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I need to pin something, and I'm going to pick up some 1 mm copper or brass rods from the art supply store. Will the sort of sprue clippers sold by Citadel or Tamiya cut copper or brass rods, or do I need something more heavy-duty? I don't want to wreck a pair of clippers trying it out.

They should be able to. I use mine for cutting metal paperclips, which I use for pinning my models.

Thanks!

Copper is a relatively soft metal. Brass is a bit harder. I don't know how hard brass is compared to paperclip metal.

Cut right next to the joint, for maximum leverage. If the blades get knicked, you can still use the further edges for cutting plastic.

All depends on the thickness of the rod you are intending to cut, really. Up to 1mm, shouldn't be an issue. Over that, get some decent pliers/wirecutters and go from there.

I use wirecutters (I did have a pair of GW sprue cutters - but they broke on a piece of sprue ) that I bought from an electronics store - since I often cut steel guitar strings with them as well.

In my experience the brass rods are way harder than copper and need quite a bit of force. The sprue clippers will work but to be honest you'd be better using a cheap pair of wire clippers instead of damaging them. Cut the rod inside a bag with a rotating motion as the pieces have a tendency to shoot off.

Copper will be fine - I cut mine all the time with my GW sprue clippers. I've never used brass for modelling purposes, but I've had to cut through it at work, and it is a LOT harder to get through than copper. I'd advise against using your sprue clippers. I am sure you would manage it, but I don't think it would take long before you blunt the blades of the clippers.

Be careful, some clippers are only designed for softer materials like polystyrene and their blades can be wrecked by cutting hard metal. Personally I use a cheap pair of clippers from a hardware shop for metal, keping my 'proper' clippers for plastic only.

you would be better off using electircal snips.

You will definitely bugger the cutters with brass!

A cutoff wheel on a Dremel or similar is the best and fastest way to get a clean cut.