Thank you so much for having this info. I will never EVER use bleach again.

Let’s see, where could you get it. First thing I’d try is searching Amazon, believe it or not, or prowling through the construction part of your local hardware megastore. I keep spotting pretty tubes and shapes and probably strips of copper in odd places. Though I don’t recall seeing stainless, it might just not be as eye-catching as the copper. I think you might be able to buy some at a craft store like a Michaels or a Hobby Lobby, even.

The hard thing about buying metal online is that even if the seller specifies the thickness, you can’t actually hold it, and holding the strip lets my fingers make all sorts of wordless evaluations like, is this too thick for my tin snips to cut, or is it so flexible it won’t hold a shape. I think it’s correct to say that two pieces of steel the same thickness could have different hardnesses, depending on how they’re produced (tempered?)

Copper prices might still be high right now, but this is a small amount we’re talking. You can buy sheets of metals too, but cutting a perfectly straight edge by hand is hard, and you might end up only using the edges of a sheet to make cutters. Pre-cut strips’d be easier. (The cutting edge has to be perfectly level or it won’t cut right when you press it down into the clay.)

If I can think of a business that would produce strips of thin stainless steel or copper as a by-product of whatever they do (giving old dishwashers a steel veneer to match newer appliances?) I’ll give you a shout. They might give you scraps. Really do prowl all over the hardware store, like hit plumbing and doors and windows too. Could be you’ll find a stainless-steel kickplate meant to protect a door from scuffs is perfect, etc.

And I’ll keep an eye out too!