Monica Salisbury has had great success folding copper roof flashing. It is available on a roll in 12" to 20" width in hardware stores. You need to find 3 oz copper! Standard roof flashing is as much as 16 oz (per square foot) and not really foldable. 3 oz is just under 5 mils thick. You can find it as thin as 1 mil, but that is really copper foil and will tear by hand and wrinkle at a touch. 3 oz is thin enough to cut on a rotary paper cutter, but strong enough to make a substantial, usable item.
Here is a web site where you can purchase high quality clean or patina copper in 18" to 36" width http://basiccopper.com . they are a bit pricy, but have many different kinds of copper with patina. To give you an idea, 24"X 48" 5 mil with patina is $130 USD Here is the first copper box Monica made - it is a Tomoko Fuse box http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohiopaperfolders/5025956591/in/set-72157625037643654 And Monica showing Tomoko how to cut and fold the copper http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohiopaperfolders/4924982667/in/set-72157624801852140 Give us a shout if anyone wants to discuss the little issues with working with copper. John Scully OhioPaperFolders CenterFold origami convention 740-334-4213
