Which Jeweler Saw's blade should I use?

[ranaki]

hello everyone,

my name is Ranaki, and I'm a new member of this community. Recently, I've taken an interest in jewelry making, especially chainmaille jewelry, and I wanted to make the jump rings myself. I started out with a cutter that people could buy at their department store, but recently my cutter broke, and using a jeweller's saw looks like a better idea. I've found an online shop that sells it, but I'm having trouble determining which size of the blade should I use for the saw.

I'm using stainless steel wire with inner diameter of 0.8 mm, 0.9 mm, 1.0 mm, and 1,2 mm

))

 

[Jancs]

For stainless steel I would recommend a Dremmel-like solution as you will loose a lot of time sawing them by hand. And money on good blades.
Examples for inspiration can be found on youtube

 

[moaatt]

I agree that a Dremmel-like solution would be the best option; however if you are set on using jewelers saw blades I tend to follow this chart from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. For the chart since they don't state which gauge system they are using based on looking at some products I think they are using AWG.

 

[19201080]

Hi, if you go for the jeweler's saw in the end, regarding the blade size i would recommend maximum 3/0, so that you can work clean and not lose too much material. The brand Antilope makes blades that are good at handling hard metals (and just avoid cheap bad blades altogether).

If you have a lot of rings to cut by hand, lubricating your blade might help. Traditionally beeswax is used, maybe cutting oil could be simpler in your case. And your sawing technique will go a long way to keep your blades longer.

 

[moaatt]

1 19201080 do you have any suggestions on where I could learn sawing technique? I would like to improve the life of my blades.

 

[silverknitter]

I am not 19201080 but I can try to answer your question
Although it will be from a goldsmith's point of view. And it only applies to soft metals like aluminium or silver
First: you need a fitting grove in your benchpin (pic 1)
It's in the middle on mine.
Second: Cover the coil with masking tape. There are other methods around, I tried some but masking tape works best for me (pic 2)
Third: position the covered coil snugly into the grove and saw on. Saw with very little force and avoid getting stuck. Watch out that you don't saw into the other side of the coil.
For short coils it is possible to put the coil on the benchpin (pic 3)
As for sawing in general: "Übung macht den Meister" = practice makes the master
Concerning the size of the sawblade: I really can't tell because I use what is on my saw which can be anything 3/0 or finer. I also use Antilope sawblades.

 

[moaatt]

Thank you very much for the info S silverknitter .

So far I have only cut 16 SWG Aluminium, though I do also have Copper would that be soft enough?

Out of curiosity what does the masking tape do?

Regarding cutting the short coil on the bench pin how do you hold the saw? I find that when the coil is on my bench pin it leans forward; to have the saw at an angle that only cuts one half of the ring causes the handle to hit the bench pin.

 

[silverknitter]

Copper has almost the same properties as silver so yes, it is one of the soft metals.
The masking tape holds the coil together and prevents rings from getting deformed by the force of the sawblade. Applied properly it is (almost) as if one is cutting a solid tube of metal.
The short coil thing: the advantage is that it puts the coil securely from slipping downward (which is the direction of the force via the saw). The leaning comes with the slant of the benchpin. Having a strategic placed hole in the benchpin helps to find a way that the handle won't snag. I modify my benchpin all the time
Sort of puzzeling is that I have seen people in jewellery making videos that hold the saw upside down. I personally haven't tried it but it might be a way to avoid collisions.
But as I said: the usual way to cut a coil for me is by nesting the upper part against the benchpin in a circular grove.

 

[moaatt]

Thank you for the info about copper, I am looking forward to trying to cut some on a weekend soon.
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Would I apply masking tape just where I cut or also to the other side of it?

The idea of a hole in the bench pin to have the bottom of the coil so it doesn't lean forward makes sense. I may modify my bench pin next time I cut a coil.

Is that image how you hold the saw or upside-down?

 

[silverknitter]

Oh no, that is not me. I have not tried that.
The position of the masking tape: if you cover the whole coil it makes it very stable. But I find that it makes it more difficult to "peel away" the cut rings because they are held tightly in place by the tape.
So I usually only cover the area where I will place the saw cut. Which is approximately a quarter of the outer diameter. What I also found out: cheap masking tape hasn't got enough glue (or the glue is not good enough) to be of use. My heart bleeds when I pay for a roll of good tape the price of 3 rolls of cheap no name tape but the difference is worth it!

 

[silverknitter]

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In this video 2 techniques for sawing are compared. One is the tape-method.

 

[silverknitter]

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Yea, I totally forgot: you can also cut the rings with the blade inside the coil.

 

[moaatt]

Thank you very much for the resources S silverknitter , I look forward to applying some of these techniques once I exit crunch time.