Other than a scrap yard, does anyone know where one could pick up some manageable gauges of steel for jewelry? There is a lot of this stuff running around the jewelry field lately, and I'd love to play with it a bit myself. Thanks for any input in advance....

Look here http://www.onlinemetals.com/index.cfm under titanium and tool steel. They have more type of metal then you can think of for your jewelry use. If you have any questions about what type of steel to use for making what type of tool just give them a call and they will answer you with a knowledgeable, agreeable voice.The other alternative is to check your local phone book yellow pages for tool steel and go talk to the folk in person.

That is awesome! Thank you so much! ~D.

They have brass, bronze (the real stuff), stainless steel, cold and hot rolled, titanium and tool steel, rod, hex, sheet and structural shapes. Not a bad selection. Have fun.

Great question and love the answer. Thanks for posting it. Has anyone ever used aluminum as a jewelry metal?

 I've used pre-made aluminum chain links and love them! they are lightweight and shiny. I get them from FMG.

I think the other jewelry arts magazine has an article on using copper and  aluminium for making a necklace. I always found that unless anodized it tends to rub off black on clothes. My wife does not like that. It is easy to saw, file, drill and shape. However I have always felt that if I am going to that much trouble why not just use silver if I want a white metal, of course the other white metals are a little out of the depth of my billfold. I may live next to the poor house but I'm not in it yet. Never work silver and aluminium on the same bench if you are saving your sawdust as it is considered a contaminate by refiners.

Thats interesting. I didn't know aluminum would rub off black. If you are cutting into anodized aluminum aren't you exposing parts that haven't been anodized? I wonder if you could coat it with something...

I don't think that anodizing is all that difficult since I have seen articles in the AJ magazine on doing it to other metals. I think with a little research you could come up with a satisfactory DIY system. Tarnished silver will rub off on your clothes also, seems like when I not making something out of silver I'm polishing it.