I have to stand corrected. I went back and looked at the actual saber (it sits on Tim's desk in his office) and it is actually black and red enamaled wire. They are both the same size, but in pictures, it does look like just copper (looks like copper in person, but under the microscope, you can see two colors). I know I experimented with copper wire, not sure when I changed to the red/black it currently has. Must have been during the final assemebly and I decided to change.