Sawing Silver Sheet Metal

There are a variey of ways to cut silver.

Sawing silver sheet metal.

Sterling silver sheet metal is excellent for making special handcrafted jewelry pieces. Choosing jeweler s saw blades. Hold your metal in place on the bench pin with your non dominant hand. If you saw with too much force or try too hard you ll probably break a blade.

Pick up some finer blades when you want to tackle more intricate curved work. Mail order phone center mon. Lean over a master s shoulder and watch as alan revere demonstrates dozens. For 24 gauge sheet and thinner i jump down to 4 0.

Less wobbling easier sawing. Metal shears may resemble scissors or they may look more like small gardening shears. The finer teeth of the 4 0 blade make cutting thin metal much easier. The cutting motion comes from the elbow not the wrist.

Japanese pattern earrings from the revere on goldsmithing dvd series. 8am 5 30pm mst 800 545 7968. Hold the saw frame between 90 and 45 degrees to your metal and start sawing. Brace the piece that you are sawing on a bench pin that clamps to your worktable so you have a stable surface to work on.

Smaller pieces are mainly used for making jewelry and the best way to cut silver in this instance is with a jewelry saw. 24 gauge and thinner sheet is very useful for metal stamping and embossing. Use coarser blades for the best outcome when cutting straight lines. Always check the tension of your blade as a loose blade is more likely to break.

While both of these methods work for cutting larger bulk pieces of silver cutting smaller pieces requires a different type of saw. From elizabeth bone s book silversmithing for jewelry makers. Learn how to saw metal sheet. Part 4 of volume 1.

Ingots are cut using metal cutting band saws while large pieces are cut using metal cutting reciprocating saws. For less precise cuts metal shears cut sterling silver quickly. Choose from 16 gauge thick to 28 gauge thin silver sheet for piercing and sawing into custom shapes dapping doming soldering forming into bracelet cuffs and other fine craft applications. Use shears to cut a small piece of silver from a larger sheet for cutting with a jeweler s saw for cutting templates from a thin sheet of metal or for chain cutting.

These blades are suitable for use with sheet metal ranging from a 0 6mm to a 0 8mm thickness.