Little beady eyes in copper foil

Jul 21, 2003 4 Replies

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Jeff Oakley 22 years ago

My current copper foil project has a lot of little birds that are about 2 1/4 inches long. I had originally planned on creating small black eyes on the birds by applying a tiny dot of puff paint to the finished project for each eye. Now I am thinking that this would not be as permanent as I would like. I need to create six eyes total for this project.

I thought about drilling a small hole, putting a piece of copper wire in the hole, and then adding a dot of solder. But how to drill the hole...

Where could I find a diamond drill bit that is only 1/16" to 3/32"? Is there such a thing? I thought about using my small engraving bit, but that didn't seem like it would work.

If anybody has any thoughts, suggestions or ideas on how to handle this, please share!

Thanks,

Jeff

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Ducky1578 22 years ago

you could try glass paint. Vitrea has outliners that are in squeezy-tubes that would give a nice raised effect.

You don't have to bake the finished product if you don't want to (I only bake it if I've made an item for eating or drinking out of, ornamental things don't really need it).

Also, they do make small diamond drill bits, let me see....ahhh yes here it is

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The smallest they have is 5/64", which is pretty small. They are who I get all my drill bits from and they're pretty reliable and inexpensive (You should be able to get what you need for under $20).

I'd go the glass paint route if it were me - unless you have experience with drilling glass there's a very strong possibility you may break one of your lovely birdies.

Good Luck!

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chunk 22 years ago

Try

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any other lapidary supply. Local rockshops may have them.Keep the glass under water and 'pulse' the drill rather than using steadypressure. When nearly through, drill from the backside. Chunk Kiesling

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Michele Blank 22 years ago

you might try gluing a dot of solder i place as opposed to the process you have outlined which is tedious, time consuming and prone to breakage. another way is to glue on small rhinestones. Use e-6ooo or similar and it's pretty permanent. michele

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RSMorris 22 years ago

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company is terrific! Always fast and dependable. I am a metalsmith andhave bought all of my small tools from them.

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