size. Otherwise K & S makes
a
wide range of copper (and brass) tubing. They are available at
craft/hobby stores.
To get a ring on the end, you could notch the end of the tube with a
cutoff wheel (before you cut the piece off the tube so you can use
the rest of the tube as a handle) and then wedge a jump ring in the
notches. Copper solder might be a close enough match for your needs
or you can use silver solder and copper plate it as has already been
described.
overnight they tripled their prices in making the universal
assortability move- so to get the prices that were once reasonable
you must now buy 200 of anything…I haven’t given it much thought but
the answer is to seek out the cheapest plastic crap, and order 199 of
it, to get the stuff you need at a godd price, then donate the
plastic junk to some school or orphanage or economically distressed
programme, and write it off, then go about designing with their
useable items…( what they have left of them that is!). here’s to
hoping all that patronize them will write in about how ridiculous
their pricing is now…when Rio is cheaper, somethings definitely
askew!
Thank you Ed, Judy, Dr. Rourke, for your helpful suggestions. So far
I have never used tubing of any kind, so Ed the idea of getting some
copper tubing at the hardware store is appealing! I could use it to
construct a hinge… plating the bits of silver solder (so far they
are hidden inside) is also a great idea, as well as tumble
polishing, which I should have thought of. Judy, the little “V” to
bite into the cord sounded good so I tried it. It seems to work, but
to make it smoother I’ll need some practice.
Here are 3 pictures of the ends I have made. The ones on the blue
cord I used your idea, Judy, of the little “V.” You can see the glue
in the others and they are obviously the work of a beginner, - - or
an avant-garde artiste!